Riding mower recommendation for Empire Zoysia

graysilm – posted 23 March 2011 16:09

I have an empire zoysia lawn, and I love the way the grass looks, however I hate cutting it. Right now I have two mowers. The first is a 21″ craftsman 6.75 torque engine, rear bagger. This mower struggles with my grass. It bogs down, and the bag will not fill up with clippings because the clippings stack up at the front of the bag and will not blow all the way into the bag. My second mower is one I purchased used and its a commercial grade tru cut reel mower. I have the same problem bagging with this mower. All the clippings stack up at the front of the plastic tub, and will not fill up the tub. This mower also finds every little bump in my yard, and it does a sorry job if i am a day or two late cutting the grass. I want a riding lawn mower but I am not sure what to look for in one. I want a mower that won’t bog down, and will bag the grass. I was thinking one with a high hp motor, and a narrow cutting width. Can anyone give any advice on what to look for like HP, cutting width, RPM, bagging attachments. I really want to know what the best riding mower is for empire zoysia. Thanks.

GolfSuper – posted 24 March 2011 07:12

I have spent the last seven years as a golf course superintendent – managing zoysiagrass fairways .. and NOTHING works better on zoysia than a reel-mower.

Zoysia, especially during the growing season is going to require you to mow consistently to keep up with the clippings.

In terms of specific mowers to look at, I have heard that the Trimmer brand of reel mowers are very good at managing zoysia lawns, speficially Empire and Emerald.

Hope this helps and good luck!

-Perry Whaley Owner, Consultant Green Fairways

graysilm – posted 24 March 2011 15:52

Not the answer I was hoping to hear, but thanks. Anybody here have positive results with a riding mower on zoysia?

GolfSuper – posted 25 March 2011 13:10

You can have success with a rotary mower in zoysia.

My advice would be to make sure to always keep the blades sharp and choose a mower with a decent amount of horsepower.

-Perry Whaley pw*****@gr***********.net

awin4me – posted 18 April 2011 01:11

Ok, a John Deere or Cub Cadet or any decent sized horsepower engine will do just fine on Zoysia. I mow mine with a Cubbie 23 HP Kohler engine with mulching blades. I mow it once a week and it does it well.