Smooth Criminal
Model Year: 2002
After reading over 100 articles, I finally decided I needed a 72" ZTR for the 7+ acres of grass on our property. It is very park like, with fairways and some trees. It is not square and not golf course smooth either, but not rough. I didn't want to spend my time mowing and the big industrial ZTR best fit the requirement. But who can afford them? Well, a low hour Ferris IS4000Z reared its head on eBay and they accepted my offer. After a shipping circus (needed a flatbed and a rollback to get it to the house from NY) the beast arrived last year. What was a 6-7 hour ordeal for two guys on riders, became a 2.75 hour joy ride. Some mowers say 10-13 MPH, but only on golf course like terrain. With the Ferris IS4000 on realistic terrain, you can gain and maintain 10+ MPH. The suspension is a savior. The IS4000 has on occasion caused sequential circular scalps when I failed to slow down on extra rough bumps, but it flat out throws some grass. Cut quality is low on my priorities (I never graded it) since I have a mixed country lawn, volume is my mantra. And volume I have. 31 Daihatsu generated gas liquid cooled horsepower makes the beast move out. Her turns are helicopter smooth and fast, with easy to use predictable control input requirements. I did some touch ups on paint spots that began to exhibit corrosion. We sanded, wirebrushed, rust treated and used spray on undercoating to complete the cosmetic touches. We modified the battery compartment slightly by elevating the hoses and lines and zip tieing them securely to prevent debris accumulation, and elevated the battery on rubber hose ribs, then drilled drain holes on the battery deck. BTW, the spray on undercoating is a great coating for rough use applications and repairs. We used it on the seatback, rails, battery compartment, air cleaner housing and some other parts. It rocks. We added Gator Blades which improved efficiency significantly and since we are outside of town and the system is large, I filled the tires with industrial tire foam. No more flats ever. Saves hours of down time. Tracks better too. We also added a chrome exhaust tip ;0). Need to build a custom ROPS with Shade canopy and find a good place for a drink holder now....
Pros: Fast, powerful, smooth, grass eater, great price (Under $6000).
Cons: No ROPS, cupholder, ocassional shallow ripple scalping, factory blades are only okay.
Photo Uploads: