Baby ZTR Mowers

[Bird]

I used to have a 38" Toro ZTR and 4 years ago, sold it and bought their top of the line homeowner walk behind mower. I really liked that little ZTR except for 2 things: (1) I did not get the bagging kit with it, and (2) it would not fit through 3 foot gates.

So to the best of my knowledge, the Dixon SpeedZTR 30 was the only ZTR that would fit through 3 foot gates. There is apparently only one Dixon dealer in this area and the one time I stopped there to see one of the small machines, they didn't have one. The lady said they sell those as fast as they can get them for $2,699 plus tax.

Yesterday, my walk behind Toro shredded a drive belt. At 4 years old, it was still under warranty, so I took it to my dealer. That turned out to be expensive because I saw a couple of small ZTRs sitting out front. Toro now has a new TimeCutterｮ SS3200 that will go through the 3 foot gates. Suggested retail $2,499, but my dealer prices them at $2,299 to start with. And Toro even has slightly better interest rates if you want to finance one.

I DO NOT own any interest in Toro, am not trying to sell them, and since this is their first year for this model, I don't even know if they'll turn out to be any good; just thought I'd let everyone know if you should need a small ZTR for city lots and such.


And I just made a deal for one myself. They have to order the bagging kit and will deliver it sometime next week.

 

[bjr]

The small 30" Dixon bagging kit is worthless, I fought one from brand new for 10 years. It simply did not work. The chute tube would constantly plug. I finally bought a lawn sweeper.$300 It doesn't do a great job but is a whole lot better than fighting that dixon mess. bjr

 

[Bird]

The small 30" Dixon bagging kit is worthless, I fought one from brand new for 10 years. It simply did not work. The chute tube would constantly plug. I finally bought a lawn sweeper.$300 It doesn't do a great job but is a whole lot better than fighting that dixon mess. bjr

Ouch! I hope that's not the case with the Toro. When I had the Toro ZTR before, I didn't have a bagger, but like you, I had the lawn sweeper (and a dethatcher) I towed behind the mower. I now have a Mantis tiller with the dethatcher. It'll do a better job, but it sure works an old man, too.

 

[Bird]

The dealer got my bagging kit in and installed today. Besides the bags and chute, the kit included a new high lift blade, an engine guard, a trailer hitch, and a front weight. It remains to be seen how well it works.

 

[buckle97]

Nice looking mower, Bird :thumbsup:. You didn't waste any time using your new trailer either.

You mentioned this models ability to fit through a three foot gate. I assume the bagger chute prevents this ability? Do you still have a need to fit through a three foot gate?

 

[Bird]

You mentioned this models ability to fit through a three foot gate. I assume the bagger chute prevents this ability? Do you still have a need to fit through a three foot gate?

With the bagger, it won't even fit through a 4' gate, or the door to the storage building where it'll be kept.:laughing: But fortunately, it's pretty easy to remove the things that need removing to put it away. And no, I don't really need to fit through a 3' gate anymore, although that's the only way into the back yards of the neighbors on either side of me, and they're nice folks, so I don't mind helping them a bit now and then. Back when I sold the other ZTR, I was going through a 3' gate at one daughter's place pretty regularly but they now have a double drive gate in addition to the 3' gate, and they've been doing their own mowing.

Of course at my own home, I have a 4' gate on the north side of the house and a double drive gate on the other side, but I don't intend to use the bagger all the time. I'll definitely use it for leaves in the Fall and the first mowing (scalping) in the Spring.

 

[Bird]

The small 30" Dixon bagging kit is worthless, I fought one from brand new for 10 years. It simply did not work. The chute tube would constantly plug. I finally bought a lawn sweeper.$300 It doesn't do a great job but is a whole lot better than fighting that dixon mess. bjr

I sure wondered about this Toro with a bagger until today. Whooo, it sure sucked up the stuff and packed it in the bags; never even came close to clogging the chute. But it makes me wonder about your Dixon. This Toro "bagging kit" included a removable front weight and bracket it fits into, an optional engine guard, the optional trailer hitch, and perhaps most importantly, the optional high lift blade (all part of the bagging kit). I mowed once with the original blade and no bagger, then today I used the bagger, but I also tried a little mowing without the bagger. Now the dealer gave me the original blade after they installed the high lift blade, but I think I'm going to just stay with the high lift whether I'm using the bagger or not. The original blade cut just fine, but the high lift blade blows the clippings out from the under the deck better than the original blade.

 

[bjr]

On the 30" Dixon the last 10 yrs. I Tried Hi-lift with the winglets that bolt on the outer ends of the blades. I kept the rubber seal around the the bottom of the deck in good shape. I mowed short grass that was dry. I tried all sort of things as I really wanted to be able to remove the clippings, but, still plugged the chute. I do have an area of the lawn that remains wet, I had to mow without the bagger attachment and then hand rake and pick up manually. Finally, I just went out and bought the lawn sweeper. bjr

 

[Bird]

I don't know how this Toro would do it the grass were wet, but when I finished playing with it yesterday, I raised the front end to see how dirty the bottom of the deck was, and it wasn't dirty. The dry grass was blown out clean, although some of the grass is certainly green enough to have high moisture content, just not wet externally.

 

[kenmac]

I bought the time cutter 48'' last year for $2832.00 with tax . I didn't get the bagger kit. It was another $200.00?. . 22 hp kawsaki engine . It's been a good little machine so far. I think you'll like it


Edit: checked on bagger kit. It's $499.00 for my 38''