Comparison zero turn decision time!!??

[Diamondpilot]

I maintain mowers for a part time living. I have 2 commercial guys that I work for. One runs Ferris and one has Scag. Both are nice but the Ferris with the Kawasaki is second to none.

As far as the gas diesel thing you just about never see commercial guys running diesel around here. We have crunched the numbers and with 3 year trade in intervals the commercial guys do they can not make them break even running them 25 hours per week.

The Ferris for example burns 2.3 gallons per hour with a 37HP Kaw but can do 6 acres a hour easy and as much as 10 acres with a open field at the soccer lots they do, 72" cut.

That being said my uncle has a diesel Kubota and its nice. If I were to buy a unit for myself I would buy the Cat powered Diesel BadBoy. Its the best buy for the buck in my eyes, a guy who has been around theses things for 15 years.

By the way we have went though them all. Gravely, Dixon, Dynes, Toro, Ferris, Scag, ect. Ferris is tops around here.

Chris

 

[Birdhunter1]

Totally true... but you've never seen a Kubota have you?

A friend has a big mid mount Kubota and the University I work at has several Kubota front decks but never looked them over much. What's so special about them?

 

[KJINTF]

Guess everyone has a different set of criteria
I went with Kubota for my reasons
1 - Had experience with Kubota's and liked them
Have a small B series tractor for the past 15 years
2 - Shaft drive mower deck
Had a very poor experience with belt driven systems
3 - Diesel fuel
Usually a better built engine that will last a long time
4 - Liquid cooled engine
Less noise and usually lasts longer
5 - Easy to maintain
I do 100% of all maintenance and service for my equipment
6 - Other folks reviews
7 - Priced within my budget

 

[Johnbro]

Our landscaping business has Kubota, Scag, and Exmark mowers. I can't speak to JD or some of the other brands--I think you'll find the commercial guys go with brands where they have strong dealer support. For example, there's almost no Ferris dealers here but they are reported to be an excellent mower.

Our ZTR is the Kubota ZD326--we chose this unit for several reasons, among them was that the deck adjustment is hydraulic and is quick and effortless compared to the Exmark. I would strongly urge you examine this on all models: how do you set the cutting height (an infrequent task) and how to you quickly raise and lower the deck to a parked position (a much more frequent operation as you load/unload or go over obstacles).

The ergos on the Kubota are excellent as is the ride--seat has multiple adjustments.

We use striping kits and the Kubota 2xx series was not available with striping, only the larger-frame 3xx series.

You can get a stamped (cheaper) deck or a HD deck for more $$. Be sure to compare what kind of deck you get.

It is VERY thrifty with fuel, which we can buy for off-road use and save compared to normal pump prices. However, diesel is still way more expensive than gas up here.

The Kubota is more difficult to change blades on than any other mower we have. Since we change the blades daily that's something of an issue.

The Kubota can be fitted with a hitch to pull simple lawn-tractor style attachments. I have not done this.

The Exmark can be fitted with a front-mounted spreader to put down fertilizer, ice melt, or sand. This unit won't fit the Kubota.

The fit and finish of the Kubotas is exactly what you would expect. The mechanical engineering aspects of our Exmark and Scag mowers, on the other hand, seems clumsy and amateurish in many details.

 

[mdelmarcelle]

I don't have experience with those mowers, but I do own a JD front mount pro mower (F725). It's an older model. One thing that I love about JD is the parts availability and Web site. I can look up parts schematics on the JD Web site for the mower, identify the specific part that I need, see if it's in stock at any of the local dealers and order online to pick up at the dealer or have it delivered to my home. I also own a Kubota tractor, so I like them as well, but their Web site doesn't hold a candle to JD. I can't imagine any other manufacturer has as big of dealer network and Web tools. It has come in handy several times for me.