Kubota ZTR

[JonSpinosa]

Got my new Kubota ZD21 ZTR. It appears like Kubota has designed a winner again here. It has a 60" deck, 21HP and mows at about 10 mph with a zero turn radius. The only thing negative so far is when you make zero radius turns you may tear the turf. Have any of you guys that use ZTR's noticed this? Kubota does use extra wide tires in the back and I wonder if the large tire size is contributing to this problem. I think this machine will mow twice as fast as my BX2200 by pure speed and manueverability.

Jon

 

[RMulkey]

Jon,

Congrads on the new machine. Try keeping just a little forward motion while turning, all scuffing should be eliminated on established turf grass. A lot depends on the sub soil. I have clay/sand mix and had the same problem. When I first started using the ZTR I had a lot of scuffing, mostly because I would stop at the row end and spin the machine around in one spot (ZTR). Now with a little pratice, I get no scuffing in turf grass. The field grass is less forgiving since it has more soil exposed.

As you figured out, you can't beat a ZTR for fast mowing around opsticals or stability on hills. Keep us posted on your experiences. FYI// I have a Scag Truf Tiger, 61 deck, 22HP LC Kawasaki. I mow about 2ac of lawn in about 1 hour and 2ac of pasture in about the same time.

-Roger

 

[jhuff1]

I am seriously looking at buying the ZD21. HOw do you like it? I will probably have to buy it without even seeing it mow or driving it. I currently have on old Grazer with an out front deck and Kubota engine so I have gotten use to a nice big machine.

 

[JonSpinosa]

Jhuff1,
I have not actually cut grass with it yet. I would imagine that I will need to cut grass in about 10 days. It seems like a well built and designed machine like all other Kubota products. I will let you kow after my first grass cutting.
Jon

 

[JATO_RaT]

Roger, you mentioned that the ZTR is good on hills. I have almost all hills. Gentle sloping and some that get fairly steep that I sometimes more with a string trimmer, sometimes going down with my tractor and a rear mount. I have 116 sprinkler heads that must be mowed around as well. The ZTR would be my first choice because of: 1. Kubotas reputation, 2. because its diesel and I mow about 9 acres, 3. its ability to get around all those heads as well as trees, and 4. it works well on slopes? Thanks, Rat...

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Well, I bought a ZD 21. It is a nice machine. I have mowed 8 acres in a few hours. Amazing how little fuel it uses. It does require a lighter touch to not tear the turf, but has a great cut. All in all, very happy with the purchase. Lots of hills and sprinkler and trees, no problem. I have one slope by the road that is very steep and my old ztr would slide off and down the slope. The kubota hangs right in there.

 

[JonSpinosa]

Jhuff, Good luck with your new ZD21! I love my machine. I have a BX2200 with a 60" deck and also have the ZD21 with a 60" deck. The ZD21 will cut 3 times the speed of the BX. I just cut about an acre of lawn in less than 8 minutes. I would never believe anyone who told me that this machine could cut lawn that fast!
Have you noticed any difference in the travel of handle bars? My left handle on my machine travels a bit more, causing the machine to go more to the right? I am going to adjust the left handle. You can tear the turf much easier with the ZD21.
Kubota has a designed another great machine.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

i just bought a new zd21 last week and can't stay off of it !!! mowed 3 acres, with 65 to 70 trees, in exactly hour and a half. can not believe the great cut, no matter what speed your going, and fuel consumption is unbelievable. have used it 7.1 hours and used 1/8 of a tank (about a gallon). my left handle is a little further forward than the right also and will adjust. 100% satisfied. what kind of price have they been going for? i paid $8800 (was told they listed for $10,800, but all that matters is delivered price right??

 

[Wheeldog]

Jon,

I'm glad you like your ZD21 and it sounds like it could run rings around my B2410. Just wondering about "an acre of lawn in less than 8 minutes". This seemed way too good to be true, so I tried to figure out what speed you'd have to be going to do this with a 5' wide mower. For an acre, this figures out to be about 8700 linear feet. Assuming that you were running at the same speed the whole time, and that you didn't mow over the same spot at all the whole time, your average speed would have to be about 12.4 mph. Are these ZTR's really rated to travel that fast?

 

[paccorti]

Nothing against the ZD21 but you sure won't mow an acre of MY yard at 13 mph /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif! You would bounce around so hard you'd think you're in a Baja pickup truck race! You would need a helmet, you would need a 5 point harness and you would need air bags!

In all seriousness I think I mow at 7 mph or so. Anything faster and the ride is unbearable. NOW once I smooth all this holes in my yard we'll see who wins the mowing races. I have very few trees, my TC35D can pull a 7' mower (that I do not yet have). And top end is almost 15mph. We'll see...

Peter

 

[RMulkey]

Most ZTRs have a travel speed of 10-13MPH but you really cannot mow that fast. Scag estimates a mowing speed of ~4MPH under real load conditions. Even at 4-5MPH it is easy to get bounced around pretty good. With a 60" deck and allowing 10% overlap, that translates to about 2ac per hour. I can cut my 2ac of lawn in just under 1 hour with ~50 trees and sprinklers. The machine will mow at 10MPH, but the cut is not smooth.

 

[art]

Jon try pulling the lever into reverse and you will eliminate your problem.

 

[JATO_RaT]

Just wait until you try a ZTR. Nothing mows like them. I use a John Deere. While a tractor can pull a bat wing loaded with mowers, you will never get the finish. Of course, if your just mowing fields, you don't want a ZTR. If all you mow is a smooth patch, a small push mower or "Craftsman" rider is fine. But if mowing is your passion, until you use a ZTR, you have no clue how great they are. The new Kubota in particular has twin drive motors so when your on a slope and the uphill wheel is less loaded, the down hill wheel keeps turning. Comparing a drag mower to a ZTR really isnt accurate. Perhaps a mid mount like on a BX series would be. The bonus of the BX is its versitilty and a pretty good cut. The advantage of the ZTR is its great cut and mobility. The advantage of a Kubota is its great engineering. I for one would like to try out the Kubota ZD21 even though my 80" HOG will cut more and "faster".

 

[JonSpinosa]

Hi Art, I don't understand what you mean by pulling the lever into reverse? The left lever travels further forward causing the machine to go more to the right. I appreciate your help. If all else fails I can call Ed and bring it to your shop.
Jon

 

[art]

Jon it is rare to find a piece of grass you could do a slide turn on without destroying the grass. You have to depending on the turn let your inside wheel move, normally backwards on a real tight corner inorder to not scuff. I haven't had the time to put the new ZTR's to a test yet but for those I have out and that are used to the zero turn I here they are smoother than what the people are used to.