JD 737 zero turn

[Foton404]

I am looking at a 737 zero turn and wonder if anyone out there has an opinion. I now mow about 12 jobs, ranging in size from residential lawns to several acreages and one cemetery. Last year I had 102 mowing days.

I currently have a 718 Grasshopper that is a terrific machine but is getting tired - understandable considering the grass it has mowed. 3 years ago I was mowing seven (7) township cemetaries plus 2 other acreages and 3 residential lots. The township cemetaries ranged from 2 to 8 acres.

I am keeping the Grasshopper as a back-up and have a chance to buy a 737 with 50 hrs. I had not considered anything other than Grasshopper but the John Deere is an awfully good deal. It's all about operating costs. If it's not John Deere it's back to Grasshopper.

 

[jcmseven]

I bought my dad a JD 757 about two years ago. It is the same machine aside from a 25 HP engine. We have since sold the machine as my dad has become a bit on the feeble side and we opted to hire out some of his mowing (he and my mom have two residences). The 757 (and assumably the 737) are solid machines, in my opinion much better than the A series that replaced them. Many commercial mowers have literally thousands of hours of use on them and they are perfected pretty well. I have also had a Gravely P260Z ZTR and I thought it had slightly more features but did not cut quite as well. They were similarly fast. JD has chosed to make its ZTR's "middle of the road" on features. They do not offer many outstanding things not found on other ZTR's but have excellent deck constuction, powerplants and hydro motors. It seems they opted to spend their production money on items which would enhance longevity. The cut quality rivals any out there. I have a friend who swears by his ExMark, which is supposed to be tops in cut quality. I could tell no difference between it and the JD we had. I would say it is a safe buy if you can get a good deal and it has been maintained well.

John M

 

[DanD78]

I have had a 737 with a 54" deck for two seasons now. It replaced a JD 525 front mower. The 737 is a mid mount mower and you can't trim really close around trees with the side of the deck, you have to run around the tree just in front of the back wheel. It will also tear up the sod around the tree which cuts down on weed eater use. It isn't much fun around bushes because you need both hands to drive and can't use a free hand to keep the branches out of your face. The deck is centered under the machine and not off set to the left like the 525 was. You will also have to watch low branches because the roll bar will hang you up even with it folded down. I don't like the foot lift on the deck. I have pretty long legs and have to lift my leg pretty high to get on the peddle.

Now the good stuff. It is fast. The blades run fast enough that you can run full speed and still do a fine job of mowing. The 7 Iron deck is tough and stays pretty clean. The 23 horse engine has plenty of power even for grass that has gotten a little tall. It is great on ditch banks. I have never had mine offer to slide or feel like it was going to go over. In open areas it can't be beat.

I would take it out and practice driving it around a few trees or grave markers to see if you like how it will trim. It's tough to demo a mower in the winter.

Dan

 

[jrutherford]

I have 797. I agree with a lot I read here - better than A series. Very fast, but they ride rough - I bought seat suspension option and was glad I did. If you have rough lots, get it. Only major flaw I have found (not sure it can be called flaw or not) is the belt drive to the deck. One long belt runs from back of mower to the deck in an "L" shape. Have tore that up with pine cones or corn cobs getting wedged in the pulleys and eating the belt up. twice. If it was diesel and had a shaft drive to the deck it would be perfect..... (I hear 997 in my future..... )