Best commercial zero turn?

[art]

I would actually prefer a stamped deck.

BUT, it has to be done right. Im not talking about 16ga steel like MTD et al.

But 3/16 stamped steel deck......yea I'd take that over a 3/16" fabbed deck ANY day of the week. Contoured exactly how they want it, optimal airflow, no sharp corners, everything with a nice radius and no welding so not much stress points.....

Seems everyone is always quick to assume stamped deck = junk and fabbed deck = good.

Well if someone fabbed a deck out of the same 16ga (or less) material that MTD uses.....would that still be a good thing because its a "fabbed deck"?

Takes a huge press and lots of tonnage to stamp a 7ga steel deck for a commercial mower.
Not nearly as much press or tonnage for a MTD deck out of 16ga....

Interesting that you brought that up! When Kubota first entered the commercial zero turn market it was with a stamped steel deck and it was a tough sell! Everyone else was pushing the fab decks! I did get them sold and the amazing thing was when they came back in for the next one and some actually were in less then a year because of the quality of the cut and we sold them the fab decks they asked if they could get a stamped steel deck! You cannot get wind to blow around a square corner!!! Many of the newer fab decks have matched the sides closer to the blades and are not just a rectangle box anymore because of the quality of the cut! Even the new Cadet pro series are rounded!

 

[AxleHub]

Thinking about what the next step is for my landscaping company. Not sure I want to get into mowing but certainly something I need to entertain. Big farm show coming up in 60 days so I can see all brands there. Ferris is made here so they seem to be very popular. What should I look at for a small commercial operation. I will not be mowing 60 lawns a week or anything like that. Price is always a concern. I will be looking at new so older models will not be in my sights. What width do you guys like best for mowing homeowners? What speed do you mow. Price for a good mower? Thanks guys.

screamin400, I could tell you I was very impressed with a Toro standup product (2 deck sizes) - and that it had a unique height adjustment capability - where the engine moved higher or lower instead of the deck and framework. The standup handles hills and straight lawns and is very visual to see what and where you are going.

Or I could talk about certain grasshopper products - especially the front mounts in various sizes - again very flexible in sizing choices and trimming capacity.

But I was troubled by part of your post when you stated "Not sure I want to get into mowing". Seems to me - you need to determine who your clients might be before you invest any meaningful amount in equipment. I'd wonder how you would do research if you haven't even determined what types of lawns you'd be cutting. If you're doing smaller city lawns - you use self propelled lightweight walk behinds. But if you're doing country estates - you may be dealing with slopes and sidehills and culverts.

It would seem to me - that you'd start with a small quantity of customers that you already work with on other things - and start with small equipment and a simple smaller ztr that can always be used later for smaller jobs and as a backup once you start doing larger yards or greater quantities of customers. If your 1st few jobs take longer to do with smaller equipment - you're only out some time while you learn. But if you start with bigger equipment you may not be able to use it with smaller customers. And the marketing opportunities ??? Would you go after condo associations or maybe do nearly entire city blocks of clients all next to each other - both of those concepts indicate less rider unit focus and more awd walk behinds. of course it means lesss travel and less trailering too. Or would you go after commercial accounts of clinics or malls or corporate locations ?

just a thought.

 

[4570Man]

I mow nearly everything with my 72” grasshopper. It leaves a good bit more trim work on small yards but doing more trim work is faster than hauling 2 mowers or using the smaller one for the whole day.

 

[MushroomHead]

I am an Exmark man (also own a Ferris) but I have dealt with enough mowers give an informed opinion.

Most commercial mowers are literally a sum of their parts. Controls and decks have small differences that users "prefer" but all the manufacturers use a common engine and drive train manufactures which are the guts of the machine. Main engine manufacturers are Briggs vanguard, Kawasaki, and Kohler. While the old horizontal Kohlers were good engines IMHO the current vertical v. Twins aren't worth a hill of beans. The Kawasakis are the best with the vanguards pulling a close second.

As far as drives go I prefer individual pumps and Parker wheel motors and would give the tiger cat my vote. However, the integrated drive units are becoming the standard. They used to be junk but the hydro gear has been making some durable commercial grade units of late and so far have held up ok. The minimum quality level, in my opinion, is the zt-3100. It has machined gears where the lower zt-2800(and below) has stamped gears. The gravely ZT HD is the minimum quality unit I would consider, a neighbor has one and it's a good mower, uncle has a woods mower that has been flawless. Gravely make the woods mowers and he is equivalent to the pro260

I wouldn't touch the freedom z due to the tranny installed.

In my mind, the most important aspect of choosing a mower of good quality is a good dealer that is close.

Could someone tell me in PM why I can't post my avatar?

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Good info, thanks for posting. Maybe after a few more posts, you can put in an avatar. Otherwise, I have no idea.

 

[RonSwanson]

The John Deere 7 iron deck and Scag velocity deck are the best in the business.

 

[stevem5215]

I have a Simplicity ZT-2500 with the ZT-2800 Transmission. It has 300hrs on it right now and is just out of warranty. I had originally changed the Hydro fluid at 100hrs and it was dirty (along with the filters) and it worked ok for another 200 hrs. It started to have slow downs last fall and was 'grinding' under use. Not slipping or causing any other issues but this spring I decided that was enough of that and changed the fluid again (it was perfectly clean this time but kept the filters due to the cleanliness of the fluid that came out). This time I used a full synthetic 15w-50 in them. And the difference is night and day better. They don't whine like they did and it has a more solid feel to the sticks now (it was spongy previously). That goes to show that some regular maint on these can makes a difference in the quality of the drive system feel and handling. I read an article recently that stated you should shop for a mower based on the transmission first. I am a believer in that theory.
Also, this spring we purchased a new Simplicity Citation XT with the ZT-3400 transmissions in it. It by far has much more power than the 2800's do and while the machine is heavier overall (and better riding with a full suspension system) it just goes much better. Shop transmission first. You can't go wrong.

Steve with a pump and drive Steiner system as well.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I bought a JD 770 just prior to 2000 with a Belly Mower. Maybe what they called their nine iron deck. Then, I happened to see a Cub Cadet Mower Deck on a similar sized tractor, and I really was left with the impression that mine looked like a piece of junk by comparison. Like some consumer vs commercial product.

A ZT would serve me no purpose, but I have hear good things about Exmark from friends that repair this stuff.

 

[mike48130]

Love my Toro Z Master 60" 27HP Kawasaki. Basically the same as Exmark. I like the independent pump/motors. The welded decks seem like there is a lot of opportunity for warping with all that heat going into it. I've dealt with a lot of welded parts at work, and there are always warping struggles from vendors on heavily welded parts.

I always look for the Kawasaki motor. They are just better for what ever reason. Once you've had one, hard to get anything else. I have the EFI 25hp on the JD x485. That engine is smooth and quiet.

I had a 1980's Gravely 60" with a 18HP Kawasaki liquid cooled engine. Had plenty of power compared to the modern 25+hp machines. That machine articulated in the center so the deck followed the curves of the lawn. You don't see that much anymore besides a couple higher end machines. Was the nicest cut I ever had out of any mower.

 

[Iowa Farm Equipment]

Grasshopper Peruzzo Flail Mower 16 HD - YouTube