Kubota Z400 series, or eXmark Radius series ZTR?

[Bullwinkle123]

Go sit on them.

I was looking at the 400 series when they came out, I upgraded to the 700 series. More yard, but for me it was operating station that was one of a key differentiation point.

In what way?

 

[Bullwinkle123]

So it turns out there are a couple of Ferris dealers in ... reachable ... distances from my house (not close, but not prohibitively far), is there a Ferris model that corresponds to the Kubota Z400 or eXmark Radius that I should consider?

 

[riptides]

In what way?

Well, the first thing I was looking for was speed.
Then came build specs on the mower deck.
Then came build specs for the tranny and engine.
Then came operating station.

I sat on the 400. It has/had a cell phone holder. (Odd for a mower, I thought, was that a good idea?) The seat was, IMHO, OK.
I have a lot of acreage, I did not think it up to the job. So I sat on the 700 series. Ding..ding..winner. Just the seat alone was, different.
Felt more comfy for my body type too. Then the wife got on it. "Bigger is better".

The operating station just felt better (seat probably), and had a gas gauge not a sight window.

And I should point out, I have some really good Kubota dealers. Parts, reputation, service. So adding another orange thingy was a good fit for us.

 

[Aquabird]

The Radius E and S are exmark engines, the Radius X is Kawasaki.

Yes, the Exmark dealer about 4 miles from my house is a Friend of mine. He said the Exmark brand engines are chinese made, like the Toro.

He said he sells more Kawa engines on his exmarks by far and he sells a ton of mowers every year.

 

[RickB]

Right now Kawasaki is the benchmark gas engine for zero turn mowers.

 

[Bullwinkle123]

Well, to wrap this up, I just purchased a Kubota Z724. I'm having a bit of immediate buyer's remorse only because while I'm normally good to go for buying a thing one level above what I actually probably need, I think I've probably gone two levels here. However I was in more of a hurry for this purchase (since I'm losing $150/week while I dither), and after driving both a Z421 and a Z724, the Z724 felt more solid and responsive under my weight. Certainly it's more of a tank than the Z400 series, 8-gauge deck for example, instead of 10+ (it isn't exactly 10) for the Z421, upgraded transmission systems, and what-not on down the line.

Buying off season, and in the pandemic, means all the dealers are out of stock and I couldn't try much of what I wanted to try, e.g. the eXmark Radius line. Anyway, hopefully this is a solid thing with long term resale value if necessary. Time will tell. It certainly flies (time, and the mower!).

Thanks for the help all. Any thoughts on whether I've done good or bad, let me know. The mower was $8849 after promotions/rebates, ignoring tax & delivery. 4 year warranty.

 

[RickB]

A Z700 is a lot more mower than a Z400.

 

[riptides]

I think the 700 will serve you well. Beefier. Quicker.

 

[johncanfield]

You mentioned a scalping problem with lawn services, the anti-scalp rollers on the front of the deck look a bit on the small size. Look at the rollers on my Deere Z945M 8 Iron deck. It would be relatively easy to add wider rollers to your deck, or have a fab shop do it.

 

[Bullwinkle123]

You mentioned a scalping problem with lawn services, the anti-scalp rollers on the front of the deck look a bit on the small size. Look at the rollers on my Deere Z945M 8 Iron deck. It would be relatively easy to add wider rollers to your deck, or have a fab shop do it.

No idea yet whether it will be a problem with the Z700, which just arrived last night. However one of the things about doing it yourself is that you can remediate, whereas these lawn services have one priority, get in and out, and tend to care less about the things a homeowner cares about.