To several of the recent posters.
BUY AG TREAD TIRES!
I've posted this in other places. When I went to look at the Ferris I bought used, the guy had ags on it. My first impression was how absolutely homely it made the Ferris look. As soon as I loaded it on the trailer, I started calling my buddies that deal in used mowers to see if they had any turf tires. When I got home, I found a set on eBay and didn't pull the trigger. The guy I bought mine off of cuts professionally. He gave me some spiel about how great the ags were at NOT tearing up the lawn. I honestly thought he had no clue what he was talking about. I knew that if I owned a ZTR it would have the RIGHT original syle tires on it.
Then I started using the ags.........whoah!:thumbsup: Tearing up the lawn, especially with ags, is in your driving habbit. I can actually come in to a turn and slide the mower in a 180 and tear the heck out of the lawn. Or, after learning the mower, I can come to a turn and gradually come in to it or forward and reverse a few times and never leave a mark. The guy I bought this from told me this too. Again, when you look at ags, it just doesn't make logical sense......you'd think they would tear it up no matter what you did.
And, I have a buddy that finally admitted to me (paid 10k+) that his Kubota ZTR rides rough and spins a lot. He really complains about the spinning and he has mostly flat ground. He wouldn't admit it for a long time but he did one day when he was afraid I'd show up with the suspension Ferris. The susp. REALLY makes a difference in a ZTR. Your non-suspended mowers have a great resale.....your used mower is about equal value to a used Ferris.......think about it!
Yes, I do cut full tilt on this thing much of the time. When it gets rough, I have to slow down but I couldn't imagine a non-suspended mower keeping up with it, or at least with any comfort.
Listen, I don't mean to step on anyone's toes. I'm biased because I own one. But, before I bought this one, I talked to a lot of people and rode many of them. I also read a lot on here. My pride isn't too big to admit when I'm wrong, I just knew I wanted a decent cut, smooth ride and a really fast cutting mower- no matter the color or brand.
In regards to the front mount mower, I had the Bolens articulating, front mount mower. I really liked this mower. It was pretty darn fast and the best thing was trimming around things, shoving the deck up a bank or over a bank and shoving the deck under a bush/porch. The kubota version is in another caliber than the 42" Bolens but a ZTR of equal footing would be slightly faster. I don't doubt that the ride was better on the Bolens too, but I know the Z has it by about 4-5 mph.....that makes a big difference.
