ztr's

Moon · Mar 22, 2004

Re: ztr\'s

Thanks again for the additional info guys!
I visited a few shops this weekend. I sat on Yazoo-Kees, Gravely, Bob Cat, Bush hog, Scag & Kubota units.
The Bob Cats are nice, very much like the Yazoo Kees, might even be made at the same place ....their design was that close to my unprofessional eye. Bob Cat excelled in the seat though. The Yazoo Keys wasn't as comfortable, but looked to be an extremely well made unit. The upper end even came with a Honda engine, 27hp i think.
The Scag looked very rugged, and it had the extra suspension for the seat. The salesman was busy though so I did not get a chance to talk to him.
The Kubota's were awesome. As some mentioned earlier in this thread, check out the Kubota ZD-21. It is a 21hp diesel with a 60 inch heavy duty deck. It even has a crank jack hidden on the front that allows you to jack up the unit from one side for easy blade sharpening or underside deck cleaning. These units also ride very nice. I drove the ZD-18 w/ a 54 inch deck. Very nice! You pay though for the diesel difference. They priced out at 9k for the ZD-18 and 10k for the ZD-21.
If Kubota was more in the price range of the Scag's & others my mind would be made up for Kubota. But as it stands I'd have to pay about 3k extra for the Kubota, for the same size deck I could get on a Scag / Bob Cat, Yazoo Keys etc.. In other words I can get a commercial grade 52" deck unit for 6k, Kubota's is 9k (w/54" deck). I can get a commercial gas powered 61" deck for 7K, Kubota 21hp diesel w/ 60" deck 10K. If I was a commercial landscaping business, maybe I'd be more willing to pay the 3k for diesel, but at this point I am not there yet.
I was disappointed that the JD dealer had no ztr's to view. But they told me "They can order one for me though"!
I'm still looking in to the auction next Saturday. If anyone has experienced one of these, I'd sure like to know what is reasonable to expect to save at an auction. For a couple grand it would probably be worth taking the chance on a used unit ....but I'm not there yet.
Thanks again for the email with extra info Eric. I do appreciate it.

Moon of Ohio.

sweettractors · Mar 22, 2004

Re: ztr\'s

That is about what I surmised--Everyone is hedging a little--Our Dixon TM has always contended that they were the first and celebrating the 30th anniversary this year---so that would put them in at around 1973---Thanks for the info--Ken Sweet
Sweet Farm Equipment LLC *Over 1000 pieces of new and refurbished equipment*

radman · Mar 24, 2004

Re: ztr\'s

I believe someone else makes JD ztr's. Unfortunately, I cant remember who. In my area, Exmark is most common and this maybe in part due to local manufacture. Also see grasshopper, scag and few others. Don't worry too much about how fast they go. It takes a really smooth yard to get mine to go top speed of about 9 mph.

depratt_equip · Mar 25, 2004

Re: ztr\'s

I believe Great Dane Makes JD ZTR's.

MessickFarmEqu · Mar 25, 2004

Re: ztr\'s

Kubota also makes a gas ZG20 and ZG21 that are less expensive and more compriable to the scag.

I have a used Kubota ZD28/72" with 150 hours for $9900. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Moon · Mar 27, 2004

Re: ztr\'s

The Kubota dealer did mention the gas models. He didn't carry any though.
I'm pretty much set on a eXmark Lazer. I'm trying to stay close to the 6k range. EXmark is at 6300 for a new one leftover from 2003 model year. 52" deck w/ 23hp Kawa engine. I'll be buying in 3 weeks & I'll let everyone know when I have one home.
Thanks for all the input.
Moon of Ohio

Moon · Apr 28, 2004

Re: ztr\'s

I finally got me a ztr. In the end I decided on a SCAG. I got the SCAG Wildcat, 61" deck w/ 27hp Kohler engine. It is sweet. We've done one mowing with it, so the wife, my boy and I are all learning the technique. Once the weather gets better here I'll post some pics.
Thanks for the all the input everyone! Our favorite tractor site (TBN!) had more info on ztr's than any other site I found. Pretty cool!
Moon of Ohio

Bob_Skurka · Apr 28, 2004

Re: ztr\'s

Moon, I know when I was shopping for a small tractor for mowing my first choices ended up being some of the worst possible choices and the best choices were tractors I had never heard of, let alone seen.

I'm curious, you bought a SCAG, but in your previous post you said you were pretty much set on eXmark. What made you change your mind? What was your thought process that made you decide that a ZTR was the correct tool for job, etc???

rugs · Apr 28, 2004

Re: ztr\'s

Moon--

Congrats on the new Scag. I'd be a little watchful of your boy (unless he's an older teen)--pro class ZTRs are powerful and quick machines. I know I have to concentrate more on what I'm doing now that I'm using a ZTR than I used to when I was day dreaming along on an old JD214!
Best of luck!

Moon · Apr 29, 2004

Re: ztr\'s

Good questions Bob. I've been round and round with them myself. The final straw that got me to decide on Scag was the local dealer. The closest Exmark was 2 hours away. I hated to think of needing service knowing I would have to haul it that far. I was under the mistaken impression that we had an Exmark dealer closer but that did not turn out to be the case. In doing a close comparison, both Scag and Exmark make top of the line commercial ZTR's. I have fairly rough terrain, and I wanted tough. I think either would fit the bill for me. Also, I would have liked to get the ZD21 Kubota ZTR offering but decided not to spend the extra bucks it took to go diesel.

The wife likes to mow, but her 17hp simplicity blew up last year. So we needed a new mower. She wanted a ZTR. We have a friend with an Exmark. After riding it and talking to our friends about the operation and how much time it saves them in mowing there 7 acres, we just had to decide how much we could afford to put into one. The tax man was nice to us this year, so we were able to splurge and get either the Exmark Laser or the Scag Wildcat. The Scag dealer here has been in business for 30 years, and runs a fleet of Scags himself in the landscaping part of the business.

I mowed again last night and it is so easy to get right up to the base of trees / shrubs / anything. I like the spin / handling that makes it so easy to turn at the end of the row. I like the natural stripe they make when you mow row by row rather than the big square. I mowed over 3/4 of our yard in 1 hour and 10 mins. It used to take me 2 1/2 hours to mow. I won't mind adding that extra landscapeing the wife has been wanting cause its so easy to mow around anything. It's really fun to mow.
I have a pic er two to share. see attachment.

Moon Of Ohio