Originally Posted by imow in NC
Throwing my 2 cents worth in here. I have read all the post so far, and in my situation, we use 2 ZTR's (42" and 52") for the man bulk of lawns; .23 to 6.0 acres. We have 3 21" TRIM mowers, and commercial string trimmers.
That being said, our terrain is flat, all flat with the exception of a few minor slopes on ditch banks and such (<1%). With correct training, we are able to accomplish a very nice mow pattern on all these lawns. It seems, that 21" push trim mowers have a very short shelf life at minimum cost to operate. However, utilizing them as the main mowers distracts from the ultimate goal of profitability. That is the reason we are in business.
This is why everyone is so different on this forum. Your main bulk is .23 acres, the largest we do is .30 acres with push mowers. I know Wilmington really well, and there is no way a "push mower model" would work there.