Zero turn mowers

[1slow]

Got sidetracked , still looking for a commercial zero turn.

I am in Ridgeway SC, near Columbia, Camden etc.

I have been thinking about a new mower. Most things I do with a Ford/New Holland 5030 62 horsepower diesel tractor with a front bucket and a 406 Bushhog.The house is in a 9 acre field and Ag tires cut up the yard.

There is some slope and about 5 acres is smooth the rest has ruts etc... My wife uses a John Deere 42'' cut riding lawnmower and it takes forever to cut the 5 smooth acres. We have a 4 wheeler for trailers spraying etc...

I know very little about zero turn vs not. My tendency is to buy commercial grade equipment. I also want something that does not beat you to death.
————————

Looking at a SCAG Tiger Cat 54" or a Turf Tiger 61''. Both are more $ than I want to spend but cut very well, dealer brought out them and a Cheetah for demo. Neither my wife or I liked the Cheetah, it felt too much like a too softly sprung car.

The Turf Tiger 61'' was more comfortable and the Briggs Vanguard 35 HP had good power. The Tiger Cat 54'' Kawasaki 23 HP beats you a little more but still is impressive. My ground is hard clay and quartz rock and I was told the Turf tiger would hold up better.

The bigger mower beats you up less and at 64 I think about this a bit.

Any thoughts /

[LOKNLOD]

I'm on a 3/4 acre suburbia lot and finally got a smaller zero turn this year. My dad's old Craftsman tractor finally died and he didn't really have money for a new one at the moment so I horsetraded him my Craftsman tractor and bought a new Toro. I went that route because I could get it from a local long-standing family owned dedicated lawn equipment store that sells and services for lots of the commercial outfits in the area, rather than grabbing from a big box store. Funny enough they actually downsold me a bit after spending some time talking to the sales guy about my yard and needs. I'm pleased so far. My yard is very "textured" with slope, sidehill areas, and weird angles and so far it's kicking ass and taking names. It's taken some getting used to driving it but as I've gotten comfortable it's a lot faster because my old tractor required a lot of extra Austin Powers eleventeen point turns and loops to make corners.

[Borderland]

Cub Cadet RZT 50. 2 acres. I like the mower. 3 year warranty, fabricated deck, Kawasaki motor.

Don't know about the mfr but Kawasaki motors will run forever. My neighbor has a JD zero turn with a Kawasaki motor. I think it's about 15-20 years old. He mowed 13 acres with it for a long time. Now mows about 2 acres with it.

[Paso Quito]

[QUOTE=1slow;1360751]Got sidetracked , still looking for a commercial zero turn.

There is some slope and about 5 acres is smooth the rest has ruts etc... My wife uses a John Deere 42'' cut riding lawnmower and it takes forever to cut the 5 smooth acres. We have a 4 wheeler for trailers spraying etc...

I know very little about zero turn vs not. My tendency is to buy commercial grade equipment. I also want something that does not beat you to death.
————————

I was looking for a zero turn with suspension a year ago & couldn't find anything in stock anywhere. I finally found a Bad Boy Rebel 72", Kaw 1000cc, and suspension seat (lower end commercial mower). The mower has no suspension but the seat is fantastic. I mow about 2 acres of "lawn" and 10 acres of pasture (rolling with 30' elevation change in about 400'). The lawn is pretty smooth and I can fly if I want to. The pasture is rough and I only cut it when the grass is 8-12" tall. I can't imagine cutting the pasture without either a suspension or suspension seat... it would beat me to death. As it is, I can get cruising along & end up bouncing the front wheels 3-4" off the ground... that's my signal to slow down a bit.

The 35hp is great, no problem cutting long wet grass & weeds. The 72" deck is a bit more challenging because of the lines it will make when the mower is tipped sideways like when you are mowing across a slope and one side of the deck rides on the flat, or when you mow a ditch. It's also pretty easy to scalp the yard when you straddle a hump.

My ground is sand and I have to be very careful or I'll tear the heck out of things. I can tear things up just accelerating too fast, don't have to be turning but turning makes it even easier to tear up the ground.

I've used the mower to pull a chain harrow to break up horse manure and to tow a 41 gallon sprayer. The sprayer was a little challenging because I have a hard time maintaining a consistent speed.

I've got 115 hours in one year & have done my own maintenance. The hydros for the drive are serviceable and changing oil & filters wasn't hard, engine oil/filter was a breeze. I've had only one problem with the mower. The fuel gauge quit working so I have to pull it out & take it in for a replacement.

I had never driven a zero turn and it took a couple of times mowing to feel really comfortable. I found that I could get fixated on the front deck wheel instead of the outside edge of the deck. This is a recipe for taking out a fence post! A 1400 lb mower will loosen a t post pretty well even if you are going slow!

Overall, I am very pleased with the mower. I feel like I got a lot of bang for my buck.

[1slow]

Thanks for all the replies.

We had decided on SCAG TURF TIGER 2, were debating on 61" vs 72" deck. My wife and I had both driven this machine and liked it.

All the reviews are that it is very tough and holds up well on difficult ground.

Local dealer strongly recommends the Vanguard motor over the Kawasaki.

Went to do the 4 year no interest loan 3% origination fee, about $495 fee on $16,499.

Evidently if all your CC are paid off, you have no debt, own your house and other properties you must have a co-signer.

I can cut a check but liked the 0 rate 3% origination fee option.

I am now reconsidering.

[1slow]

Made a minor application change, they accepted application.

Turf Tiger 2 61" 40hp Vanguard, lights , trailer hitch, sunshade.

[Cory]

I've been working for my Dad's mowing company since January. In 6 months I've put somewhere over 200 hours on machines. Probably more like 235ish. Mostly a set of two Toro 4000 Pro mowers (with upgraded HDX transmissions) with 52" decks. Occassionally on a Toro 2000 with a 48" deck.

When I eventually move on, in roughly 10 months to a year, I'm not sure I could ever use a regular riding mower again. We had a loaner Gravely when we were down a mower for service. I hated it. Just didnt cut as fast, or run as smooth. The Toro are getting put through hell, and we run them far more and far harder than most. While we have experienced a fair share of breakage its less so than other compabies that see similar hours with other brands. It's also all been covered under warranty. The biggest pain is that they aren't set up well to tow a trailer or stuff like that. We make it work when needed, but it's a bit of a cob job.

[dgchunk]

Don't know about the mfr but Kawasaki motors will run forever. My neighbor has a JD zero turn with a Kawasaki motor. I think it's about 15-20 years old. He mowed 13 acres with it for a long time. Now mows about 2 acres with it.

I’ll second the Cab Cadet RZT with Kawasaki engine. I bought an RZT 54 in 2011 and it still runs like a champ. I mow about 3 hours a week with it around house and barn