Why no commercial Kubota ZTR's on lawncare trailers?

[Will_C]

I agree with Alan. Commercial cutters are looking to make money. Other brands are cheaper to purchase. Also, Kubota entered the ZTR market later than other makes.
Will

 

[art]

I have a commercial cutter that told me I got him into trouble by selling him a Kubota. The mower he was using is sitting as none of the help will run them, he says it cuts so clean compared to the other mower he was using they can't put them on the same lawn. Ground speed while mowing was also increased with the Kubota.

He also said the ride was great and the fuel consuption low.

So his other mower might get five to ten hours a year and the Kubota now has fifty percent more hours on it then his original mower with only 650 hours that nobody wants to mow with.

Now why not a Kubota, many commercial accounts don't feel they can trust their employees with one! They may be making a larger investment and rather then looking at being able to use a mower and keep it looking good for thousands of hours they would rather buy a lower grade spend less to begin with and swap more often.

For those that have started to use them they can't say enough about them!

 

[Flatheadyoungin]

i think some of it is perception.........personally, when i think of kubota, i think of a quality piece of equipment but i think of in terms that a home owner own's one, not a commercial lawn care place.....i could be way off, here but i think this might be part of it...

also, didn't kubota enter the ZTR market in only the recent past.....i see a LOT of older hutstlers, exmarks, scags, ferris', etc but hardly ever a kubota ztr........

my buddy has one and we've been meaning to get my ferris and his bota together just to compare them and see what we think....his over-all looks larger, looks to sit higher and the deck is heavier.......very smooth sounding machine.......my ferris, on the other hand, is old and well used, so we may be comparing apples to oranges.....he's interested in how my suspension rides and i'm interested in seeing how the diesel handles tall grass...

 

[coobie]

Am considering a new commercial ZTR rider and have been observing what brands of ZTR are most often found on trailers of commercial lawn care companies in my area south of metropolitan Kansas City -- I found in no particular order, that most often I see Hustler, JD, Scag, Grasshopper and Exmark and a number of the JD's were 997 diesels. I have never seen a Kubota commercial ZTR on a lawn care company trailer around here -- any ideas as to why? I have an interest in a Kubota diesel ZTR but am concerned that if the commercial lawn care companies avoid them, there must be some reasons.

MikeSp

I do not mow lawns for a living but I do own a (diesel)2007 Kubota ZD 326 pro(commerical model) with a 60 inch deck and love it.I mow about 4-6 acres ever week with the 2 places we own.This Kubota gets quite a workout and has not let me down yet.I do agree its a HEAVY ZTR but IMHO I don,t want a ZRT that is light weight and wimpy.I do see a few local lawn care companies that use the Kubotas.coobie.

 

[jcmseven]

I also see some Kubotas in our areas, just not many. I have asked around and no one has any issue with the Kubota, as it is a nice piece of equipment. The main reasons given to me why the Kubota ZTR is not as popular by those that commercially mow is the price (one has to use the diesel version a lot to make up a price difference), the hydro issues, which might be more perceived than real and the availability of parts. Most commercial mowers in my area use JD's. A lot of JD's. They like the fact that if they have a breakdown, the JD dealer will have a part quickly, on quickly and have them back at it. Though there are many good Kubota dealers, the commercial mowers I know have collectively said they cannot seem to get parts as quickly and if something does go wrong, it goes very wrong and frequently is both time-consuming and expensive to repair. I have no horse in this race, so I am merely going by what I have been told.

John M

 

[DaveVB]

Probably because the dealers are in Louisburg, Harrisonville or Independance. The big dealer in the southland is in Stillwell or several dealers in Olathe. I wouldn't want to have to drive to either of those if I needed dealer support. My dealer is still on the other side of Raymore, but not a bad drive, 10-15mins.

 

[dirt ditch]

Around here it's mostly Grasshopper, John Deere, and Hustler. I Never have seen a Kubota mower. At work we use Grasshopper mowers. They are so well liked that 2 guys bought there own for home use, another has a big Grasshopper for his mowing service and the rest of us want one. All Grasshopper diesel mowers have Kubota engines in them. so the difference is in the mowers themselves.

 

[mlee]

its the transmission its one piece like the tractors if it goes out it cost a whole lot more then a pump or a wheel motor to replace or have worked on.
still a nice ride.in the end I choose A M60 tank by cub cadet 27hp kohler
i can pick up my book find a part # for every piece on it and have it overnited in most cases. going though my dealer. also if it moves on my mower it has a grease fitting on it.

 

[Luckyme1]

I'm a homeowner, not in lawn care business, but I was in your position a while back. I knew nothing about cutting more than a city yard, but we were moving to the country. I saw several Kubota ZTR's on trailers and out working around central Kentucky. Especially at many horse farms. I talked with a few landscape care personel, and they really liked Kubotas, but some said initial cost was an issue, but they would get some when they could.

I did my research and purchased a ZD28-72" about 5 years ago for an 11 acre spread. No problems with the ZD28 at all. Used it and a Scag Sabre Tooth Tiger with the 31HP Diahatsu engine. Both great units, but Kubota was always the prefered unit. I recently traded in my 5 year old ZD28 in on a new ZD331-72" and it brought me $6500 on trade. No tranny issues, but I heard that there were some on those older models. On the new units that is supposed to be taken care of now. A good investment.

Also now have a GR2110 for some tough hills, so needless to say, I'm a Kubota fan now. The Kubota was always the mower that neighbors would borrow when thier mowers (Exmark, Dixon, and some others that were the toss away brands) were in the shop for a couple weeks.