Dixie Choppers

[robertwhite]

So, I have another thread in general about trying to decide between a larger CUT and a ZT mower. I figure that the lawn & garden guys would know a bit about ZT mowers.

Specifically, Dixie Chopper in at least a 60", possibly a 72".

Does anyone have one (preferably X series) and do they run as advertised with the ability to cut 8+ acres per hour? I need to mow around 10-11 basically flat acres of lawn and really don't know if I want to spend all day doing so with a CUT pulling a finish mower. I also have 4-5 acres of pasture which I am still trying to figure out how to knock down a couple times a season.(whatever the the few cows don't get)

Plan would be to get a ZT for the lawn and a dedicated TLB such as a Case 580E for heavy moving and digging.

Thoughts?

 

[EddieWalker]

I have a Scag Wildcat with a 60 inch cut. I like it allot, but don't know how it compares to Dixie. The biggest thing to remember is dealer support. Everything breaks eventually, and having a place to get the parts and ask how to replace them should be number one in what to buy.

At 60 inches, I'm just a little wide for uneven areas. The wider you go, the harder it is to keep the blades close to the ground unless your lawn is perfectly smooth.

Since you want to mow quite a bit of land, I'm thinking it's going to be pretty rough. For lawns, nothing is faster then a zero turn. For fields and rough areas, you really want a CUT. I have both and I also have a rotery cutter and finish mower. I use them all in their place and can't tell you which is better. It varies too much depending on what you are mowing.

With the the zero turn, you really want to mow about once a week. Tall grass boggs down the blades and the engine. If you mow once a week, you can move pretty fast. I rarely go full speed because the ride gets too rough. You can mow as fast as you can take the beating. Go slower, and you're not tired after mowing, go fast and youc an end up needing a nap to rest up after you finish mowing.

How much you can mow in an hour is meaningless except for your place. You need to mow it a few times just to get an idea of what to expect.

Eddie

 

[8934]

I have a 70" Dixie Chopper that is 10 years old. I use it to mow my 2 1/2 acre yard.

It is fast, and dependable. Never done anything to it other than sharpen blades, grease, changing oil & filters.

My neighbor is on his third zero turn mower, in 12-15 years, he doesnt want to spend the money to get a good quality mower, so he gets a cheaper brand, and has had numerous issues. I have no idea though if Dixie Chopper has maintined their quality standards over the years.

This being said, have to agree with Eddie. On my property at least, grass grows very thick and very fast. If you dont mow it at least every two weeks speed slows way down. Ride can be rough if ground isnt smooth.

I recently purchased 11 acres, and purchased a JD 4120 and MX6 to mow. Plan is to build a house and move. I plan to mow everything with tractor when I do, with perhaps a little push mower to get into few tight spots I cant reach with tractor. However, I am not into my yard, and care little about a manicured yard. If you do, you may need both.

 

[Dargo]

Dixie Choppers are very good mowers. I had a used one when I had a mowing business. I think they aren't as popular as Scag and some others because they are better made and, therefore, cost more. No offense intended Eddie, but I have a real distaste for Scag. They were my first mowers and I found that they are entry level commercial machines aimed at commercial mowers trying to buy the least expensive machines. That was me at the time. I got to know the guy at the Scag parts counter on a personal basis. I'd put Dixie Choppers close to the top of the list with Scag somewhere between 10th and 15th choice on my list.

If you don't have a lot to mow around and your lot is smooth, you can't beat a Dixie Chopper IMHO. If you have a yard that is not so smooth and/or have hills, there's positively nothing better than a front mount ZTR. Yes, they are more expensive, but there's no comparison in the ride. After selling my mowing business I kept 'his and hers' diesel powered front mount Grasshopper mowers. My yard is not that smooth and you can't even stay in your seat going very fast with a mid mount mower but I always mow full speed with the front mount Grasshoppers. For high quality mid mount mowers, I like Dixie Choppers and Kubota machines. Good luck!

 

[EddieWalker]

... I think they aren't as popular as Scag and some others because they are better made and, therefore, cost more. No offense intended Eddie, but I have a real distaste for Scag. They were my first mowers and I found that they are entry level commercial machines aimed at commercial mowers trying to buy the least expensive machines...

No offense taken. I did my research, read the reviews and time will tell if Scag was the right choice. I really like my mower, but since I haven't owned any of the other brands, I don't have an opinion on them.

I looked at most of the brands out there, including your favorite, Grasshopper, which seemed like a fine mower with a terrible dealer. In the end, I chose Scag for it's features, the way it's built and the dealer.

As a small landowner, I'm nowhere near commercial in my needs for a lawn mower. Mowing once a week, if that, is nowhere near what commercial guys do by mowing five and six days a week, all day long. For that kind of use, money for the very best machine should be secondary in consideration to reliablity and performance. Around here, Scag, Kubota, Hustler and eXmark seem to be the mowers that I see all over the place.

Eddie

 

[Dargo]

No offense taken. I did my research, read the reviews and time will tell if Scag was the right choice. I really like my mower...

And, as you know, that is what is most important. The way they are used makes a huge difference too. I ran mine hard, running as fast as my kidneys and back could take, because time is money when you are mowing for profit. Your situation is completely different and you may never have any issues.

Their quality may have changed as well. About the time I was fed up with Scag I learned that Dane Scag, the founder, had sold controlling interest in the company a few years earlier and was personally so upset with the drop in quality that he sold out completely and started another company to try to repair his name reputation since he didn't want to be associated with "cheap" but with "quality". I just got so mad with the poor quality that I swore to never own another after having to work on mine every time they were going to be used and they were only about 2 or 3 years old.

My dad bought a "lawn tractor" made by MTD about 10 years ago to mow his 3/4 acre lawn of really thick Zoysia grass. I didn't think it would last him one season. Last year he had to replace one spindle and his belt. That's it after 10 seasons of mowing. For $700 bucks, I have to admit that his mower has been well worth what he spent and I'd have never thought it would have made it that long.

The Dixie Chopper machines are made not too far from where I live. The one I used had a Yanmar diesel that had something like 50 hp and most of the machine was made with stainless steel. It was a real beast. I think I was told that they have gone to Cat diesel engines now, but I'm not sure. Either way, I was impressed with their decks, engines, hydraulics and overall quality. I've just beat my back up too much over the years to take the beating a mid mount mower gives you. Even the Ferris I had with suspension was hard on my back. It was a lot easier on me than mid mount ZTR's with no suspension, but still nowhere close to the ride of front mounts. I know, I know, call me a sissy...

 

[J_J]

Another salute for the Dixie Choppers. I used them for 18 years, and still have two 60 in units. One of them is a Flat Lander,'meaning fast. Like the others have said, time is money, but to a retired person, just pure sport and enjoyment, chasing down Armadillos, rats, snakes, and anything that got in the way. Even water hose, etc. I have tried all types of tires, and it depends on what you are doing, as to the type of tires. Full lug, combination lug and turf tread or full turf tread. A half gallon of Slime in the back tires, and solids on the front for commercial use. Home owner might want air in the front tires. They will climb hills very good, but will also come down twice as fast if you don't know what you are doing. A good mechanical inclined person can fix just about anything on the Choppers. Most worn out things were the blades, and front bearings, because of the sand here in Florida. If there is a dealer in your town, you should be able to stay running . I also had a Trac-Vac vacuum system with separate engine, on the back of one of the Choppers, that did a very good job, almost to well. During leaf season, I would be dumping that container every 10 min. If you get one of the Choppers, insist that it have the bypass filter system on the machine, as that 1 micron filter will keep that engine clean, and give many more good engine hours. Each pump/motor setup has a separate hyd filter. I also use Gator Blades to help mulch up leaves.

Did I say I liked Dixie Choppers, and Kohler engines.

About the only improvement I believe they could make, is to build the deck out of 1/4 steel. Here in Florida, the sand will eat a hole in the deck in front of the right wheel, and other parts of the deck. Tire tread over that spot on the inside will fix or eliminate that problem. If there was a way to apply rubber to the underside of the deck, that would fix all the deck problems.

 

[Matt_Jr]

My FIL is having a problem with sand eating away at his JD riding mower. He put rubber inside the deck to get it to last a little longer, but the sand went all the way through to the point he could see it comming out as he mows. Maybe someone should build a sandproof deck.. and they could call it the sand blaster.

 

[robertwhite]

Does anyone know if a DC dealer gives demo trials or rentals? I think that is going to be the only way to figure this out.

 

[pete-mi]

I drove a friends x series one last summer and it was fast. For the speed the ride was very good. It is difently one to think about. I own a Bob-Cat preditor pro 60 in with a liquid cooled Kawasaki engine and realy like it. It is faster than most mowers but not as fast as a Dixie Chopper. The ride of the Dixie I would say is like a truck with a air ride cab as you float along nicely. On my Bob-Cat I have the suspension seat and that makes it almost as nice of ride. I would say my Bob-Cat is a more precise movement as you can inch into area and mow close to fences. It has a sports car feel for mowing around and close to trees, fences, ect. I dont know what Dixies deck warranty is but on my Bob-Cat it is lifetime deck and frame. I also like the hand lift with the foot pedal to raise the deck to go over things. Your local dealer should have one they use that you could test drive and see how it handles. I am very happy with my Bob-Cat so I am not in the market now but if I was I would also look at Dixie. There are a lot of mowers on the market and I would only go with one that has a long warranty. The longer the warranty the more confident the manufacturer is in their product to hold up. They dont like paying for warranty work and I would rather spend time in the summer mowing and not fixing.