Zero Turn Mower Questions

[Carl_NH]

Duds - yes my 15 yo Ferris IS2000 and 500 hours has the old style deck and i only get stragglers in thin wispy grass - I think the grass bends instead of getting cut.
Overall, very happy with the cut and stripes too.

Around here lawn services run mostly Scag, then Exmark, and quite a few have Walker with the vacuum too which are $$$

Then as WinterDeere said, brands are a regional thing - dealer support etc. Very few JD ZT in this area.

 

[WinterDeere]

I wonder if, as a homeowner buying a commercial-duty machine, one wanting to use dealer service might actually be better off with a brand less popular in their region? I say that because, the homeowner repair and service tags are almost always going to get queued in behind any dealer's regular commercial customers, and the less popular brands may have a shorter queue or a dealer who's more hungry for their business.

That said, they probably also have less staff and parts inventory, so maybe it all balances out. I do all of my own repair and service, so not an issue I've ever had to think a whole lot about.

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

The great thing about mowers, they are simple machines. After 7 years, I've never needed a dealer for my Hustler. The only mower service I've needed in the past 20 years, was an engine replacement on my trail mower, which I did myself. Dealers are nice, but if I think Im really going to need them, maybe I need to buy a better brand

 

[Duds13]

I wonder if, as a homeowner buying a commercial-duty machine, one wanting to use dealer service might actually be better off with a brand less popular in their region? I say that because, the homeowner repair and service tags are almost always going to get queued in behind any dealer's regular commercial customers, and the less popular brands may have a shorter queue or a dealer who's more hungry for their business.

That said, they probably also have less staff and parts inventory, so maybe it all balances out. I do all of my own repair and service, so not an issue I've ever had to think a whole lot about.

Not a bad thought! I am lucky in that the Ferris dealer is about 2 miles from my house, so anything major is just a short trip to the dealer. Thankfully it hasn't had any major issues yet.

 

[WinterDeere]

Doing some quick mental math, I might be in this house another 10 - 20 years. My Deere ZTR is a 2007 model at 1400 hours, and I put about 100 hours per year on it. If I believe everyone who claims these are 2000 - 2500 hour machines, and I take better care of my stuff than most, I have another 10 years before parts failures and availability become constrained enough to warrant replacing the machine.

At that point, I'll have to decide if it's even worth buying a new commercial ZTR for whatever years I have remaining in the house. But if I do, I think a full-suspension machine like the Ferris would be high on my list of preferences.

 

[CH4Ohio]

Doing some quick mental math, I might be in this house another 10 - 20 years. My Deere ZTR is a 2007 model at 1400 hours, and I put about 100 hours per year on it. If I believe everyone who claims these are 2000 - 2500 hour machines, and I take better care of my stuff than most, I have another 10 years before parts failures and availability become constrained enough to warrant replacing the machine.

At that point, I'll have to decide if it's even worth buying a new commercial ZTR for whatever years I have remaining in the house. But if I do, I think a full-suspension machine like the Ferris would be high on my list of preferences.

By that time you'll just have Amazon or their successor drop off a robotic mower that your AI android assistant will operate and maintain.

 

[WinterDeere]

By that time you'll just have Amazon or their successor drop off a robotic mower that your AI android assistant will operate and maintain.

You joke, but I honestly would be an ideal candidate, for that! I remember shopping autonomous robotic mowers back in 2011, before I got my ZTR, but they just weren't ready yet.

 

[Carl_NH]

I also do all repairs on my equipment, source the parts and fix - the local Ferris dealer is knowledgeable in answering questions - like the gas assist cylinders on the steering arms - as they get stiffer when they get warm - there is a modified gas strut retrofit for $150 that fixes it.

The only "major" failure in 500 hours was the Kawasaki stator failed/shorted out which was a $100 replacement.

I did add a hydro oil cooler as I tow a Trac Vac and this adds load to the drive system.

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

I only average 50 hours per year, mowing 3 acres per week during the growing season.

I’m sitting at 290 hours now. So my machine has about 34 years left. I’ll be 83…

Pretty likely I wont own another mower I’m glad I bought what I wanted.

 

[WinterDeere]

my machine has about 34 years left.

Availability of parts could be what obsoletes yours, before totally worn-out. You'd better hope they sell a crap-ton of those things, to make for a healthy "vintage parts" market!

I've owned a few tractors in the 30 - 50 year old range, and whenever a part is needed, there's always that initial angst over whether you'll be able to find one! Thankfully, each of my very old machines (Deere & Cub Cadet) had enough support to carry me through on OEM parts, and enough of a used market to support repair of any accessories and add-ons.

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

It’s a Hustler X-One. Standard motor. Standard drive units (Parker)

Not sure that there are many proprietary parts

My Buell 1125R is pretty rare, and I can still find plenty of parts for it, 18 years after their going out of business. It was very proprietary.

 

[ernemats]

Has anyone had any experience with the Greenworks commercial ztr. They seem to have good reviews and look to be very heavy built. Also how do ztr's do on slopes?

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

Has anyone had any experience with the Greenworks commercial ztr. They seem to have good reviews and look to be very heavy built. Also how do ztr's do on slopes?

My experience with ZTRs on slopes has been... My commercial unit at 1300 pounds has never slipped. Homeowner units at half the weight, won't hold the mildest slopes.

 

[CH4Ohio]

You joke, but I honestly would be an ideal candidate, for that! I remember shopping autonomous robotic mowers back in 2011, before I got my ZTR, but they just weren't ready yet.

I was only half joking. At the rate we're going with autonomous cars and drone deliveries, and AI . . . there might be a service that flies in and clips our lawn on demand in 20 years. No more maintenance issues.

 

[WinterDeere]

Has anyone had any experience with the Greenworks commercial ztr.

No experience with Greenworks, but a cousin has been running an EGO eZTR for several years, and loves it. He has all EGO OPE, and a whole fleet of those batteries, so he can just move the batteries between machines, when needed.

The EGO is slower and less heavily-built than my Deere commercial ZTR, yet I believe it weighs the same or more, due to carrying heavy batteries and electric motors. So, I'm not a fan of their capabilities for a large property, but I can definitely see the appeal of their quiet and more maintenance-free operation.

Also how do ztr's do on slopes?

They're great when facing up a hill, but terrible when facing down a hill. Side slope action is variable, mostly dependent on how wet the grass is.

You learn over time, especially when the grass is less than perfectly dry, to make your K-turns such that you're facing uphill on big slopes. You can face down hill, it's not like you're likely to go freewheeling down the hill, but you will experience more tire slippage and divots whenever trying to back up a hill with a ZTR.

I was only half joking. At the rate we're going with autonomous cars and drone deliveries, and AI . . . there might be a service that flies in and clips our lawn on demand in 20 years. No more maintenance issues.

They're coming! The ones available in 2011 were already impressive, but really not suitable for lots much bigger than 1 acre. But we've been using an autonomous laser-guided robotic vacuum for nearly 20 years now, and they're a huge time-saver. A mower is the next natural extension of that idea, albeit with whirring things that can cut off feet.

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

So I was curious about my mowing speed today. I have an app I use for when I'm spraying, so here it is. This is 90,000sq feet of lawn, and a 72" deck.

This was at a little faster pace than previous weeks, because the grass was only 7-8" tall. It has been 10-12".

 

[bigtiller]

Nice, straight lines.
I'd have to have auto-steer to drive that straight.

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

Nice, straight lines.
I'd have to have auto-steer to drive that straight.

Hustler commercial units have really nice steering. Their non commercial units not so much

 

[GrandpaSmurf825]

I also do all repairs on my equipment, source the parts and fix - the local Ferris dealer is knowledgeable in answering questions - like the gas assist cylinders on the steering arms - as they get stiffer when they get warm - there is a modified gas strut retrofit for $150 that fixes it.

The only "major" failure in 500 hours was the Kawasaki stator failed/shorted out which was a $100 replacement.

I did add a hydro oil cooler as I tow a Trac Vac and this adds load to the drive system.

Have you ever tried Gator blades? I switched my Simplicity/Ferris from stock and it made a different mower out of it. Before in green sappy grass it would not discharge smoothly and if I stopped and idled the engine down with the deck engaged a bunch of clumped grass would fall out and some would be discharged. Then the deck would have lots of grass packed in too underneath. With the Gator blades there is very little that sticks to the deck and it spreads the clippings out evenly. Amazon is the best place to order them from. They have a hardened edge that stays sharp longer too. Looks like the part number is 96-344 for your machine.

I think my Simplicity Cobalt is the orange twin to the Ferris IS2100. 28 HP EFI Vanguard engine.

 

[Carl_NH]

Hi GranpaSmurf - yes I run Gator blades - I bought a 9 Pack 12 years ago and still some new ones! They are the .250" thick version - so I swap them out usually 2x per year and have a set sharp ready to go all the time.

This only happens on specific grasses where little grass is present so I double cut those small areas mowing the other direction takes care of it.

Yes, your Cobalt is almost identical to my machine - here's a few pics from 2025 - 15 yrs old.