Buying Advice Buying a Zero-Turn Mower

[2ndhalf]

Yes, I'm starting to lean toward a 54" for those reasons.

6" makes a bit of difference but so does ground speed. How fast does the snapper go.. that does sound like a lot of mower for that price. I like my Gravely but wish I had looked at Snapper. Personally.. I would sell the trailer and get a 61" snapper and a bigger trailer. 54" just seems too small for that amount of land. I still say unless you really love to mow, you will find that too small. Don't get anything that won't at least mow 8mph.

 

[timswi]

The Kubota ZD series is a nice quasi commercial unit that will cut at 11mph (Tried it on mine), stable comfortable and very well built. I paid more but I got dealer quotes in the mid to high 6k range (deep discounted I'm guessing) after I had already commited to the one I bought. Worth a look anyway...Most dealers have the residential series sitting next to the ZD's, the differences are obvious.

 

[stoyan79]

550Z does 8MPH, 125XT does 10MPH, 200XT does at least 10MPH.

Unless you have perfectly even, straight lawn you will never mow even close to those speeds. At 8MPH you will be bouncing and scalping very bad.

6" makes a bit of difference but so does ground speed. How fast does the snapper go.. that does sound like a lot of mower for that price. I like my Gravely but wish I had looked at Snapper. Personally.. I would sell the trailer and get a 61" snapper and a bigger trailer. 54" just seems too small for that amount of land. I still say unless you really love to mow, you will find that too small. Don't get anything that won't at least mow 8mph.

 

[hawkeye08]

My lawn is rough, we have clay soil and the night crawlers come up and leave little mounds. It makes for a rough ride on mower, so I have been leaning towards the Ferris with the suspension that smooths this type of ride out a bit. Perhaps the others would not be bad, but I would be very sad to buy my last mower and not be happy with it. My delay is the closest Ferris dealer is 180 miles away so I can't demo one on my lawn very easy...

 

[stoyan79]

Ferris, Simplicity and Snapper are the same mower. Ferris and Simplicity have suspension, Snapper does not, that is why Snapper is sold for much less.

Citation XT Zero Turn Mower: Riding Yard Mowers | Simplicity

My lawn is rough, we have clay soil and the night crawlers come up and leave little mounds. It makes for a rough ride on mower, so I have been leaning towards the Ferris with the suspension that smooths this type of ride out a bit. Perhaps the others would not be bad, but I would be very sad to buy my last mower and not be happy with it. My delay is the closest Ferris dealer is 180 miles away so I can't demo one on my lawn very easy...

 

[2ndhalf]

550Z does 8MPH, 125XT does 10MPH, 200XT does at least 10MPH.

Unless you have perfectly even, straight lawn you will never mow even close to those speeds. At 8MPH you will be bouncing and scalping very bad.

I mow 8mph all the time. That is full out on my Gravely and I mow full out a lot. I don't bounce around at all. I did bounce around on my Hustler Mini Z but the yard was rougher at that house and it was a bit faster and yes it did scalp or leave uncut grass especially when my son would mow. It was like mowing on a go cart it was so quick.

 

[DK35vince]

550Z does 8MPH, 125XT does 10MPH, 200XT does at least 10MPH.

Unless you have perfectly even, straight lawn you will never mow even close to those speeds. At 8MPH you will be bouncing and scalping very bad.

I have some areas we need to slow down to 6,7-8 MPH but there are areas we mow full out at 13 MPH

 

[TJP89]

I spent some time this morning calling around the area to various dealers, getting quotes on zero turns. I had narrowed it down to the Cub Cadet ZLX, the Badboy ZT Elite, the Scag Patriot, The Gravely ZT HD, the simplicity Contender, and the Snapper 550Z. The Patriot was quoted at about 7K, which ruled it out, I can get a used SCUT for that kind of money. I messed up the number on the Snapper dealer, so haven't talked to them, and the Simplicity dealer hasn't called me back yet. The others are as follows:

CC ZLX - $4800
Badboy ZT Elite - $4799
Gravely ZT HD - $5439

The Badboy mower seems to be the best one going right now. I'm not completely comfortable with it because it just seems to be a brand sold by TSC. The last thing I got from them was a grader blade, that turned out to be a POS. Does anyone here have experience with Badboy? Spec wise it is better than the others. I also can get 10% off. It's the fact that it seems so obvious that is setting off alarms in my head.

I'm also still going back and forth over the 54 vs 60 inch deck. I'm leaning toward 54 for tight spaces and trailer loading, but I'm still trying to convince myself that it's not going to significantly affect my mowing time on the more open areas.

 

[TJP89]

The Simplicity dealer called be back. The Contender was $4950. He also quoted me a Gravely ZT HD for $4899. The way I see it is it's between the Badboy and the Gravely. Maybe the Cub Cadet too. What do you guys think?

 

[Kimber1911]

The Simplicity dealer called be back. The Contender was $4950. He also quoted me a Gravely ZT HD for $4899. The way I see it is it's between the Badboy and the Gravely. Maybe the Cub Cadet too. What do you guys think?

I think both are a nice mower. Around this area Badboy is carried at stores other than TSC. Our local Mahindra dealer also carries Badboy for example.

 

[hawkeye08]

My zero turn purchase is on hold but when I did my research, Badboy was my choice without suspension and Ferris with suspension. We have earthworm mounds that get very hard (clay soil, the worms come up and leave little mounds) that beat me up on the riders I currently use. I am delaying my purchase but certainly plan on demo'ing a Ferris if the dealer has a place to try it (~200 miles away)..

 

[2ndhalf]

I think both are a nice mower. Around this area Badboy is carried at stores other than TSC. Our local Mahindra dealer also carries Badboy for example.

I think either Simplicy or the Gravely would be good choices. They have both been making mowers for a Loooooong time and have a great reputation for doing so. Bad Boy is sold at TSC but they are a bit of a new comer.. fit and finish on them doesn't seem as good to me they are a lot of crude steel to me when I look at them at TSC. But I know guys like them too. If it really is down to Bad Boy or Gravely.. I would say Gravely hands down and not just because I own one. The parts, dealer support and reputation of that company is outstanding. You really do need to go drive some... you will be able to tell which one you want to spend a couple of hours a week on that way.

I like that Gravely and simplicy have actual dealers too. If you have issues with the Bad Boy where are you taking it to... TSC? As far as Cub Cadet.. I borrowed a friends Cub Cadet when my Grasshopper was in the shop a couple years ago... and it felt like it was already about to come apart and it was only a couple of years old... They are MTD and not anything special I don't think.

 

[2ndhalf]

The Simplicity dealer called be back. The Contender was $4950. He also quoted me a Gravely ZT HD for $4899. The way I see it is it's between the Badboy and the Gravely. Maybe the Cub Cadet too. What do you guys think?

They put two engines in the Gravely (Kawasaki and Kohler) both are commerical and probably mow just great. I have the Kawasaki and I like Kawasaki, very torqy motors. The Kaw is a little higer than the kohler, in fact over $500 higher so the price difference you got from the two dealers could be in the motor. I absolutely love the way mine cuts and plows through very deep grass with no problem. I think you could go two weeks between cuts with that mower, if that appeals to you.

I started out with the Gravely frame model down I think the XL with a 52" deck I didn't like it as much and felt like it was taking too long to mow, Switched to the HD 60" deck and noticed a big difference. Your mowing more grass than I am so I think you would notice the difference even more.

 

[Monster5601]

Do I need a commercial unit?

Yes, in my opinion.

I mow four acres of rural acreage, I tried the big-box mowers but had to replace them once every three years. I finally realized a good commercial diesel is where I needed to go, so I dropped $12K on a Kubota ZD323. I'm about to start my sixth mowing season with the ZD323 and I have no regrets, in fact, I'm glad I did it (now that it is paid for). I'm going to retire in a couple years knowing I will never have to buy another mower.

 

[2ndhalf]

Yes, in my opinion.

I mow four acres of rural acreage, I tried the big-box mowers but had to replace them once every three years. I finally realized a good commercial diesel is where I needed to go, so I dropped $12K on a Kubota ZD323. I'm about to start my sixth mowing season with the ZD323 and I have no regrets, in fact, I'm glad I did it (now that it is paid for). I'm going to retire in a couple years knowing I will never have to buy another mower.

He is right, you don't need to pay 12k but you do need commercial for 7 acres.... I tried non-commercial with less than 5 and it went very bad.

 

[TJP89]

I've set my model type and budget, and don't really see any reason to exceed it. A low level commercial type mower should be fine, all I'm doing is mowing. The price at about 5K is where I've also kind of set myself. I'm torn between the Gravely and the Badboy. The Badboy seems on paper to be made better, and have more features. But it also is kind of unknown, no real dealer support. All I'm going on with the Gravely, which is made just fine, is the name and the dealer, who is very good, (actually the kubota dealer, but we'll just stay away from tractors). The thing I really don't like about the Gravely is the 52 or 61 inch deck. I really don't want to go more than 60, but 52 seems smaller than necessary. This would go easier if I could decided on 60 or 54 inch deck. Also how easy the deck comes off so I can get it on and off the trailer if I can't drive it on. Maybe I can angle a 60 on, but probably not a 61. I think I'll look at the Gravely tomorrow, see what I think once I sit on it. I liked the feel of the Badboy. Also the Cub Cadet is still a possibility at this point. Unlike the tractors, where there was an obvious standout choice, here I'm presented with equal choices. The 10% off at TSC might swing it.

 

[Kimber1911]

If you feel more comfortable with the Gravely that's the way I would go. They are a great name brand mower and I know when I drop that much money I certainly don't want to feel uncomfortable about it. Go with what your gut tells you.

 

[Clay45]

My vote is for a full blown commercial mower. I have a SCAG TigerCat 52" that I mow our 5 +/- ac pasture with. I needed the larger wheels and stability on hills. After 2 years on this property I can see that anything on a lighter build would be junked by now. I really like the Kawasaki FX engine but if I was going to mow 7 acres every week I believe I would be interested in a diesel rig. If you are making much of a cut you are going to burn a lot of gasoline. If prices stay down so much the better but I'm not counting on it. Scalping is a real issue with the wider decks but if your lawn is smooth and flat you will enjoy the efficiency for certain. Best of luck in your quest.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I know i'm GLAD I gave up on gas powered mowers LONG ago, The added torque and fuel efficiency is well worth it to me.

SR

 

[TJP89]

If you feel more comfortable with the Gravely that's the way I would go. They are a great name brand mower and I know when I drop that much money I certainly don't want to feel uncomfortable about it. Go with what your gut tells you.

That's the issue. Usually I have a way I'm swinging on something like this. Right now my gut is undecided. Hopefully a good look at the Gravely will decided it.