Z-Trak 757

[darinah4710]

After some searching I am having trouble finding a forum discussing the John Deere 757 mower. I know this is primarily a compact tractor site, but thought maybe some of you would have experience, advice, or info on where I could find feedback on one of these units. I have been looking pretty hard and believe I am about to buy. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Dargo]

I drove a 777 for 2 hours yesterday on a demo. A very fine unit. If my yard would have been smoother, I would have bought it. It is built like a tank. Side by side in my yard with an ExMark, the JD is a heavier built unit. The 757 is just the slightly smaller frame sized mower.

As long as your yard is relatively smooth, or you mow fairly slow, you will be thrilled with it. I want to mow fast, and the rugged stiff frame on the JD ZTR units beat the tar out of me. In JD's defense, so did most all other mid mount ZTR mowers. That 7 Iron deck is one tough deck.

 

[hhw]

I use a 757 commercially and at home. I bought it last year to use in place of my 445. It has the 60" 7-Iron deck on it. It performs as I expected it would, cuts fast and clean. I will say this though, it could be a little more forgiving in the ride department. Overall I am impressed with the machine and would probably buy another if I need to add to the fleet. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[jcmseven]

I had a Gravely P260z which I traded for an x595 with a 62" mid mount deck. I ran the Gravely over 100 hours, and checked mowing times on the lawns I did regularly. Interestingly my 595 would come within 5-10 minutes of finishing as fast as the P260z would on similar sized lawns, and this fact was remarkably consistent. The other consistency: all the lawns were very bumpy. This clearly slowed the ZTR down and allowed the conventional mower to keep up. The other nice facts in favor of the tractor were that it used less than one-quarter the fuel and was much more comfortable; it had headlights and when I was done, I went and tilled the garden with it. Although I realize we are talking about JD ZTR's here, but there do not seem to be enough design differences in most of the ZTR's to offset their marginal performance on bumpy terrain (except the Ferris, I assume). I could not justify for myself, not being a commercial mower, the sacrifices I made to achieve just a few minutes gain. That said, I found the Gravely to be excellent, and the ZTR concept seems good. I do caution those that ask me, though, to consider an efficient tractor, like the x595, before committing to the ZTR, whatever brand. So far, it's been about a 50/50 split.

John M

 

[cedarman]

I've been mowing with a F620 ztrac for probably 6 years and love it. This replaced a 316 that I liked but the ztrac probably cut my mowing time by half. I have lots of trees and other landscaping type obsticles and this is probably where the time is saved verses straight line mowing. That being said there are some hill issues when using a ztrac about how to approach, steep side-hill mowing must be taken on straight up and down or the unit slips and spins the wheels. Also the ride is definately rougher than a tractor. I have the hopper seat dump and wouldn't be without that option. For me, I wouldn't want anything but a ztrac for my mowing.

 

[darinah4710]

Well, I sure appreciate all the info, and I did purchase the JD 757. As far as how it works I couldn't tell you. This is the first negative experience that I have had with John Deere but when I got my new mower home it would barely start. Assuming the most obvious thing I charged the battery, which took care of the starting problem but the charge indicator light stayed on. When I tried to engage the PTO the clutch kept kicking out (I figured from the low voltage situation) so I loaded it up and took it back. Keep in mind this is a new unit with .6HRS on it!!!! Two days later they called me and told me that the stator was bad and wasn't charging. Had to order the part because of course the didn't have one in stock so I'm still without a mower. Hopefully I will get it back by this weekend, if not I may demand a different one...
I'll keep you guys posted.