Considering a ZTR

   / Considering a ZTR #1  
valleydweller1

valleydweller1

Silver Member
Joined
Sep 14, 2005
Messages
215
Location
Willamette Valley, Oregon
Tractor
Kubota B7510
Hi all,

I'm considering picking up a ZTR for my lawn. It's probably 1/2 acre, lots of obstacles and turns. I'm currently looking at two options:

1. A used Dixon 33" mower, no bagger for $990 on CL. I need a bagger and would buy one for it from a dealer, I'm not sure what the price will be.

2. A Snapper 44" from a local dealer with bagger for roughly $3600. The snapper has been on his floor for quite a while and he's selling me the mower itself for $2,679, the dealer-cost sheet he showed me has a cost of $2,879, retail from my online searches is around $33-3,600.

From what I've read on here, Snapper doesn't have the greatest following. From everything I've heard about Dixon, they're good machines, but this one is used and smaller.

Any thoughts on each machine separately or one vs. the other?

Greg
 
   / Considering a ZTR #2  
The Snapper is the bargin of the two.
 
   / Considering a ZTR #3  
the snapper sounds like a great deal, however, you say lots of obstacles and turns on 1/2 acre, I'd keep shopping for a smaller deck machine. HD has a nice cub cadet walk behind 33" for $1199 I believe, don't know what the bagger would cost.
 
   / Considering a ZTR #4  
valleydweller1 said:
Hi all,

I'm considering picking up a ZTR for my lawn. It's probably 1/2 acre, lots of obstacles and turns. I'm currently looking at two options:

1. A used Dixon 33" mower, no bagger for $990 on CL. I need a bagger and would buy one for it from a dealer, I'm not sure what the price will be.

2. A Snapper 44" from a local dealer with bagger for roughly $3600. The snapper has been on his floor for quite a while and he's selling me the mower itself for $2,679, the dealer-cost sheet he showed me has a cost of $2,879, retail from my online searches is around $33-3,600.

From what I've read on here, Snapper doesn't have the greatest following. From everything I've heard about Dixon, they're good machines, but this one is used and smaller.

Any thoughts on each machine separately or one vs. the other?

Greg
Click to expand...
I have a Snapper 44" ZTR that I mow 2+ acres with lots of trees. I don't use a bagger, so can't comment on that part. I have run the Snapper hard for a couple of seasons and it seems to be holding up well. That is a great price.

I had mowed with my Cub Lo-Boy that had a 48" deck and it took me 4 hours to mow, plus string trimmer time. I've cut that time in half or better and eliminated most of the trimming. I didn't want to go smaller, since I have open areas too.

My guess is you can't go wrong with either. ZTRs are just plain fun.
 
   / Considering a ZTR #5  
I agree with Art, but if you want to go another way, before you buy a ZTR without a bagger, be sure to get the price of the bagger before you buy the mower. You might be surprised at how expensive the baggers are.
 
   / Considering a ZTR #6  
I've got 1/2 acre yard ... I had a JD lawn tractor for 11 years ...it finally quit on me...I always had trouble getting into the tight spots with it and it left me a lot of trimming to do. So -- I did exactly what I hate to do ...guess the DW should have been with me ... On Fri I ran into a JD Z225 on sale ..and ...yep ....impulse bought it. It's fun to run.....hope it'll do the job for me.
 
   / Considering a ZTR
  • Thread Starter
#7  
lhfarm said:
I have a Snapper 44" ZTR that I mow 2+ acres with lots of trees. I don't use a bagger, so can't comment on that part. I have run the Snapper hard for a couple of seasons and it seems to be holding up well. That is a great price.

I had mowed with my Cub Lo-Boy that had a 48" deck and it took me 4 hours to mow, plus string trimmer time. I've cut that time in half or better and eliminated most of the trimming. I didn't want to go smaller, since I have open areas too.

My guess is you can't go wrong with either. ZTRs are just plain fun.
Click to expand...

If you mow 2+ acres with a ZTR and don't have a bagger do you let the clippings sit or rake them? It seems that raking (even with a power rake) would negate all your time savings from using a ZTR.

I just called my local Dixon dealer, he says that he cannot get a bagger for the used model on CL. It's a 3304.

The Snapper is still looking good, maybe I'm just cheap but that's a lot to pay for a lawnmower!

Greg
 
   / Considering a ZTR #10  
valleydweller1 said:
That is a pretty good deal! But still no bagger...

Greg
Click to expand...

Bagging in the PNW sucks. Gets some gator blades and let the smaller pieces fly or the Scag mulching kit.

I mulch with my Ferris ZTR. It works pretty good. You just can't let the grass get too long if you are going to mulch. If you are going to let the grass get long then use gator blades and the small pieces will break down quicker.

The grass up here gets so wet that it is really hard to bag. Just my thoughts. You can probably get a really nice power bagging kit for the Scag if you really have your heart set on bagging.
 
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