F Series vs. ZD

[Gem99ultra]

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

I also had one... an 8hp 30" model. It would cut grass knee high without hesitation, but "fast" was not a part of Snappler's vocabulary. Cutting a little 3/4 acre lawn was an all day job. My replacement mower, a ZTR will do the same yard in 30 minutes.

 

[5030]

I don't believe zero turns were even invented when the Snapper riders came out. I look at a ZTR is a progression of the Snapper design.

 

[CigTopGun38]

Beleive it or not I haven’t pulled the trigger on a unit yet. Local dealer just had a zd1211 show up last week. Finally got to see it today. I will say one thing…the Kubota is built infinitely better than the competition. It’s not even close. Like a tank. The dealer is telling me he won’t sell me a zd1211 72”. He also won’t sell me a rear discharge. So it’s side discharge zd1211 60” or zd1611 72”.

Others on here say they haven’t had issues with 72” on zd1211’s. We are in New England. Not sure if location makes a difference.

 

[Brown Dog]

If you have hills and / or let grass get really thick : the little 24hp will definitely bog & slow you down.
I sold my 1211 & went 1511.
I liked it so well : i bought a ZD1611 too.

 

[RjCorazza]

Beleive it or not I haven’t pulled the trigger on a unit yet. Local dealer just had a zd1211 show up last week. Finally got to see it today. I will say one thing…the Kubota is built infinitely better than the competition. It’s not even close. Like a tank. The dealer is telling me he won’t sell me a zd1211 72”. He also won’t sell me a rear discharge. So it’s side discharge zd1211 60” or zd1611 72”.

Others on here say they haven’t had issues with 72” on zd1211’s. We are in New England. Not sure if location makes a difference.

I just finished cutting 5 acres of thick 8" spring grass with a 72" side discharge ZD1211. Cuts like nobody's business.
It won't blow through high grass like my previous ZD331, or the current ZD1611, but I do not find it underpowered.

 

[TripleS]

I only have two acres to mow and I went from a 52" Gravley ZT to a f2560 with a 60"RD and it cut my mowing time in half but I still think I like the ZT better. Maybe because that's all I have ever had. The steering wheel just feels funny after using the ores 25 years. F2560 I mow in high with throttle wide open it doesn't have a rpm gauge, I would guess speed is probably around 4-5mph but if I floor it probably will run 8-10mph but it would bounce me off. Lol

 

[anomad]

I read this thread today since it is the time of year to obsess about mowing. Lots of good info. Some of ya'll mow a lot. I just mow my combined family property and some common areas for the community.

I have a SCAG V-ride 2 and a 6ft land pride rear finish mower for my little Kubota B2601. Had been thinking about sending them down the road and getting an F series. Doesn't sound like that would be a good move after reading.

If anyone is curious... The SCAG has a 52 inch deck and the 37 horse Vanguard. I can mow circles around myself compared to the tractor with the stander. It is also terrifying, obnoxiously loud even with solid hearing protection, and drinks gas like an old Ford 460. With the tractor you can just mosey along, barely sipping diesel, and daydream up high in the seat. The stander wants you to slam energy drinks and listen to Slayer. But it sure is fast and the cut quality is amazing at full speed in well maintained areas.

I may go with a 6 foot stander next season. Or a ZD if I find 20k in cash laying around I forgot I had...

Side note: I got the SCAG partly because the local County Government mowing crew has a lot of them to mow all the county property. The local shop knows all about them and my neighbor down the road is the main sales dude. So I have great service if and when I need it.

 

[Hay Dude]

Beleive it or not I haven’t pulled the trigger on a unit yet. Local dealer just had a zd1211 show up last week. Finally got to see it today. I will say one thing…the Kubota is built infinitely better than the competition. It’s not even close. Like a tank. The dealer is telling me he won’t sell me a zd1211 72”. He also won’t sell me a rear discharge. So it’s side discharge zd1211 60” or zd1611 72”.

Others on here say they haven’t had issues with 72” on zd1211’s. We are in New England. Not sure if location makes a difference.

Your dealers salesman is full of crap, as most are.

I guarantee you, unless you’re cutting fields or lawns left to grow MUCH taller than normal, you’ll have no issues with a 1211-72.

One of my customers has 2 small fields we cut every other week (14 days between cuts) and we cut through them same speed as the lawns cut weekly. Only difference is we cut the fields at about 5” and the lawns at 4”.

My guess is the salesman knows you want a 72” cutting deck, and he’s trying to scare you out of a $20,000 ZD1211 and scare you into a $24,000 ZD1611.
All in the disguise of “saving you from making a mistake”.

They’re all pretty shameless.

 

[Brown Dog]

Your dealers salesman is full of crap, as most are.

I guarantee you, unless you’re cutting fields or lawns left to grow MUCH taller than normal, you’ll have no issues with a 1211-72 …

OR if he’ll be mowing hills & steep banks like I do here on the farm.

My old 1211-72 was great on flat ground & mowing weekly but it’d just barely crawl up these hills here : boiling my blood pressure.
So frustrating & I don’t mow fast because my ground is so rough.

I didn’t realize how much the 3cyl 1211 vibrated until I stepped up to the 4cyl Turbo 15 & 1611.

Everybody’s mowing is different tho & the 1211 fits most folks applications just fine

 

[Brown Dog]

If anyone is curious... The SCAG has a 52 inch deck and the 37 horse Vanguard. I can mow circles around myself compared to the tractor with the stander. It is also terrifying, obnoxiously loud even with solid hearing protection, and drinks gas like an old Ford 460 …

Those gas zeros revs so hi of rpm with lots of vibrations drinking gas as you mentioned.
The Kubota ZD1211 & bigger is expensive & a one trick pony but they’ll outperform any mower out there with their “transmission” & shaft driven deck.
IF you mow much grass it’s worth every penny to own one & know it’ll be dependable for many years imo

 

[Hay Dude]

OR if he’ll be mowing hills & steep banks like I do here on the farm.

My old 1211-72 was great on flat ground & mowing weekly but it’d just barely crawl up these hills here : boiling my blood pressure.
So frustrating & I don’t mow fast because my ground is so rough.

I didn’t realize how much the 3cyl 1211 vibrated until I stepped up to the 4cyl Turbo 15 & 1611.

Everybody’s mowing is different tho & the 1211 fits most folks applications just fine

I have no trouble on hills and I do some pretty steep ones. I mean you can feel the engine pull down a little, but nothing that bothered me or affected cut quality.
Overall, I’m satisfied. I thought I’d miss my ZD-331-72, but I don’t all that much.

 

[LouNY]

Well I read through this entire thread this morning. A lot of interesting thoughts and ideas.
I used to mow with a 12 foot pull type finish mower. It did a very nice job and got under tree limbs and such fairly well, then I'd trim up with a little JD rider.

Then I picked up an old Kubota F2000 a whopping 19 hp with a 72 inch side discharge deck.
My yard is very rough and lots of trees and hills, I do not mow fast, heck low range and maybe midpoint on the hydro speed. The cut is good and power is not an issue for me. I do shift it into and out of 4wd frequently as I don't care for the turning radius in 4wd and the amount of tire slip. That said turning uphill while circling a large tree I'll often engage the rear axle so as to not spin the main tires as much.
I will often do my trees and shrubs by going back and forth while moving sideways along the edges or around a tree with low branches.
I'm well pleased with the front decked F2000, if it goes out I'll likely look for a similar unit.

I did add an air spring to the old worn out seat suspension

 

[5030]

One thing I'll never buy again is a gasoline powered mower, no matter what brand, simply because the gas motors are a furl hogs and the projected lifetime if any if them is 1500 hours whereas a diesel powered machine, 1500 hours is chump change and a disesl, unlike a gas motor spins at a lower RPM so less noise and a diesel powered lawn mower, if mowing a tough spot, the diesel motor will have torque rise, unlike a gas motor to power through that tough spot. I realized a giesel powered unit will cost more but the diesel engine will far outlast any gas engine and like I said, it runs slower, so less noise, in fact all you dan hear when I'm running my Kubota front mount diesel mower is the whine of the mower blades, never the engine.

I'm all good with that.

 

[5030]

Well I read through this entire thread this morning. A lot of interesting thoughts and ideas.
I used to mow with a 12 foot pull type finish mower. It did a very nice job and got under tree limbs and such fairly well, then I'd trim up with a little JD rider.
View attachment 3795604

Then I picked up an old Kubota F2000 a whopping 19 hp with a 72 inch side discharge deck.
My yard is very rough and lots of trees and hills, I do not mow fast, heck low range and maybe midpoint on the hydro speed. The cut is good and power is not an issue for me. I do shift it into and out of 4wd frequently as I don't care for the turning radius in 4wd and the amount of tire slip. That said turning uphill while circling a large tree I'll often engage the rear axle so as to not spin the main tires as much.
I will often do my trees and shrubs by going back and forth while moving sideways along the edges or around a tree with low branches.
I'm well pleased with the front decked F2000, if it goes out I'll likely look for a similar unit.
View attachment 3795609

I did add an air spring to the old worn out seat suspension
View attachment 3795610

Gonna copy your air spring soon as you send me a link as to where you got it Lou... The other thing I like about mine is the steering wheel and the power syeering. I really don't like the oars, neither does my wife so I got her a Cub Cadet with a steering wheel as well. Her's is gas powered but all she mows is our senced in front yard anyway.

 

[LouNY]

Gonna copy your air spring soon as you send me a link as to where you got it Lou... The other thing I like about mine is the steering wheel and the power syeering. I really don't like the oars, neither does my wife so I got her a Cub Cadet with a steering wheel as well. Her's is gas powered but all she mows is our senced in front yard anyway.

There are numerous air springs around this one is from amazon;

This particular one had the height that I was looking for. Then i just used a right angle fitting in the bag and a schrader valve on a short length of air brake nylon tube. I may add an air ride valve and a small compressor eventually as I do have to air it up a bit every month or so, I'm running about 12 psi in it and it handles my 320 pounds quite well.

 

[part-time-Farmer-NC]

SO what holds the air spring in place? Just compresses it enough to stay there or does it move around?

 

[Brown Dog]

…
Overall, I’m satisfied. I thought I’d miss my ZD-331-72, but I don’t all that much.

I wanted a 331-72 but the ZD1#11-72 wider front axle & more user friendly lay-out is a better machine imo.

 

[RjCorazza]

The front axle and built in Jack is awesome. I recently sucked in a very large piece of landscape fabric, which wrapped up in the blades tight before I could shut the blades down. Jack the front end up, cut it out with my pocket knife, and I'm back in business!
That was actually the second time I've needed to do this.... The first time was a steel dog tie out cable (not so easy).

 

[5030]

You get something wrapped around the mower blades on a Kubota front mount deck, just like a Grasshopper, you can tilt it vertical to remove anything, change the blades or clean off any buildup that collects on the underside. You do have to disconnect the driveshaft first but after that it's pretty easy to make the deck vertical. In fact with the Kubota front mount decks, Kubota includes a lever to lift it and you need the lever as the deck is pretty heavy.

Lou, thanks for the link, going to buy one.

 

[LouNY]

SO what holds the air spring in place? Just compresses it enough to stay there or does it move around?

It just sets right in with no clamps or bolting. With even just 2 psi it is a snug fit between the seat and the bottom of the base. And 11-12 psi is were I usually keep it.