I have a 60inch Scag Wildcat with the 26hp Kawasaki water cooled engine that I bought brand new in 2010. It's an awesome machine with a very comfortable seat. That seat was a huge selling point for me, it was just so much nicer then anything else that I sat in. The Kawasaki engine was another reason to buy it. I feel that the Motorcycle companies make the best small engines. Honda is number one, Kawasaki is a gook option if Honda isn't available.
Changing the blades is fast and easy. There is a metal plate at the front of the deck that was too high, so I loosened the bolts and lowered it to stop a lot of the dust that would come out the front of the deck when it's dry out and I mow over a dirt area. That dust was a blinding cloud that was horrible.
When it's running, it's a beast. After the first couple of years, I stared having issues with the safety switches. There are several of them and you have to go through each one to find out which one isn't working. After a few years of that, I just bypassed all of them. I also had issues with my key, so after replacing it several times, I bypassed it and now I start it with two loose wires that I touch together. Batteries don't seem to last very long. I haven't figured out why, but I haven't found one that will last all season. I buy a new battery every spring. I've gone to every auto parts store looking for something better, and they are either all bad, or I have an issue somewhere. I'm guessing it's the mower. There are two 20 amp fuses right next to the key area that blow randomly. When that happens, the mower blades stop spinning. Put in a new fuse, and it works great again. I've had to replace the generator once. I could have saved a couple hundred dollars with an aftermarket unit, but I went with the Scag factory one, which was a bit of a chore figuring out how to get it off, but doable. I've also replaced the switch to start the mower blades 3 times. I've always bought the Scag model, but there are aftermarket options for less money.
Scag has a good website for listing parts, but you have to have you serial number, which was a pain until I created a Word Document with it on there, along with all the parts that I normally buy. I go through 3 sets of blades a year because of the type of grass that I have.
Probably the most annoying that that it's started doing is throwing the belts. There are two belts. One from the engine that goes to one side of the deck, and then another that does the other side. When you first turn on the blades, it will either work, or the blades will come off the pullies. Usually it only happens the one time when first starting it for the day. I keep a half inch breaker bar with a 6 inch extension on it on a shelf where I part the mower to fix this.
I don't know if I would buy Scag again. I would not recommend them, but I don't know who I would recommend, or what I would buy if I was looking today. I've read that they fixed all their electrical issues, so maybe I just bought when they where selling bad parts and it was just bad luck on my part? I see a lot of pros using Scag, which also influenced my decision to buy Scag. I also see a few other brands and I wonder if they all have issues?
I went from a Craftsman riding mower, which I really enjoyed, to the zero turn, which I thought would be fun, but it's really not. You go faster, you have to pay attention more, it beats you up the faster you go, and by the time you are done mowing, you will feel it. My wife wants a riding mower, she hates the zero turn and refuses to use it. So we'll probably get a riding mower for next year so she can help out. It will probably be a Deere, because she wants a Deere. Not that they are good, or better, just that they are green and she can say that she has a Deere. I doubt it will matter either way, as long as she is happy with it.
