There a guy on the M.T.F. That use his to mow his 2 acres with it and he's got a pretty steep incline on the left side of his yard and the tractor get up it with no problem a regular ZTR would probly not do well mowing it. Well at least with the I series tractor you can use it for snow removal and I hear it does a pretty good Job at that as well and Pulling a Plug Areator.

Mark, the ZTT 42 has an 18 hp Kohler engine and 42" cut and sells for $2699. For $300 more you can go to the RZT 50, 22 hp Kawasaki engine with a 50 inch cut. My niece just bought one of these and it rocks! Only drawbacks that I see are (1) frame not real heavy duty (2) stamped steel deck (3) could be weak where the frame attaches to the wheel housing. On fairly smooth terrain none should be a problem.

I have a Hustler with a 54" cut with a 21 hp Kawasaki engine and heavy duty deck. Heavy duty frame with good weld around where the front wheels attach to the frame. In my opinion, you can't beat the Kawasaki engines.

Mine has a place on the rear in case you want to pull something like a trailer. I have a pull behind spreader that we use plus I hooked up a harness from the battery with a quick disconnect so I can use my 25 gallon pull behind sprayer which has an electic motor. You just have to remember not to do a 360 with it...

My mower was $5000 compared to the Cub Cadet RZT 50 which is only $3000. Pay more - you get more.

Here is link to RZT 50. Have a look see.

Shot

Here is a link that might be useful: Cub Cadet RZT 50

Thanks for the info. I am having a hard time deciding what to do. Currently have a Gt 5000 with 300+ hours, maintained well and is a good machine. I (the wife), keeps adding more flower beds and gardens to mow around that I think a 0 turn would be much better for me. I am having a hard time deciding because the 0 turns seem to be only good for mowing and I need a tractor for other things. Looked at the Toro, and Husqvarna 0 turns today. Wife is all for me getting one, I just have to decide.

Keep the JD and buy a ZForce 50, or something similiar.

My wife sounds like yours, with the flowers and all. We use our rider for all duties except mowing, but the ZForce 50 makes the mowing fun again, and I would never go back to mowing with the tractor now that I have a choice.

The 2 compliment each other, but if I had only room or a budget for one, I would have to have a tractor (or the 54" Hustler with a hitch).

I am trying to stay within a budget. That is why I was trying to find some good or bad info on the Cub Ztt 42 which is a tractor with 0 turn radius. Kind of killing two birds with one stone. I looked at them and really am not impressed with the looks. The plastic hood is awful cheap looking. There is no shine or gloss look to it at all.Kind of looks used. BUT if I could find out if they are built and reliable enough I could over look the dull plastic.

Can understand about trying to get one piece of equipment to do multiple jobs. Fortunately, I have a full size Kubota (43 hp) for large jobs like heavy duty mowing. Have a 6 ft. mower for it plus other farm implements.

My wife is like you guys wives with the plants. Told her once that it was like mowing a nursery.

Cob, I agree with you about the fun of using a zero turn. I did a lot of shopping and comparing before deciding on the Hustler 54 incher. Had dropped my wife off at the beauty shop and had lots of time to kill so I went down and looked at the Hustler. When I picked her back up, I took her down and showed it to her. She said "Okay, get it". Thought it was going to be mine, but turns out it is HERS! I just put the fuel in it which is two 5 gal tanks.
She loves it and after mowing will just ride around looking for a sprig she may have missed.

Before this mower we had a riding Craftsman with a 15 hp Kohler. Knocked several holes in the stamped steel deck plus had to have the front end welded after it broke. Welder said the chasis was not made to handle that big of an engine. Same thing happened to a guy across the road.

Mark, I'm sure you will make the right decision.

Shot

Here is a picture of MY WIFE'S mower complete with wife.

{{gwi:328887}}

Have one and am not happy the way Cub Cadet backs it's product. Have several issues and they are minor, (Bent Control Arm, and tire won't stay on rims 3 times) and they are less than I expect. Would not want to have a serious problem.
Regrets,
Rich

Cub Cadet zero turn mowers have a transmission design problem that is causing them to fail after about 200 hours of use. I got hit by this problem, as have many owners - search the web & see how many failed transmissions that there are after 3 or 4 years of use. Cub denies that there is a problem. Cost to replace the transmission is about $1000 for one side, and $2000 for both. (Transmission kit costs $800+ just for the part)

Stay Away!!!!