What Zero Turn Mower Would You Recommend???

BTS

BTS

Tractorologist
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I do all the mowing for my mom (3 acres) but now that I am moving I will need to buy her a good reliable Zero Turn mower, I want to go with a zero turn because they are easy to get on and off of. I am going to finish fixing up my garden tractors and then get them all sold off here pretty quick. I am going to do some finishing touches on the JD 420 and probably get it advertised in the next couple of weeks.

What she will be mowing isn't hilly and the ditches are pretty mellow. Although the lawn isn't really the smoothest lawn out there, it is overall pretty rough. I would like to find a mower bigger then a 48", something between a 52 and a 60".

Anyone have any experience with Scag, Farris, Hustler, Country Clipper, Dixie Chopper, Dixon, Toro, Exmark or anything else.

I am not interested in anything Husqvarna or John Deere and I can't afford Kubota.

I'm not overly sure on what I have to spend, I guess it's all pending on what the JD 420 is worth, I have a fair amount of attachments for it so I would hope to get some out of it.

Anyway, let me know what you've heard about what brand, one perk of Country Clipper is the local hardware store (4 miles away) is a dealer and they use the one hand joystick which is super cool! :cool:
 
We sell over here in zero turns cub cadet, the industrial ones. Get one with a STEERING WHEEL! lap bars are terrible!

Get a z1 cub or a xz3, great machines very well built.
 
I will be following this topic. I currently have a hustler raptor SD 54 inch cut. I like the mower with the exception of this spring has been very wet here and the grass has been very thick and tall in between mowings. Now I help a good friend of mine Mo for customers and we only mow yards once a week so the option of mowing more often for me is not a possibility. I have found though that the mower in thick grass clogs up on the two left hand blades and let's a wind row of cut material that does not clean out of the deck because it ends up clogging up under the deck. I am looking for different options at the moment myself and have come across either a Scag Freedom Z or a bad boy ZT Elite. They are both residential grade mowers but have some commercial grade features like the way the deck is designed as a more commercial grade mower. I am really leaning towards the bad boy ZT Elite with a 54 inch cut and a Kohler engine. What I really like about them is that the deck is built like a commercial with a white shoot but also has a very deep designed to allow more airflow. Not trying to hijack your thread but it is an idea that I have to look at and maybe it's a brand that you have close by as well. Anyone have any good or bad about them to say. I must say we have a ferris at work and I'm not a fan at all. I like my buddies hustler X one but it has the commercial style deck on it. Again sorry if I'm hijacking you're thread.
 
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I've mowed with a zero turn. Once. It got parked and the Massey 14 got called into action...

I'm not much for zero turn mowers, too clumsy and feel unstable on hills. The one I used was a cub cadet, dad borrowed it from grandma cuz his cub cadet ate the deck belt.

This one has lap bars, kinda like driving old skidsteer from pre pilot control days

Your mileage may vary on this
 
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Why no John Deere? All I see locally for residential mowing services is John Deere. The z540M with the Kawasaki is a nice unit! I demoed one before I bought my X570. It was 4799 and had a darn good warranty with it. Pretty nice machine.

Any of the ones you listed would be a great unit, I'd only purchase new(with an extended warranty and maybe service contract!), especially if you are going to be out of the country and won't be there to fix or service the machine if it goes down.

I agree with the Husqvarna, I'd throw Cub Cadet in there too since it's just more MTD stuff.

Also if they yard is rough, and has ditches(maybe not extreme) I'm not sure a zero turn would be the greatest choice. The main advantage to a zero turn is the fast ground speed. With roughish ground, that's worthless. Also getting on them isn't the greatest. Most of them either don't have a step or don't want you to step on the deck when mounting them. A regular tractor with a smaller deck, and a step through design would be easier to get on in my opinion. I don't know your mom but I know my mom(who can drive a stick shift as good as anyone, and has no problem on a regular tractor) would find it difficult to safely operate a zero turn(even more so with the lap bars)
 
My brother has one of the Cub Cadet ZTR's with steering wheel, and he loves it. Can't remember the model, but was around 60" cut and very heavy built. Much heavier than I expected. Had a weld fabbed deck also.
 
Some of your decision will be price.
Ferris are nice and have independent suspension on many models, they are pricey. The bigger models are not the best on hills.
I like the grasshopper when have at church, very stable nibble, the true front mount deck allows you to get up under stuff. I like our church's GH way better than the Ferris IS5000 we had, but we have tons of hills to mow, the GH handles it much better.
The 32 HP Cat diesel in the Ferris was the cat's meow though.

If in the middle range, I would look at the Bad Boy ZT sold through Tractor supply. I have a friend who has one, he loves it mows 4-5 acres every week.
 
TAHOE said:
Some of your decision will be price.
Ferris are nice and have independent suspension on many models, they are pricey. The bigger models are not the best on hills.
I like the grasshopper when have at church, very stable nibble, the true front mount deck allows you to get up under stuff. I like our church's GH way better than the Ferris IS5000 we had, but we have tons of hills to mow, the GH handles it much better.
The 32 HP Cat diesel in the Ferris was the cat's meow though.

If in the middle range, I would look at the Bad Boy ZT sold through Tractor supply. I have a friend who has one, he loves it mows 4-5 acres every week.
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Check to see if your area has independent dealers for them. We have an independent dealer here for bad boys and they also sell grasshopper and Massey Ferguson compact tractors. Very good dealer to deal with
 
When I worked for the school district we had 2 JD 757’s one had over 2400 hours on it. We only had minor issues the biggest was a valve spring issue which we corrected. Also you had to make sure to keep the air intake clean as they were horizontal shafted engines. Other than that I’d recommend one. Never really used any other brand.
 
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I have a '97 Derby (made by simplicity, same as the Ferris) The hour meter quit at 444 and I bought it 12 years ago with a blown engine CV23. Replaced that with a rebuilt engine from a Craftsman. Rebuilt the pumps, but have not touched the wheel motors, rebuilt the deck too. Still kicking grass. The only problem I have found is the stripe rollers have a tendency to kick up long twigs and throw the 5 rib drive belt, which usually throws off the deck belt too. I wouldnt have a clue as to how many hours it has on it, but it takes around 2 hours to mow the yard every 4-6 days during the heavy growing season. rough estimate would be around 40-50 hours a year x 12 + what ever it had before I got it, would be well over 1,000 hours
 
I am really curious on this topic as well because I would like to eventually get a zero turn also. From the research I did the Gravely zero turns seem to be a good bang for the buck.
 
I think the Gravely and Hustler have good units in the residential not quite Commercial price range. I have a Ferris built Simplicity, and can cut grass well at 7-8 mph, am still in the seat at that speed, (suspension and claws) have no issues with a 3:1 slope, and the powered bagger is awesome. Only 45 hours on it, no issues.

IMG_1049.JPGIMG_1090.JPGIMG_1091.JPGIMG_1093.JPG
 
BTS said:
I do all the mowing for my mom (3 acres) but now that I am moving I will need to buy her a good reliable Zero Turn mower, I want to go with a zero turn because they are easy to get on and off of. I am going to finish fixing up my garden tractors and then get them all sold off here pretty quick. I am going to do some finishing touches on the JD 420 and probably get it advertised in the next couple of weeks.

What she will be mowing isn't hilly and the ditches are pretty mellow. Although the lawn isn't really the smoothest lawn out there, it is overall pretty rough. I would like to find a mower bigger then a 48", something between a 52 and a 60".

Anyone have any experience with Scag, Farris, Hustler, Country Clipper, Dixie Chopper, Dixon, Toro, Exmark or anything else.

I am not interested in anything Husqvarna or John Deere and I can't afford Kubota.

I'm not overly sure on what I have to spend, I guess it's all pending on what the JD 420 is worth, I have a fair amount of attachments for it so I would hope to get some out of it.

Anyway, let me know what you've heard about what brand, one perk of Country Clipper is the local hardware store (4 miles away) is a dealer and they use the one hand joystick which is super cool! :cool:
Click to expand...

I have used a Cub Cadet ZTR50 for nine years now and I have no complaints and the nice thing about it that might work good for your mom is it has a steering wheel instead of two handles.
 
Thanks for everyone info.

I forgot to put Cub Cadet on my will not buy list, sorry but I have had bad experiences with MTD Cub Cadets.
John Deere always seems expensive and parts are pricey. The company is also a hole and I have never liked JD.

I'm probably going to end up with a Hustler, there are a LOT of them around since they are made about 30 miles away. But I will see what's available when I get my JD 420 sold.

My price range is probably going to be around $2500, I'm not going to be able to afford anything new and if it's new for that price then It's probably not going to be the quality I'm looking for.

I've also been looking into Grasshoppers, they are nice because you can mow under things easier, but I also don't like their long back end, seems to be it would be easy to swing it into things???.

There is a Derby mower on Craigslist in my area, it is 54", has just under 500hrs, comes with a 3 bag catcher which I don't need. It's a nice solid looking mower, asking price is $2500.

Thanks again for the info, I'll keep everyone posted
 
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