Hope this quick tutorial helped you guys out! Thanks for the video idea, if you guys have other tips or ideas you want to see regarding mowing, just lmk in the comments! 👊
I run a grounds crew, and the first thing I tell my crew is to slow down and never turn around on the side walks or the driveway!!! When I turn I use the 3 pt in the grass and never have a issue with tearing up the lawn and if it’s wet or damp just SLOW DOWN!!! But I use the same thing as you I always redo my outline afterwards. Thanks for all your tips and videos man they are very helpful!!
As a home owner with 2/3 of an acre to mow on a zero turn and have been tearing up my lawn the whole time. All I can say is many thanks for the info and great explanation of the three point turn for the mower to keep from tearing up my lawn. Hope things are great and stay safe Brian.
I've been trying tips like these. I like watching his videos because he has great videos. Normally, I just ignore the marks I make when turning. With a 2 1/2 acre front yard in the country the armadillos do more damage than an occasional tire mark.
Perfect timing on me finding this vid, bought my 1st zero turn yesterday and was looking for tips to not tear up the grass and already watch your videos, thanks.
I try to stay off driveways and side walks. My customers don't like the black tire Mark's, and I don't like the ground in grass stain Mark's it leaves. Great video Brian, spot on.
Thanks, Brian, I'm teaching my 14-year-old teen the lawn mowing business and your videos really help out. We are just starting to video our mowing so one day we are gonna be big. Thank you.
"Awesome Brian, as soon as you asked the question put before you, I also use concrete if dry, If grass wet you will leave grass clippings and some dirt smudged onto the concrete. Good Job
Thanks for these tips. I had a troy bilt zero turn with a steering wheel.. Just got an Ariens edge with levels. I knew there was a learning curve but geez. I was turning like you but was going straight back. I'm going to practice the way you do it. Turn, Backup while turning then line up and go easy. Love the deck on the edge for a residential but it is a rough ride on bumps. I felt like I was on a wild bronco. Had it a few days AND GETTING BETTER. The first day my neighbors got a good laugh and I have touch up paint handy.
Good video. Turning without lawn damage has been a challenge where I am in KS as we have had the wettest summer on record and easy to tear up some turf. Like you I try to avoid turning on the sidewalk in wet conditions as if you track wet grass on the sidewalk/driveway it is hard to get it off with a blower. Rain has kept grass growing like crazy here but been challenging conditions to mow and leave it looking good.
Great video like always. Best Hint you gave the people is Slow down in turns, keep wheels always moving your machine is not a race car. I stay away from concrete side walks and driveways as much a I can my tires seem to always leave some marks even if I do a really big turn. I have learned that if you want to do a zero turn make sure you only do them on lawns that are thick with grass. If you can see the dirt or it is not like a carpet then you will increase your chances of tear out. I use a T25i walker with a 36" deck and those narrow tires so have I have to take my time on those turns. SLOW but keep those wheels always moving and do not take of fast.
I live on a farm but I mow my front lawn for aesthetics. The yard is about 10 acres which includes a three acre pond. Sometimes it is a bit wet up close to the pond and as you probably know, a zero turn will get stuck in a heartbeat. I changed my turf tires out with a set of ATV V-notch tires which are pretty aggressive. I can still get stuck but it’s now pretty rare. As far as not tearing up the lawn, I practice almost the very same maneuvers on my mower that you described and my grass looks great. Basically, if you go easy on the sticks when turning you shouldn’t be tearing up your grass.
Just hit my first 1,500 dollar week! Owning my own Landscaping business...finally my dream is coming true...I've been scaping for 15 years and finally my own!! Thanks Brian for all you do, you are awesome, financially and charging for jobs is the hard part not charging too much and not charging too little. Thanks Brian for you financial insight, it has helped me!
Good video. The 3 point turn was done nice and slow and deliberate so it was easy to see what was happening. I operated a zero turn commercially in high school in the 90's. Basically never stop a tire and pivot on it because it will create divots in the lawn. Slow as you approach the turn around point. Keep the outside wheel turning a steady speed and slight the lever for the inside wheel back thru the stopped position into a reverse position then slide it back to forward drive as the mower is lining up. I agree with the turning on paved surfaces vs. grass depending on how wet it is. If it is wet you will end up with grass stain tracks on concrete surfaces.
END THE MADDNESS !!! great, great video Brian. Turf tear is a huge problem, and perhaps the number one complaint coming from our customers. As you pointed out in this video, Lapbar mowers are very technique sensitive, and require us to slow down and do 3 point turns. The NEW zeroturn mowers,, however, (e.i. Cub Cadet Pro Z 54,60 or 72 inch mowers) have TURF TEAR REDUCTION TECHNOLOGY built right into them. For the last four years I do a 3 point turn (only if the grass is very thin). As the outside wheel rotates forward, when the steering wheel is FULLY turned, the inside wheel is engineered to automatically rotate backwards (eliminating TURF TEAR). ITS TRULY AMAZING.....We are 10-15% faster on these mowers than our Exmark and Scag lapbar mowers. I actually did not believe my dealer until I used one of these mowers for a week or two. Customers love the look of their lawns and I enjoy the increased productivity. Best of all, there is no learning curve......You can trust that a new employee won"t be tearing the heck out of fav customer's lawn. Again, love the video and thank you for addressing this important matter.
My Ferris 400S was dropped off yesterday and I was practicing with it and if you are Someone who is thinking about getting a ZT but stumbled upon this video and are worried I can tell you with confidence if the grass is dry doing a 180 won't leave ruts now it could be bc my grass is short time will tell I did ask the gent who dropped it off he said 3PTs are in the spring time I will update as time goes on
Cut my grass for the first time with my ZT last week even with coming up with a new route on the fly and doing slow 180s I went from roughly 2 hours on a traditional tractor to 42 minutes 12 in the front which took me roughly 25 minutes
@@derek8339 exactly.. mow blow and go minimum amount of work just enough to make it not look shity it's a disgrace a lot of these lawn crews these days... none of them bag all of them blow grass in the beds or leave clumps, build your yard up with thatch.... and hardly a damn single one or willing to bag And yes with the turf I have on my property I can absolutely say this... let me know your email if you want pictures....
I have a big Cubcadet GTX 2000 garden tractor and I mow on a hill. As you said, do not spin the tires. It would help if I had positraction but one will spins. Now only dry grass and I mow at the maximum deck height so that I’m not ripping up turf when mowing close to trees.
sidewalk turns if dry grass. wet grass keep on lawn so u dont make a mess. most any hard surface is preferable. heres advanced tip. watch your front tires, they tear up lawn also. u should be able to spin them so they roll in a circular motion at all times. if you want to double cut the lawn, try super stripes. its every third line as you turn around hit the white stripe and you wont have to do any 3pt or zero turn. very handy also if you want to run the same pattern two weeks in a row. and watch your edging on the sidewalk. Last thing, when you cut the front lawn, u started your pattern on the wrong side. start your pattern where the driveway meets the sidewalk. (opposite angle opposite starting side.) it makes your turns easier. you can also do it next to fences or curbs and back into your next stripe, leaving you with a crisp one perimiter cut at the end. nice stripes btw. for an exmark. lol
I have three areas of my yard, each handled differently. In the very front (closest to road/sidewalk), every effort to minimize lawn damage (slower, careful wide turns on sidewalks if possible). In the middle (behind house), just get the grass cut (neatly, but not overly so). At the very back (uneven, large rocks, etc), it's play time (fast, spinning turns, run over stuff, etc).
Kicking up grass and tearing it up is my favorite part about my zero turn! I've never had so much fun mowing grass. I used to hate mowing the lawn with my lawn tractor. It's my own lawn, so I'll tear it up any way I want. 😉
I always use sidewalk for turning; I even travel farther to get to sidewalk; I do anything to avoid turning on grass. one section where I would do 180 degree turn I go to sidewalk, turn, and get back on grass. what is opposite of sharp turn ? broad or wide turn,. on wide turn I got damage from zero turn. also, I keep my seat adjusted as far forward as possible to keep weight on front wheels. I also avoid mowing on wet grass; I see more scalping on wet grass. anywhere I see commercial mowing with zero turn I see lawn damage. only benefit of zero turn is very easy to steer. excellent video
Always try to turn around on sidewalks and driveways but avoid leaving tire tracks which only happened to me when it's wet or if you're in too big of a hurry... if you turn around in the grass every time it will end up looking bad because you will have turnaround marks instead of a straight line where the stripe continues right through... also over time in these areas it will start to weaken the grass underneath... Brian does it perfectly in this video and that extra trim pass on a wet day if he cannot turn around in the driveway is crucial...
Thanks so much for the tips on turning. This is an issue for me, taking my tractor around trees. I'd find that I left tears and tracks when turning around trees, especially on damp lawns. I corrected this by using a three-point turn method similar to how the driving schools here in Texas teach you to turn around on a two-lane road. Run up to a half turn "J" pattern, back up in a simicircle the opposite way, then proceed forward turning back to mow in the opposite direction from which I approached. A mouthful, but it stopped the ruts, tracks, or tears. As always, I'm open for better ideas and again, thanks Brian for this video and your turning tips!
Im telling a family member this tomorrow because the past year hes been complaining about ruts developing when doing a turn around in his lawn after each stripe. Stalling one tire in the same place clearly has been his culprit. Good tips thanks man!
Had problems with partially worn Carlisle Turf Saver, and changed them to Turf Master tread and now almost never slip or tear up grass if inflated properly! Def watch the tire pressure!
Brian I’m loving your tip videos lately! Great content. But I have a request. How about a “how to mow with morning dew” this can be hard bc of clumping issues and make blowing hard
Gosh I was gonna grab footage of that this morning, but we had a crazy situation come up. I’ll try next week to film something. Short answer: it stinks!! Everything is soaked lol
Brian thank you very much for taking your time to reply! And I have push back my start times but here in Illinois with it getting cooler I’m battling dew untill about 10:30!!
I’m very new to learning how to mow right, I appreciate all the advice and it’s neat to put the advice to practice and see the outcomes. It’s great to hear you say you always go back around at the end to get rid of the turn lines too. Since I’ve been learning how to mow the right way I’ve been doing that on my own. 😀
What tire pressure do you mow at standard overinflated or under? Our stander mower the psi inflation says 8 psi which sounds low to me but I am newer to mowing
Would love to see a video of avoiding scalping when mowing shorter lawns around 2 inch uneven lawns are frustrating. My anti scalp wheels are in the front center of the deck on my wright stander. Feel like if it had side wheels on the deck it would be a lot better.
A technique my friend taught me was to find a point to look ahead, you don't even need to look at the ground and the lines are straight. This works really well for very bumpy yards
If the sidewalks, driveway or the street are available to make turns, I use them versus turning on the grass. My Gravely 260 is brand new and those back tires grip the grass even when doing three point turns and going around trees. For some reason, I'm still tearing up grass (divots) in areas even going super slow and consciously trying not to lock up the pivot wheel... still happens.
@RU-vid Sucks ass It's not bad, but you have to adjust the front baffles to get a good cut. Many people just remove them entirely and it stripes great. The problem is you get blow out from the front of the deck back onto the operator. I'm looking at gravely 52" pro stance with the Kawasaki 730 EFI motor. Now that thing is sweet!
Great tips. On a standup u have to do more of a slow y or k turn since the weight isnt as displaced as on a sit down. So u have to go SLOW, and keep that inside wheel spinning like u said to keep from pivoting and ripping up the grass. Turning on the sidewalk is good when its dry but Make sure your tires arent muddy from bare spots or mud under trees. Great tip about re doing the boundary after making lots of turnarounds on the grass
I like how you do it man. I've seen so many dudes out there just gunning it and whipping it around. I tend to not turn around on driveways especially if it is a wet day cause always leave green stains on the concrete.
@@ralph1478 yes, but many cutters haven't figured that out yet as I see a lot of striping jobs with dark green wheel tracks and noticeably lighter in between. Think this would make a good video
I totally get the advantages of a Zero Turn, I have one. But its so funny to me having to take the thing that turns zero degrees and having to do a 3 point turn that I could just do on a cheaper lawn tractor that doesn't turn as tightly.
It also makes sense to always keep both wheels spinning during your T. I've found at least half of my damage comes from one wheel being still and when trying to turn to fast. Taking off fast is also hard on your transmission and blade clutch if your blades cut off when reversing.
FYI, A portion of my lawn is on an incline. I had a problem with the turf tires on my zero turn spinning on the grass when turning up hill, if it was the least bit moist I would have to be pulled out with a rope. Replaced the tires with ATV knobbys. Now have no problems with getting stuck but have to turn very slowly, those knobby tires really tear up the turf.
Yep, learned this the hard way. My first ZT mower, I assumed meant spin and go lol. I was blaming the tires for ruts and divots. Nope, def operator error. I pass on the 3 point turn to whomever will listen now lol. Nice demo video👍
Operating a stand on mower I’ve noticed with my 48” at least, that if I line my rear tires next to the stripe I just did it’s easier for me to check I’m lining up.
Tip # 5. Buy a zero turn mower with Turf Tear Reduction Technology ( Cub Cadet Pro Z 960 - with a steering wheel). I always do a true zero turn and do not rip the grass. The technology is built right into the mower and the operator does not even have to think about it. If you have a mower (lap bar)….. Brian is completely right….you are forced to slow down and 3pt turn. So to sum it up. If you bought a lap bar mower you REALLY did not buy a zero turn mower. (Sound crazy, ,,,,,that’s why my two lap bar mowers are now my backup mowers. Brian, thanks again for the how to videos. Keep em coming.
I second the tip on tires. I had some tires glazed over (still have tread, but treads were rock hard and would free wheel on both lawn and concrete). Replacing them and getting grip back made a huge difference on my turning. And I do turn on concrete/aggregate where possible, but it is my lawn and my driveway.
If you don’t have chute blocker always turn chute away from objects even if you then back up that extra line over to get where your going. And keep the nose uphill.
We usually turn around on the grass to avoid marking the walkway/sidewalk/ freshly seal coated driveway but they doesnt always happen as we all know lol
On your 3 point turn when you back up your inside tire is pretty much stopped and not rotating. If I did that on my lawn in the spring, it would tear the grass right out. I'd say a less sharp turn when backing would be better. I've also heard it called a Y turn; think that's more descriptive than K.
I'm surprised that tire pressure wasn't mentioned in the video. I've been drivin' myself nuts adding and deflating the rear tires on my Scag. I thought this was the reason it's leaving the "divots" on my turns. Thanks for the info.
I turn around on the grass and the sidewalk also i also 3 point turn but just to aid in not tearing up the grass i will run my tire pressure at 8psi for better grip.
I turn on the grass to: 1). Avoid discoloring the sidewalk/driveway 2). Maintain the ice, tight edging, without weighing it down, by running over it. When I was thirteen/fourteen, working with my grandfather in Florida, he’d “kill” us if we even stepped on the edging, or even walked across the lawn, once cut.
I try to do two laps around the perimeter blowing inward then zero-turn on the grass for residential. I will occasionally turn on the sidewalks on commercial properties, though, but not always.
If there is sidewalk or driveway to turn on, I try to use it, but like you say, when it is wet, the grass tire marks dont come off easily with the blower. Another tip to avoid tearing up the grass is to not mow when it is wet, though that is not always possible. Up here in Maine we have hilly uneven terrain, and another tip is to always turn so your outside tire is downhill when on uneven terrain
When you go up to turn around, go a little further and only use the right arm backwards and the mower will naturally line it's self up for next pass with no ripped grass. Because you are dragging the deck wheels sideways backwards.
My crew lead always told me not to turn around in the sidewalk’s because it would mess up the edging and to cut as close as possible towards that line to save time.
I just bought a bush hog tractor that has zero turn. But I've been tearing up the lawn a little bit I think it's the rear tires or not the turf saver they have the grips on them
For wording when turning when you say inside tire, you may want to say make sure tire stays rolling and not spinning because for beginners I think it’d be easier to understand. I feel like that’s the real trick for it. If not rolling when turn your def gonna twist dig in that inside rear wheel. I prefer turning on the grass personally just for life of my tires. I learned that lesson on my older walk behind with the tow hitch wheels to ride on. I’d tend to do tighter spins because wouldn’t have to worry about grass ripping up and it would create a bald spot on part of the tire. I feel I’d do the same with my rider if turned on pavement.
Good job, im still using a hydro tractor an i started do this awhile back. Its my first year, so stuck with a 46 inch tractor for now. But gonna get a standon next year.. thanks for the tips
Turn around on grass if wet or paved surfaces are light in color. Dry I will turn around on paved surfaces only if blacktop, gravel or other things that won’t show tread marks. Always outline the yard to get rid of the turn around marks, even if I used the paved surface.
I turn around in the grass mainly because we always do 2 outlines, and I also always re outline them to make them look good. Just hate having to take extra time blowing grass off when its stuck from being ran over
I would always make two laps around the yard,house and mostly everything blowing the grass inward. I tried my best to never let the wheels get on the driveway and sidewalks and once I was done cutting I wouldn’t go across the yard with the mower if I had to go around the neighborhood lol lol when I would turn around I would stop and then start backing up and then make the wheel start turning in the opposite direction that I was turning. Basically I called it twisting around which I would start turning in the direction that I was going before I stopped so that when I twisted it around I would pretty much be able to go straight forward. It probably sounds complicated but I bet that it didn’t take but a second or two and neither wheel spun or drug during the process. Back to the sidewalks and driveways I have went to the end of the yard and then over the curb to keep the wheels off of them and I mainly did that when the grass was wet or damp. I didn’t do it everywhere but at places and neighbors that I wanted for it to be perfect.
great video, the seat on that lawn mower is the best you have some nice equipment. and yes the sidewalk is the best to turn if its not wet or the costumer complains.....
I normally do either the 3 point turn or a wide turn leaving one strip uncut between the cut strips it seems a lot faster than trying to finish all the strips as you go.
On a nightly Brian’s binge I guess you would call it, I can’t seem to find a video on your thoughts on the trimmer rack on your mower. I’m on the fence on one and was wondering your thoughts. Thanks for the great content and advice.
New subscriber...have u done a video of when NOT TO BUY/USE A ZERO TURN , based on slope, hills? Dealers say approx 30+ degree slopes forget zero turns...I demo cut my front slope mowing down, with a right turn at the bottom, always slid sideways, same on horizontal cuts on slopes...yet I see landscapers/homeowners use zero turns on same slopes all over town....some up and down, some w a modified horizontal cut on a slight diagonal. IMO ...zero turn I tried was homeowner series w narrower rear tires and no front weights...wide tires and weights I think are key to mowing slope of my yard, as well as avoid scalping even w full float decks sticking to a 50-52” deck. My Simplicity Prestige w power steering and 50” deck I like due to easy turn control around obstacles, but not liking its striped cut or mowing higher...and it is getting tired...reconsidering Exmark or Scag commercial grade next level up over homeowner models, since I mow 3+ times per week during peak growing seasons.
You pretty much nailed it. I call it framing the picture and I do it on every yard. Good time to look over the yard to make sure you did not miss anything. Great videos.
So running ATV tires and dragging the inside pivot tire is a bad idea...got it! TOTALLY makes sense now! LOL!!! And my customers will probably like me not cleaning out my tires on their patio before I leave as well.
Nice. Residential mower guy here and my issue is with the front wheels "grinding" as they spin. Any advice how to reduce that? Even on a T or K turn the front wheel spindles spin as you switch direction front to back - my Scag front wheels seem to grind as the wheels spin.
