New Zero Turn Mower

[Tornado]

Hello all. Haven't posted here in a while, but still been dropping in reading occasionally. Over a year ago, maybe even 2 years ago I made a thread here picking folks brains about zero turn mowers. I was needing to buy a new one, as mine was an entry level residential one that was ~10 years old. I thought I was going to buy one at that time, but then I didn't. I kept patching mine back together and it kept mowing so I put it off. Well ~2 more years have now passed. The mower is now 12 years old. This weekend I finally went and got a new mower. Yea, I waited until covid and inflation jacked prices up, but I simply had to have a mower. My old one was about to leave me stranded with no way to cut grass. Id love to know yours guys thoughts, if you have any, on my choice. I did a lot of research, and went to a big ag expo October last year where all the tractor and equipment dealers show up and I was able to put hands on with all the big mower brands, and I left that show with one brand at the top of my list, and its the one I ultimately ended up buying this weekend.

I ended up going with a Gravely. The ZT HD Stealth limited edition to be exact. They only make 10,000 of these units and its first come first serve. Its basically the ZT HD with a new paint scheme, different stickers, and some factory upgrades like floor mat, led lights, upgraded hand grips, upgraded rear tires, etc. I also added the full suspension seat on top, and that is supposed to come in in a couple days. Anyways, just wanted to say a thanks to the forum for the input 2 years ago. I kept a lot of the comments and suggestions in my mind this whole time, and used them in my decision.

I have also already purchased a kit to upgrade the air filter to a full canister filter, which is easy to do on these Kawasaki engines.

Cost for the mower was in the $8000 ballpark with the upgraded seat and everything.

To anyone who is curious here is what it looks like:

 

[GreensvilleJay]

yeesh, $11000 Canucks for a lawn mower !! You must have a LOT of grass to cut !!

 

[Tornado]

yeesh, $11000 Canucks for a lawn mower !! You must have a LOT of grass to cut !!

No, as I said in my post up there, it was $8,000. Still a lot of money but its kinda what you pay these days if you want a half decent mower. All the brands were priced similarly. I mow about 4 acres. The rest of my property is all wooded or in horse pasture.

 

[Daferris]

I was in a similar situation a year ago. I looked at the ZT-HD and for me I had 2 big things that I did not like and 1 small thing.....
The biggest was the one I tested out was the seat to foot rest was too short for me. The other is the sealed spindle bearings. the minor issue is the small battery.
All that said I ended up getting a Scag Tiger Cat 2 with the FT Kawasaki and 61" deck, The down side to the Scag is well it fixes the 3 issues I had with the Gravely it's a $12,000 mower.

The Gravely is a really good mower and the price is no bad at all. If my legs were not so long I probably would have gotten the ZT-HD and modded the spindles to allow me to grease them.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

I assumed you're south of the 49th and 8k US$ is $11K CDN....
4acres...hmm about an hour to cut ??

 

[Tornado]

I was in a similar situation a year ago. I looked at the ZT-HD and for me I had 2 big things that I did not like and 1 small thing.....
The biggest was the one I tested out was the seat to foot rest was too short for me. The other is the sealed spindle bearings. the minor issue is the small battery.
All that said I ended up getting a Scag Tiger Cat 2 with the FT Kawasaki and 61" deck, The down side to the Scag is well it fixes the 3 issues I had with the Gravely it's a $12,000 mower.

The Gravely is a really good mower and the price is no bad at all. If my legs were not so long I probably would have gotten the ZT-HD and modded the spindles to allow me to grease them.

My dealer also sells scag and I looked at those. Not bad mowers at all.

Regarding the points you mention:
Im 5'8" and I dont have the issue with leg room you mention. I actually ride with the seat slid up closer to the front. If I push the seat all the way back I cant even push the mower deck pedal to adjust mower deck height without sliding down into the seat.

Regarding the spindles, I did look at that early on with the gravely, but everything I was able to find out about it was actually positive. I have a co worker who runs a zt hd that is a few years old, and he has had no issue with the spindles. Everything I found regarding the spindles was that they were one of the better on the market, despite no grease zerk. I will find out how true that is I suppose. Gravely uses this spindle design even in their commercial grade mowers though so they must really believe in it.

The battery, I didn't actually notice the small battery until this weekend in the dealership. I popped the seat forward and was like wow, that's a tiny battery. I did some asking around and reading online though and found many who said they have run the mower for 4-5 years on this tiny battery with no issue. I suppose you could upgrade the battery though if you wanted to, and if I have any troubles out of it I probably will.

What really sold me on the gravely was the price was that it felt to me in my research that gravely was able to put in commercial grade features at lower price points. After working on my old mower all these years keeping it going I really loved the easy access panel to the spindles and pulleys. The way the deck is built and the overall design just seems so straight forward and would be easy to work on and fix. If Im honest the biggest selling point though was from my co worker and a couple others who actually own a gravely for several years and have had no issues. Also the closer mower dealer to my house happens to be a big gravely / kubota dealer. So, this is the same dealer I bought my L2501 tractor from. These things heavily swayed me toward gravely. Being able to go to the ag expo back in october and look at gravely, kubota, grasshopper, scag, toro, and many others I cant recall atm. After sitting in all the seats, looking at the decks, studying all the designs, I just left with gravely sitting at the top for me. When I saw the stealth edition, and then went and looked at it in the dealership I was kinda sold. I dont usually put stock in cosmetics but this mower just looks good to me.

 

[anomad]

I'm interested in how it runs for you.

I've been nursing along an old Wright Sentar that was pretty clapped out when I moved in here over a few years ago. Last year I was spending more time fixing than mowing until I threw a bunch of new parts on it.

Would really like something more comfortable and stable on hills.

 

[Tornado]

I assumed you're south of the 49th and 8k US$ is $11K CDN....
4acres...hmm about an hour to cut ??

on my old zero turn which was just 46" it was about 2 hours to 2 hours 30 minutes. Its not just a straight wide open 4 acres. Its broken up into different parts, and I have a lot of tree's and obstacles to go around. If it was just a wide open 4 acre yard It would be much faster, just zip back and forth. I suspect with the gravely it will be more like 1 hour 30 minutes. Its 52 inches and it mows about twice as fast as my old mower. We will see. Id love it if I could get it to an hour. Have not done a full mowing with the new mower yet

 

[Flintknapper]

All that said I ended up getting a Scag Tiger Cat 2 with the FT Kawasaki and 61" deck, The down side to the Scag is well it fixes the 3 issues I had with the Gravely it's a $12,000 mower.

The Gravely is a really good mower and the price is no bad at all. If my legs were not so long I probably would have gotten the ZT-HD and modded the spindles to allow me to grease them.

Agreed, Gravely, Ferris and Scag all make good mowers.

I recently replaced my older Scag with a new one.....but any of the brands mentioned above are good ZT's.

 

[Tornado]

I'm interested in how it runs for you.

I've been nursing along an old Wright Sentar that was pretty clapped out when I moved in here over a few years ago. Last year I was spending more time fixing than mowing until I threw a bunch of new parts on it.

Would really like something more comfortable and stable on hills.

I hear you anomad. My old mower was a residential grade husqvarna zero turn. It had a weak 13 gauge stamped deck, low end transaxles, kohler engine. 3 Years ago the deck completely seperated from the mower. The welds had started to crack and it eventually just seperated. I had to dissassemble the whole deck system and weld it all back together (trying to keep everything as level and straight as possible) and then put the deck back on the mower. I was able to keep mowing with it. The deck is bent and a little warped though from just years of use, and its to the point now that the pulleys are a little out of line and so my issue is that the mower will throw the belt almost every time I mow now. Its so annoying when it does it, because I have to drive it back up to the house, loosen tension spring bolts and reset everything, working in this tight cramped little space. It had gotten to the point that when I had to go mow I just dreaded it. Id go ahead and set the wrenches out in anticipation of the belt being thrown.

I mowed with the new mower like 30 minutes Sunday, just to check it out, and its like driving a Cadillac compared to my old cheap zero turn. I may actually enjoy mowing again.

 

[Tornado]

Agreed, Gravely, Ferris and Scag all make good mowers.

I recently replaced my older Scag with a new one.....but any of the brands mentioned above are good ZT's.

View attachment 98402

Nice looking mower. Did you add the lights? Do you know which transaxles this one runs? I know the Cheetah II runs the hydro gear zt 5400 transaxle which can run up to 16mph, which is kinda wild. The only problem is the mower is $16,000. I wanted to keep the price down under $9000, but wanted something more commercial grade.

 

[Flintknapper]

Nice looking mower. Did you add the lights? Do you know which transaxles this one runs? I know the Cheetah II runs the hydro gear zt 5400 transaxle which can run up to 16mph, which is kinda wild. The only problem is the mower is $16,000. I wanted to keep the price down under $9000, but wanted something more commercial grade.

I believe your unit runs the ZT-3100 transaxles.

Yes, added the LED light kit. My Cheetah has the 2 speed ZT-5400 transaxles. And yeah, 16 mph is faster than anyone needs to go on a Zero Turn. I could drive it to town at that speed. Never use that function.

Happy mowing....enjoy your new rig!

 

[fried1765]

Hello all. Haven't posted here in a while, but still been dropping in reading occasionally. Over a year ago, maybe even 2 years ago I made a thread here picking folks brains about zero turn mowers. I was needing to buy a new one, as mine was an entry level residential one that was ~10 years old. I thought I was going to buy one at that time, but then I didn't. I kept patching mine back together and it kept mowing so I put it off. Well ~2 more years have now passed. The mower is now 12 years old. This weekend I finally went and got a new mower. Yea, I waited until covid and inflation jacked prices up, but I simply had to have a mower. My old one was about to leave me stranded with no way to cut grass. Id love to know yours guys thoughts, if you have any, on my choice. I did a lot of research, and went to a big ag expo October last year where all the tractor and equipment dealers show up and I was able to put hands on with all the big mower brands, and I left that show with one brand at the top of my list, and its the one I ultimately ended up buying this weekend.

I ended up going with a Gravely. The ZT HD Stealth limited edition to be exact. They only make 10,000 of these units and its first come first serve. Its basically the ZT HD with a new paint scheme, different stickers, and some factory upgrades like floor mat, led lights, upgraded hand grips, upgraded rear tires, etc. I also added the full suspension seat on top, and that is supposed to come in in a couple days. Anyways, just wanted to say a thanks to the forum for the input 2 years ago. I kept a lot of the comments and suggestions in my mind this whole time, and used them in my decision.

I have also already purchased a kit to upgrade the air filter to a full canister filter, which is easy to do on these Kawasaki engines.

Cost for the mower was in the $8000 ballpark with the upgraded seat and everything.

To anyone who is curious here is what it looks like:

My SCAG is a 2021 ($4,400) 48"... El-Cheapo.... Liberty Z.
Bought it new, and love it.
At 82, I really doubt if greaseable front wheel spindles will make much difference.

I bought the Kawasaki air filter upgrade parts on line.
Had to make my own mounting bracket.
$115 for parts, incl. filter.

 

[Flintknapper]

I bought the Kawasaki air filter upgrade parts on line.
Had to make my own mounting bracket.
$115 for parts, incl. filter.

Canister type (Donaldson) air filter set up is the way to go for sure.

 

[fried1765]

Canister type (Donaldson) air filter set up is the way to go for sure.

Dat's what I got!

 

[anomad]

Got a link to the air filter upgrade? I have looked for those online but my google skills let me down.

 

[tacticalturnip]

A Gravely, very nice! I do wish they still made tractors.

 

[Tornado]

Got a link to the air filter upgrade? I have looked for those online but my google skills let me down.

There is a nice guy that runs a website and he sales upgrade kits for all the Kawasaki engines. Its basically the factory canister from Kawasaki with Donaldson filters (both inner and outter filter is included), and he fabricates the brackets then sales the whole thing in a package. He makes them for the Kawasaki FS and the FR line of engines. Its like a 5 minute installation. Super easy.

Here is the one I just bought last night, and it has already shipped this morning. https://powerequipmentman.com/products/air-filter-upgrade-kit

 

[fried1765]

There is a nice guy that runs a website and he sales upgrade kits for all the Kawasaki engines. Its basically the factory canister from Kawasaki with Donaldson filters (both inner and outter filter is included), and he fabricates the brackets then sales the whole thing in a package. He makes them for the Kawasaki FS and the FR line of engines. Its like a 5 minute installation. Super easy.

Here is the one I just bought last night, and it has already shipped this morning. https://powerequipmentman.com/products/air-filter-upgrade-kit

That kit is the same parts and pieces that I bought online,..... but without the mounting plate.
I SHOULD have bought this guy's kit, instead of having to make my own mounting plate.

 

[The Evil Twin]

There is a nice guy that runs a website and he sales upgrade kits for all the Kawasaki engines. Its basically the factory canister from Kawasaki with Donaldson filters (both inner and outter filter is included), and he fabricates the brackets then sales the whole thing in a package. He makes them for the Kawasaki FS and the FR line of engines. Its like a 5 minute installation. Super easy.

Here is the one I just bought last night, and it has already shipped this morning. https://powerequipmentman.com/products/air-filter-upgrade-kit

That's first on my upgrade list for the Cub. First time I have to clean/ change the factory filter it will go in the trash.