Smoothest on bumps, Ferris IS, FrontMount, or CUT?

[orangebluegreen]

Noticed in another thread you mentioned considering a Woods front mount but they weren’t available when you were ready to buy. I have had their sales brochure lying around for a year and now have Garasshoppers brochure. Comparing them I see the deck appears to float more on the woods. The drop DOWN would be of great help to me trying to mow the drainage ditch that is too wet to get into this time of year but needs cut because it backs up water flow. Curious if that was one of the mowers you tried and if so what the impressions were. I assume you liked it if you were considering it. I have a Woods dealer 4 miles away but no front mounts in stock, he CLAIMS they are not going to produce them anymore but they are still on the Woods website so may be just he doesn’t have them. He does have a new Woods 33HP Generac model I might check out to see if a suspension seat helps.

Turns out we have a very good local dealer who handles mostly Dixie Chopper and Grasshopper. He didn’t have any front mounts in stock but had a 322D mid mount (22HP Kubota) he wanted to sell me real bad for $8995. said it was $100. over cost, and that may be right because I’ve not seen it elsewhere priced that low. I had my doubts about accessibility, and after having a chance to drive a Dixie on some rough ground there I can fully understand the comments about bumpy. Dixie is supposedly one of the smoother ones also with the low pressure tires. I will say with no time on a ZTR the Dixie was very easy to drive, I was actually controlling it with one hand.


This time of year I'll agree, the air conditioned front mounts are calling. They're calling stronger every day.

 

[gamble77]

Well if you want a diesel powered mid mount then at that price you better bite! (that is almost cost on that unit)

 

[orangebluegreen]

I’ve seen you mention in your opinion grasshoppers were not the best of the mid ZTR’s. I don’t care to upset some as I’m sure people don’t like to read critical views of what they might own, but I felt accessibility to items was not as good as some I’ve seen, a big point to me as I do my own mechanical work. Also didn’t care for a dual deck belt setup vs. single (or PTO) on some. Didn’t care for fabrication and weld quality. I have a mig and am not a pro, but I can do better than that. Armrests that do not fold up? Slightly used Kubota ZD28’s around that are the same price or less and appear to have outstanding quality of fabrication....all adds up to still looking. My mind could change on that however if I find I don’t like the remaining models on my list. Noticed the dealer’s last name is the same as Dargo’s, hmmm, wonder if he has any relatives in the grasshopper biz?

I’ve narrowed search down to front mount of some sort, possibly Woods, Ferris IS, both of which I have yet to see in person but will when time allows. OR Kubota B7510/7610/2410 and JD2210/2305. If I were to find air conditioned at the right price might be swayed also. Never thought it would take so long to figure out what I wanted but every time you look you find something that is right/wrong that takes you in a different direction. There’s no perfect machine for all tasks or persons.

 

[orangebluegreen]

Had a chance now to drive both the Ferris (IS5000) and front mount Grasshopper (Kubota gas). Unfortunately at two different places, so true comparison of ride is not scientific, but I felt the Ferris rode much better than the front mount Grasshopper. I do believe there were bigger dips where I drove the hopper however. A couple things I found annoying on the front mount was when I hit a serious dip at speed the carb must slosh and makes the engine go off key for a second, and I could definitely feel the front deck tugging at the frame and causing a secondary jolt. The front mount was definitely smoother than my current garden tractor and the other mid-mount ZTR’s I drove, just thought the Ferris was smoother. The front mount deck is much preferred for its view though. Sure wish Ferris would build a 4wheel suspended front mount. Unable to find a Woods front mount to try. I figured it could possibly ride better considering the deck is more free to float than the Grasshopper. Been told by several dealers Woods is redesigning their front mount for ’06 model so there aren’t many ‘05’s around on lots. I take back previous comments about weld quality on the Hopper, the welds on the front mount I saw a few days ago were nice.

For what it’s worth....
A Kubota dealer told me they were a bit unhappy they were seeing more hydro problems than they would like to see with the Bota ZTR’s. He blamed the design and build of the hydro had been done in the U.S. and then shipped to JP which did not allow a total engineering all the way through. This sounds possible but who knows? The same guy told me make sure you don’t buy out of state and buy local because Kubota dealers don’t have to honor warranties on tractors not bought from them. He pointed out read the fine print claiming it says “Kubota recommends taking your tractor back to the dealer you purchased from”. To me this does not state Kubota will not honor warranties at other dealers, and we’ve heard from enough other sources this is not true, so perhaps this Kubota dealer in Bradenton Fl is misinformed?