ZTR's

   / ZTR's #1  

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ZTR\'s

I need advice of a commercial grade ZTR purchase. Ive run Kubota ZD 21, Dixon, ExMark, Woods, Cadet Tank and Grasshopper.
The ExMark is a very well built machine but is rough riding, mows great. I cut 15" tall grass last night at full speed and the 27 HP Lazer Z handled it great.The Dixon rode well but seems poorly built for the price. The Tank rode well and is comfortable but is new to the market. The Woods machine was nice with lots of features for the money, they have the best seat of any I've tried. My concern with Woods is what I heard from a Woods dealer in that they have not done a very good job at parts and customer service in the past few years.The Grasshopper seems well built but is priced higher than the comparable Kubota. The Kubota I tested was new so the engine is still tight but it seemed to bog down at times on level ground with relatively low grass. The Kubota also did not seem to be very comfortable or smooth handling in comparrison to some of the others.
Right now I'm leaning towards Kubota for the resale value, diesel engine and proven quality.
I've also considered Scag.
Any comments or sharing of experiences would be appreciated.
P.S. I had a Kubota B7300 and sold it last week to get a faster more maneuverable mower. I have about 3 acres in different sections and a lot of trees, hills and wet ground.
 
   / ZTR's #2  
Re: ZTR\'s

Have you tried <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.lawnsite.com/>Lawnsite.com</A>? That discussion forum is like TBN, but it's for commercial lawn operators. They have an equipment review section that discusses all the things that you're asking about.

Try it - you'll like it! /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif
 
   / ZTR's #3  
Re: ZTR\'s

Here's another good one...
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://207.0.81.70/index.php?s=>LawnForums.com</A>
 
   / ZTR's #4  
Re: ZTR\'s

ralphw, we have both exmarck and kubota of what you are looking for.
here is our evaluation:
Kubota z21d is faster, excellent seat at no additional price, (scale one to ten) mowing ability 8, manoeuvrability 9, turfing 7 but the more you use the machine the less you will damage the grass surface. speed 10. maintenance (ease of getting to greasing points & working on engine) 8. acres per gallons 10.

exmarck a rougher ride unless you spring another $500.00 for their seat upgrade. mowing ability 9.5, manoeuvrability 9, turfing 8, the diesel option just as bad in this aspect as the kubota. maintenance some aspects are better some are as bad as the kubota 8. acres be gallon 7.5. engine adjustment very poor.

overall rating kubota 8.9
exmark 8.7

we run our machines about 600 - 800 hours a year.

the recommendation to go to lawnsite is not bad, but understand these people for reason of expediency are very brand loyal and you will get a very slanted view. most prof. mowers (owners of zero turns) try to keep the variety of spareparts to a minimum so they normally have only one brand of mower.

we are in an area where you can get service on almost every one of your brands. what we expect is to stop in the morning ( no more than 10-15 miles out of our way) and have most of our problems solved by mid morning so the machine can return to work. so your choice of mower support is almost as important.

your machine will have different maintenance problems, mainly the typical syndrome of not wanting to start as easily in cold weather, and almost all because of lack of use.

we start with spring cleaning (collecting leaves) end of february (providing there is no snow on the ground, mow all summer and finish our fall cleanups around end of december

how can you evaluate this aspect is by going to that dealer and see if they get their z customers in and out within a short period of time or most of them have to leave their machines there for the day.
 
   / ZTR's #5  
Re: ZTR\'s

<font color=blue>the diesel option just as bad in this aspect as the kubota. </font color=blue>

I'm not sure what you mean by this, could you explain, please?
 
   / ZTR's #6  
Re: ZTR\'s

I would look into the Grasshopper that has the Kubota Diesel powerplant.
 
   / ZTR's #7  
Re: ZTR\'s

"turfing 8, the diesel option just as bad in this aspect as the kubota". the diesel engine is heavier and if the operator is untrained the turfing will be as bad as on the kubota z21d.
 
   / ZTR's #8  
Re: ZTR\'s

i guess we are almost neighbors

hans
 
   / ZTR's
  • Thread Starter
#9  
Re: ZTR\'s

Thanks for all the help and advice. I'm getting a Kubota ZD21 delivered today or tomorrow to demo.
I did get a price on a diesel Grasshopper, it was about $350 more than the Kubota. I'm looking at $8800 for the ZD21.
Anyone know if that is a good price?
 
   / ZTR's #10  
Re: ZTR\'s

Ralph

I don't know much about these but I see a lot of the local lawn services using them. They are very fast. Time is money. I was going down the highway the other day and a guy cutting a yard passed me on one of them./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

They are fast.

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.dixiechopper.com/>http://www.dixiechopper.com/</A>
 
 
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