Why are Zero-Turn Mowers so Expensive?

[scott_vt]

From what little browsing I have done most Zero-Turn Mowers (ZTM) seem to be priced kinda high, at least compared to a "regular" tractor. Home Depot and Lowe's has a Deere and Cub Cadet, both with 38" decks (I think), non mulching (which is what I want) and both machines are priced at $3K. I bought a Cub Cadet LT1050 mulching tractor for $2200 last year.

Are ZTM machines that much more expensive to build? If I did get one it would need to have a 48" (minimum) mulching deck and I would like to not pay more than $2500. I have about 4 acres to mow and lots of it is paths. I found this Husqvarna 48" ZTM at Sears for $3K but that still seems expensive. Maybe it's just me.

Mornin Stubborn,
Take a look at the deal Home Depot has on there Toro Z4200. 42" cut 19hp Kohler Command engine for $2499. If its a first time purchase on HD credit card take off 10% bringing the total price to $2250 plus tax. I was thinking about a 6 ft rear finish mower for my Massey, but the more I think about it the small ZTR makes more sence. I wont have to remove my bushog everytinme I want to cut the lawn ! I believe they offer a 3yr warranty. I believe that machine can mow 1 3/4 acre per hour !

 

[Bird]

a cheap one will only give about two years decent service in normal use

Sure hope you're mistaken about how long a cheap one will last, since my cheap Toro is already 6 months over that two year limit. So far the only maintenance has been to change oil a couple of times a year, clean the air filter a bit, blow the dust and debris off the whole machine with compressed air after each use, and I just recently put a new spark plug in it; might not have been needed, but I figured after a couple of years it might be a good idea. I do, admittedly, have a small yard to mow, and it sure does that mowing in a hurry, but I also occasionally pull a lawn dethatcher and a lawn sweeper with it.

 

[jcmseven]

Bird,

I know you can always get great service from your machines because of your maintenence and care of them. I think the Toro machine you have has quite good motors and componentry and should give you many more years good service. I suppose it still greatly boils down to maintenence, some luck and how many actual hours go on the machine.

John M

 

[stubborn]

Mornin Stubborn,
Take a look at the deal Home Depot has on there Toro Z4200. 42" cut 19hp Kohler Command engine for $2499. If its a first time purchase on HD credit card take off 10% bringing the total price to $2250 plus tax. I was thinking about a 6 ft rear finish mower for my Massey, but the more I think about it the small ZTR makes more sence. I wont have to remove my bushog everytinme I want to cut the lawn ! I believe they offer a 3yr warranty. I believe that machine can mow 1 3/4 acre per hour !

Thanks for the tip. I just looked at Home Depot and found the Toro Z5000 50" ZTR for $2800. I did not know about the 10% discount when using the HD CC. Alas, as I am near completion of a $12K++ landscaping project a ZTR mower will probably have to wait until next season which is OK b/c by then there should be some nice used models available.

BTW, one thing that is unclear to me: Most ZTRs that I have looked at (on the web) appear to be set up for bagging but I want to mulch. Is it unusual to mulch with a ZTR or are there any drawbacks?

 

[Lions_TX]

I did a quick google, "zero turn mulching mower". It appears to me that some companies such as EZ Mark, Dixon, and Areins, sell a conversion kit, not sure they make one for the make and model you are looking at, but perhaps you could do a little looking and/or calling around and see if its available.

Hope that helps...
Lions

 

[stubborn]

I did a quick google, "zero turn mulching mower". It appears to me that some companies such as EZ Mark, Dixon, and Areins, sell a conversion kit, not sure they make one for the make and model you are looking at, but perhaps you could do a little looking and/or calling around and see if its available.

Hope that helps...
Lions

Thanks for that info. Actually, after I posted I took a second look at the Toro & Cub Cadet pages and found that they both offer mulching kits.

 

[Bird]

When I bought my Toro, I told the dealer I wanting mulching. Whether he changed the blades, I don't know, but I do know he installed the cover that blocked the discharge chute, but delivered the discharge chute with the mower in case I ever change my mind. At any rate, it does a good job of mulching.

 

[scott_vt]

When I bought my Toro, I told the dealer I wanting mulching. Whether he changed the blades, I don't know, but I do know he installed the cover that blocked the discharge chute, but delivered the discharge chute with the mower in case I ever change my mind. At any rate, it does a good job of mulching.

Mornin Bird,
Which model Toro did you end up getting ?

 

[Bird]

Scotty, if you click on the link in my first post, it'll take you directly to the model I have. I'm not sure why they apparently call it a Z380 now and called it a 14-38Z when I bought mine. I don't see any changes; 14 hp Briggs, 38" cut. Even the price is the same, although my dealer knocked $200 off the price on the Internet. For a small yard, I was deliberating looking for the smallest one I could find. I routinely go back and forth through a 4' gate, although I do have another bigger gate that I use for my trailers. With the deck housing, I doubt that even a 42" cut model would fit through that 4' gate.

 

[JSUnlimited]

I have found the wide marging actually not to be the case in my experience.
John M

John, after I read the the above quoted sentence I can say that since I have owned a Z-turn, my mowing/trimming time has greatly decreased. I used to mow with my TC24DA and a Woods 60" RDM. With the tractor, it would take me nearly 4 hours. This time did not include time spent with the push-mower covering spots I could not get with the tractor. Since owning the Z-turn, I can have ALL of the mowing/trimming done completely in under 2 hours.

I will also say that I have some pretty decent slopes that when on the tractor in 4wd, made me nervous. Obviously the ground speed that the Z-turn has over the tractor is much higher, thus cutting mowing time in half. As far as the hills are concerned, I am honestly more comfortable on the Z-turn. It's all about technique.

However.....in four hours of running time on the tractor, I was lucky to burn less than a 1/2 tank (capacity a little over 5 gallons) of diesel. With the gasoline Z-turn (14 gallon cap., 2-7 gallons tanks), I'd say I could use nearly 5 gallons of gas. Obviously the diesel takes the winners circle there! The Cub-Cadet "Tank" that I bought was offered with a Cat diesel, but with a $14-15,000 price tag, I went for the Kohler 27hp instead.

I guess it's all in what and how much a person is doing. Since I am using the mower for myself only and the amount I mow, the commercial grade model made sense to me.