Used ZTRs

[Alan L.]

I have researched ZTRs all over the net (including here) and this is what I have concluded.

1) I really don't want to spend more than $5000 to $6000.

2) For that money there really isn't a new unit that I think is worth that - Hustler Fastrak etc.

3) For $3000 you can get box store mowers but not even close to the quality.

4) I really want a full commercial grade, but they are $7000 and up for the configuration I feel I need.

5) I hear "get a second hand commercial" all the time.

Problem is, WHERE? I have looked on ebay, craiglist, the newspaper, dealers, etc and have found very few prospects and what few I have found seem way overpriced or too many hours.

Example Landpride (Hustler) 3 year old mower with 52" deck and 23HP air cooled Kaw supposedly in good condition $2995, but it has 1300 hours on it. The dealer who is trading for it said these engine lives are typically 1500 - 2500 hours, plus the hydros and everything else might be near worn out also (I put that in). He said overhauls are expensive and they typically replace engines if they are worn out. This engine is about $2000 installed!

Another example Encore (never heard of it) with 26HP Kaw 61", looks like heck, two flat tires on front, used as a loaner by dealer, has 500 hours = $6000!!! He says it was close to $10K new, but does that mean MSRP, if really sold new for say $8500 then not enough depreciation there for me considering how USED it looks.

 

[Bird]

In my experience, good used lawnmowers, whether ZTR, lawn tractor, or walk behind are very very scarce and the few you do find are priced very high. I had the smallest Toro ZTR, and when I sold it, I put it on Craigslist and sold it within an hour; obviously priced it too cheap.

 

[art]

To find one you have to be fast! The good ones are always the first back out and sometimes they are sold before coming to the store. We get all kinds, and with a few we wish we didn't have the honor of taking in trade.

New units are on the upper end around $10,000. and into the high teens so a good used one will still bring $7,000. with air in the tires!

 

[Rick5724]

Might want to checkout Dixie Chopper. I bought one in 2000, it is orginal with 500 hours and it is a commericial ZTR mower, 26hp 60" deck. It has about 500 hours. I believe I paid just under $10,000. I was at the Dixie dealer last summer and looking for another new one and was told that I might expect to get around $2500 for my used one. They said that the Lawn Care People generally trade thiers in with 2000 hours and it floods the market. The Choppers if maintained propertly generally last about 4000hours

 

[Alan L.]

Maybe I am a little early yet for units being sold at the end of the season. I will start looking at craiglist everyday and maybe one will come up. If I can't come up with a good deal I'll buy new between now and spring I guess.

 

[Wesdor]

Do you know any of the commercial lawn care people in your area? If not, try to find some and get to know them. Find out when they are going to trade and offer to buy it from them.

That way you will have a better chance at knowing how the mower was treated and may also save yourself some real $$ while giving them more than the dealer.

 

[rtdiggr]

I bought a big box ztr [accually from my Massey dealer]. It is a Cub Cadat with a 50" deck, and a 22hp kawasaki. the unit is quick and does a great job. I paid $3800cdn at the beginning of the year.
I am not here to put down the better machines but for 1/2 the price i could buy 2 or hum, okay back on track.
Honestly a great machine great price quick and does the job. I also have a 84" finish mower for my tractor and i have decided i takes about the same time to cut the grass[about 5 acres to cut] the tractor has to go a little slower to get a good job, and turning around takes about 10xs longer.
I talked to the JD dealer there starter ZTR has a briggs but if you upgrade[from about $7000-$8500cdn] you go to a kaw engine which should last years past the briggs engine.
that is what convinced me to buy the CC IT HAD THE SAME KAW engine.
Shane

 

[xPosTech]

Do you have any contacts in the southeast? GA, Tenn, NC, SC etc? With the drought I would think many cutters are going belly up. Especially first year cutters, if they haven't liquidated already. If you know anyone over there have them check around. You can sometimes get a unit shipped cheaply if you can sit on it for a few weeks. I guess it would take a pretty good friend to store it for a while.

Ted

 

[rvaitor]

I just notice on lawnsite or lawncafe, two similar sites, that Hustler is coming out with a heavier Fastrac - kind of a hybrid bigger motors, tires and deck(?). In the $6K range.

BTW, I bought a auction a fairly rough SuperZ thinking I could get some use out of it. The engine ended up with a knock so that got rebuilt, painted the deck and front end and what a machine - very powerful and fast. I don't know how these guys that do that for a living handle the even more powerful units - 26-35 hp and up. I ended up with somewhere in the high $3000 range in it and will probably be okay. No more grass than I have would have been just as well off with the Cub Cadet Zforce(not TZT)or JD box store units.

I think the CC are a good choice from what I've heard.

 

[Alan L.]

The lawn care people I know of in this rural area or one-man operations. One guy seems to have a couple of Scags, the other a Husqvarna ztr. But there are no large lawn care outfits around here that I know of.