Zero Turn Mower

[Tornado]

Hello folks!

Im sure to start a brand war with this thread but I am hoping to glean some serious pro's/con's that will be informative. Im looking to potentially upgrade to a new Zero Turn mower soon. I may hold out another year, but Im starting to really think about it now. My old residential zero turn, stamp deck husqvarna has done the job the past 6 or so years but the deck on it is cheap and starting to come apart at the welds, metal peeling back at the discharge chute, etc. It was a $2800 residential variant. Not only is the little mower having deck issues, but its only a 46" cut, and Ive more than doubled my yard size from about 2 acres to around 5 acres now that I have to mow. I am looking to go up to a more commercial, fabricated deck unit. Also looking to go up to a 52" cut. Something that will last for 10++ years.

This is a corwded market I know. A lot of good options. Im very familiar with all the big known names but curious what others experiences have been with various ones. Probably the biggest name in commercial mowers here in my area, and the one I see more than any other, is Grasshopper. Even the state crews who maintain right-of-ways here all run grasshopper mowers. I also have one of the biggest grasshopper dealers in the southeast 20 miles from my house, so this is the logical choice. Ive heard nothing but praise for grasshopper. I have a coworker who runs a lawn business on the side and he runs 4 grasshoppers as well, he has nothing but praise for them. I dont want to tunnel on one brand however if there are other great options out there. Im also really curious what folks think of Kubota's zero turns. Ive never seen anyone around here use a kubota lawn mower, but kubota tractors are very popular. Then there are all the other big zero turn brands, some of which Im aware of but have no real experience with. Bad boy, dixie chopper, and tons others. If you guys were looking to go up to a new commercial grade mower, with around a $6,000 - $8,000 budget, what would you get? Why would you go with that mower? I'm looking for good, reasoned, useful information not a mindless brand debate. I am not someone who plays into brand loyalty tribalism. I understand most brands have goods and bads, and I like to weight it all and find the best option for me. Ill list a few bullet points of things important to me that may help with some suggestions.

- I want a good deck. this is a priority for me after seeing how my cheap mower has began to fall apart at less than 200 hours. I have areas I have to mow that suck up a lot of sand in places, and I chew up lots of leaves and stuff. The deck has to be thick, and welded well to resist the sand blast I will be delivering.

-Good, dependable, easy to maintain engine. Ive always been a little partial to Kohler engines here but Im open on this front. Ive been told Briggs commercial grade mower engines are top notch as well. Grasshopper uses both kohler and briggs and ive heard good on both, but a good engine is of course a must.

Outside of deck and engine Im not super picky. Obviously Im going for dependability/durability here. I dont care so much for fancyness or features I wont use. I dont need extra lights, digital screens, or any other fancy add ons. I will not be using this in the dark at all, I want it to mow grass for years and years and years and not break down. Period. Give me your best suggestions!

 

[dirtydeed]

You're absolutely correct in that there are so many to chose from.

I have a bad boy that I picked up from TSC 2 years ago for 4.5K. Mine is the ZT Elite with a 60 inch (damn near bullet proof) deck. The steel used in their decks is quite thick. I can actually stand on the deck while reaching for something in my garage and it doesn't flex/budge.

The unit I have would be considered a residential unit since it just doesn't have the ground speed of a commercial mower. That didn't matter to me since there'd be no way I could run a commercial unit at full tilt on my property without having some back injury. If your property is conducive, you'd probably want something with more ground speed.

Its a very sturdy built unit with heavy framing and large front casters. I believe they offer Kohler, BS and Kawi power plants. I believe they also used commercial pumps, but I don't recall all of the details on them.

Not real sure what you can find in a real commercial unit within the price range you're looking for unless it used.

 

[Tornado]

You're absolutely correct in that there are so many to chose from.

I have a bad boy that I picked up from TSC 2 years ago for 4.5K. Mine is the ZT Elite with a 60 inch (damn near bullet proof) deck. The steel used in their decks is quite thick. I can actually stand on the deck while reaching for something in my garage and it doesn't flex/budge.

The unit I have would be considered a residential unit since it just doesn't have the ground speed of a commercial mower. That didn't matter to me since there'd be no way I could run a commercial unit at full tilt on my property without having some back injury. If your property is conducive, you'd probably want something with more ground speed.

Its a very sturdy built unit with heavy framing and large front casters. I believe they offer Kohler, BS and Kawi power plants. I believe they also used commercial pumps, but I don't recall all of the details on them.

Not real sure what you can find in a real commercial unit within the price range you're looking for unless it used.

Appreciate you taking the time to tell me about your bad boy. $4500 for that sounds really great. I dont technically need a 60" cut but I could go that big. My thing Is parts of my property have lots of trees that I have to weave in and out of, and a big giant deck isnt preferred for those parts. However about 2 acres I will be mowing regularly now was former horse pasture, its just straight field of grass. A 60" deck would help a lot in that area. So, I am kind of open to deck size. Nothing over 60, but nothing smaller than 52" basically. Regarding speed - Im not super picky on speed either. My current mower does around 7mph wide open and That has been fine for me whne mowing. Though, if I want a good solid cut I needed to stay at or below that speed or it would skip some. If I had a mower that could run 10 or 12 mph and cut everything I might could learn to like it.

I should also clarify something. I mentioned I wanted a commercial mower, but I may have sort of mis spoke there. Im not looking for an actual full on commercial mower in the true sense. I just meant that Im looking to get away from the cheap residential/ stamp deck/ entry level engine/ mowers. Grasshopper for example has good "commercial grade" type mowers in the 6-8k range with nice welded decks, professional grade kohler engine, and it is built much more like a commercial unit. Everything on it is higher gauge steel, thicker, beefier, heavier, etc than the cheaper residential mowers. This is what Im looking for. Hope that clears that up a little.

How many hours do you have on that bad boy you got from tractor supply? How many hours per year do you put on it? You say its slow but how slow? What is the actual ground speed? thanks

 

[Tornado]

Took a stroll back over grasshopper's website. I had looked at these mowers a couple years ago in the dealership. Either they have went up a bit or I just didnt remember the pricing too well. The floor is aorund $7,000. Ill be spending mor like $9,000 to get what I wanted. Whew.

Grasshopper may be out of my range. They are the king around here, but lord the prices are up there. Maybe I can find something with the same deck durability, good engine, for cheaper.

 

[SidecarFlip]

I have a Cub Cadet 60" commercial zero turn (tank). I've had it at least 10 years. No problems other than oil and trans fluid changes. Covered with grease fittings too. I mow 7 acres with it, all summer. 27 Horse Kawasaki. Good motor. Has the commercial Hydro Gear pumps with oil filters too. Most of the residential units have sealed transaxles. No good in my view.

 

[Tornado]

I have a Cub Cadet 60" commercial zero turn (tank). I've had it at least 10 years. No problems other than oil and trans fluid changes. Covered with grease fittings too. I mow 7 acres with it, all summer. 27 Horse Kawasaki. Good motor. Has the commercial Hydro Gear pumps with oil filters too. Most of the residential units have sealed transaxles. No good in my view.

is it this one? https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/p...twin-zero-turn-mower-17aieac5010?cm_vc=-10005


Its a nice looking mower. Gosh now that im really price checking all this the gap is much wider than I remember it being. to have a 60" grasshopper like this for example would be MORE THAN DOUBLE the price. I know grasshopper is praised but I really do wonder why is their mower soooooo much higher than something like this? I really need to go back into the dealership and actually look at them again. look at how thick the decks are and the construction, then go look at one like the cub cadet above and find the difference.

 

[ccoon520]

Its a nice looking mower. Gosh now that im really price checking all this the gap is much wider than I remember it being. to have a 60" grasshopper like this for example would be MORE THAN DOUBLE the price. I know grasshopper is praised but I really do wonder why is their mower soooooo much higher than something like this? I really need to go back into the dealership and actually look at them again. look at how thick the decks are and the construction, then go look at one like the cub cadet above and find the difference.

From my experience there is a large price delta between the commercial and the residential offerings. If I remember right, large chain stores like TSC, Home Depot, Ace, etc. mostly offer residential mowers. When you are looking at commercial stuff they are usually sold through independent dealers. A town near me has a Cub Cadet Dealer that sells their commercial grade lineup and does servicing and repairs as well.

If you are getting semi serious about buying a zero turn I'd start by finding all the local dealers in the area and maybe stay away from the chain stores. Then you'll know who will be able to provide service and it will narrow your search significantly. Then you can do what you do when you go buy a car or tractor and start testing and comparing the features vs cost of the unit.

When my parents were looking for a zero turn I remember the dealer in their town said something along the lines of if the unit has a ROPs on it then it is most likely contractor grade (I don't know if that is always the case but it makes sense). Also as long as you are buying contractor grade equipment the reliability on the cheapest unit will most likely out distance even the best performing residential grade stuff.

As far as brands go, my parents have a grasshopper and the thing is FANTASTIC, I wish I had one. My Uncle has a Hustler and he really likes his. The john deere dealer by me has some really stout offerings, and there are a bunch of people on this site that LOVE their Kubota zero turns (Not that they'd be biased at all ).

An even better bonus (to me) is that contractor grade zero turns can be diesel so if you have a fuel system for your tractor you can use the fuel system for your mower and simplify your life and save your back a little. Which is why when I can afford a zero turn I will be looking at diesels.

 

[dirtydeed]

Ground speed on the bad boy is 7 mph. I believe they use a 7 gauge (1/4") steel for the deck, but there is another 3/8" thick edge welded on the outside bottom edge of the deck. It's really tough stuff (which I needed with all the trees/roots at my place). You can get them in 48", 54" and 60" decks. Lots of volume under the deck as well (like 5.5").

Very heavy duty castors on the front, but they (and the deck spindles) are sealed bearings. I also picked up a set of adjustable steering arms and added a manual (foot pedal) deck lift. I like the pedal deck lift for quickly lifting the deck over stumps, roots and dog toys.

Mine has the 25 horse kohler. I got it labor day 2017 and have somewhere around 150 hours on it. I have another small cub cadet that I use occasionally with the bagger (but I get it stuck constantly).

The seat and arm rests are pretty comfy, and I think it has a 6.5 gallon tank. It does have pistons (dampers) on the steering sticks. So, when you let off of one of the sticks to swat that horsefly on your head, it still continues in a straight line . I would call it a very heavy duty residential machine. Like I said, the deck is built like a tank.


https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/p...MIstOw3LGJ6QIVxkXVCh3DUAm5EAQYAiABEgI9LfD_BwE

 

[Tornado]

Aye. Grasshopper would be the best option for me because I have a fantastic dealer 20 miles from me. He is a grasshopper and Stihl dealer. Ive done lots of business with him in the past on other things, including chainsaws and such. He is a big grasshopper dealer, one of the largest volume movers in the south east, and he's a great guy. But my god the prices give me heart burn. the lowest model grasshopper that would fit my needs STARTS at over $7,000. The cheapest grasshopper you can buy period it seems is like $6200 and its a tiny mower smaller than my 46" cut.

I done some looking though and im starting to see the difference. The deck thickness on grasshopper is .313in to be exact, which is thicker than 3 gauge steel. The bad boy / cub cadet that I looked at above are fabricated, welded decks as well, but are only 11 gauge steel. A similar Toro model uses 10gauge steel. Thats a big difference in deck thickness. I looked up my old little husqvarna stamped deck and its running 13 gauge steel. I didnt realize these fabricated decks had such a wide spread in thickness from 11 gauge on some to less than 3 gauge on an entry level grasshopper. The question then is do I actually NEED a deck that is thicker than 3 gauge steel. I dont think I do, but I certainly need more than 13 gauge as that deck is literaly peeling away at the discharge chute, literally starting to just roll up and tear just form normal mowing. Its so thin and weak just the sand blasting is really destroying it. Ill have to put a lot more time and research into this purchase. I like the look of some of these cheaper units in the 4-6k range like the bad boy, cub cadet, toro, etc. but I need to research the decks. I think the decks will be the real deal breaker here. Im finding very similar/comparable engines. Maybe need to focus heavily on deck and hydro gears.

 

[ccoon520]

I done some looking though and im starting to see the difference. The deck thickness on grasshopper is .313in to be exact, which is thicker than 3 gauge steel. The bad boy / cub cadet that I looked at above are fabricated, welded decks as well, but are only 11 gauge steel. A similar Toro model uses 10gauge steel. Thats a big difference in deck thickness. I looked up my old little husqvarna stamped deck and its running 13 gauge steel. I didnt realize these fabricated decks had such a wide spread in thickness from 11 gauge on some to less than 3 gauge on an entry level grasshopper. The question then is do I actually NEED a deck that is thicker than 3 gauge steel. I dont think I do, but I certainly need more than 13 gauge as that deck is literaly peeling away at the discharge chute, literally starting to just roll up and tear just form normal mowing. Its so thin and weak just the sand blasting is really destroying it. Ill have to put a lot more time and research into this purchase. I like the look of some of these cheaper units in the 4-6k range like the bad boy, cub cadet, toro, etc. but I need to research the decks. I think the decks will be the real deal breaker here. Im finding very similar/comparable engines. Maybe need to focus heavily on deck and hydro gears.

John Deere has some that are fabricated using 9 gauge (5/32" thickness) decks. I believe these are their "green" decks (contractor grade) vs. the "yellow" decks which are residential. They start as low as $6500 in their Z720E line (lowest contractor model) with a 48" deck and can stay under 8K all the way up to their Z735M (only the Z740R is above it on their website) with a 54" Deck. So it appears that they have a lot to offer that sits right in your budget.

 

[D2Cat]

Tornado, check with your Grasshopper dealer and let him know you might be interested in a used one. Many cities will trade in a machine simply because they have it in their budget.

The first Grasshopper we bought from an individual. It was the front deck and he wanted a mid mount for the property he was mowing. The front mount is excellent for mowing under trees. We had that mower for about 5 years and then needed something with a wider cut because we were taking care of a neighbor's yard then. We traded the mower to a dealer for one a city traded in. I called the city and talked to the guy who did the service on their mowers. I was satisfied with the answers and made the trade. Then 4 years passed and my wife (who does all the mowing) had some back and hip problem. I was going to put a Grammer seat on it, but ended up trading in in for a new mower with 61" cut.

Yes they are expensive. They hold their value and don't wear out. Spend all the money you can afford on one and you'll never need another one, only your needs may change to get you thinking about another one.

The second one we got had the power fold deck. Once you have one it's like going without air conditioning, or a tractor without a loader. Sharpening or changing blades or cleaning the deck can be done in minutes.

 

[JWool]

I have a Kubota Z421 that works good for me, it's called the Kommander Pro, It has a steel 0.135 deck 10 mph forward and should be about 7k 4 year 500 hour warranty.

https://www.kubotausa.com/docs/default-source/brochure-sheets/z400.pdf?sfvrsn=3615cc1b_7

 

[Fordtech86]

I have a Spartan RZ Pro with 61” deck and 26 horse Kohler. Spartans have 7 gauge welded decks and they are built very well in my opinion. I have a lot of exposed roots and trees to mow around, and deal with very dry clay dust during the summer. Deck has taken a beating but shows no signs of damage. Has the Parker drive motors on it, they are smooth and quiet (this is the first and only zero turn I have owned). The mower itself seem pretty heavily built as well, it weighs a little over 900 pounds if I remember correctly. Going on 200 hrs with it and has been trouble free. Deck spindles and front casters arent greaseable.

Their line up has changed a little since I got mine, no longer offer the kohler. Briggs comercial or kawasaki. Built an equivalent to mine which would be the RZ Pro HD. Comes in at $6,400.

 

[ipz2222]

I have the Bad Boy pro series 30 hp 60 inch deck with>>>commercial dual pumps above the frame, electric deck lift, dual fuel tanks that swing out for accessibility for maintenance, adjustable steering arms, fuel tank guage AND cup holder. 288 hours and the only problem has been the electric deck lift. Wife washes it after every use and water got into the screw and rusted it up. Put a better seal on it and showed her where not to spray water. Been very satisfied with it.

 

[SidecarFlip]

When and if the Tank every wears out, my next mower will be a lawn service...

 

[ehenry]

I've had a commercial JD Z910a with a 54" 7-iron deck. Bought new in 2007. I use it only for my property which is about 7.5 acres total 5 of it grass. Its a good machine. The only gripe I have with it it s a vertical shaft engine and all the belts are under the machine and rather hard to access and it, like most zero turns, rides worse than a log wagon. Other than those two things its a good machine.

The main reason I bought the JD is we have a dealership local to me and parts are readily available should I need them. So far I havent needed any parts other than a battery and deck belt.

If I have to have another mower in my lifetime or I hit the lottery, Ill look really close at a Ferris machine. Vertical shaft engines, all belts on rear and SUSPENSION on the chassis. I tried one out last year and it was like riding in my truck, sans the A/C, it rode so well and had a damn fine cut.

However, SC Flip's idea sounds best of all ! ! !

 

[Tornado]

appreciate all the good responses and suggestions. Gave me some things to research further. I will be following up on all this as I research further. If it wasnt for my deck starting to come apart I might would see about trading this little husqvarna in. I wouldnt get much for it but I actually bought this mower from the grasshopper deale I mentioned. He sales some husqvarna mowers as well. He always has used grasshoppers out front, but most of the time I've looked at them its big stuff, commercial mowers from like school districts, state, or big operations so is stuff too big for what Id need, and the used price is usually where id be on a brand new one that fits my needs better. As I'm getting more and more serious about upgrading I may start watching his used lot a lot closer. As I said in my OP I may drag this out another mowing season. The little husqvarna still cuts fine, and while the deck has some cracks and welds coming apart in a spot or two, its not anything that prevents it from operating. Part of me thinks I should use this mower till it just fails. The engine on it is a Kohler 23 HP and it has been solid - not one bit of problem from the engine. The hydro's have never been a problem either so far. Its all this cheap stamped deck that makes me hate it, that and its a little 46" cut.

 

[ccoon520]

If it is just the deck you have an issue with there might be a replacement online somewhere that is significantly cheaper than a whole new unit. You may even be able to increase the size to a 54" and a thicker material too. Then maybe you could save up some more to get the exact unit you want from your grasshopper dealer in a couple years?

Just an idea based off of the size of the zero turn market I would be highly surprised if there wasn't some good aftermarket stuff out there to meet your needs.

 

[dalola]

A lot of good thoughts/ideas/opinions here.

I would add to the fray, to shop the quality brands that have dealers close to you. Hustler, Ferris, Exmark all have good reputations in the ZTR market, with affordable models.

Avoid anything with a transmission, and look for separate pumps & wheel motors for each drive wheel.

Pending your preference for sensitive or muted steering sticks, each brand ZTR can have a different feel, but have similar quality. It's important to get something you're comfortable operating.

I would also suggest a larger (at least 61") deck, unless you have terrain limitations requiring a smaller deck.

Kawasaki also makes an excellent gas engine for ZTR applications, and diesel is always nice on the larger, high-end models.

So, in the end, get a ZTR you are comfortable operating, from a dealer you respect, at a price you're happy with. Brand would be the byproduct of the above.

Good luck!

 

[Poohbear]

My late brother had a very good lawn care business in Dallas and he allways used Scagg brand. According to him was the only machines his 9 guys couldn't destroy quickly.