Lowest Acceptable Horsepower

[Jack]

I have been reading various post on mowers, and engines. I have a question, with a 36" and a 48" walk behind, what would the lowest acceptable or recommended horsepower be on a mower.

[grasshopper]

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On a 36" I would not get anyhting smaller than (or even bigger than ) a 15 hp. On a 48" I would never have use for anythign bigger than a 17 hp. Some people may, but if all you are doing is residential lawns than I don't see a need for more than that. Plus, the bigger the engine, the more fuel it burns. This will add up througout the months and will be considerably more over the course of a year.

[qualitylandscaping]

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My 48" WB has a 14hp Kawasaki. I ride a velke and have never had a problem with not having enough HP.

My 48" ZTR has a 19hp Kawaski and I haven't had a HP issue with that either, although I haven't actually used it very much yet.

I would consdier the following as averages:

WALKBEHINDS
21"- 6hp
32"- 10hp
36"- 12hp
48"- 14hp
52"- 17hp
54"- 17hp
60"- 19hp

ZTRS
48"- 19hp
54"- 23hp
60"- 25hp
72"- 28hp

[Scaper-S2k]

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Nothing smaller than a 12.5hp on the 36". Nothing under a 15hp on the 48".

[Jack]

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thanks guys, I appreciate the input.

[dancom]

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i have a 36" wb with a 12 hp i have never had a problem with power. as a mater of fact that mower stripes beter than the rest of my mowers. my 48" wb has a 14 kaw. and it has great power too

[dancom]

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my first grasshopper mower was a true ztr and had a 16 hp mower and a 48" deck it was crap i took it back after two weeks and got a 20 hp 52"mid deck grasshopper. the place i bought it from sold the 16 hp to two other people and they both returned it. it was very slow and did not cut grass well. as a mater of fact my 17 hourse crapsman riding mower was just as fast as it.

[CCLS]

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at least 12 hp for a 32 or 36. 16 or 17 hp for 48's.