Dixie Choppers

J_J · Jan 25, 2010

pete-mi

The Bob-Cat is probably a good mower, but

I was skeptical of the lifetime deck warranty, so I read it, and found that normal deck wear caused by sand blow-through, and other abrasive material is not covered. I have patched and replaced two decks over 15 yrs, at $500 each.

FlaDon · Feb 5, 2010

Dargo said:
Dixie Choppers are very good mowers. I had a used one when I had a mowing business. I think they aren't as popular as Scag and some others because they are better made and, therefore, cost more. No offense intended Eddie, but I have a real distaste for Scag. They were my first mowers and I found that they are entry level commercial machines aimed at commercial mowers trying to buy the least expensive machines. That was me at the time. I got to know the guy at the Scag parts counter on a personal basis. I'd put Dixie Choppers close to the top of the list with Scag somewhere between 10th and 15th choice on my list.

If you don't have a lot to mow around and your lot is smooth, you can't beat a Dixie Chopper IMHO. If you have a yard that is not so smooth and/or have hills, there's positively nothing better than a front mount ZTR. Yes, they are more expensive, but there's no comparison in the ride. After selling my mowing business I kept 'his and hers' diesel powered front mount Grasshopper mowers. My yard is not that smooth and you can't even stay in your seat going very fast with a mid mount mower but I always mow full speed with the front mount Grasshoppers. For high quality mid mount mowers, I like Dixie Choppers and Kubota machines. Good luck!

Too many people buy the DC hype. The DC is no better built than a Scag, Hustler, or Gravely ZTR. In fact, some of them are just plain junk from day one. Weak directional control arms, deck lifts that fail, and other problems. As for speed, you can only mow so fast and that depends on how smooth the area you're cutting is. But you have to factor in your dealer. If all they sell is brand A and brand B is better, you still might be better off with A.

genusCastor · Jul 28, 2012

Resurrecting an old thread here...

We bought a Dixie Chopper Iron Eagle 2550 (50" cut with a 25 hp Kohler) in Nov 2010, and I have not been impressed. My biggest complaint is not mechanical failures (although we did have one of the hydraulic steering pumps replaced right after buying it), but my beef is with the performance: it leaves shoots of Texas prairie grass standing after cutting.

We have 10 acres of what used to be cow pasture, this isn't a manicured lawn I'm talking about. It seems that on 'regular' grass the DC does great, but if there are shoots of tall grasses sticking up in the area being cut, the DC leaves shoots standing. We didn't really notice this 'standing stems' problem until this year, because we bought it on sale in the fall of 2010, so it mostly sat over the winter, and summer 2011 was a serious drought here, and we didn't have any grass to cut that year. So this year is really the first year we've used this DC on full growth.

On a mechanical note, the Kohler engine seems to be touchy about starting. It must be choked warm or cold, and when warm, there have been occasions that it cranks excessively to start. But other than that, the engine seems OK so far.

This week the hour meter stopped working. Not a huge deal, but I want to get it fixed before the warranty runs out in Nov.

- djb

catskinner · Jul 28, 2012

On using the choke, the new motors run very lean for emissions, so you need to choke all the time when starting, maybe try to use only 1/2 choke when warm. That has stopped long cranking times for me.

Carl_NH · Jul 29, 2012

DJB,

With regard to the long whips of grass not cutting its not the mower - my Ferris does this too only when the grass is very sparse. In areas of good grass coverage mine cuts short and long strands of grass.

The velocity of these blades causes the long strands to flex and bend with the air flow when in sparse coverage areas rather than being cut off. The only solution is to promote better growth or another thing to do is to go at 3/4 throttle or double cut the opposite direction.

As to starting I have a old Kohler 18 Magnum - after replacing the fuel pump it kicks off quickly even when cold very little choke required. My Kawasaki 25 on the Ferris I choke for maybe 1 Sec and it kicks over in the first revolution.Neither machine needs choking when warm.

Is your Kohler a direct injection or carb? If carb the fuel lines may be leaking back, or maybe its the nature of your machine - does sound odd that you need to choke when warm.

J_J · Aug 3, 2012

I have used Dixie Choppers for about 20 years, and you will see little turf of grass when the grass is tall.

This is caused by the front wheels mashing down the grass and the mower doesn't cut flat grass.

If you cut slow, you will usually only have to do one pass.

The rolled down high grass will then pop back up.

Cutting Bahia grass two feet high was troublesome for me and I had to go back over some of the properties.

genusCastor · Aug 6, 2012

Carl - I have talked to several guys at the mower shop about cutting Bahia grass, and they've all said the same thing. Their high dollar mowers leave it standing, too. I wondered why a $6k piece of mowing equipment would miss these 'sprigs' of grass, but a cheapie push mower from the Borg cuts it fine. Now, what you say makes sense. The blades on these ZTMs are whizzing really fast and blow the sparsely distributed Bahia grass shoots over instead of cutting them (in fact, Dixie Chopper boasts the fastest blade tip speed). Next time we'll try running at lower throttle.

JJ - I wondered about the wheels mashing the grass down, but I don't think this is the issue I'm having.

For anyone who might not understand what I'm talking about, this isn't just grass that has grown high I'm trying to cut. This is otherwise normal grass but with shoots of [what I now know is] Bahia grass growing in it. After running the mower, these sprigs are still standing. The seed tops are sometimes cut off, but the shoots remain.