Driving Made Easy

When contractors decide to make the switch from either a tractor or walk-behind mower to a zero-turn mower, there’s a learning process involved. Contractors who are unfamiliar with how to operate a zero-turn mower should consult with their dealer on proper operating procedures, says Jeff Haltom, vice president and general manager, Dixie Chopper, Coatesville, Ind.

“It is a lot different,” Haltom says. “Normally when a customer goes to a dealer, there is a training process,” he explains. “They want to review the manual and get familiar with the machine. It operates much differently because the brakes are actually in your hands. It’s kind of like operating a skid-steer loader. The average contractor can pick it up pretty quickly, but everyone needs a little training, especially someone who has never operated it.”

Many operators may not realize it, but they’ve already practiced driving a zero-turn mower while they’re grocery shopping, says Jack Drobny, a product manager with Cub Cadet, Cleveland, Ohio. “If someone says, ‘I just don’t know how to operate this unit,’ the simplest analogy I use is, ‘Do you know how to push a shopping cart? Drobney explains. “When you go left, what do you do? When you go right, what do you do? Then they show me the hand motion, and I say, ‘You just learned how to drive a zero-turn mower.’”

Jim Forrester, distributor manager with Encore Manufacturing Co. in Beatrice, Neb., gives first-time zero-turn operators a similar explanation. “I tell them how to push the right hand and go left and how to push the left hand and go right,” he says. “It’s as simple as that. I have a 13-year-old who after 10 minutes of training can operate it quite well.”