Zero Turn Mowers???

Kino M

Kino M

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Staff member
What brand of mowers are you guys running and having good luck with??

I have a private rifle range that I mow that is about 7 acres or so that I have been mowing with a tractor and 6' bushog. Looking over my shoulder constantly watching so I don’t hit anything really takes a toll on me anymore with my neck injuries so I'm trying to think of a way that's easier on me. I researched and look at many different brands and ended up getting a new Scag Cheetah 2, 61" deck and the 38.5hp efi Kawasaki. Hoping I can get a good 20 years out of this machine.

I mowed the range yesterday for the first time and it's WAY easier on my neck and back and mow time was reduced by about 65 to 70%!!! If your kicking around getting a new zero turn they are a really nice machine!
 
My Personal preference is john deere. I run a lawn care buisiness and all around my area I also see other companies mainly running john deere or wright.. have seen several john deere mowers with 3000 plus hrs
 
Hoosier_nitedog said:
My Personal preference is john deere. I run a lawn care buisiness and all around my area I also see other companies mainly running john deere or wright.. have seen several john deere mowers with 3000 plus hrs
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I think it mainly depends on where you live. Around here you mainly see Xmark, Gravely, Husqvarna, etc.
 
DoubleLungRage said:
I think it mainly depends on where you live. Around here you mainly see Xmark, Gravely, Husqvarna, etc.
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That was a big part of my decision, we have a great Scag dealer in my area for sales and service.

I honestly think all the major commercial brands offer a great machine.
 
Don't laugh... I went with a Cub-Cadet ZT-50 from Home Depot. The reason is after using his Cub-Cadet for about seven or eight years, my father in law gave his to me. It continued to run another five or six years before I had issues.

For the price, just under $3500, I figured I'd give the brand a shot as I didn't really treat the mower all that good and it still held up. So far with my new one, almost two years now trouble-free.

I'm in central Florida where out lawn needs mowing perhaps nine months out of the year. I mow 2.5 acres a few times a month just to give you an idea of the usage.
 
Badboy Maverick. I've had it 3 years now without issues. I mow 2 acres once a week . It will mow as fast as you can ride it. A lot of Hustlers in this country also. They are a good machine.
 
This is a timely thread as I'm looking into them as well. Hustlers are pretty popular and i asked a buddy what made them worth more than a cub cadet and he claims the decks are made of much thicker steel than most brands. He rattled off several but I couldn't tell you what they were. They use Kohler engines like the cub cadet and even the same hp, but I'm not sure if Kohler makes a cheaper line of motors for cheaper mowers or not. He also mentioned they had hydraulic oil coolers which the less expensive ones did not. Take all that with a grain of salt as I haven't verified anything yet.

I sat on the 3 my local farm store had which were Husqvarna, cub cadet and bad boy, and the cub had a much more comfortable seat and appeared the handles were more easily adjusted so that's how I'm leaning right now. My use would be a little more than an acre once a week, we don't have a water system yet so the frequency will fade later in the summer.
 
204 AR said:
This is a timely thread as I'm looking into them as well. Hustlers are pretty popular and i asked a buddy what made them worth more than a cub cadet and he claims the decks are made of much thicker steel than most brands. He rattled off several but I couldn't tell you what they were. They use Kohler engines like the cub cadet and even the same hp, but I'm not sure if Kohler makes a cheaper line of motors for cheaper mowers or not. He also mentioned they had hydraulic oil coolers which the less expensive ones did not. Take all that with a grain of salt as I haven't verified anything yet.

I sat on the 3 my local farm store had which were Husqvarna, cub cadet and bad boy, and the cub had a much more comfortable seat and appeared the handles were more easily adjusted so that's how I'm leaning right now. My use would be a little more than an acre once a week, we don't have a water system yet so the frequency will fade later in the summer.
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One thing I wouldn't budge on was the motor, whatever you get make sure it has a Kawasaki.

I don't have much experience with zero turns but I have owned and ran mud motors on duck boats extensively and the Honda or Kawasaki engines are much better than the Kohler or Briggs. If I had only the choice between the later I'd choose Briggs Vanguard but its still not refined like the Jap engines.
 
204 AR said:
This is a timely thread as I'm looking into them as well. Hustlers are pretty popular and i asked a buddy what made them worth more than a cub cadet and he claims the decks are made of much thicker steel than most brands. He rattled off several but I couldn't tell you what they were. They use Kohler engines like the cub cadet and even the same hp, but I'm not sure if Kohler makes a cheaper line of motors for cheaper mowers or not. He also mentioned they had hydraulic oil coolers which the less expensive ones did not. Take all that with a grain of salt as I haven't verified anything yet.

I sat on the 3 my local farm store had which were Husqvarna, cub cadet and bad boy, and the cub had a much more comfortable seat and appeared the handles were more easily adjusted so that's how I'm leaning right now. My use would be a little more than an acre once a week, we don't have a water system yet so the frequency will fade later in the summer.
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Take a look at Ariens. Ariens owns/makes Gravely. Gravely is their commercial line and Ariens is their home owners line. However, the Ariens is built to last. Thick fabricated decks, Kawasaki engines, etc.
 
+1 on the Kawasaki, fabricated welded deck, hardy deck spindles. Had a JD with stamped deck. My mistake!
Got a neighbor with a hustler and diesel engine. That thing is a beast. Cost a small fortune but still a beast.
 
flintrock said:
+1 on the Kawasaki, fabricated welded deck, hardy deck spindles. Had a JD with stamped deck. My mistake!
Got a neighbor with a hustler and diesel engine. That thing is a beast. Cost a small fortune but still a beast.
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Here in SC with all this sand even the "good" stamped decks are ate up in 4-5 years. A fabricated deck is worth the extra money.
 
Good info, the Husqvarna has a Kawasaki motor. I never thought about a deck getting eaten up from abrasive action.

You might find my current mower interesting, it's an antique zero turn design, made by Swisher. The single front wheel is the drive wheel and turns 360* so it really maneuvers tight areas. Only has about a 3' deck but it's built like a tank out of pretty thick steel. My Grandpa had this one, it was his second one and I think dates from 1990 or so. It's fun to run but small and slow and a bit unstable if you have any hills at all.
 
There's a lot of really good one's out there, but one often overlooked is Country Clipper. I'd never heard of them until I picked up a used one about 7 years ago. Now I think I want to upgrade to a new one with a 60" deck. I fell in love with the joystick steering and I don't think I'll ever go back to a twin lever steer. And yes, they offer the Kawasaki motor.
 
There's a recall on some kawasaki mower engines due to catching on fire. Might be a good idea to look into that before buying
 
Stu Farish said:
There's a recall on some kawasaki mower engines due to catching on fire. Might be a good idea to look into that before buying
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First I've heard on that, hopefully mine was "fixed"!!!

I went to 3 different Scag dealers, Xmark, Gravely and Spartan dealerships and every single one said the Kawasaki was the best gas motor currently available.

Hopefully the issue isn't widespread as none of the dealerships mentioned anything about it.
 
I had to stop by the farm store again today with the newly gained wisdom from this thread and check out their offerings again. So the cub cadet has a fabbed deck and kohler engine, the bad boy had kohler and a thicker fabbed deck, the husqvarna had kawi motor but stamped deck. I guess that's why there's a price difference from the premium mowers.

Honestly for my use I doubt I'd wear any of them out.
 
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