Suburban Plowboy
Platinum Member
I went out and looked at two mowers to replace my elderly John Deere 430. I picked out a Scag and checked it out, and then I went to Kubota and looked at pretty much the only comparable thing they had. Both products are American-made, although I guess the Kubota's Kawasaki engine must be Japanese.
Kubota: Z781KWTI-60
This thing looked somewhat sturdier than the Scag, but the weight is the same. It has a fuel-injected Kawasaki 850cc engine rated at 29.5 HP. The warranty is 48 months/750 hours for homeowners.
Scag STCII61V-32BV Tiger Cat II
The Scag appeared to be very thoughtfully designed, with regard to operation and ease of working on it. The engine is a 32-HP Briggs & Stratton 896cc Vanguard made in the US. The warranty is 36 months with some complications.
The Kubota is about $1000 more. This is apples-to-apples with mulch kits installed.
I have had work done at both dealerships. The Scag guys fixed a chainsaw. Took 4 weeks to do a simple job, and they sharpened the chain, which I asked them not to do. This made it hard to keep sharpening it with files, so I got a new chain.
The Kubota dealer fixed my tractor. The employees are very, very helpful when you deal with them, but they made unrealistic estimates about the time my tractor would take, and they didn't mention extra charges for shop materials. I ended up spending two or three hundred dollars more than I was quoted, and they were slower than the mower shop. This was the first time I got charged anywhere for things like shop towels and WD40 or whatever.
The Kubota salesperson was a nice lady whose English was not good, and she obviously knew nearly nothing about the products. Other people there speak English. She said she would email me a quote on another model, but she didn't. The Scag guy seemed to be extremely informed.
So: the Scag may have a marginally better engine. The dealership will probably be less annoying if I have problems. The mower costs a thousand less. The Kubota has a solid old company behind it, older than Scag, and unlike Briggs, Kawasaki has not had bankruptcy issues. Kubota has a better warranty. And Kubota makes great stuff.
What would you choose?
Kubota: Z781KWTI-60
This thing looked somewhat sturdier than the Scag, but the weight is the same. It has a fuel-injected Kawasaki 850cc engine rated at 29.5 HP. The warranty is 48 months/750 hours for homeowners.
Scag STCII61V-32BV Tiger Cat II
The Scag appeared to be very thoughtfully designed, with regard to operation and ease of working on it. The engine is a 32-HP Briggs & Stratton 896cc Vanguard made in the US. The warranty is 36 months with some complications.
The Kubota is about $1000 more. This is apples-to-apples with mulch kits installed.
I have had work done at both dealerships. The Scag guys fixed a chainsaw. Took 4 weeks to do a simple job, and they sharpened the chain, which I asked them not to do. This made it hard to keep sharpening it with files, so I got a new chain.
The Kubota dealer fixed my tractor. The employees are very, very helpful when you deal with them, but they made unrealistic estimates about the time my tractor would take, and they didn't mention extra charges for shop materials. I ended up spending two or three hundred dollars more than I was quoted, and they were slower than the mower shop. This was the first time I got charged anywhere for things like shop towels and WD40 or whatever.
The Kubota salesperson was a nice lady whose English was not good, and she obviously knew nearly nothing about the products. Other people there speak English. She said she would email me a quote on another model, but she didn't. The Scag guy seemed to be extremely informed.
So: the Scag may have a marginally better engine. The dealership will probably be less annoying if I have problems. The mower costs a thousand less. The Kubota has a solid old company behind it, older than Scag, and unlike Briggs, Kawasaki has not had bankruptcy issues. Kubota has a better warranty. And Kubota makes great stuff.
What would you choose?
