F Series vs. ZD

[workinonit]

Mine has a mulching deck. I don't get grass in my radiator at all.

 

[duffer]

TBH I have not read all 10 pages before this post. But I'd bet you've gotten significant input from "both sides" of the issue.

All I'll tell you is that I have a 84" 3 pt finish mower that I mow my 5 acres for the past 8 years. My neighbor bot 5 acres next door a couple of years ago and bought a Scat ZT because he felt it would be faster than my rig.

Bottom line is it takes him 3½-4 hours to mow his 5 acres, takes me 2¼ hours for mine. And I have severe hills, he doesn't. If your acreage is bumpy at all, you'll regret the ZT.

Good Luck with your choice!

 

[Hay Dude]

TBH I have not read all 10 pages before this post. But I'd bet you've gotten significant input from "both sides" of the issue.

All I'll tell you is that I have a 84" 3 pt finish mower that I mow my 5 acres for the past 8 years. My neighbor bot 5 acres next door a couple of years ago and bought a Scat ZT because he felt it would be faster than my rig.

Bottom line is it takes him 3½-4 hours to mow his 5 acres, takes me 2¼ hours for mine. And I have severe hills, he doesn't. If your acreage is bumpy at all, you'll regret the ZT.

Good Luck with your choice!

Why? I mow bumpy ground 2 full days per week with (2) ZD-1211-72” diesel zero turn and it flies over bumps, around trees, up & down hills with ease.

I couldn’t think of a faster way to cut grass than a zero turn. Time is money in my business. We have to get grass cut fast, or time/money is lost.

Zero turns whip around trees, along buildings, around landscape beds much faster than a tractor.

I DO realize the OP may not be in the hurry that I am in, that is why everyone views mowing from a different perspective. But in a mowing contest, I’ll whup a tractor in mowing speed, even if it has a 1-2 wider deck.

 

[DK35vince]

TBH I have not read all 10 pages before this post. But I'd bet you've gotten significant input from "both sides" of the issue.

All I'll tell you is that I have a 84" 3 pt finish mower that I mow my 5 acres for the past 8 years. My neighbor bot 5 acres next door a couple of years ago and bought a Scat ZT because he felt it would be faster than my rig.

Bottom line is it takes him 3½-4 hours to mow his 5 acres, takes me 2¼ hours for mine. And I have severe hills, he doesn't. If your acreage is bumpy at all, you'll regret the ZT.

Good Luck with your choice!

Strange, for years I mowed my 8 acre lawn with my 35HP tractor with 84" rear finish mower (took a little over 3 1/4 hours to mow)
Bought a 35HP zero turn with a 72" deck a decade ago and cut over an hour off my mowing time.

 

[workinonit]

Rough ground is the one thing a 3 PH FM doesn't do well. I got you on the mower by almost 3 times. I have a 21' Frontier batwing. Flat open ground and i can probably cut any zero turn time in half at least. But it doesn't replace a zero turn. Not even close. I have 2 ZTs and I have 2 hours of cutting on them before I even hook up the big mower. Once I do that I'm done in 45 minutes.

 

[Hay Dude]

Some perspective here:

Obviously, if we are talking about a 10 acre “football field” type of lawn, then yes, you might be able to cut faster with a tractor & pulled mower.
However, most large lawns have trees, buildings, landscape beds, etc. Trying to maneuver a 4 ton turf tractor with a pulled mower would be much slower than a zero turn in that more typical scenario.

 

[Hay Dude]

I bought a used JD 1435 diesel front mower side discharge 7-iron at a local Metro Parks auction $2500. Yanmar motor. Starts on the 2 revolution even after sitting for a few months. Found a 60" front rotary broom for it and I will NEVER use or need a snowblower, plow or pusher again, and I've tried all 3 before getting a broom. The driveway is spotless after brooming snow and is dry in 1 hr. I can spray the snow even from 10" drifts as far out as I want or need to using rpm. And it does all this at 15 (measured) mph. The motor isn't even warmed up when I'm done.

As and added bonus, I bought a 3:1 gearbox with a 540 pto stub on it and can run my 45kW Winpower PTO genny off of it. The 1435 is about 22hp so its 11kw potential is plenty of electric power for us. I also still have my F935 earlier version of the 1435. It can also run the genny and a 76" rear discharge deck for chomping thru high field grass, weeds, trees, woodchucks, and whatever it chooses to munch on.

That’s a heck of a find!

 

[m7040]

Anyone know if there dealers will willingly install the air seat on zd1211. I asked this one and said they are not authorized to do it. They can special order it but want nothing to do with the swap out…

I’ve seen videos where people are ordering them with the air ride seat.

I have posted before changing ZD331 to Grammer air ride seat. It is a game changer on rough grounds

 

[zzvyb6]

That’s a heck of a find!

Actually, that's a typical price for these mowers used in all the Metropark sales. They have Fall auctions every year. (Auctions – Chuck Cryderman & Associates, LLC). I also bought a Toro diesel 72" zero turn and an ExMark diesel 72" zero turn at the same auction. The Toro and the Exmark are essentially the exact same machine.

All of their machines are well taken care of, just retirement from depreciation schedules or slightly broke. The heck of a find was a JD 4400 hydrastat with a loader, stuck in the low range (a common problem on the 4x00 series as the range selector rod is weakened by an O-ring groove AND the lever stop is mis-adjusted. The replacement part to fix the machine was in the LHS toolbox. Took longer to pull off the seat than to remove and install the new shifter rod. There was dirt in the hydraulic pressure relief valve that made the rear lift arms jerky. Wiped it off with my glove and stuck it back in.

 

[Hay Dude]

I guess I could have said it better thats a heck of a deal in my area.

 

[tradosaurus]

I more about 4 acres of bumpy lawn full of obstacles with a Toro Z master 2000. 3 hours max.

 

[5030]

Late to the game but my F Series Kubota diesel front mount 72" mower rides like a Caddilac. It came with an air ride seat...lol My wife has a ZTR but I now prefer the steering wheel over the oars.

 

[jyoutz]

I have posted before changing ZD331 to Grammer air ride seat. It is a game changer on rough grounds

My Stihl ZT takes the opposite approach to rough ground. The seat is the standard spring suspension, but the machine has 4 wheels spring/shocks suspension. It rides very well on rougher ground. Since I mow native grass around the house/ outbuildings and not lawn, this was almost a necessity for my needs. The remainder of the property gets cut with the tractor and rotary cutter.

 

[5030]

All I know is, when I run my wife's zero turn (which is infrequently), our lawn is bumpy as well and that bumpy yard equates into a rough ride whereas the Kubota front mount mower rides like a luxury car. At my age I much prefer a smooth ride over a rough ride. I also prefer a diesel engine over an air cooled aluminum block V twin for longevity and fuel efficiency. None of the current V twins made today will outlast the diesel. On the contrary. The will puke long before a diesel will.

 

[Brown Dog]

I also prefer a diesel engine over an air cooled aluminum block V twin for longevity and fuel efficiency. None of the current V twins made today will outlast the diesel … They will puke long before a diesel will.

I totally agree.
Gassers rev too hi causing too much vibrations & NO TORQUE in tall grass OR pulling steep banks.

 

[5030]

The pot metal that the motor blocks are cast from (high pressure die casting) that make up today's V twin and single cylinder motors used in lawnmowers and zero turns aren't made to last like a nodular cast iron block and head of a diesel engine. Basically, disposa motors, all of them.

 

[mikester]

I have about 5-6 acres to mow.

I don’t have many hills but I’m struggling to rationalize 20k on a piece of equipment that only does one thing. At the same time I don’t want to compromise.

Forest. Forest Gump.

Embrace your new lifestyle. If you are balking at $20K then you really should consider selling that property. You will be paying far more than that maintaining 5-6 acres of lawn.

 

[5030]

Had one of those Snappers many years ago...lol

 

[Brown Dog]

… I’m struggling to rationalize 20k on a piece of equipment that only does one thing …

I’ve learned in my old age that a one trick pony does it’s one particular job WELL.

It’s more efficient & doesn’t compromise any at all.

Equipment that does various jobs doesn’t shine bright in any one category.

 

[workinonit]

Meaning....if you gonna cut grass get a zero turn. That's all it's good for and in my mind nothing better,