My introduction to zero-turn lawn mowers came many, many moons ago. I was working for a landscape maintenance company. When the ownership of the company changed hands, new equipment was introduced. One of the first pieces was a Scag riding mower. We nicknamed it “The Sprint Car”. It wasn’t super fast, but it was compact. It also was a zero-turn.
It was love at first mow.
Not only could it turn on a dime, this thing allowed us to get really close to edges. Mowing around obstacles such as trees, became extremely easy. This saved quite a bit of time. The maneuverability was off the chart!
Alas, the day came where I had to return to “civilian” life, at least where mowing the lawn was concerned. Fortunately, I didn’t have a huge lawn so I there wasn’t a need for a large mower. Even though I no longer had need of one, the memory of zero-turn mowing lingered on.
Fast forward a number of years.
The opportunity came to purchase a home. It was on just under 1/2 acre which took about an hour and half to mow with a standard 21″ mower. The time had arrived where a riding lawn mower would be a great asset. Unfortunately, a zero-turn was not on the list. It was certainly considered, but the expense just couldn’t be justified.
So standard lawn tractor it was. And it was nice! My mowing time was cut down to half. Unfortunately the having to reverse and/or make really wide sweeps in order to do a 180 degree turn-around was inefficient. C’est la vie. Definitely a 1st World Problem.
Fast forward to the present.
During our relocation from Montana to Tennessee I parted ways with my lawn tractor. We found it a good home where it will be loved and well taken care of. I know it is a happy lawn mower. It’s new owners are good people.
Our new home came with a little over an acre. That’s a decent amount of mowing needed. With that amount of yard, a new lawn mower was in store. This time, I was able to get a Cub Cadet ZT1 zero-turn mower.
And there was much rejoicing!
I mowed our lawn for the first time on the new machine. Oh, the bliss! Not only was I able to get the job done fairly quickly, the maneuverability: AWESOME! It all came flooding back to me. The memories of zero-turn happiness rushed through my veins. Soon, muscle memory took over and I was mowing like there was no tomorrow. But there is a tomorrow. Pretty soon, it will be time to mow the lawn again.
Oh, zero-turn, how I have missed thee!
(Photo by: Derek Close)
It’s the little things in life that really matter!
Sometimes it really is!