Is my Cub Cadet wrecking my lawn?

[BFJones]

I moved into this house 14 years ago. The soil is sandy and the lawn has never been lush but there's always been a cover of grass. Around five years ago I noticed bare patches developing -- just dirt, not even weeds. The patches have spread extensively and ruts have appeared. I made two changes in 2020: Started mulching leaves in place and replaced my old John Deere with a Cub Cadet XT1. The bare spots do not correlate with heavy leaves but do concentrate in narrow spots that the tractor crosses more often. Possibly relevant facts:

• The tires on the Cub Cadet are a couple inches narrower than on the JD
• The front tires wore pretty quickly and started skidding more, so I replaced them with some better quality ones. Haven't seen much difference.
• Sections where there's new soil and grass have fared better.
• I try to avoid sharp turns and don't circle around trees.

So is the tractor responsible? What can I do? Would a zero turn be better? TIA

 

[chieffan]

Talk to your local AG Chem. dealer. They are more up soil conditions, etc. My 2 cents, sandy soil will be hard to maintain a good stand of grass year after year. Sandy soil does not maintain the nutrients required to maintain a good stand of grass.

 

[4getgto]

I highly doubt its the tractor but you can try to mow higher and in different direction to see if that helps or at least eliminate that possibility.
Like Roger said above have you soil tested...

 

[Cvans]

Not likely to be the tractor. You might have a fungus in the soil.

 

[Lily'sDad]

Is your lawn shaded by trees in those areas?

 

[BFJones]

Is your lawn shaded by trees in those areas?

Most of the lawn is shaded. But it did have grass before.

 

[chieffan]

Shortage of rain so the trees are sucking up the moisture?