Deciding on Ferris ZTR to replace JD 425aws

[EddieWalker]

I can't comment on Ferris, but y since you haven't bought it yet, I'll offer a few observations from when I was looking at zero turns. I bought a Scag Wildcat with a five foot cut and Kawasaki 26hp water cooled gas engine. They had Kubota diesel engines too, but I could never find a single lawn mowing company that had one, and the dealer told me that he just sells them to the rich guys who like the idea of diesel engines in their mowers more then any other reason. If I could find some real benifits to spending extra for the diesel, I would have gone that route. The official advantage for diesel is that the engine is expected to last 2,000 hours compared to 1,000 hours for the gas engines. With the radiator and being water cooled, my engine is expected to last 1,500 hours. I mow less then 100 hours per year. There isn't any reason to spend the extra money for the longer engine life when I fully expect the rest of the machine to be worn out by then and needing another one. If not, I'll buy another engine and run it another 15 years.

Price of diesel compared to gas, compared to the hassle of buying a five gallon jug of gasoline that sits next to my mower for a month isn't that big of a deal. While I'm sure you are right about getting better fuel economy with the diesel, I wonder how significant that is and how many years of use it will take to make the added cost of the diesel engine and more money on upkeep and maintenance worth the additional cost?

My Scag has the most confortable seat of any brand that I sat on. It is just pure comfort. While I can't go full out in the ruff areas, with my new Bahia Blades, I can sure move right along. Thickness of grass and how tall it is has a much bigger affect on how fast I go compared to hour rough the ground is.

For me, it was really between Exmark, Kubota and Scag. My Scag dealer is very good and there are a ton of pros using Scag in my area. The other two brands are also the most common here. Look around, see what the pros are using and go talk to those dealers. I'm not saying Scag is the best or even better then Ferris, but it does sound like you have only looked at a few brands and for that much money, I would do some more looking around.

Good luck,
Eddie

 

[om21braz]

I'll second others on the demo. When you're looking to spend $8k plus on a mower, get actual seat time on all units you're considering - if the dealer will not allow you a test drive, I'd write them and/or that brand off the list.
As for diesel - the benefits IMHO are (1) It's quieter (subjective). (2) approx. 2/3 gal. fuel burned at WOT compared to 1 gal. gas (your mileage may vary) (3) if you run into a tall/thick patch of grass - as rpms fall, the diesel's torque rises - not typically the case with gas. Whether or not you can call these benefits will be entirely based upon your use.

 

[ChuckinNH]

I'm with Eddie on the gas/diesel issue. I put just under 1500 hours on a splash, and paddle Briggs 12.5 HP engine and it was still in very good shape when I traded it in. I did take care of it very well though. That averaged a bit over 100 hrs. per year that I owned it, and it sure would have taken longer than that to pay back the increased price of a diesel engine with fuel savings, especially when off road diesel has been more expensive than gas around here for much of the last 10 years. Gas engines do use more fuel than diesel ones do but get the equivalant of 50-60 mpg compared to automobiles so it really isn't that bad. If you like diesel engines in evrerything go for it, but the justifications I often hear are pretty thin in many cases.