New Zero Turn

[Gary Fowler]

After a bit of internet searching for reviews, I bit the bullet this afternoon and bought a Ferris IS 700 with Kawasaki engine from my local New Holland dealer. Ended up negotiating a price of $6200 and got him to throw in a new set of replacement blades. I guess not much room for dealing as he only came off $300 from what I found as advertised pricing elsewhere.
My decision on the Ferris was due entirely to the suspension system that is a Ferris exclusive. It is the new model replacing the 1500 series according to websites I visited. What was weird is that the smaller deck (48") had a 27 HP B&S engine while the 52" model that I bought with the Kawasaki engine was listed as 23 HP. He would have sold me the 48" for $5000 cash. I hope the Kawasaki engine and 4" more deck is worth the $1200+10% tax which is our local sales tax.
Now I have to divest myself of my other 2 mowers, anyone want a slightly used 26HP Craftsman 6000 ZTS with 52" deck or a much older JD 332 diesel with 54" deck.
I did feel a little guilty about buying the third mower so I went on down to the Honda dealer and bought my wife a new 2013, 2 WD CR-V EX-L model for $500 over dealer cost(a bit over $27K). We looked at the Pilots but decided that the CR-V is the best size for us and it gets about 5 MPG more in fuel efficiency. We decided that the Honda was what we wanted due to there being 4 in the family (3 CRV's and one Pilot)and all with good quality. Don't have any idea at the present on what to do with her 2003 Olds Bravada AWD with only 99K miles on it.

I now have to move a lot of stuff around so I can park 3 vehicles, 2 golf carts, 3 lawnmowers and a Kubota RTV 900. I have a bit of room in my boat shed for the lawnmowers but the RTV is going to be a bit of a walk to get it. It is too tall to park under my patio with the golf carts but I have an idea I will work on to see how it come thru. This is going to really cramp my shop activities till I can get rid of some stuff.

 

[Sysop]

Tractor Supply has garage in a box units that are great for temporary housing of such hardware. Just a thought.

 

[Gary Fowler]

It may come to that, but I am hoping that I get some response off Craigslist when I have time to post the items and some lucky person will have some money to take things off my hands. I have a lot of stuff that I no longer use, some of it just used a few times, like the big garden cart that I bought with my ZTR and used twice then bought the Kubota RTV and never used the cart again. I am hoping that I can move some of the smaller stuff around in my shop (30x30) and make room for the wife's old car out there. I prefer to use my house garage to keep my RTV in because we use it multiple times per day and don't want to walk all the way to the shop each time to get it.

 

[murphy1244]

Your going to love that Ferris, Simplicity has the same system

 

[Gary Fowler]

I am leaving in a few minutes to go pick it up. Salesman gave me the wrong book for the engine yesterday so I have to get one for the Kawasaki engine. Anyone have a general idea of how much more the Kawa engines cost than B&S? The 1200 bucks difference I paid included a 52" mower over the 48" with the B&S. I haven't had any issues with my B&S engine on my Craftsman mower but general opinion is that the Kawasaki engine is superior to any of the Briggs or Kohler engines at least on internet reviews. Anyone here have an opinion they would like to share with me? Did I waste my money on the Kawa?

 

[Gary Fowler]

Your going to love that Ferris, Simplicity has the same system

I didn't know that. I thought only Ferris had a suspension system. I haven't looked for a Simplicity dealer around here but there must be one. My next door neighbor was expounding the quality of them a few months back and how simple the transmissions on the tractor type were.

 

[DmansPadge]

They are essentially the same mowers. Simplicity and Ferris are both made by their parent company, Briggs and Stratton, best I can remember.

 

[KNOWITALL]

I sell a couple different brands of high end ZT's....The Kawasaki is ALWAYS worth the money.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I got it home after lunch and it was so hot that I was soaked in sweat by the time I got it off the trailer. I decided to give it a going over while I waited for it to cool down a bit, greased the front wheels and swivels, oiled all the other joints, then put a new pump on my 15 gal. spray rig. Around 3 pm I couldn't wait anymore and decided that I needed to check it out, dang the heat. I was just going to mow a bit to set the deck height but ended up mowing the whole back yard which was the only thing that really needed cutting. Finished that in record time while hitting those lot spot bumps with ease rather than a back breaking jolt like on my Craftsman. The steering is rather stiff ( much harder to move than my Craftsman) but upon examination, I didn't see any friction clutch adjustment so I just sprayed it down with silicone spray which didn't help any at all. This mower goes much faster than my craftsman also. I then went over to my brother in laws place and cut a spot that he had not been able to cut with his mower for months because it was too wet. The 23 HP Kawasaki engine blazed thru that tall grass like it was 3" tall rather than 18". He had a ditch that hadn't been cut in a lot time and I was cutting across it as it seemed to be fairly dry. I finally baptized it in the mud when I made one crossing too many and I high centered the rear end as it spun down in mud. I didn't feel too bad about getting it stuck as I wasn't far from where my BIL stuck his NH when trying to bush hog across the same ditch. I walked home, watched a movie while I cooled off a lot and then took my tractor over and hooked a strap on the rear bumper guard and pulled it out. My BIL then took it for a spin and finished mowing the rest of the deep grass while I cleaned out the ditch so it would drain better and leveled a bunch of ruts from last time we were in there with tractors when it was too wet. Put .6 hours on it this afternoon. Cant wait for the grass to grow now.

 

[gilbertmsg]

Gary, what model Kawasaki engine is on the new mower? If FS or FX you have a top of the line engine.

Eddie

 

[Midniteoyl]

 

[Gary Fowler]

Gary, what model Kawasaki engine is on the new mower? If FS or FX you have a top of the line engine.

Eddie

It an FS 691V Kawasaki engine. They must rate the HP different from Craftsman's claimed 26 vs Kawa's 23 because it has much more power than the craftsman. The dealer had given out my manual to another customer who had bought the 48" mower with the B&S engine (same model number), so they had to order an engine manual for me so I don't have anything on it other than what is tagged on the engine itself. I told them if they would call the other guy, it would surely bring back the book in exchange for the B&S book, but they said they would order another book, probably take 6 months to get it.

 

[Gary Fowler]

View attachment 333459

OK< OK. Would you like a photo of the limb I dismembered from my Bradford pear tree also from striking it with the ROPS? I'll have to get the photos later as much is going on right now with wife preparing to travel to Houston for the funeral of one of her friends. Also son-in-law is recuperating from open heart surgery performed Monday so that will be another thing to do. The lady who died from leukemia was the mother of my daughters best friends since childhood so they will all go to the funeral even daughter with recuperating husband. I guess his mother will have to continue to babysit him at least for that day.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Here are the photos

 

[Gary Fowler]

Not only does it mow but it trims trees also. I forgot about the tall ROPS which my other mower doesn't have. Despite the tree trimming, I really like this mower, it really handles the rough ground without the spine shattering jolt like the JD 332 or the Craftsman.

 

[Gary Fowler]

OK, now I have an oil question. I downloaded the engine manual from internet and oil specs say 10W-40 or 40W SAE class SG, SH, SJ OR SL. I checked my Rotella T6 spec and it is a CH, CJ spec. and found an old empty quart bottle of Motorcraft full synthetic 10W-40 but the spec was SM. I assume the S was synthetic but then the Shell Rotella T6 and Shell Rotella also have the C rating and the T6 claims to be synthetic.
Looks like I now have to stock #3 and #4 oil types as the engine oil is something that I don't have and the hydraulics call for 20W-50 detergent (no SAE spec given) motor oil which I also don't have. Any thoughts on this subject?

 

[Gary Fowler]

I just got back from town and Wally World to look for oil. The only oil they had to meet SL class was Mobil 1 full synthetic. Most others just had SM rating which IIRC is next grade in the line when SAE issues a new designation better than SL but the Mobil listed SL also. Couldn't find any top brand 20W-50 so I got some of the Tech Walmart brand for the hydraulic system, I hope it is premium oil, I have never bought it before.
Got to change the motor oil at 8 hours but filter change is first 100 then every year or 200 hours thereafter. That 8 hours will be getting close after the next mowing or maybe after the second mowing for sure. It must be a quick break in period with something other than full synthetic for such a quick oil change. Mechanic said 50 hours but book says 8 so I am going with that.

 

[DmansPadge]

The Mobil 1 is a great choice. The S classification is for 'spark' or 'service' meaning a gasoline engine. The C is for 'compression' or 'commercial' meaning diesel. Some oils cover both classes. The M is just the latest class and will cover previous letters. I personally would change the filter too at the 8 hour mark. Enjoy your new ride!

 

[Midniteoyl]

View attachment 333522View attachment 333523View attachment 333524View attachment 333525Here are the photos

Oh Yeah!! :licking:

 

[Midniteoyl]

I just got back from town and Wally World to look for oil. The only oil they had to meet SL class was Mobil 1 full synthetic. Most others just had SM rating which IIRC is next grade in the line when SAE issues a new designation better than SL but the Mobil listed SL also. Couldn't find any top brand 20W-50 so I got some of the Tech Walmart brand for the hydraulic system, I hope it is premium oil, I have never bought it before.
Got to change the motor oil at 8 hours but filter change is first 100 then every year or 200 hours thereafter. That 8 hours will be getting close after the next mowing or maybe after the second mowing for sure. It must be a quick break in period with something other than full synthetic for such a quick oil change. Mechanic said 50 hours but book says 8 so I am going with that.

SM was issued in 2004 and is the latest. It reduced the amount of ZDDP. 'S' does not mean 'synthetic', though synthetic would be ok to use. The Mobil 1 is an excellent choice.