I need a new lawn mower!

[lman]

I like having one hand available to move low limbs or swat flies so we went with a 60" Country Clipper zero turn with a joystick several years ago. No problems so far.

 

[jjeff]

Once in awhile you see those front diesel mowers at auctions both JD and Kubota shaft powered decks, If I ever turn a decent profit hobby farming I'd probably look for one. I'm kind of bewildered how much gas the wife's z-turn uses I think it's a 26 hp Briggs endurance and unlike the hydros, simple to maintain, always starts and runs good but sucks gas, Surprisingly my collection of old derelict JD 200 series, sip gas in comparison. Granted all my jd's are less than half the rated HP of Z-turn.

 

[Carl_NH]

I found two potential used units; an X394 and an X580, and they're both rather nice. I've seen the X394 in person, and it's in great shape; the X580 is a haul to look at, but if I'm serious they'll move it to a closer location.

For the price difference and 22 hours the x580 is a good deal.

 

[tacticalturnip]

I like having one hand available to move low limbs or swat flies so we went with a 60" Country Clipper zero turn with a joystick several years ago. No problems so far.

I'm here in Maine, the nearest dealer is in Vermont, the next are in MA and CT, and none feature them on their website.

I'm disappointed, the controls look great.

 

[Looking4new]

I like having one hand available to move low limbs or swat flies so we went with a 60" Country Clipper zero turn with a joystick several years ago. No problems so far.

I just got CC last summer. After too many lawn tractors to recall I finally bit the bullet on the CC Z-turn $9,300.oo with the Kawasaki engine. After the last experience with a lawn tractor (new) with the Kohler motor, I will never have another Kohler motor on my property. I mow all of this place in 2 hours and about 3 gallons of gas compared with 5 gallons with the preceding lawn tractors. The CC will climb my whitby bed over the septic system (about 45° angle up and down). I have the stock turf tires.

 

[skipmarcy]

This will be my 10th season with my CC Edge XLT. I mow 5 ac. of hilly, bumpy pasture-like yard with quite a few trees, shrubs & fencing. Mine has a 60" deck and the Kaw 24 hp and the joystick. I've been singing the praises of the joystick ever since I bought it, pretty much a no-brainer comparing to the twin sticks of typical ZTs. I can't understand why most all manufacturers don't offer it as at least an option.

The Edge XLT is a homeowner mower with a little beef from the pro series - mine has the pivoting front axle that the pure homeowners models don't and has a good, heavy deck. I've vastly improved the mower with just 2 items - I put atv tires on the back for fantastic control and put a Trac-Seat suspension under the stock seat for comfort.

The Hydro Gear 2800 serviceable drives and Kaw 24 hp have been flawless. It has rebuildable iron spindles in the deck. I've replaced 2 idler pulleys and that's it for repairs. I do the engine oil & filter every spring and have done the drive oil & filters twice. Did spark plugs once. It has 508 hrs on it as I start this season. I paid $5300 for it in 2015 and I feel like I will get another 10 years out of it at least.

 

[RB5]

Hello folks,

After giving up on my 314 and sending it on down the line, I am without a mower; this hasn't been a problem, but it'll need to be rectified before we get into Spring. My lawn, if you could call it that, would currently be about an acre on a just under 2 acre property. It barely exists as a lawn, having seen much destruction over the last year, and it was a mess to begin with. However, over time it'll be smoothed out, dried out, and an attempt made to return it to normal.

Traditionally I have mowed with lawn or garden tractors; prior to moving here I had a D160 that I really enjoyed, however I found the lawn (before it's current state) beat the tractor rather hard, so I sold it before it caused any damage. That has me scratching the 100 and 200 series out of the running. That was replaced with a Cub Cadet XT3, which handled the property well, but those are no longer in production. The obvious alternative is the X500 series, but that would need to be used given their premium price. So, that leaves the X300 series; from that I've cut out the K46 machines. From there I've narrowed it down to the X380, or maybe even an X384.

The lawn tractor market is sad these days, the only real alternative to the Deere would be a Cub Cadet XT2 in the higher end. Those seem to be good machines, but the frame is similar to that of the 100/200 series Deere; they're pretty well put together, but I'm a big guy and the flex makes me a little uncomfortable.

Husqvarna isn't even in the running, their lawn and garden tractors are a bit of a farce. So I guess that just leaves the Deere X380/X384, or whatever I can find used.

Or...

I could get a zero-turn.

I've never operated one in my life, but they've taken over the market so there must be something to them. I have a few concerns; first and foremost, will my Big & Tall catalog self be able to operate one comfortably? Not far behind that, I wonder how they do on rough terrain? Mud?

I've looked around the local field, and I've found these machines. Does anyone have any thoughts on them? On zero-turns in general? How they compare to lawn and garden tractors? This will just be a lawn mower, other tasks are handled by the Kioti. That said, I've got a 10P cart I'll be able to use again.

Cub Cadet ZTS2 50

ExMark Quest X

Scag Liberty Z

Ariens IKON

Ariens APEX

Bad Boy ZT Elite

John Deere Z330R

Is there anything I'd be doing a disservice not to look at? I'm trying to stay right around 48" with the deck size. Is there anything to look for on a zero-turn that doesn't apply to a lawn tractor? Anything to avoid?

I'd like to figure this out quick enough, before the Spring rush I suppose.

You will not miss the longer distances you have to turn with a riding lawn mower vs a zt. We went from one of those Home Depot mowers made by Deere and then later a Deere lawn mower to a Gravely ZT years ago. I would never buy a lawn mower that is not zt again. The ease of use and turning around obstacles is awesome. I don't have to turn wide or shift and back up now. I don't see how a steering wheel mower would be much different on size for you.

 

[tacticalturnip]

Hey folks, do you guys have any thoughts on the following machines?

The Bad Boy Maverick or Maverick HD

The Exmark Radius E or Radius S

The Gravely ZT HD and Pro-Turn ZX

 

[Yander]

I had a Gravely ZT HD and I liked it a lot. I put about 200 trouble free hours on it and now my son uses it on his rough as a cob yard and has about 400 trouble free hours on it. Have only changed oil, hydraulic, spark plugs and air filter. My buddy just bought one and he really likes it. They have the Hydro Gear 3100 pumps and are considered light commercial.

We were going to buy another one for our yard and at that time they were having trouble stocking them with the Kawasaki and I didn't want the Kohler engine. So we bought our current Bush Hog with less than 40 hours on it.

 

[tacticalturnip]

I'm looking for Hydro Gear 2800 or larger, with a Kawasaki engine of course. You've got good taste.

I have not given any thought to Kubota, presuming them to be too expensive, but maybe I ought to give them a look?

Any thoughts on the Z200 series?

 

[Carl_NH]

Of the 6 of them the Pro-turn ZX or the Radius S would be my choice - suspension seat and more standard equipment. You might also look at Simplicity Citation or Cobalt too - they are a Ferris with full suspension and similar $ as these.

 

[tacticalturnip]

This is why I haven't looked at Simplicity.

 

[jjeff]

Everytime I walk into my current shop i'm surrounded by a few things tools, small work table, and a shop vac, I picked up when simplicity shut down the Port Washington WI plant in 2008.

https://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/stories/2007/06/18/daily47.html

 

[tacticalturnip]

I took a good look at Scag today, and I quite liked them until I sat on them. They're the least fat man friendly, lol.

 

[jyoutz]

If you have rough ground you will get a rough ride on the ZTR. The lighter your ZTR the rougher your ride.

Or you could buy a Ferris/Stihl ZTR with 4 wheel spring suspension. These are pretty smooth riding on rough ground.

 

[jyoutz]

Hello folks,

After giving up on my 314 and sending it on down the line, I am without a mower; this hasn't been a problem, but it'll need to be rectified before we get into Spring. My lawn, if you could call it that, would currently be about an acre on a just under 2 acre property. It barely exists as a lawn, having seen much destruction over the last year, and it was a mess to begin with. However, over time it'll be smoothed out, dried out, and an attempt made to return it to normal.

Traditionally I have mowed with lawn or garden tractors; prior to moving here I had a D160 that I really enjoyed, however I found the lawn (before it's current state) beat the tractor rather hard, so I sold it before it caused any damage. That has me scratching the 100 and 200 series out of the running. That was replaced with a Cub Cadet XT3, which handled the property well, but those are no longer in production. The obvious alternative is the X500 series, but that would need to be used given their premium price. So, that leaves the X300 series; from that I've cut out the K46 machines. From there I've narrowed it down to the X380, or maybe even an X384.

The lawn tractor market is sad these days, the only real alternative to the Deere would be a Cub Cadet XT2 in the higher end. Those seem to be good machines, but the frame is similar to that of the 100/200 series Deere; they're pretty well put together, but I'm a big guy and the flex makes me a little uncomfortable.

Husqvarna isn't even in the running, their lawn and garden tractors are a bit of a farce. So I guess that just leaves the Deere X380/X384, or whatever I can find used.

Or...

I could get a zero-turn.

I've never operated one in my life, but they've taken over the market so there must be something to them. I have a few concerns; first and foremost, will my Big & Tall catalog self be able to operate one comfortably? Not far behind that, I wonder how they do on rough terrain? Mud?

I've looked around the local field, and I've found these machines. Does anyone have any thoughts on them? On zero-turns in general? How they compare to lawn and garden tractors? This will just be a lawn mower, other tasks are handled by the Kioti. That said, I've got a 10P cart I'll be able to use again.

Cub Cadet ZTS2 50

ExMark Quest X

Scag Liberty Z

Ariens IKON

Ariens APEX

Bad Boy ZT Elite

John Deere Z330R

Is there anything I'd be doing a disservice not to look at? I'm trying to stay right around 48" with the deck size. Is there anything to look for on a zero-turn that doesn't apply to a lawn tractor? Anything to avoid?

I'd like to figure this out quick enough, before the Spring rush I suppose.

You need to look at machines with 4 wheel suspension. Two I’m familiar with are the Ferris and Stihl machines.

 

[stevem5215]

I have two Simplicities. A ZT2500 with front only suspension which does very little. And a Simplicity Citation XL which has full suspension. The advantage of full suspension is that you can go full throttle across a bumpy field at 10mph+ and all it does is move a little bit under you as it soaks up the bumps. It really is an awesome experience. When you know you know. I do. It's really cool being able to full throttle it. And the cut quality never suffers. It's 60" deck cuts nicely.

 

[jjeff]

This thread got me curious and briefly looking at a few different models with full suspensions which were rare or non existent when I bought my husky. Bad boy offers full suspension on a few models and look nice and well built online anyway, always see BB suspension less homeowner oriented models at TSC prices made me runaway from using my online electronic device on there website in a hurry. The prices are in line with most ZT manufacturers out there though. Anyways after owning a ZT, full suspension would rank very high on my list of must haves if I was in the market for another ZT. Good luck.

 

[jyoutz]

This thread got me curious and briefly looking at a few different models with full suspensions which were rare or non existent when I bought my husky. Bad boy offers full suspension on a few models and look nice and well built online anyway, always see BB suspension less homeowner oriented models at TSC prices made me runaway from using my online electronic device on there website in a hurry. The prices are in line with most ZT manufacturers out there though. Anyways after owning a ZT, full suspension would rank very high on my list of must haves if I was in the market for another ZT. Good luck.

I bought a Stihl last year with full suspension. I really like it, but it’s just a re-painted/rebadged Ferris mower. There are more Stihl dealers and service facilities than Ferris so that’s why I went that route.

 

[Rdrcr]

^^^^
If I didn’t have my steep hills, I would have definitely gone with the Ferris/Stihl with suspension. Great mowers!

Mike