Scag blade tip speeds

[cherymax]

I'm in the market for a ztr mower... I talked to the JD and Scag guys today and was told by the JD guy that the ztr's mow much faster becasue they have a higher blade tip speed.

I currently mow with a JD 455/60" takes about 2 hours to 2.5 acres. I'd like to get it down to an hr and mow yards on the side.

I found out the JD ztr's blade tip speed hover around 16,500 till you get up to the 997's. Anywho for comparison sakes can anyone tell me the blade tip speed of my JD 455 w/ 60" deck and what do the Scag ztr's run at?

 

[jcmseven]

I have a catalog that quotes the blade tip speed for your current mower at 15,124 fpm. The typical ZTR, including Scag, run at about 17,000 fpm. I do not know that John Deere is the fastest, but I doubt it. I have read somewhere that the new Toro mowers have a blade speed of about 18000 fpm, if not a little more. BTS is very important to cut quality, but there are other important things, too. Deck vacuum, blade sharpness and content, and overlap are all comparable in importance to blade tip speed. As long as your tip speed is not too slow, say 14,000 or so, you would be OK with any brand. John Deere has the advantage of the 7 Iron deck, which due to its depth and vacuum, would perform as if the blade speed were a bit higher. As far as speed, I found my Gravely 60" ZTR to be faster, but not that much faster than my 595 JD 62" in most cases. If you like green and you like a tractor, I would consider an X series along with the ZTR's. I believe they cut a bit faster than your current 455, and would give you a lot more versatility. Interestingly, even the commercial guys here will usually have an X on the trailer, even if they have a 737 or 757 as their primary mower (speaking about John Deere).

John M

 

[Dargo]

The literature I got with my Grasshopper front mount ZTR mower listed Blade Tip Speed at 19,000.

 

[cherymax]

John you're right about me favoring green, but I like to (attempt) to be unbiased in my decision. I see just about every commercial yard mowing business in my area using Scags. In all honesty I wanna go green, but I want to know why no one in the commercial business in using green?

I've done a lot of reading in different forums about the scag being "extra heavy duty", but similar JD's seem to be heavier:

JD757/54" (1,280lbs) vs Scag Wildcat/52" (1055lbs)

JD737/54" (1280lbs) vs Scag Tigercub/52" (980lbs)

JD717A/48" (1,132) vs Scag Tigercub/48" (975lbs)

I already have a 4110, so that kinda takes care of my tractor needs. I plan on getting into the commercial lawn mowing business also... that's kinda the reason (excuse) for me gitting the ztr.

I'm gonna go look at Grasshoppers here in about an hr... 19k... **** that's fast.

 

[bczoom]

As John noted, there are several factors that make a ZTR faster.

Actually, mine is also 19000 fpm and I thought many/most commercial ZTR's run in that range. I just Scag's web site and didn't see any tip speeds mentioned.

I'd say the biggest factors that make ZTR's that much faster than tractors are their travel speed (approx. 10 mph) and turning capability. I switched from a garden tractor with a 48" deck to a ZTR with 52" deck (pretty much the same size deck) but it cut my mowing time from 2 hours to 45 minutes.

Brian

 

[cherymax]

bczoom what type of ztr do you have?

 

[bczoom]

Country Clipper Charger. ( www.countryclipper.com )
There's been a few reviews on it lately if you want to do a search here. Sigarms and one or 2 others have recently purchased one.

 

[Sigarms]

Per Brian, I did buy one.

I LOVE IT!

Got a great deal, but...I could of gotten a 27 hp kohler, 60" deck for only $6600.

Joystick is vantastick.

Country clipper and my dealer even got me another set of blades at no charge.

Country Clipper also sent me my extended 4 year wrty via my dealer (they DID follow up on the "paperwork").

Hate to say it, but going "full tilt" and "clipped" a tree with the corner of the deck /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif not a "scratch" on the deck at all.

Seems "bomb proof".

Deck also flips up, very easy access.

OK, maybe a ZD28 wouldn't be too bad, but for what I spent, no regrets WHATSOEVER. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Sigarms]

One more with the deck raised.

 

[rickhess]

I too recently bought a Country Clipper Charger. I love the tilt deck because I can clean the deck and sharpen the blades so easily. I also love the joystick controls and the articulating front wheels and deck.