The Z122rkw just caught my attention!

[JOHNTHOMAS]

The front tires are small and extra weight on the front would probably make them want to dig in.:2cents:

 

[dragoneggs]

If I was going to mow up hill and had a problem with the front end rising off the ground or a concern it might I would explore some way of adding weight to the front end to prevent one of those short's cleaning rides. :laughing:

I am indeed planning to experiment with weights. I have one area that I have to make a 'run' up the hill to get to and it is a little dicey. The fronts do come off the ground.

The front tires are small and extra weight on the front would probably make them want to dig in.:2cents:

Hi JT, my concern too but it appears that there is not much weight on the fronts now on flat surface and it could stand some more at least for my grass. I have good drainage and slight slope so no mushy areas that might be a problem if the fronts had more weight.

Not sure what my weight (220b) does to affect the CG but I imagine Kubota designed this such that the CG is directly over the seat so it performs similarly regardless of the weight of the driver (just guessing). It will be interesting to see the affect of shifting the CG forward.

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

I am indeed planning to experiment with weights. I have one area that I have to make a 'run' up the hill to get to and it is a little dicey. The fronts do come off the ground.


Hi JT, my concern too but it appears that there is not much weight on the fronts now on flat surface and it could stand some more at least for my grass. I have good drainage and slight slope so no mushy areas that might be a problem if the fronts had more weight.

Not sure what my weight (220b) does to affect the CG but I imagine Kubota designed this such that the CG is directly over the seat so it performs similarly regardless of the weight of the driver (just guessing). It will be interesting to see the affect of shifting the CG forward.

Give it a try and report back. :thumbsup::dance1:

 

[dragoneggs]

Okay have to find ideally a 2.5in x 3in by 22in steel bar which should give me about 50lb on the front end. Thinking of mounting it with a couple of brackets coming off the front wheel struts so it is removable. Here are a couple pics to show location. I want to mount it lower than the 'grill' in case I install the optional LED lights. I also hate to cover the proud Kubota decal.

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

Well JT, I took the plunge! Went for the 42in. Right size if not overkill for my property. Played on the hills after getting the feel of it. Quite responsive. My neighbors yard slopes gently at the bottom and gets steeper as you come up the hill to his house. I was able to find out its limitation by traversing his lawn and as I worked up the hill found about what I could handle without sliding sideways and forcing slip to stay parallel to the slope. One thing that is great is if you start to get a little squirrely traversing the slope, you can quickly 'zero turn' and point it down hill. Worked great!!! Got plenty of power to go up steeper than it can handle. I did make a gutsy charge straight up the hill and had a bit of a chill when the fronts came off the ground and thought I was going to tip backwards just before I crested. Definitely know my limit on climb now. I might actually play around with putting some weight across the front fender for a little more control... not sure how that will affect the side slope traversing so will be testing some more.

First pics...

View attachment 421373 View attachment 421372 View attachment 421371 View attachment 421374

Neighbor was so impressed on how much more I can get to than his old craftsman rider and how much it will save push mowing. His wife even told him he should get one with out any prompting or him saying a word. You should've seen the grin on his face when he told me what she said... first a little context... he is 80 years young and she is probably 5 years behind him. She said that their son and wife will probably take over the house when they are gone and 'they will need a good mower'.

She even brought me out a beer when I came up to say hello! Good day to be a friendly neighbor. Love those two! :drink:

Impressed me so much I went to Barlows today and pick mine up tomorrow for my wife to use around trees while I do F as in fast mowing with my F.:cool2::drink:

 

[dragoneggs]

Impressed me so much I went to Barlows today and pick mine up tomorrow for my wife to use around trees while I do F as in fast mowing with my F.:cool2::drink:

Jeez... I hope I didn't oversell it. :ashamed: But I do know it's kicks the butt of my old 1990 JD rider. It also has a Kawasaki engine still going strong after 25 neglectful years that convinced me. The Z turn however is a dream... fast, agile, and just plain fun! :cloud9:

Still waiting for the mulching kit (on order)... I am currently just belching the clipping out the side.

 

[dieselbob69]

Just remember they don't build things like they used to-I'd like to see if the Kawasaki motor is as good as the 1990 model.....

 

[dragoneggs]

Just remember they don't build things like they used to-I'd like to see if the Kawasaki motor is as good as the 1990 model.....

Me too... nothing seems to be as good 'mechanically' as the old ones as we seem to live in a 'throw away' society now where no one takes the take to maintain and repair. But I gave a nod to Kawasaki vs. Briggs and Stratton based on my experience with both in the last 30 years. Hoping Kawasaki didn't try to fix something that wasn't broke!

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

Just remember they don't build things like they used to-I'd like to see if the Kawasaki motor is as good as the 1990 model.....

Yeah, we had car engines in the 60s that might make 100,000 miles but I never saw one and no one I know did either. Our batteries might last 3 years if they were kept inside the house in the winter and I even heard of people getting 12,000 miles on a tire but never really experienced it myself. Solinoids were also so good that we kept a screw driver in the car to cross it when it wouldn't start. Radio's would some times pick up the radio station in the next town. In accidents the engine would come back and sit beside the butt of the driver in the better older cars. Also the thicker body metal on the older cars of the 60s would not rust thru in less than 3 to 5 years in the northern states. Floor pans and trunk floors usually became vented in a few years in salt states.
Yep, they don't make em like they used to.
I'm a vintage car liker, not lover, but truth is truth guys.
Speaking of picture tubes, what was the life of those 19" up to even a 27" floor model? Yeah, I know, they were repairable and not disposable like todays new 70" models with 50 billion pixels. I used to fix peoples TVs by testing tubes and replacing them when I was a kid. Not rocket science but some people thought I was "bright" but any idiot could use the tube tester and replace a tube and not touch the back of the picture tube after that one super jolt.
Yep, all things were better........not.

 

[dragoneggs]

Yeah, we had car engines in the 60s that might make 100,000 miles but I never saw one and no one I know did either. Our batteries might last 3 years if they were kept inside the house in the winter and I even heard of people getting 12,000 miles on a tire but never really experienced it myself. Solinoids were also so good that we kept a screw driver in the car to cross it when it wouldn't start. Radio's would some times pick up the radio station in the next town. In accidents the engine would come back and sit beside the butt of the driver in the better older cars. Also the thicker body metal on the older cars of the 60s would not rust thru in less than 3 to 5 years in the northern states. Floor pans and trunk floors usually became vented in a few years in salt states. Yep, they don't make em like they used to. I'm a vintage car liker, not lover, but truth is truth guys. Speaking of picture tubes, what was the life of those 19" up to even a 27" floor model? Yeah, I know, they were repairable and not disposable like todays new 70" models with 50 billion pixels. I used to fix peoples TVs by testing tubes and replacing them when I was a kid. Not rocket science but some people thought I was "bright" but any idiot could use the tube tester and replace a tube and not touch the back of the picture tube after that one super jolt. Yep, all things were better........not.

Yep, no argument with this... Just saying that the Kawasaki engine in my old JD garden tractor is still strong as ever. Where is some wood to knock on?