Bad Boy Zero Turn Mower

[kcflhrc]

Anyone familiar with these or have one? I was looking at Ferris and came across this brand. The one in particular I was looking at was a new model for this year the Maverick HD with a 23.5 HP Kawasaki with a 60" Deck. The thing is amazingly comfortable and the Kawasaki engine is a no brainer, they are the best. Just asking for any insight.

Thanks

 

[Dftodd]

Neighbor had one and loved his. It was almost identical to my Kubota. Both had the same engines, and horse power. Same size decks.

The one thing I didn't like was the manual choke. They mounted it on the opposite side of the mower from the key switch and throttle lever. I thought that was a little hinky and preferred the all in one, throttle with choke position on my kubota.

They probably have changed that design. Or at least I hope so it wasn't anything bad. Just counter intuitive.

The trap door in the floor to clean out the top of the deck is pretty handy.

Only issue with his was the solenoid for the electric height control. Bad Boy replaced his a couple of times.

I think bad boy did away with that and went to the foot lever to raise and lower the deck on the newer models. At least thats what he said his salesman told him.

All in all, they are good quality mowers. Other then the height control solenoid, he's been trouble free with his.

 

[Tinhack]

I have the Maverick 60" with the KT740 (747cc) Kohler Confidant. I bought mine last march at Tractor Supply. I'm happy with it but had to remount the ROPS. The assembler swapped the ROPS lower ends and the it wouldn't fold down. I don't know if it was TS or the factory. I was going to add a sun shade to the ROPS but haven't got around to it yet. The one I wanted comes in at about $450. It might be more now.

Mine has the aggressive rear tires so you have to watch high speed quick turns or it will eat the turf. I'm used to it now so it's not bad. My Woods 54" had pretty much reached it's EOL. I had already done one complete restoration and engine rebuild on it. One transaxle finally went on it and I started to change to straight hydraulic motors then went into the hospital. That was three years ago. I haven't done anything with it since. I just bought the Maverick 60" because I needed a mower and liked the looks and the standard accessories.

EDIT: Oh yeah, mine has the foot pedal for the deck height. You simply press the pedal and turn a dial to the cut height. I also added a small hydraulic cylinder to raise and lower the side discharge chute without getting off the mower.

 

[Ferg52]

When I was in the market about 4 years ago, I almost bought a 48" Bad Boy. I don't remember the model, but I was very impressed with the overall quality, value, and comfort of the machine. A guy I work with has had a 60" Bad Boy for a couple of mowing seasons and loves the thing to death. A family member has one as well that they got last summer, and says it's the only mower he's ever had that can handle a particular hill in his yard. Neither have anything bad to say about them, and they are both the type that complain any chance they get. I personally would not hesitate to buy one.

 

[Cycledude]

For 8 years I mowed and maintained the mowers for a 40 acre cemetery so I’ve been around mowers.
Never operated a Bad Boy but have looked them over and sat on them several times, they seem very well built and easy to work on, if there would ave been a nearby dealer we very likely might have bought one.

 

[kcflhrc]

I ended up finding a great deal on a left over 2021 Ferris IS600Z with Kawasaki engine for $5,750. After talking to a few folks I decided a 60" Deck probably wasn't the best choice for me and I kinda thought also that the 23 HP Kawasaki on that 60" Bad Boy might be a little under powered. I mow maybe 3 acres on our 10 acre place so I think it will be fine plus I saved over $2k buying a little smaller Deck with the same engine. I think it will be fine and Ferris quality is second to none. The Bad Boy sure was nice though with that suspension seat.

 

[skipmarcy]

The 24 hp Kawasaki on my 60" Country Clipper is no dog - for the first few years I cut over 5 acres as lawn with it and the last 2 years still cutting over 2 acres and I try to wait 2 weeks between cuttings so my grass gets a little taller than alot of people let it go for a lawn. Have over 300 hours on it and wouldn't want a different engine for any reason. My land is hilly, the machine weighs in at 850# and I weigh 225# and I can cut my taller grass at speed. The engine doesn't use a drop of oil all season and I change it once at the beginning of the season.

 

[kcflhrc]

I have a 23hp on my Ariens 52" and it does a good job. I'm sure the 23.5HP on the Bad Boy 60" would be fine but I'm saving over $2k buying the 52" Ferris with the 23HP and for me, the Ferris is just a more proven machine. I do wish the Ferris had the suspension seat like the Bad Boy

 

[Cycledude]

My Kubota is 24 horsepower with 60 inch deck and has no problem mowing 3 foot grass as long as it’s dry, I never tried it in big grass when it was wet.

 

[BigBlue1]

I did a bunch of research last year on zero turns and decided to go with a Bad Boy Rouge. For the cost I couldn't find a comparable model in terms of features. As with any brand, some people love them and some people despise them. Overall, I found no compelling reason to avoid them.

The Rogue itself is a great unit other than the cut challenges. The front and rear suspension makes a HUGE difference in ride quality and how fast I can mow. The Reaper tires provide great traction and allow me to mow my road ditch slopes and driveway slopes with ease. The travel speed increases and 72" deck width allowed me to cut mowing time on my 7 acres down from 4.5 hours to under 3, which was really my main motivation for getting a zero turn. Gas tanks are large and allow me to cut my lawn multiple times before refilling. Air ride seat (an option, but one my dealer orders on all units) is very comfortable. Controls are easy to use. Deck and the entire unit is built like a tank.

My mower has been quite nice overall, but was not without issues. Foremost, the cut quality was just not to my liking. At first it was a leveling issue. As I've learned over time, having gone from a 54" deck on a Deere GT to a 60" deck on another Deere to a 72" deck on my Rogue, the wider you go the more 'digging' you get on even semi-uneven ground. But the bigger issue was that the deck would leave strips of grass behind the front caster wheels that weren't cut well. I was very surprised because I thought by going to a zero-turn with higher blade tip speed than the GTs I used to use it would be a better cut. Apparently I'm mostly alone in this issue though, because I found almost no other Bad Boy owners with it and my dealer hadn't had anyone else complain. That said, both the dealer and Bad Boy itself were very helpful in working through my issues. Bad Boy even went as far as shipping me a set of new front caster arms (which they said were going to be offered on 2022 models) that are adjustable and allow the wheel track to be moved away from the deck spindle alignment. They were free and the dealer installed them under warranty. Dealer also did a bunch of other checking and adjustment on deck leveling and belt tension to make sure everything was as it should be to insure a good cut. In the end, the cut quality is decent, though not perfect. My prior Deere (x758) isn't perfect either though... that leaves dandelions very raggedly cut unless I go super slow. So maybe I'm just too picky.

I have the 35HP Yamaha fuel injected engine. Plenty of power. As noted above, while super for traction and stability, the Reaper tires can chew up the lawn if you're not careful.

Rob