Comparing 3 Zero Turn Mowers

[TGF]

While I know you did not have the JD Z series residential ZTR's in here I thought I would chime in. I have a Z445 and while it gets the job done I would not buy it again. It has had a weakness on the left side since I got it and I have taken it in for warranty work twice. The guys at JD said its just the way it is. Now why I am posting, apparently the Toro and JD's share many of the same drive system components and are of similar design. My neighbor has a Bad Boy and since the grass is always greener I am thinking I should have gone that way.

 

[MESSMAKER]

I think Toro and Exmark are a lot the same. I am pretty sure I would go with the widest deck I could afford, no mattter which mower I picked. Scag and Exmark rule in my neck of the woods. I believe I would consider a small tractor and a rear mount finish mower. You can buy a trail mower to pull offside and make a 8-9 foot cut in open area. You may want to consider using a rough cut mower on most of it and limiting the amount you finish mow.

 

[greasemonkeyok]

If you go to the Ferris Industries web page and look at the corporate history, you will find that Toro, Ferris, and Simplicity are all owned by Briggs & Stratton. All of the Ferris models, except the basic line, have independent suspension on all four wheels, which helps with the bumps a lot.

I don't own a Ferris, but I keep looking at Zturn mowers and so far they appear to be the top of the lines.

 

[SixHoeBob]

Sell off a few acres and buy a Ferris. Get a V-twin with a horizontal crank shaft.
Make sure whatever mower you buy has an oscillating front axle (pivots on the frame like a tractor), It is much safer as far as steering and stopping on hills. Get a 60" deck, 72" will tend to the scalp humps more. Water cooled if you find a money tree. I have a 27hp, 60" Exmark that works great, except the rigid front end has added some excitement to the mowing experience. The oscillating axle is more important than it appears. A hilly lawn is a lot different than a dealer's gravel parking lot.

 

[dan daly]

Ok so here's the update:


I bought the mower on May 7th. Dealer said it would be delivered to me in 7-10 days. Mower was finally delivered on May 24th. Part of the problem with delivery was that they told me they needed to coordinate it with other shipments to save on gas money. I understand gas is expensive, but this put me off some since I paid a separate delivery charge.

Mower shows up on the 24th. I run it some that night, works ok. I do notice though that I didn't get all the parts I should have. They installed the finishing kit in advance for me. They didn't give me the hardware needed to reattach the standard deflector, or the original set of blades that they took off to put on the finishing blades. I call the dealer the next morning and the missing parts are supposed to be in the mail.

Speaking of the next morning, I start the mower up "BOOM" backfire, and the engine dies. I call the dealer and they suggest I let it cool down since it's a hot day. Yeah it's somewhat hot- but it's the summer, isn't that when you mow? So I let it cool all day and night.

Try it this morning and the mower will run but sounds like an airplane that is about to crash. Engine is very choppy and has very low power. Even with throttle all the way up it just puts along.

So I go back and forth with the dealer on the phone. They give me some suggestions for fixes, none of which work. So now they are supposed to be coming to get it and take it into the shop on Tuesday- earliest they said they were available.

Good grief. If one of you guys invents a time machine let me borrow it, because I wish I'd gone with a different mower and a different dealer. At least if I had gone with Ariens at Home Depot or the Bad Boy at Tractor Supply and this had happened, I could have returned it no problem. Dealer says they won't take a return because it's against Toro policy. I know lemons happen even with good products, and I hope that's the case here. Right now I have an almost $7k paper weight sitting in my shed with 1.7 hours on the meter.

 

[PossumHound]

Is this a new unit? Where's the warranty? Hold the dealers feet to the fire. Whatever engine is in there the engine maker is the one with the actual warranty liability, if this is a motor issue, and the dealer that sold it to you is responsible for coordinating repairs.

PH

 

[dan daly]

Yes it's a new unit. Dealer has said they will coordinate repairs, which is why they said they will come Tuesday to pick up the mower and bring it to their shop (I don't have the means of transporting it myself, and Tuesday is the earliest they say they can come get it). I tried calling back to speak to the manager of the dealer directly later today, secretary took a message asking him to call me back. He never called back. I'll call again tomorrow.

At this point, I'm just fed up. I bought a more expensive unit then they have at the big box stores to hopefully avoid problems with the machine, and I bought it from a dealer to get better service. So after paying for the top end of my price range, I have a machine that won't run and service I'm not happy with.

 

[Diamondpilot]

I can tell you from experience that you can pay now or pay later. My neighbor is a commercial mower and I take care of all his equipment. Get something with a Kawasaki. He started out with Dixon, then Toro, Scag, and now days Ferris. If he had spent the money right the first time they would have lasted him. Now yes, he is commercial but I have a neighbor on the other side.

We both have 3 acres. I a tractor and a 6' finish mower. He bought a cheap Sears ZTR back in about 03. After 3 years it was shot. The gear box and the cheap Briggs engine was done. I can not tell you how many spindles, belts, clutches, broken axles, trashed gear boxes, ect he put on that thing. So whats he do? Goes out and buts a Cub Cadet that is identical to the Sears and its now shot. Same issues, same headaces, same money pit. So now he has 2 $4000 mowers that do not run and are worth nothing.

If he would have spent $6000 the first time around he would have not been paying the other neighbor to mow his lawn and have 1/4 of his money in his pocket still.

You have a lot of lawn to mow. Save your money and get something good. This is not a area to go cheap.

Last word, Get a FERRIS with a Kawasaki. Yes, Kubota, Scag, Exmark, Bad Boy, and a few others make a good machine but nothing will last or cut like a Ferris.

By the way, the commercial guy next door sells his every 3 years for tax and business purposes, not because they are worn out. Last ones he sold were Ferris 2000 60" deck with Kawasaki. He got $800 less than what he paid for them. They had gone up some in price but they hold the value well.

Chris

 

[dan daly]

The mower I got that died has a kawasaki engine.

 

[smiths enterprise]

So after a few days of researching online, I got out today and drove around to several places to actually see, touch, and ride some zero turn mowers and ask some questions about them. At the end of my day I have 3 candidates:

1) Ariens Max Zoom w/ 60 in deck. I can get this at home depot for $4500 (they want $5000, and I can use a 10% discount). It's a 10ga deck. 26 HP Kawasaki engine. ZT-3100 transmission, 20 in rear wheels, 10 in front ones.

2) Bad Boy ZT w/ 60 in deck. $5000 at Tractor Supply Warehouse, although feeling out the employee who talked to me, I may be able to haggle with the manager to get a sale done. 7ga deck. 27 Kohler engine. 20 in rear wheels, 13in front ones.

3) Toro Titan MX. Tractor dealership not too far away has the 48in version at $6k and the 54in one at $6.4k. That his asking price. Not sure how much he'd be willing to move. 48 in deck has a 22hp Kawasaki engine/ 24hp Kawasaki for the 54 in model. Better suspension. Bigger wheels- 22 inches in rear, 12 in front. 10 gauge decks.

I stopped to see the mowers in the order I listed them. At home depot the Ariens made all of the other mowers there look like toys. Then I got to tractor supply and the Bad Boy was much more substantial then the Ariens was. Then I got to the tractor dealer and the Toro's were more impressive yet. I've read a fair number of negative comments on the Kohler engine which seems to be the biggest strike against the Bad Boy. I'm looking to mow 8-14 acres, with slopes, and uneven ground. Gentleman at the tractor dealership said the MX titan's are the minimum I should consider, because that workload will destroy a residential machine pretty quickly. He was pretty persuasive and everything he told me jived with what I had already read on my own online, so I think I'll go with the MX5480 Toro. It's more money then I really want to spend right now, but I also need something that will work and realize buying something that won't just because it's cheaper isn't going to save me any money in the long run.

Just wanted to type this out to work through my thought process. If you think I've overlooked something I should be considering please let me know.

If you have a World LAwn dealer near you I would check theese bad boys out, they have a 6 guage metal deck and Kawasaki engines. I think for the money they are the best on the market. they just bought out Encore if I understand correctly