Been researching zero turns for a couple of months now. Looked at Bad Boy, Gravely, Kubota Kommander, Skag, and Dixie Chopper. I originally had a 5k budget, but wanted to stay closer to 4k if possible. Ill start by saying if the Kubota was offered with a Kawasaki motor I would have probably shelled out the coin. It seemed very well designed and built. I'm a Big Kubota fan. The Skag Freedom Z was probably the nicest machine of the bunch, but I couldn't justify the extra 2k for what I would be using it for. I then checked out the Bad Boy Elite ZT, it looked extremely heavy duty, but after reading such mixed reviews on them I was turned off. Bigger and heavier isn't always better. I lastly went to a Gravely and Dixie chopper dealer. I honestly had no idea that Dixie Chopper was making a residential mower. I've always been a fan of their commercial stuff so I was surprised to see the Zee 2 and the price tag it had. The dealer was doing a year end Dixie Chopper blow out and had the 48 inch with a 23 horse Kawasaki for 3800. It seemed very well put together for the price and I like the simplicity of the design. No unnecessary bells and whistles that could break in the future. I also found out that msrp is going up around 500$ on the 14' Dixie Choppers so I decided to jump on the deal. I've got a fairly small yard, a bit less than an acre. But my parents are getting older so I've taken over their mowing duties which is about an acre and a half. Also we have a farm house with about 2 acres, so I think this mower will serve me well. So far I mowed all three yards yesterday and I love it, the Kawasaki sounds freakin awesome. It handled hills better that expected. All three yards are pretty much dead right now from the drought, but the cut seemed very nice. Thanks for looking!