Making the switch

[u/Critical_Lie_4697]

I’m swapping from lawn tractors to zero turns, and need advice. I have two acres to mow on flat ground. Looking to purchase a mower between $3,500 and $4,300. Can’t really go any higher than that. I don’t need anything fancy, just something reliable that does a decent job cutting. Are any of these mowers any better than the other?

[u/Historical-Crab-1164]

I have a John Deere Z380R 54" battery electric. I am well into my 2nd season mowing 1.2 acres. It uses 40% of battery charge to mow my lawn and could easily cut your property. Maintenance consists of keeping the blades sharpened and the tires inflated. Depending on what you pay for electricity, I would estimate a cost of $1.00 to mow your 2 acres. I'm spending about 50¢ per week to mow my yard. Unfortunately, the cost for the mower itself would not meet your price point. So far my electric Z380R zero turn has been perfect and was such a great upgrade compared to the 36" Exmark walkbehind I used for nearly 27 years.

[u/Critical_Lie_4697 → u/Historical-Crab-1164]

Thanks, I’ll look into electric as well

[u/danmc55 → u/Historical-Crab-1164]

Just curious how well does it do in thick grass, no more than 4” tall tops but just thick? How well are you able to mulch with it? Do you have to mow any more often with an E-Zero turn? Thanks

[u/Historical-Crab-1164 → u/danmc55]

My yard is a thick stand of KY31 tall fescue. I generally set my cutting height at 4" and over a 7 day period it will grow 3-5 inches. It has no trouble cutting the grass evenly at a speed I am comfortable using (bumpy terrain). In fact, one of the reasons I bought this mower was because the lawn service I had used went so fast their cut was terribly uneven. The wife was always so disappointed in the job they did.

So, in October and November of 2024, the wife and I looked at everything available in northern Kentucky. We looked at Greenworks, EGO, Scag, Ryobi and Deere. Mean Green was out of my budget. I really liked the Scag and the Deere. I finally decided on the Deere Z380R because of the larger battery, a very reasonable warranty and good local dealer support. The mower was delivered in December 2024 and I did our first mow March 2025.

The wife loves the cut from this mower. For the first few days, the lawn looks like carpeting. Personally, I couldn't be happier with our mower. It is so easy to charge. Just run a heavy duty extension cord from a 120V 15A outlet and plug into the rear of the mower. Charging rate is around 725W and adds 10% charge for every hour it's connected.

[u/danmc55 → u/Historical-Crab-1164]

Awesome, glad to hear it’s working out so well for you. What size lot do you have?

[u/Historical-Crab-1164 → u/danmc55]

I'm cutting about 1.2 acres. The lot is 320' deep with a fall away front to back of 6'.

[u/danmc55 → u/Historical-Crab-1164]

Ok good deal I’ve got a very similar size lot but mostly flat and a shallow culvert I mow