Best Zero Turn Mower?

 
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europachris
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Post by europachris » Sat. Jan. 28, 2012 10:30 am

coalnewbie wrote:The bush hog just chewed it up (I kid you not). Don't you just love life in the country.


Isn't it amazing what they will go through? I spent a lot of time in my youth mowing pastures with a '57 Massey-Ferguson 65 and a 6 foot Woods rotary cutter. Pretty much any sapling/tree under 2"-3" diameter was toast, as well as all sorts of stuff you would hit mowing a lot that had not been mowed in ages - old coolers, tires, etc.

The real killer was fence wire, though. You wouldn't know you had run across it, but it would sometimes wind up around the shaft and if you didn't catch it, the oil seal would go and you'd loose all the gear lube. Not real good for the gears.... :cry:

Hornet/bee nests in the ground were another fun treat..... :shock: :o


 
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Post by Rob R. » Sat. Jan. 28, 2012 11:34 am

My dad used to have a Woods "Batwing" bush hog...that thing was a beast. One time it got ahold of a truck tire and nearly shook the windows out of the tractor before it spit out the tire. :)

 
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Post by AA130FIREMAN » Sat. Feb. 04, 2012 7:55 pm

Thought I would run the diesel engine on the mower today, but it would not crank over. I checked the safety switches, no luck,checked the fuses, charged the battery also. I looked in the manual and their is a relay to the starter. Unpluged the relay, and pluged it back in and NOW it runs. :D But I still don't know if the relay is going bad or just wasn't making contact. :(

 
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Post by Dennis » Fri. Jun. 08, 2012 5:51 pm

I just installed a GPS system on my mower,so I don't keep getting lost in my yard. :doh: :rofl: OK ,my friend gave me his old GPS from his boat. I needed some mounting brackets so I decieded to hook it up and learn before getting on the water,can't waste vaulable fishing time playing with toys on the boat. :clap:

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Post by SteveZee » Tue. Jul. 17, 2012 8:07 am

Some gave me an old Bunton mower. It works like a zero turn but you walk behind it or stand on this little sulky deal. Pretty wild mowing and riding on that thing! This Bunton was build like a brick that's for sure. Never seen such a thick welded deck.

 
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Post by franco b » Sat. Jul. 21, 2012 11:08 pm

I only have 50 by 100 lawn so this one was big enough.

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Post by niamhreilly » Fri. Nov. 23, 2012 6:07 am

The Husqvarna Zero-Turn Mower - 725cc Kohler Engine, 46in. Deck, Model# RZ4623 is highly recommended.

It gets great reviews on the web.

Read more: http://ibookmarkedit.com/husqvarna-zero-turn-mowe ... el-rz4623/


 
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Post by SMITTY » Sun. Jun. 09, 2013 12:52 am

Got to dig this one up from the dead. I think I'm gonna jump & get one of these suckers. Been shopping around the past few days, and WOW do they get some damn big cash for these things!! Way out of my league. I;ve been hoping to come across one that needs a little work, but those seem few and far between and STILL command over 3 LARGE ... :shock:

There's a few on Craigs and eBay close by I might check out. Right now the decision is ... do I get a beat up Exmark .... or a newer homeowner special job? I know the answer to that so don;t know why I asked it. Need some sleep! Been on Craigslist and eBay all night!

I see some only do 6 mph. My current tractor does that, so I need something quicker. The faster the better. Power bagger and 60" deck ... all for under $3k? Wishful thinking ... I've got champagne taste on a Sunny D budget .... :(

 
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Post by dcrane » Sun. Jun. 09, 2013 6:31 am

SMITTY wrote:Got to dig this one up from the dead. I think I'm gonna jump & get one of these suckers. Been shopping around the past few days, and WOW do they get some damn big cash for these things!! Way out of my league. I;ve been hoping to come across one that needs a little work, but those seem few and far between and STILL command over 3 LARGE ... :shock:

There's a few on Craigs and eBay close by I might check out. Right now the decision is ... do I get a beat up Exmark .... or a newer homeowner special job? I know the answer to that so don;t know why I asked it. Need some sleep! Been on Craigslist and eBay all night!

I see some only do 6 mph. My current tractor does that, so I need something quicker. The faster the better. Power bagger and 60" deck ... all for under $3k? Wishful thinking ... I've got champagne taste on a Sunny D budget .... :(
I have some experience on this subject... exmark is built for homeowners or landscapers that wont spend the extra couple $ to buy a Walker... for production, speed, reliability you cannot beat a Walker (its the John Deere of lawn mowers), I wound up with a Bobcat Z-100 which is good but if I was doing this again I would opt for a Walker. I also had an Exmark (you might as well just go get good craftsmen rider or scotts brand JD at home depot and put your money in the bank).
Scag is just a Beast and will tear up your lawn. On a machine like a walker or a Bobcat z-100 the deck size is not all that critical (42-60") because these things are like the Formula Racers of the Indy 500 for lawns and they will vacuum & shred every last needle, stick and grass blade along the way! No more fall clean up or spring clean up with these machines as its done simply by virtue of mowing the lawn! Ohhh and did you know you can mow your lawn in the pouring rain (try that with exmark! :lol: )

after reviewing this entire thread I cannot believe nobody even mentions a Walker :shock: This is the style mower that is far and away the fastest and most productive for cleaning, mowing & dumping (here are some photo's of my machine which is identical to the Walker design (a lil less money because it does not have the name "Walker" on it). with most other machines like a Scag or Dixie you will tear up your lawn with the weight & tires if you fly around thinking your in a Walker, with a mid mount machine your more apt to scalp unless you have a nice flat lawn with no hills & bumps, machines that are made for golf courses should not be purchased for homes (triple decks, no dump system, cant get close to borders or through arbors, etc. is just ridiculous... I would spin circles around one of those doing a typical yard with half the deck size).

I paid about $4k for this machine about 10 years ago and Its still worth about $4k today, a similar Walker would be about $5-$6k, You can see in the photo's how it collects and dumps and how easy you can access engine/electronics/PTO and deck compartments (just flip N flop), this machine can effectively cut N suck wet grass with no clogging and I can dump and continue mowing in literally less then 2.5 seconds (just flip and go!). Im sorry but this question is what we call a "no brainer" if money is not a factor....

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Post by Rob R. » Sun. Jun. 09, 2013 1:16 pm

Walker is the John Deere of lawn mowers? ;)

Here is a picture of mine.

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Post by gaw » Sun. Jun. 09, 2013 10:05 pm

Dcrane; that is an interesting machine you have there. I have never seen that make. Although it is very much like a Walker in concept it differs greatly in execution. A major difference I see is the belt driven deck. Walkers have a completely gear driven deck. Aluminum gear housing is standard, cast iron if you spec heavy duty. To access the engine and drives and all the other mechanical stuff you lift the entire body up from the rear until it locks in place. It pivots just under the seat. All their machines have Donaldson air filters with a vacuum gauge to let you know if it is clogged. I don’t remember if the hydro drives are made by Eaton or Spicer but it is a major name brand. They use Kohler gas engines, their smallest version I think went from Kawasaki to Subaru a year or two ago but the bigger engines are Kohler. The diesel models use Kubota diesels.

Walkers are very well built machines from Fort Collins, CO. Every pivot point, bearing, and universal has a grease fitting. According to the Walker company the weakest link is the engine. Their machines are built to last the life of at least two engines and they recommend replacing the engine when the time comes. They may not be the John Deere of mowers but they are the Cadillac of bagging mowers. Prices for a new one start at about 10K and go north from there!

 
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Post by SMITTY » Sun. Jun. 09, 2013 11:17 pm

AWESOME info guys. THANKS!! :cheers:

That J/D sure is a fine looking unit Rob - I've owned the riders for 10 years - 2 years with the L100 Home Depot job, and 8 years with my Kohler powered G110. Can't complain, although the L100 was cheaply built it was still miles ahead of a Toro or Craftsman. Thicker everything, even on the L100.

A bagger is a must here, and 90% of what I see out there has no bagging system at all. I found that strange. I've had my eye on a Bad Boy - looks like a very well built unit. I have no experience with the function of these things, but I can see the differences between a cheaper Craftsman vs. a Ferris - night and day difference. I'm trying to do this on the cheap, but at the same time I don't want a POS that I have to fix every other mow. I probably could get away with a Craftsman here, as I only mow 20 hours per season, which translates to 20x per season. With a zero I think I could HALVE that easily. I'm constantly emptying bags, and I do a 3-point turn after EVERY pass to flip a 180° & stripe the lawn - very time consuming. I've got several fruit trees too which take a 5-point turn to mow close. Starting out with the manual shift L100, it became a chore shifting 100x per hour. Graduating to hydrostatic was a HUGE improvement. Now I think it's time to graduate again. I think the zero is the better choice here - should've done this 10 years ago.

So, what do you guys think of Bad Boy? I don't see too many of them for sale ....

 
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Post by dcrane » Mon. Jun. 10, 2013 4:39 am

great post Gaw with some great info for Smit on the differences (Im not a gear head like Smit but he will surly know what your talking about), I will say that I bought a bunch of spare bearings & belts & blades because I fear my machine is about 15 years old and I wanted make sure I had parts (Ive never needed to use any of them though). John Deere makes some great stuff and always has (their homeowner tractors are incredible machines), I should have said Walker is the lawn machines what John Deere is to tractors ;) My neighbor has a John Deere Mower (no bagger) and its a great reliable machine but it cannot compete with the production & clean up of a Walker or my Bobcat Z (It acts more like a Scag and built like a brick shyt house for sure but heavy, slower & does not have shredding/clean up ability and fast dump like mine does), I bet it could pull a house down though :lol:

 
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Post by dcrane » Mon. Jun. 10, 2013 4:52 am

@ Smitty, that badboy has a bag system like most others (this is night VS day Smitty!!!) You wont be cutting wet grass or grinding up 1 inch sticks or dumping & going in less then 2.5 seconds (I mean that literally... 2.5 SECONDS with the flick of your pinky finger and you don't even have to get out of your seat!), I don't think their is a price difference between these Z turns and if I was going to spend a few grand on a lawn machine its not even close... you need to test drive or at least go pretend your bagging and dumping and see for yourself (that badboy has a system that looks like a Craftsmen and you have to get out, fumble fk around with cloth bags and unclog that long ass pipe if the grass is even slightly damp, get all covered in crap and green hands as you finally sit back down to continue mowing and do it all over again 5 minutes later :mad: )... A Walker machine is like magic Smitty!!!!

 
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Post by Rob R. » Mon. Jun. 10, 2013 6:40 am

I run "Gator" blades on mine, and they do a nice job of chewing up the clippings and still provide enough velocity for side discharge. My neighbor has a lawn care service mow and bag his lawn, and (in my opinion) my lawn looks 90% as good...without all the trouble of handling the clippings.

Smitty, I am not familiar with the "Bad Boy" units, but I checked out their website and it looks like they strive to make a good product.


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