ztr's

[Moon]

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]

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]

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]

Re: ztr\'s

I believe Great Dane Makes JD ZTR's.

 

[MessickFarmEqu]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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

 

[Moon]

Re: ztr\'s

Thanks Rugs,
Good advice. Even though the boy is 20, we went over proper & safe operating proceedures all together, wifey, me & da boy. All tried out the steering sticks and took it slow to get used to them. These things are FAST! I'm surprised it mows so well for the speed you can go. On my yard / tomato field I can't go flat out on much of it.
The wife is a little worried cause I like it so much. It's supposed to be her mower. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

Here another pic. She's saying " no picture, my hairs a mess ...."

Moon of Ohio

 

[Moon]

Re: ztr\'s

Heres a pic of the part of the yard. From earlier this year.

 

[Moon]

Re: ztr\'s

....other side of yard. No problem with the rolling hills on the Scag.

 

[Moon]

Re: ztr\'s

One more of the Scag. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[rugs]

Re: ztr\'s

Wow, I love it! Lots of open territory, no stinkin' 20+ trees/well covers/"ornamental" rocks, stray deer, flocks of turkeys, etc. etc. Prime ZTR country. Thanks for the pictures!

 

[rugs]

Re: ztr\'s

Moon--

A few pics of your mower's baby brother, with a few of the rocks I mow around.... Click here.

 

[Moon]

Re: ztr\'s

Good pics Rugs! Man, quite a row of rocks you got there. Did you place all those? Nice looking terrain.
How many hours do you have on your Scag? Mowing is mowing, but at least for now it's kinda fun to mow.

 

[rugs]

Re: ztr\'s

Moon--

Six whole hours (time to change the engine oil) and still going strong! We "rearranged" maybe half of the stones in the front before redoing the plantings last summer; there's a whole other crop in the back. I have a BX22, not quite the critter to pick the big ones up, but surprisingly good at sleding them around once I get them on the stone boat. The immediate problem is that I'm running out of room in the shed....

Best regards.

 

[Moon]

Re: ztr\'s

Hey Rugs,
I can relate to running out of room in the shed!
We have lots of rocks too, but not boulders like you have there. Did you see the pallet forks on the attachment forum? They clip right onto your FEL. I have a few things I could move alot easier if I had those. I bet they would help with moving rocks too.
Yea, the 5 hour oil change. I just did mine last night (at 7.8 hours). But the dealer gave me the wrong filter. The original filter was only about 2 1/2 to 3 inches long. The replacement was closer to 5 inches long. No room for the extra length. So, its off to the dealer today, then I'll have to do another oil change in a few hours since I had to put the old filter back on. I'm thinking of running synthetic, but will wait until the next change after this one to do it.
Moon of Ohio

 

[Moon]

Re: ztr\'s

For anyone who has treaded through this thread, you recall my plan was to mow the 4 acres around the house and a remote acre with the ztr. At least that was the plan.
I drove the Scag the 3/4 mile to the river lot. Mostly an oil access road. Dirt road. Lots of ruts & a few mud holes all the way across the road. Then when we break off the oil road, we have a road which drops down to the river. Very steep drop off on the river side. Very big rocks on this road / path cause lots of the original dirt has washed away.
This was one of the scariest rides ever! the ztr does not do good in these conditions. I find that my ATV and Kubota both handle the road / paths well, but the ztr leaves alot to be desired. Then when I finally got to the river bank, part of it is flat an easy to do, but there is enough hills and the part close to the bank that you really can't do with the ztr. I'm afraid I'd end up in the river.
So, I'm still glad I got the ztr, but it does not fit every mowing occasion that we have. The oil trucks keep the road messed up, and the scary ride down to the river, and i can't mow all of the river lot so the end effect is that I do not plan to take the ztr to the river again.