ZD1211 72" Deck to replace Exmark Radius X

[89vette]

I mow about 100 hours per year with my current zero turn Exmark Radius with a 60" deck. The Exmark has 230 hours and other than damage that was my own doing, I've had no issues. I'm tired of lugging gas cans and would like to use diesel that I have in bulk. I use an M5-091 with a batwing for the fields, an L4600 for just about everything and an RTV 1100 for plowing, garbage, mail, back and forth to a garage, etc.

Anyway, I looked at a ZD1211 today with a 72" deck. The first think I noticed is that the bars are dampened and seem like they fight you. The Exmark controls are very light. I assume the damping is so you don't try to over control the machine. I also have a mulch kit on my Exmark and wanted one on the ZD. I have a price for it with the mulch kit but the dealer told me they never install mulch kits. Are there any concerns with a mulch kit? It makes me think the ZD1211 is more of an open field cutter and not for around my house. I won't be trying to cut thick, high grass with this machine. I use the batwing for that.

 

[RjCorazza]

ZD1211 72" Deck to replace Exmark Radius X

I mow about 100 hours per year with my current zero turn Exmark Radius with a 60" deck. The Exmark has 230 hours and other than damage that was my own doing, I've had no issues. I'm tired of lugging gas cans and would like to use diesel that I have in bulk. I use an M5-091 with a batwing for the fields, an L4600 for just about everything and an RTV 1100 for plowing, garbage, mail, back and forth to a garage, etc.

Anyway, I looked at a ZD1211 today with a 72" deck. The first think I noticed is that the bars are dampened and seem like they fight you. The Exmark controls are very light. I assume the damping is so you don't try to over control the machine. I also have a mulch kit on my Exmark and wanted one on the ZD. I have a price for it with the mulch kit but the dealer told me they never install mulch kits. Are there any concerns with a mulch kit? It makes me think the ZD1211 is more of an open field cutter and not for around my house. I won't be trying to cut thick, high grass with this machine. I use the batwing for that.

I just hit 50 hours on my ZD1211 72" side discharge mower. The dampening bars were quite a different feel from my zd331 and 326, but I find that I like the dampening. They are also adjustable with 3 mounting holes. Mine came in the middle adjustment hole, so it can be made less dampened.
I have used 72" Kubota mowers for residential (1-6 acre) lawns for the past 5 years. Other than the occasional clearance issues between poorly laid out flower beds I don't have any problems navigating. Any large deck is going to require caution around culverts, ditch lines, etc, to keep the deck from gouging the turf.

I have yet to feel like the zd1211 with 72" deck is underpowered, but I also cut weekly. At 24.8hp it certainly cannot compete with my zd331 31hp mower.
The "Advanced Cutting System" (ACS) deck is supposedly designed to minimize demand on the smaller engine, which may be why mulch kits are not popular. I haven't confirmed this yet, but it appears that Kubota has spec'd 10w30 engine oil for the mower gearbox on the side discharge decks... Likely as a power saving feature. I believe a 40-50 weight engine oil equates to a 90 weight gear lube, so it's not a dramatic difference. Regardless, I changed the gearbox oil a few days ago and used gear lube. I have a call in to the Kubota dealer to confirm that there has not been any design changes to the gearbox, but I doubt I will change my mind on using gear lube.

Lastly, the zd1211 72" side discharge decks use a new blade mounting hole that will limit your blade choice to OEM, non mulching. There is a thread here, or on OrangeTractorTalks, that shows how to machine down the mounting hardware to accommodate the old style blades, like Oregon's G6 mulching blades (my favorite!). I got a set of the hubs machined, but have yet to install them. 50 bucks for the mounting hubs, plus machining cost.

 

[628pm]

I have a f2690 with 72 inch deck and mulching kit. I also have a bx23s 60 inch deck with mulching kit. The f2690 bogs down when cutting high grass, even if you cut every week you sometimes have the problem. Also wet grass doesn't cut very well. The BX23s has no problems with the mulching kit, but it is a 60 inch versus 72 inch. Sometimes I think it would be better to take off the mulching kit on the f2690, but just haven't done it. Recently bought a jd ztrak to keep out at my inlaws, mow 5-7 acres a week out there. The jd has a 60 inch deck, having dealer put on a side discharge chute when I need it. No problems with the 27 hp JD on mowing grass whether wet or not.

 

[90cummins]

it appears that Kubota has spec'd 10w30 engine oil for the mower gearbox on the side discharge decks... Likely as a power saving feature.

I was wondering the same thing.
Why Use a 10-30 motor oil when a gear oil is more appropriate.
When I do my First 50 hour Service I will drain the gear box and fill with an 75w90 synthetic.

90cummins