Buying Advice Scag is crap Should have bought a Kubota ZTR

[Depmandog]

Exactly ... it's almost as absurd and impossible to quantify as sometime saying "Kubota makes the best tractors under 50 HP" ... and then giving a reason like "they're the most popular." That would be like saying McDonald's makes the world's best hamburgers because they sell the most. Now, if someone said "Scag makes the best mowers because they're the most Orange sherbert'ish color of all the brands and science has proven that Orange sherbert is the best cutting color possible" then hey, I can't argue with science.

So you would be ok with the statement if he prefaced with "In my opinion" or "In my humble opinion"....because these statements are always an opinion. And by the way, Kubota does make the best tractor under 50 HP! Oops, IMHO that is! My best advise, the weekend is almost here....lighten up!!!

 

[TSO]

So you would be ok with the statement if he prefaced with "In my opinion" or "In my humble opinion"....because these statements are always an opinion. And by the way, Kubota does make the best tractor under 50 HP! Oops, IMHO that is! My best advise, the weekend is almost here....lighten up!!!

I don't have any problems with anybody saying anything based on opinion, just as long as they don't expect it to be perceived as fact.

The problem that we all went into when we say something is the best, especially with tractors, is that there are just too many categories that could be used for that determination. I'll pick a few examples just for the sake of conversation. Dealer network, warranty, loader lift capacity, lift height, breakout force, ground speed, 3 Point lift, turning radius, operator station visibility, etc.

What would be more appropriate would be to pick one of those categories and say something like, for example, Kubota makes the best tractor for hydrostatic operation, because the HST Plus offers such a wide range of operational capabilities. Or you could see, Mahindra offers the best compact loader tractor because the ML156 loader is rated with the highest lift capacity, breakout force, and lift height. Or you could say, the Kioti NX series is the best compact CAB tractor because it offers dimensionally the largest cab in the segment ( I'm not sure if that's true, but the cab is huge!). Or you could say, LS makes the best compact tractors for affordability, because they offer the biggest bang for your buck in the segment.

The point is, none of these machines is the overall best. Furthermore, we all have our own opinions of what categories are more important than others, so one man's best might be a moot point or another.

Someone saying that one tractor brand is more reliable than another is something that is practically impossible to quantify. There is no way that we could get any data that would support a statement like that. For example, we all have our own personal experiences, but they might not match up with each others experiences.

 

[Tomtint]

How do you figure that?

Well, because I either have now or have owned almost all of them at one point. The Scag has always been the measuring stick for other mowers. The decks are built with thicker steel than any other, the blade hubs are the best in the industry, the cut quality and discharge with the walk behinds is better than any other, grass striping is better than all but a machine with a striping kit added, the hydro mltors ( if equipped ) outlast every other brand on the planet, and without going on for a hour, you can sell a 10 year old Scag before a. 2 year old anything else.

 

[TSO]

Well, because I either have now or have owned almost all of them at one point. The Scag has always been the measuring stick for other mowers. The decks are built with thicker steel than any other, the blade hubs are the best in the industry, the cut quality and discharge with the walk behinds is better than any other, grass striping is better than all but a machine with a striping kit added, the hydro mltors ( if equipped ) outlast every other brand on the planet, and without going on for a hour, you can sell a 10 year old Scag before a. 2 year old anything else.

Wow, sounds impressive! I'm assuming you have facts and figures to back these up tho, right?

 

[Tomtint]

Well,I have 2 Scags,1 Walker, 1 XMark, almost gave away 2 Write standers, also have a Husky,Ariens and a couple from Sears somewhere ( MTD ) So, yep.. I can speak with a bit of confidence as to what is good at what and how well they are built. We maintain all of our equipment and nothing is ever neglected or abused. The Scags are by far the least needy and require the least mechanical attention. The Walker is a great finish mower but requires the most maintenance of anything in the line up....Not looking for a pissing match, just speaking about real world field tests....BTW... Every SCAG I have put up for sale is sold in less than a week..

 

[TSO]

Well,I have 2 Scags,1 Walker, 1 XMark, almost gave away 2 Write standers, also have a Husky,Ariens and a couple from Sears somewhere ( MTD ) So, yep.. I can speak with a bit of confidence as to what is good at what and how well they are built. We maintain all of our equipment and nothing is ever neglected or abused. The Scags are by far the least needy and require the least mechanical attention. The Walker is a great finish mower but requires the most maintenance of anything in the line up....Not looking for a pissing match, just speaking about real world field tests....BTW... Every SCAG I have put up for sale is sold in less than a week..

Not discounting your real world experience at all... ever owned Hustler, Gravely, Bobcat, Dixie,?

 

[gharms]

I have a 2004 Simplicity Regent lawn mower, and the engine is the Kohler 16 hp. It also backfires if I don't shut the tractor off in full throttle. But I never had any problems with it in all the years, other than needing to replace a battery!

 

[/pine]

FWIW
I have never had enough yard to justify a high end mowing machine...I get by with an old 42" snapper...
However my b.i.l. was in charge of purchasing, maintenance etc for a large municipality in FL where their mowers were run 8-10 hours a day 6 days a week...and after decades of buying and maintaining different high end mowers he swears by Scag... (he recently retired and bought a scag)

 

[DK35vince]

Not discounting your real world experience at all... ever owned Hustler, Gravely, Bobcat, Dixie,?

In addition to Hustler, Gravely, Bobcat and Dixie you left out Kubota, John Deere and Ferris.
But he must have owned all of the above makes and all their models to make his claim.

 

[lilranch2001]

I have had an eXmark Lazer Z for 13 years.
Just north of 700 hours, I use it for lawn mowing, using it as a tractor for a spray rig for 10 acres and as a light duty bush hog.

So far I have put on:

1 new fuel filter at around 45 hours (dealer swore it was not the problem ,it was!)

A mule belt a couple years ago when I got a huge limb caught in it abusing the eXmark

A new set of blades every year, as so far some of the chunks I take out of them doesn't seem to like to get ground out

A tension cylinder for the left control arm ( I bought 2 at the time, but only one failed, the second one is still sitting in the eXmark parts bin)

3-4 gauge wheels over the years, could probably replace 3 right now.

And I just bought my first deck belt, the original is starting to show some wear and I do not want to not be able to mow when I want to

Replaced the air filter every two years

Change the oil filter and oil every year with synthetic

The worst thing about the eXmark is it is not 4 wheel drive and I usually get her stuck once or twice a year when the ground is saturated

Over all, the eXmark is the best item I have ever bought in my life, would not even consider buying something else, but then, my eXmark was not a Toro owned and built machine, so im not sure of the Toro era machines, I heard the deck guy from back then got moved to designing Toro decks..... maybe they are not so good anymore
:confused3:

I have two neighbors that have had Deeres and Simplicities and they both switched to eXmarks now since mine has held up so well.