Quick Navigation:
- Overview
- MyRIDE Suspension
- Engine
- Mower Handling and Performance on Hills/Rough Terrain
- Quality of Cut
- Accessories
- Conclusion
Overview
Toro has made the 75213 model 60″ Zero Turn Mower a top of the line residential mower and border line commercial mower. This Toro mower boats a 10 gauge fabricated deck, heavy duty ZT-3100 transaxles, a 24.5 Toro branded “commercial” engine and of course, the MyRIDE suspension system which will make a huge difference if you have any sort of rough terrain to mow.
MyRIDE Suspension System
If you have uneven terrain, especially out in the country where your land used to be a pasture you probably know all about a bumpy ride. If you even think about mowing fast then you’d better be wearing a kidney belt! This was a huge problem for me as I have some terrible ruts from just old pasture land and where rain has run off, etc.
With a standard seat they generally just have a couple springs to help absorb some impact. There are also suspension seats which help a great deal (some are adjustable by weight, for example.) Then there is the MyRIDE suspension system from Toro (you’ll see it on some Exmark mowers as well since Toro now owns Exmark.)
The MyRIDE suspension system is really an independent platform that you sit on. You’ll notice when you step on the mower that where your feet go will actually rock back and forth along with the seat. There are also 3 shocks (think of a car shock absorber but smaller) with one right in the middle under the front seat and then two adjustable shocks behind the rider’s seat. You can adjust the two rear ones to give you a lighter ride or stiffer ride depending on your weight.
Engine
The engine in the Toro 75213 60″ is a Toro branded “commercial engine.” This is a relatively new engine that Toro has had designed and manufactured specifically for their mowers (some Exmark mowers use this exact engine also branded as an Exmark instead. Below is a video (by Toro) giving an in depth look at the 24.5 HP engine and also comparing it with the Kohler 7000 series engine (24 HP 725cc) and a Kawasaki FR691V (23 HP).
I do like what Toro is trying to do here. They’ve made some things easier. The air filter is easier to remove/change. The oil drain is a quick drain system that seems to be gaining popularity where the tube is snaked through basically an S shaped bracket to hold the tube upward. When you want to drain the oil you just pull it down and start draining. Great.
The 24.5 HP Toro engine uses a 2 barrel carburetor and the choke system on it uses vacuum to open the choke after starting so the engine doesn’t get flooded in case the operator forgets to shut the choke off. You can tell they’ve put a lot of thought into designing this engine with some improvements to the heads, pistons and rods, etc.
This is where they lose me though. They’re using a nylon gear on a steel crankshaft. I know that nylon gears have improved a lot over the years but this is still a very curious choice by the engineers. Also, this engine is made in China, so keep that in mind.
There is a 5 gallon fuel tank on this mower which is good because as you could expect from a mower of this size it tends to drink gasoline.
All in all I like the engine, the cam gear makes me slightly nervous but they do back it up with a 3 year/unlimited hour residential warranty and a 3 year/300 hour commercial warranty. Time will tell on this engine but so far I have not seen any complaints.
Click here to read the full warranty.
Mower Handling and Performance – Hills/Rough Terrain
WARNING: You should always follow the manufacturer’s recommendations for mowing hills, usually that means don’t mow a slope over 15 degrees. Try to attack the slope in an up and down manner instead of side to side (if you have to lean halfway off the mower to feel stable you’re probably exceeding recommendations!)
With that out of the way, this beast will perform. You’ve got a very wide base with the 60″ deck and with 22″x10″ tires in the back and 13″x6.5″ castor wheels up front you will be able to maintain pretty good traction. You could also fill the tires with a water/glycol solution if you wanted to maintain even better traction.
You will still need to be careful on wet grass as going around turns and down hill might still lead to some slippage and tearing up your lawn. Other than that this mower handles great.
Just keep in mind that with the suspension system you’re probably going to be sitting up a little higher than you are used to. It will throw your center of gravity off a little bit until you get used to it. It will also take some adjustment to get used to the platform rocking as it may cause some herky-jerky movements.
There is no ROPS setup for this mower so just be extra careful on slopes or edges of ditches.
Rough terrain will be made much more comfortable by the MyRIDE suspension. Keep in mind this mower has a max speed of 8.5mph forward (3mph in reverse) and that is pretty darn fast. Bumps will me minimized though, allowing you to mow fast even over the roughest terrain.
Handling is very responsive out of the heavy duty ZT-3100 (pretty much commercial grade) transaxles. You won’t have a problem at all with this.
This mower is meant for yards/properties of 4 acres or more. Though you could certainly mow less with it (you might be done before you even start! JUST KIDDING!)
Quality of Cut
Truthfully, most mowers provide a really good cut these days. I’ve always found Toro to be exceptional in this department though. The cut from their machines just seems perfect.
As you can see there are 3 blades under this 60″ deck. They spin at a rate of 18,908 fpm (feet per minute) which equals about 214mph. FAST. This is the same speed that Toro commercial mowers operate at and 19,000 is the standard safety limit anyway. They are engaged via PTO.
There are 3 anti-scalping wheels on the front of the deck so you don’t tear up your lawn going over little dips and valleys.
You have 13 cutting positions controlled by a foot pedal system ranging between 1-1/2″ to 4-1/2″. To me that is overkill, but to each their own.
Mulching blades are an optional switch out.
Remember to keep your blades sharp, watch out for rocks and debris, and you’ll be happy.
Accessories
This Toro 75213 60″ zero turn mower comes standard with a hitch so you can pull any popular trailer attachment like a Broadcast Spreader, Tow Behind Trailer, Dethatcher, etc. This mower does have a “tow mode” for using any of these attachments.
One neat thing about this mower is that if you look sides of the engine guard you can see it is indented a little. There is also a small ledge at the bottom of each corner. What this allows you to do is bungee a couple 5 gallon buckets to the back of the mower for picking up debris or rocks along the way.
Conclusion
This is one of my favorite mowers. It has the wide cut and speed to really get some grass mowed. It has the MyRIDE suspension seat system to help from beating you kidneys to death. It produces the great cut Toro mowers are known for. This is basically a commercial mower for a heck of a lot less money. For the price and features, I just don’t think you can go wrong if a wide deck, comfortable riding zero turn mower is what you are after.
Affiliate Disclaimer – if you decide to purchase a mower based on my review, I do get a small piece of the sale. It helps to keep the lights on around here. I am very passionate about lawns and mowers and offer my unbiased review towards everything that goes on this site. I research several pages, specs, videos, forums and other reviews of each mower before I post about it so you don’t have to. If I wouldn’t buy it myself, I wouldn’t recommend it to you either.
– Brandon
