At first glance, there may not seem to be all that much of a difference between your everyday lawn tractor or riding mower and a Zero Turn Mower.
Under the hood (metaphorically speaking, of course) nothing could be further from the truth!
These two pieces of lawn equipment are diametrically opposite one another in the way they work, in the results that they produce, and in the overall efficiency that they are capable of.
Check out the rest of the inside info below to figure out if a riding mower or a zero turn option is right for you!
Riding Mowers/Lawn Tractors
The overwhelming majority of people that have lawns that need to be cared for are pretty familiar with riding mowers or lawn tractors.
Effortless to operate, they work the same way that the overwhelming majority of vehicles in your life work – controlled by a steering wheel, a throttle system, and with two wheels that dictate the direction of your vehicle upfront.
Some models include a Power Take Off (PTO) that allows you to hook up a number of different attachments – including garden carts, lawn sprayers, augers, rototillers, and more – really opening up a lot of flexibility and a lot of versatility that other pieces of lawn equipment just don’t bring to the table.
On the flip side of things, however, this kind of lawn equipment has a large turn radius that makes it rather imprecise when you are maintaining your lawn. Not only do you have to go over the same spots you’ve already mowed multiple times, damaging the health of your lawn along the way, but it also takes you a lot longer to properly cut your lawn – and usually with unsightly “lines” running through the lawn where you had to double over.
Zero Turn Mower (ZTM)
Zero Turn Mower technology, on the other hand, is the kind of lawn mowing equipment you’ve likely seen commercial landscaping companies utilise.
Professional landscapers take advantage of this kind of technology because of its speed, because of its efficiency, and because of its ability to cut cleaner and more consistently.
Because this technology is so often seen in the hands of professionals only a lot of people are under the impression that it’s difficult to control, difficult to maneuver, or prohibitively expensive. None of that is really true, though.
In fact, more and more homeowners and property owners are discovering the many benefits of ZTM technology – more here in Australia now than ever before.
Not only does a ZTM system provide for a much more consistent result (thanks to its large deck and specialty engineering), but it also allows you to pivot on a dime, spin in place, and zip around your property quickly and efficiently so that you can cut your lawn in between 50% and 70% less time than it used to take you.
Your position high atop the ZTM also gives you better visibility, and while the control scheme does take a little bit of time to get used to (control arms or control bars versus a steering wheel) once you get the hang of things it becomes easy to pilot and a real joy to use.
People are flocking to this lawn equipment left and right because of the myriad of benefits it offers. And it certainly doesn’t hurt that the prices on this kind of lawn equipment have never been better!