Scag Wildcat ZTR

[dirtydan]

I am sure you will be happy. I have not had any problems with the seat on mine and I keep mine all the way back also. No leaks around the tank either. The screen does need to be cleaned more often if it is windy or if I am cutting dry grass. If I am I try to keep an eye on the water temperature, though I have never had a problem. If it was hot enough outside maybe it would. I have never been stuck yet though I am careful as I know you are not going to push this one out by hand since it weighs 1200 lbs. I have one bank I mow that I have to be careful turning on as the rearend will slide down becuse of the steepness. It is very stable though. Took my wife awhile to get used to that. She still won't mow some areas and leaves them for me.
It does drink the gas but I always keep it topped off and check the oil so my wife doesn't have to.

Dan

 

[Alan L.]

The high was only about 75 or 80 on Saturday, but even when the screen was very clogged up with dry grass the temp indicator never went past the halfway point.

I found it very nimble and had no problems on my slopes.

Are you saying that you can't push the seat back where it touches the radiator cap?

 

[MartyAnderson]

Alan
Have you resolved the problems with your new mower? Did Sams repair/replace the seat & adjust travel so it wouldn't hit the radiator cap? Did they correct the leaking fuel cap?

FYI- After mowing my old dead bermuda the last few weeks, I have found the easiest/fastest way to clean the radiator & screen is to use the brush attacment on my shop vac.

Marty

 

[gerard]

I have a scag tiger cub, 52inch deck with the kohler 20hp engine. Bought it new about 5 years ago. I mow about 1.5 acres around the house and then another couple of acres around the rest of the property. I do the pastures with a bushog. All in all I've been very happy with it, no problems yet and cost me $5900. Designed for commercial use so my use is very light. Only complaint (and it's a design issue for this style mower) is no tilt up deck. It's a pain in the neck to get under the deck to clean out the grass. My next one will have a flip up deck.

 

[Alan L.]

The mower has been great and so far I just have not pushed the seat back into the engine again. Haven't noticed any more fuel leakage, and the radiator is only a problem in windy, dry conditions.

I have alread changed the oil & filter and greased everything. Mrs Alan L. & I have shared it, but she is mainly the yard mower, and I, the brushhog. Thing is, the brush hog does not have much to do, she is mowing everything with it and loves it. I work in Dallas 60 miles away and she gets it out and mows while I'm gone. This week she got it stuck, didn't call me, she just got her 4WD Yukon XL and a chain and pulled it out herself. She has also been known to change out blades when she hit something (not on this mower yet). She has a big welp on the side of your neck where a limb swatted her, so I have preached to her about being careful.

We did have a problem with the middle blade, it became loose and would not tighten because the threads on the long bolt were apparently bad from the factory. Sam sent a guy 30 miles to our place THAT DAY and fixed it, and even put a new blade on it at no charge.

So I don't have much worries that the dealer will take care of business.

This mower will flat eat up the grass and the quality of cut is very good. So far we have been able to mow as fast as the thing will go most of the time, and thats about 10 mph. Really not as rough riding as I was led to believe it would be and very fun to operate. The LC engine is not very loud - the blades are actually consideraby louder than the engine, but not too bad.

 

[dsb5610]

Alan,

Thanks for the info. Sounds like this unit is going to work well for you. I am going to look at a Kubota ZD326 tomorrow. Been mowing with a Deere F911 for the last 10 years. One of my concerns moving to a ZTR from a front deck unit was a rougher ride. Sounds like it may not be as big of a concern as I thought.

dsb

 

[Alan L.]

I used the Scag the entire season and put 134 hours on it. Great mower. Toward the end of the season I found the quality of cut was not what it had been, especially the middle blade.

After my last mowing of the season I took it in to Sam's Riders in Sherman where I bought it. The kept it about 2 months. Scag replaced the seat and put a stop on it. But they said my deck was warped.

While I probably hit this and that during the mowing season, but I didn't think I had done anything that would warp a 7 guage deck. A couple of weeks ago one of the mechanics said the Scag rep had looked at the mower and decided they were not going to replace the deck. So he apparently put some washers on the spindles and declared the mower fit for duty.

Today I called and this time talked to Sam himself. He seemed to know nothing about the warped deck, that it was his understanding that the Scag rep took measurements and determined the deck to be fine, but suggested some adjustments, lower the front etc. I told him the other guy had told us it was warped. I mentioned that I was concerned about how easy it must be to damage the deck, and figured I'd trade it on a brand that has a sturdier deck.

Sam hung up to talk to the other guy. A couple hours later he called back and said the mower is ready to pick up. Said he had pulled a deck off a new mower and put on it, as he did not want me to have any problems with such a new mower.

Never once did Sam or the mechanic imply that I was responsible for damaging the deck. They took care of the problem and I'm happy with Sam's Riders as a dealer.

 

[EddieWalker]

Hey Alan,

I bought a Scag Wildcat last summer and love it. I somehow missed your thread when I was researching mowers, but it sounds like we went through a similar process of deciding what mower to buy. I was really torn between the Scag and the Kubota, but kept coming back to Scag because of how heavy duty it was. Nothing else had the same amount of steel in them or the water cooled engine.

My experience with the radiator and keeping it clean has been just like yours. I haven't mowed close to my ponds with it, so I haven't gotten stuck yet. LOL I have found it great for mowing steel slopes. I can mow areas with it that I couldn't with my tractor and rear finish mower. I also found that while my finish mower does a great job, it's night and day compared to the Scag. The first time I cut with the Scag, the grass was all brown, but by the third time, it was beautiful and better looking then every before.

I'm mowing more areas with it then I mowed with my ride along mower, but getting it done much faster. I find the seat to be very comfortable and the controls easy and responsive. I can go as fast as I can handle the ride.

The only complaint is that I wish I had a fuel gauge. I haven't ran out of gas, but find that one tank is about what I use per mowing. Sometimes if we're having a party down at the lake, I like to mow there a few times to get it nicer looking and will fill up both tanks, but I'm always wondering if I'll run out of fuel.

So far, I haven't had any issues or need to call my dealer. I hope he's half the dealer that yours is. I'm very impressed with how he's handled your problems and taken care of them. My dealer is also my Echo and Stihl dealer, but again, I've never had a complaint about those tools either, so I don't know how well he'll handle them if I do need him.

When I bought my mower, I filled out the survey and just a few weeks ago, got my Scag baseball cap from them. I forgot about it, so it was a nice surprise to get it in the mail.

Eddie

 

[Alan L.]

Eddie: Yea, I got my Scag hat too. Being black, its a wintertime hat.... Good looking hat though.

I picked up the mower today and not only did it have a new deck, but the entire assembly was new, switched over from the other mower. That included spindles and even new blades. More than I would expect, for sure.

I changed the oil and did the grease maintenance today, so she is ready to go. Even mowed a few purple flowers with it, growing around my septic sprinklers.

Mrs. Alan L. has put most of the hours on it, but it is really fun to use, and comfortable, as you mentioned.

I found that the mower used less gas as it got broke in, although it certainly uses more gas than my tractor uses diesel.

 

[EddieWalker]

Alan,

I went to an auction today and while there, I was thinking about this thread and wanting to get out and do some mowing. As things worked out at the auction, we blew it on a a great deal on a tractor, so came home empty handed. I had fun on several dozen different tractors, ATV's, UTV, Golf Carts and excavators, but as soon as I got home, I checked my fluids and then took out my Scag to do some mowing.

I haven't started it in over four months, but it fired right up just like it did when I was mowing with it once a week. That impressed me.

Nice to hear of your good fortune. Your dealer sure goes above and beyond!!!

Eddie