Hi
After my first season with the Zanon ZCR 800 lawn mower, I would like to share some of my experiences with you.
The following link to the Zanon homepage shows some pictures and some basic information on the mower in question:
ZCR double-blade lawnmower
The mower makes a very robust impression, and it is generally well designed, well-built and user-friendly to operate.
To mow at the highest possible height, I left the front caster wheels in their highest position and to keep the deck parallel to the ground, I tilted the PTO-flange to its lowest limit. This gave a mowing height of 8 cm (3 5/32") with the standard 5x10x20" wheels on my BCS 740, but due to the tilted PTO-flange, unfortunately only 11 cm (4 5/16") of ground clearance under the engine. After changing to 6.5x12x23" wheels, I could return the PTO-flange to around level and still maintain 8 cm mowing height, and because the tractor stands more level now, ground clearance under the engine has almost doubled to around 20 cm (4").
The larger wheels also adds some 15% to the speed, and gives a comfortable mowing speed around 2.3 mph in 3th gear with half throttle. If mowing regularly, I only use 3th gear, and it takes less than 1 1/2 hour to mow an 18,000 sq. ft. lawn. For mowing - and for sweeping by the way - I can only recommend that you use the largest diameter wheels available.
After a long rainy period - and some vacation on top, I had the chance to test the mower on my then 1-foot tall lawn. The mower cut the grass with ease, but the limiting factor was the chute blowing the clippings into the bag on top of the mower. It was clogged by the vast amount of grass, but by mowing in 1st gear, the problem was solved.
The Zanon ZCR leaves a nice cut comparable to any traditional rotary mower. Due to the long distance (53") between the swivel caster wheels at the front of the mower and the wheels of the tractor compared to a traditional lawn mower (23"), the clipping height will vary more when mowing on uneven terrain. This is perhaps not so bad in the lower parts where the mower will leave the grass longer, but at the top, the risk of scalping is high - especially with a low setting of course.
The ZCR has a swiveling joint in the PTO-flange that allows the mower and the tractor to follow the terrain independently. Probably because the mower is supported only in 3 points (the PTO-flange and the 2 caster wheels) and because of the direction of rotation of the PTO-shaft, it has a tendency to "dip" to the left. To keep the cutting height the same on the left- and right-hand side, I have tightened the spring dampening the swivel movement on the left-hand side 1 cm (3/8") more than on the other side.
As I mid-season turned the mower upside-down, I was a bit surprised. On a traditional lawn mower, the lower edge of the deck will be the lowest part of the mower, and thereby protect all moving parts such as the knives and their mountings. On my Zanon the knives flush with the lower edge of the deck (at best), and the 4 bolts fixing the mounting plates to their axis, protrude below the deck (see picture 1)! This is not ideal, and I suggest that Zanon correct this by raising the 2 axis a bit for instance.
It might not be a fault, but the knives themselves surprised me a bit too. They are 3 mm (1/8") thick and produces a lot of lift and air to transport the clipping into the bag. As I removed the mounting plates from the axis, I noticed a difference in the knives on the 2 axis (see picture 2). I would like to hear from some of you having a Zanon, if your knives are also different or not? They cut fine, but why are they different? The knives on the left and right axis have different part numbers of course, but why are they sharpened differently?
Perhaps not a definite design fault, but at least a nuisance, can be the swivel caster wheels in the front. They seems to be a little different to some of the other Zanon mowers, as mine only have a 1.6 mm (1/16") gap between the top of the wheel and the mounting. When emptying the bag, some of the clipping may fall on the wheels and may be caught between wheel and mounting (see picture 3).
The mower comes with a 40-page user manual with very good diagrams shoving all the parts and their part numbers. My interest at first is the maintenance part. It is recommended to change the oil in the gearbox after the first 8 hours of use. I had a look at the oil at the end of the season (+30 hours), and it looked just as fine as new, so I see no reason to change it now. I was looking all over for an oil drain plug, but with no success. How are one supposed to drain the oil? By removing the lid on top of the gearbox and turn the mower upside-down? Does not sound right to me.
Having cleaned the mover, greased the 4 nipples (PTO-flange, PTO-shaft and 1 at each swivel caster wheel) and finally sharpened the 4 knives, my Zanon ZCR sits warn in the garage and awaits spring. In the meantime, I hope for a lot of snow, so I can play with my sweeper and perhaps even with my snow blower
Best regards
Jens
After my first season with the Zanon ZCR 800 lawn mower, I would like to share some of my experiences with you.
The following link to the Zanon homepage shows some pictures and some basic information on the mower in question:
ZCR double-blade lawnmower
The mower makes a very robust impression, and it is generally well designed, well-built and user-friendly to operate.
To mow at the highest possible height, I left the front caster wheels in their highest position and to keep the deck parallel to the ground, I tilted the PTO-flange to its lowest limit. This gave a mowing height of 8 cm (3 5/32") with the standard 5x10x20" wheels on my BCS 740, but due to the tilted PTO-flange, unfortunately only 11 cm (4 5/16") of ground clearance under the engine. After changing to 6.5x12x23" wheels, I could return the PTO-flange to around level and still maintain 8 cm mowing height, and because the tractor stands more level now, ground clearance under the engine has almost doubled to around 20 cm (4").
The larger wheels also adds some 15% to the speed, and gives a comfortable mowing speed around 2.3 mph in 3th gear with half throttle. If mowing regularly, I only use 3th gear, and it takes less than 1 1/2 hour to mow an 18,000 sq. ft. lawn. For mowing - and for sweeping by the way - I can only recommend that you use the largest diameter wheels available.
After a long rainy period - and some vacation on top, I had the chance to test the mower on my then 1-foot tall lawn. The mower cut the grass with ease, but the limiting factor was the chute blowing the clippings into the bag on top of the mower. It was clogged by the vast amount of grass, but by mowing in 1st gear, the problem was solved.
The Zanon ZCR leaves a nice cut comparable to any traditional rotary mower. Due to the long distance (53") between the swivel caster wheels at the front of the mower and the wheels of the tractor compared to a traditional lawn mower (23"), the clipping height will vary more when mowing on uneven terrain. This is perhaps not so bad in the lower parts where the mower will leave the grass longer, but at the top, the risk of scalping is high - especially with a low setting of course.
The ZCR has a swiveling joint in the PTO-flange that allows the mower and the tractor to follow the terrain independently. Probably because the mower is supported only in 3 points (the PTO-flange and the 2 caster wheels) and because of the direction of rotation of the PTO-shaft, it has a tendency to "dip" to the left. To keep the cutting height the same on the left- and right-hand side, I have tightened the spring dampening the swivel movement on the left-hand side 1 cm (3/8") more than on the other side.
As I mid-season turned the mower upside-down, I was a bit surprised. On a traditional lawn mower, the lower edge of the deck will be the lowest part of the mower, and thereby protect all moving parts such as the knives and their mountings. On my Zanon the knives flush with the lower edge of the deck (at best), and the 4 bolts fixing the mounting plates to their axis, protrude below the deck (see picture 1)! This is not ideal, and I suggest that Zanon correct this by raising the 2 axis a bit for instance.
It might not be a fault, but the knives themselves surprised me a bit too. They are 3 mm (1/8") thick and produces a lot of lift and air to transport the clipping into the bag. As I removed the mounting plates from the axis, I noticed a difference in the knives on the 2 axis (see picture 2). I would like to hear from some of you having a Zanon, if your knives are also different or not? They cut fine, but why are they different? The knives on the left and right axis have different part numbers of course, but why are they sharpened differently?
Perhaps not a definite design fault, but at least a nuisance, can be the swivel caster wheels in the front. They seems to be a little different to some of the other Zanon mowers, as mine only have a 1.6 mm (1/16") gap between the top of the wheel and the mounting. When emptying the bag, some of the clipping may fall on the wheels and may be caught between wheel and mounting (see picture 3).
The mower comes with a 40-page user manual with very good diagrams shoving all the parts and their part numbers. My interest at first is the maintenance part. It is recommended to change the oil in the gearbox after the first 8 hours of use. I had a look at the oil at the end of the season (+30 hours), and it looked just as fine as new, so I see no reason to change it now. I was looking all over for an oil drain plug, but with no success. How are one supposed to drain the oil? By removing the lid on top of the gearbox and turn the mower upside-down? Does not sound right to me.
Having cleaned the mover, greased the 4 nipples (PTO-flange, PTO-shaft and 1 at each swivel caster wheel) and finally sharpened the 4 knives, my Zanon ZCR sits warn in the garage and awaits spring. In the meantime, I hope for a lot of snow, so I can play with my sweeper and perhaps even with my snow blower
Best regards
Jens