Zero Turn Mower

Tatershooter

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Researching zero turn mowers. I have approx. 1.25 acres with an angled bank down one side that my lawn tractor has no problem with. Trying to stay with a 42" cut. I would appreciate y'alls imput, what is good and what to stay away from. Thanks
 
I have a 60" JD777, it's an overweight beast that'll double as a bush hog. My concern with the JD's was most of them have propriety engines, the air cooled ones have cylinder heads with cooling fins that clog with clippings, the hydraulics are expensive to rebuild. I was informed by a JD tech the water cooled 777 didn't have those issues and is a lifetime mower if taken care of. I bought it used and hve had no issues mowing 15+ acres for 5 years.
If you want to keep it a long time, look into a commercial unit Exmark, Scag, Toro, Hustler.
 
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I've heard good things about Hustler. I personally own a Troy Bilt Mustang XP 54" and it has been outstanding so far. Maintenance is way easier on it than my old mowers.
 
I’ve got a pretty steep side in the yard a tractor type would most likely flip on.
I run a JD 54” 535z with no issues on it.
The yard is 1.5 acre. It’s got ~90 carefree no issues hours.
 
A zero turn with a 42" cut limits you to homeowner zero turns. If you can go with a 48", you can get into some estate / light commercial and some full commercial zero turns. What's your budget for a mower?
 
Thanks for the replies, I know people that own the mentioned mowers/brands and have nothing bad to say about them. That's what makes it hard to decide. Fullboost21, I understand what you are saying but I am trying to keep it at $3000 or less since I only cut my yard.
 
The small ztr’s don’t handle hills as well as the larger ones so ask for a demo. Most real dealers will let you use one for a day, in my experience. If you want to buy your last mower, get one with wheel motors, not individual tranny’s, my gravely is 14 years old (PM44Z) and has never been worked on except for a few minor issues that were human error and a bad fuel tank selector valve. The dang battery lasted 10 years. Other than Gravely, I’d suggest bobcat.
 
I went through this 3 years ago. There are alot of low end zero turns that cut corners in their fab to keep the price down. I drove all over checking out all the brands (trying to keep it under $4000) and we ended up with a Hustler Raptor SD 48" for cutting around 1/3 an acre after the 28" snapper went nearly 20 years and the new ones are junk. The yard is flat with some plant beds to go around and a grass ditch in the front. It is soso on the ditch. It likes to slide down hill when cutting along the slope. I find I have the downhill wheel nearly wide open to stay straight. If your yard is wet a lot it will tear it up if you slow down fast as the mower will skid due to the mass moving forward. The new mower did cut down mowing from just over 1.5 hrs to now 35 mins. I can cut, edge, weedeat and blow in the time it use to take me to cut. At the speed these zeroturns travel you'll want a strong deck vs a thin stamped deck for resilience to bumping into stuff.

At the time the hustler Raptor SD was $4200 with 0% interest for 6yrs. I'm putting the mulching kit on it when I get some time for this season.
 
Under $4K will get you into a Toro Timecutter MX series easily. Toro sells 10 times as many zero turn mowers as every other mfg out there, that means cheaper parts and service, more servicing dealers, and a pretty decent 3 year warranty for non-commercial use. Kawasaki engines are available if it matters, but if it's an
aircooled engine, there's really no difference between any of the sleeved aircooled engines.

Do not buy a Toro from Home Depot. They're not the same as an MX series from a servicing dealer (same as John Deere)
 
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Thanks for the replies, I know people that own the mentioned mowers/brands and have nothing bad to say about them. That's what makes it hard to decide. Fullboost21, I understand what you are saying but I am trying to keep it at $3000 or less since I only cut my yard.
Nothing wrong with a quality homeowner zero turn as long as you keep it on your property and keep it serviced. Most zero turns in that price range and cut size will have the same engine offerings, mostly Briggs & Stratton & Kawasaki. Most will have the same transmissions, like hydro gear ezt. You will not find a pump & wheel motor machine until you get into commercial Z's. Even then, most manufacturers have went to integrated transmission units on a lot of bigger Z's.

For the 3k budget and cut size you are looking for, I would check out the Simplicity Courier. 42" fabricated deck with lifetime wartanty, B&S or Kawasaki engine, suspension ride. Also offered in 48" & 52" cut.

Like mentioned above whichever brand or model you choose, purchase from a full service dealer for warranty, service, and parts.
 
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I got the Hustler Raptor 52” with the kohler engine for right at 27-2800
I can mow my 1 1/2- 1 3/4 acres in 45 minutes.

Only issue I had was the plastic fans hustler puts on the drives, I cut off 1/4” off the tops and no more thrown belts. It has a fab deck and the kohler engine hasn’t given me any major issues. Only issue was a fuel cut off solenoid. New hustlers have the Kawasaki engine in them no.

You can get the hustler raptors in 42”, 46”’ or 48”. I think anyways. I wanted the biggest deck so I didn’t have to worry about a lot of now time.
 
We have hills too. I went with a Hustler Z 60" with Kawasaki engine about 9 years ago. I like them because they are low and wide. I feel very top heavy in something like a commercial Deere. Another big factor was maintenance support. My local dealer had a good rep for repairs and I saw a ton of landscaping trailers full of Hustlers.


CHRIS
 
Ok...here's my two cents....I have a Husqvarner 61" with a Kawasaki and welded deck. Now, for your win. A 50" Toro time cutter. If I had it to do over again I'd have a Toro with a welded deck and a Kawasaki. The Husqvarner is like 10 times overkill and about $4K more than the Toro. I am surrounded by Toros in my neighborhood and $4K could have bought some nice guns :(
 
Well an update, still undecided. Went to Sanford to a Hustler dealer and had a good experience. Was not pushy and did not poormouth other mowers, Lowes or Home Depot. Reduced the price by $100 and added a year to the 3 year factory warranty. He did let me know that he only services mowers that he sales, I do not blame him. When I got home I checked Lowes' webpage and the same mower was the same price, 3 year warranty but they provide no service. MF I will checkout Toro a little more. Thanks everyone for your input, the hunt continues.
 
I bought a used 61” bobcat procat commercial series with kawa engine several years ago and it has been a great mower. 1100 hrs on it now and still going strong. I found i could buy the 60” cut mowers cheaper than the 48-54 size when I was looking in the used line up.
 
Well an update, still undecided. Went to Sanford to a Hustler dealer and had a good experience. Was not pushy and did not poormouth other mowers, Lowes or Home Depot. Reduced the price by $100 and added a year to the 3 year factory warranty. He did let me know that he only services mowers that he sales, I do not blame him. When I got home I checked Lowes' webpage and the same mower was the same price, 3 year warranty but they provide no service. MF I will checkout Toro a little more. Thanks everyone for your input, the hunt continues.

Was that Bobby's Small Engine? He's a great dealer and I can highly recommend him.

It's a bit out of your budget, but I've had a Scag Turf Tiger for 17 years and it's still going strong. It takes a beating here on the farm and I anticipate that it will go for another 20 years.
 
I bought a used 61” bobcat procat commercial series with kawa engine several years ago and it has been a great mower. 1100 hrs on it now and still going strong. I found i could buy the 60” cut mowers cheaper than the 48-54 size when I was looking in the used line up.

This. I ran my first one for 12 years and 4K hours. Only thing I ever had to do that wasn’t regular maintenance was replace the head gaskets. I have a newer model now of the first one I had. Engine is bigger but other than that no real difference. Only reason I got rid of my first one was cause they had 0% financing and no payments for 6 months. I’ve had my current one for 6 years now. Mowed commercially with it for the first three so I could pay it off then I stopped. It’s only now got 500 hours on it and it’s like brand new. I won’t need another for a long long time
 
Yes it was Bobby's, seemed to be a very nice guy.

I've dealt with Bobby for many years. Top notch guy and his service work is excellent.

The nice thing about Hustler is that it is a commercial mower, along with Scag, etc. Most of the Toro's are high end consumer models, and the Hustler will in a likelihood last longer and be easier to service.
 
My nephew has a Hustler. If he is satisfied it has got to be a good mower. He is the reason for the word "picky."
 
I bought a used 61” bobcat procat commercial series with kawa engine several years ago and it has been a great mower. 1100 hrs on it now and still going strong. I found i could buy the 60” cut mowers cheaper than the 48-54 size when I was looking in the used line up.
This. I ran my first one for 12 years and 4K hours. Only thing I ever had to do that wasn’t regular maintenance was replace the head gaskets. I have a newer model now of the first one I had. Engine is bigger but other than that no real difference. Only reason I got rid of my first one was cause they had 0% financing and no payments for 6 months. I’ve had my current one for 6 years now. Mowed commercially with it for the first three so I could pay it off then I stopped. It’s only now got 500 hours on it and it’s like brand new. I won’t need another for a long long time
I will be checking Bobcat out also since I have not researched them. There is a dealer in Lillington.
 
I will be checking Bobcat out also since I have not researched them. There is a dealer in Lillington.

I got a great trade in on mine from the same dealer I bought it from. I kinda wish I had kept it since it ran so good. Only reason I didn’t was because I’d have had to build another building to have room for them both
 
I bought a 48 in Club cadet with the steering wheel last year. It has been a beast for my use. I discovered if you have slopes and inclines the steering wheel type is better than the spindle wheel. The spindle wheels are always trying to go down hill with the gravity and the mower is always pushing them back straight. With the steering wheel you decided the direction of the front wheels. Mine has the kohler engine and it is great so far. It is the fastest mower in its range. 13 mph cutting. It has a hitch and pulls my 8x10 trailer with ease.
 
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Well guys, I took under advisement all info and suggestions given and finally bought a 42" Hustler Raptor. I feel for my needs this fit the bill. I checked out the other mowers mention and looked to be very good mowers, some out of my price range. Thanks to all. Happy Memorial Day and thank you to the service men and women that made the ultiment sacrifice for their country!
 
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