Input needed on Zero Turn Mower purchase

[shooterdon]

We wore out a new Swisher ZT that gave the son a lot of mechanicing experience then we bought a used ExMark of about the same age but with many more hours. It is still going strong.

Quality only costs ONCE but that cost is UPFRONT.

But that is only half the story...

How many hours a year do you mow. I am with RSKY on this. I mow 40 hours a year with a Husqvarna 48" rider. With a "cheap" ZT I will reduce that to 20 hours. I assume a "cheap" ZT will last 400 hrs....20 years.

I do not need a machine that will last 1000 hours or 50 years...I will be dead!!

 

[dalola]

Lots of well made points of consideration here. You might also ask yourself if this a "lifetime" mower, or simply one to use for certain amount of time at this particular property.

Depending upon that answer, I might go different directions. Obviously, your current situation is not exactly an extreme condition for any mower, and most anything will hold up for many years. Get what you like & can afford.

If this is something that will stay with you over the course of new properties & a lifetime of mowing, I would suggest a well supported (parts/dealers) commercial unit, new or used, pending your budget. Exmark, Ferris, Hustler along with JD & KB all make great commercial machines.

Good luck!

 

[art]

Things to consider. We all enjoy a beautiful lawn! Some enjoy making them and some just enjoy looking at them. You did not say where you live but in the north we have frost which changes the lawns surface every year! This brings in the ride quality and if you do have a questionable back then you might enjoy a good suspension system or at least bigger flotation tires with lower air pressures. Many of the more commercial mowers use grease fittings and will need greasing, would you be prepared to do that or should you get one without grease fittings? For the most part you might only need minimal servicing during the year meaning just proper cleaning with air after mowing.
Manufacturers of engines figure forty hours a year for a home owner for hours on the unit. Yes there are mowers we sell that with some maintenance will last 5,000 hours plus and you don't need one. There are other things to consider, who might mow if you are not there? Will they be ablle to mow with a twin stick zero turn or would you be better off with a steering wheel and more normal drives like the Cadet zero turn with a steering wheel? They are also the best I have seen on hills often replacing four wheel drive tractor types as well as the string trimmer for where you thought you might never mow.

 

[hawkeye08]

I have a Ferris with suspension and am considering also adding a suspension seat to smooth the bumps even more.. My wife and I discussed and I enjoy the time mowing, but more the nice job done, not so much spending hours and hours mowing.. We could never justify a Ferris on time saved or cut quality or anything else, it was a choice. I don't have a bunch of hobbies so I consider it like a hobby.. something I enjoy doing, and let me say, I enjoy it more on the Ferris ZTR.

 

[cdaigle430]

Yeah I dont know about the original poster but I too am looking for a ZT-after reading this post I am worse off on deciding which one to get. Im thinking around the 3k range-54 inch or 60 inch. Kawasaki motor and comfort as well as reliability and financing. Is a dealer better than the big box stores? I am looking at Husqvarna, Cub Cadet? So many brands out there....and I mow 1.3 acres my last mower still runs great-has trouble going into reverse and the mower deck bearings are almost gone-lasted me 14 years no problems but I have so many trees and obstacles to go around I need a ZT-with my yards current setup I have to backup and go forward way too many times. If I consider Cub Cadet or Husvarna would it be better to go dealerships or get 10% of and 0% financing at Home Depot or Lowes?

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Yeah I dont know about the original poster but I too am looking for a ZT-after reading this post I am worse off on deciding which one to get. Im thinking around the 3k range-54 inch or 60 inch. Kawasaki motor and comfort as well as reliability and financing. Is a dealer better than the big box stores? I am looking at Husqvarna, Cub Cadet? So many brands out there....and I mow 1.3 acres my last mower still runs great-has trouble going into reverse and the mower deck bearings are almost gone-lasted me 14 years no problems but I have so many trees and obstacles to go around I need a ZT-with my yards current setup I have to backup and go forward way too many times. If I consider Cub Cadet or Husvarna would it be better to go dealerships or get 10% of and 0% financing at Home Depot or Lowes?

With your track record I expect any way you will go will work for you. Our Swisher ate belts like crazy since we bought it with 27 hours for $2200. We bought the ExMark with over 2000 hours and gave $2200 for it also and today it is a better mower than the Swisher was before it was uncrated. It sounds like you are going to enjoy a ZT. Short of using a mower as a bush hog (which we do from time to time) most mower can last a long time if not left out in the rain.

 

[Code54]

I understand the LOWES idea as the extra 10% off helps. As long as you have a local dealer that is will to do warranty work I would not worry about getting it there. If it is the same model, it is the same model. I have had some luck going to the dealers and finding a little better model, for about the same price as the box stores lower model, or they have some kind of rebate/offer available. Sometime Husqvarna has a deal when you buy a mower you get a big discount on a blower/string trimmer - something like that. If the timing is right for you that maybe an option. My commercial Stander I bought as a "demo", it had .5 hrs on it (½ hr) and that saved me about 1k over "new". Something to keep your eyes open for perhaps.
Good luck on your search!

 

[rgr33]

I find the low prices of the big box stores attractive, but honestly, I have thrown away almost every motorized lawn machine I have ever bought from them. They just don’t seem to live long.

Exmark and Stihl have proven to be better machines, with little to no issues after repeated hard use

 

[Code54]

I find the low prices of the big box stores attractive, but honestly, I have thrown away almost every motorized lawn machine I have ever bought from them. They just don’t seem to live long.

Exmark and Stihl have proven to be better machines, with little to no issues after repeated hard use

Im sort of in the same boat there but the flip side is my father had a Home Depot lawn tractor for 14 years without any real issues. He had a simple "suburb" style yard with a few hills but smooth decent grass. After 14 years they moved to a condo and he got $400 for the old lawn tractor. Amazing to me because I would have thought it would have fallen apart long before then. Just depends on your usage I guess. He mowed about an hr a week for about 6 months a year so I thinking he averaged maybe 30 hrs a year, or maybe 500hrs on it over the time he used it.
We only by commercial eqpt - The yard is about 2 acres and it is a rough two acres. Anything commercial has held up great and I have never been unhappy by top quality eqpt except for the initial price but also understand everyone does not need that level of eqpt.

 

[JerryK]

My ' sperience is that if you have a fairly flat yard and do honest maint on it, just about any mower will last long enough for you to get tired of it. If you weigh a few extra pounds, and have some up/down mowing, you need to look at mid range or better machines to get a trans that will hold up. Then again, it is not that hard to replace the trans.

 

[Hunter29]

A Kubota zero turn under 13k is not a Kubota..

 

[dragoneggs]

My ' sperience is that if you have a fairly flat yard and do honest maint on it, just about any mower will last long enough for you to get tired of it. If you weigh a few extra pounds, and have some up/down mowing, you need to look at mid range or better machines to get a trans that will hold up. Then again, it is not that hard to replace the trans.

Good advice.

A Kubota zero turn under 13k is not a Kubota..

That's a bunch of hooey.

 

[Hunter29]

Good advice.


That's a bunch of hooey.

No it's not., no kubota diesel, no kubota.. don't mean a bad machine, but no kubota..

 

[dragoneggs]

No it's not., no kubota diesel, no kubota.. don't mean a bad machine, but no kubota..

Still respectfully disagree. Tool for the job.

 

[4570Man]

But the Kubota diesel is still the best.

 

[dragoneggs]

But the Kubota diesel is still the best.

Love Kubota diesel! Question is where do you draw the line between that and a more nimble gasser for smaller plots with tighter spaces?

 

[4570Man]

We’ll as for my yard if I can’t mow it with my diesel powered 72” than I’m not going to mow it.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

We went from 60" to 54" and enjoying the more narrow deck in tight places and when loading.

 

[Gary Fowler]

We went from 60" to 54" and enjoying the more narrow deck in tight places and when loading.

I mow around 6 acres with my Ferris IS700Z with a 52" deck and Kawasaki engine. My yard has numerous trees and other obstacles to go around and the ground is quite rough hence the Ferris with the suspension. It takes me about 3 hours to mow it all and even with the 52" deck, it will scalp the yard in some places. I would never go more than that width for my yard but your mileage may vary as they say. I burn about 3 gallons of gas doing my yard.

 

[EddieWalker]

After looking around, I bought a 60 inch Scag with a 26hp Kawasaki engine in 2010. The first couple of years it was amazing, but then electrical gremlins started up and it became more and more of a challenge to get it to start. I have now completely bypassed every safety switch, and to start it, you turn on the key, and then touch two exposed wires together. It now starts up every time that I want to use it, but then the PTO Generator went out, which was another pain in the rear. I've replaced the switch to activate the blades three times now. I also expect the through one, or both of the belts the first time I activate it when heading out to mow. It's not hard to put the belts back on, it's just frustrating to know it's going to happen fairly often. I also had the starter come loose several times and require thread lock to stop that from happening any more. Because of the electrical issues, I can't recommend it.


What I like about it is the amount of power it has, the ease of operating it, the comfortable seat and the solid front tires. I've had a few flats in the rear tires and it's always frustrating to deal with that. The blades are super easy to change, but the under side of the deck needs some serious scraping a few times a year. It has two separate hydraulic pumps that will probably bankrupt me if I need to fix them, but so far, that part of it has been excellent.

I go through 3 sets of blades a year. I don't sharpen them, I found that to be a waste of time. I've also found that for me, the factory blades work the best. The high lift, mulching and bahia blades all create too much dust and the cut isn't any better then the factory blades. They don't last any longer either.