Hi everybody. I'm new to this forum and to zero turn mowers. I have a dilemma and any help would be greatly appreciated. I have two properties that I need to mow, one is 1 acre and the other one 2.3 acres. I think I've narrowed down the options of mowers to two, the Gravely 52HD or Scag Freedom Z 52 inch. I'm trying to keep the cost below $6K, obviously the lower the better. I can get the Gravely with the Kawasaki engine for about $4600 and the Scag for about $5200 with the B&S engine or $5600 with the Kawasaki one. I test drove both of them and the Scag felt more "bolted to the ground". The Gravely felt more "floaty", but is that difference worth the price difference? Both would be very adequate for my use (only residential). I was wondering if anybody could comment on the durability/reliability of either model. How about the B&S versus the Kawasaki engines in the Scag? I'm lookoing at putting maybe 40-50 hours on the mower a year. I'm no expert at this, but the construction of both mowers looks excellent, maybe the Scag has a slight edge?
BTW, I know that going to the 60 inch deck increases the cost only slightly, but I will need to buy a utility trailer as well. I would be able to load the 52 inch on a 5x8 versus a 6x10 for the 60 inch, and I'm finding the price difference of the trailers to be quite significant. That's why I'm preferring the 52 inch deck. I don't think the 60 inch would save me that much time anyway and it would take up more storage space.
BTW, I know that going to the 60 inch deck increases the cost only slightly, but I will need to buy a utility trailer as well. I would be able to load the 52 inch on a 5x8 versus a 6x10 for the 60 inch, and I'm finding the price difference of the trailers to be quite significant. That's why I'm preferring the 52 inch deck. I don't think the 60 inch would save me that much time anyway and it would take up more storage space.