hobie
Silver Member
Oldfella, I know you don't have yours, but tnack was promising the pics/video last year! Where are they? Hope to see yours soon.
Dad bought a 60" ZT with the Briggs in 2006 and other than replacing the belt once, blades, and a bolt coming loose on a pulley he has not had any trouble with it. He mows an acre and a half or so yard, but has been known to mow the pasture with it instead of his bush hog.
I bought a used 2006 Lighting with the liquid cooled Kawasaki last spring. I have been very happy with it. I mow over 3 acres and from crank up to shut down is less than 2 hours. If I can get this new yard smoother it will be faster than that. It mows just as good at top speed as slower unless you just really let the yard get away from you. It is built like a tank, the LQ engine should last me a long time. I think this will easily be a 10 year or more mower for me. The only problem I have had was a spindle that needed to be replaced. That worried me a little as the mower does not have a lot of hours on it. However, it was pretty cheap to fix. I would by another one in a heartbeat.
I have been a little disappointed with the quality of the cut, but that may be more of a yard problem than a mower problem. I'm in the process of converting a hay field to a yard. Hopefully I will have it looking better after this year. I've been spraying and trying to kill all but the Bermuda. It does seem to leave some taller streaks at times though. The grass seems to really stick to the underside of the deck for some reason too, though I'm not sure that is really an issue.
Brother if you are on your second set of blades after 1600 hours you ain't mowing the crap I mow.
someones 1 7/8 hitch ball so far.