Ran a ZTR mower around the place for the first time and am pretty impressed. Have been mowing ROW in front and other small places on the farm with my Kubota BX1800 & mid mount 54" mowing deck. A small tractor with a loader, while useful out here, is redundant to some degree since we also have a 50hp tractor w/loader.

The ZTR I used was a Hustler w/54" deck and a 20something HP aircooled Kawasaki engine. Seemed pretty well built too (I was under it changing out the blades).

I'd probably trade the BX and it's attachments for a new ZTR.

Anyone out there have any preferences? Experiences?

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

Stay away from anything built by MG. They make Troy Built, MG, Briggs and Stratton, Stiel chain saws, and much more. Many of the names used to signify quality, but now much of what they make is crap. Spared are very slow in coming and the quality is way down. They used to make Cub Cadet but I think the employees bought the name and the quality has come back.

My brother mows commercially and uses a Scag; very expensive but good. I just bought a $2,500 John Deere for the church and although it only has 20 hrs. on it it seems like a pretty good mower.

My neighbor tried out a zero turn Gravely but found it very rough ridding. He went back to a Grasshopper.

Sears make a good ZT machine and has a good warranty.

All the zero turn movers are basically the same mechanically. They mostly use the same kind of hydraulic motors and valving. It mostly boils down to what kind of warranty you can get and how close the nearest service is.

If you go into Austin of some other reasonably big town go to the better sections and see what kind of mowers the landscape companies use. Remember that you are not going to make your living off this machine so there is not need to spend $8k when $2,500 might do as well.

I have a Dixon with triple bags & assist blower.

I like it, mow 2.5 acres of grass more or less.

Ariens had a good Zero turn. Pretty sturdy when I tested one out.

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hum.....
1987 300TD 311,000M Stolen. Presumed destroyed

I've been very happy with my John Deere (X300). They make some zero turn models, link here:

http://www.deere.com/en_US/ProductCatalog/HO/series/ho_eztrak_series.html

They also make a 4-wheel steering version of my tractor which will more or less turn on a dime as well. It's the X304 -

http://www.deere.com/en_US/ProductCatalog/HO/servlet/com.deere.u90785.cce.productcatalog.view.servlets.ProdCatProduct?pNbr=SKU21847&tM=HO&link=enav

Good luck! Just serviced my JD this afternoon, getting it ready for the summer.

Just curious - what do those of you who have JD's/lawn tractors use for oil? Synthetic?

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Chris
2007 E550 4Matic - 61,000 Km - Iridium Silver, black leather, Sport package, Premium 2 package
2007 GL450 4Matic - 62,000 Km - Obsidian Black Metallic, black leather, all options
1998 E430 - sold
1989 300E - 333,000 Km - sold
1977 280E - sold
1971 250 - retired

"And a frign hat. They gave me a hat at the annual benefits meeting. I said. how does this benefit me. I dont have anything from the company.. So they gave me a hat." - TheDon

If you don't need the zero turn ability and have a lot of relatively even ground to mow think about either a flail mower or a finish mower to fit your tractor. I used a flail when I mowed the local soccer fields.

The flail will handle slightly deeper grass but the finish mower makes a better cut. The flail cuts to 6'+ while the finish mower usually only goes to 5' wide.

Pretty happy with my Husqvarna Rider 155. It's not ztr, but about a 3" turn radius and very strong frame. Only 42" cut though. Fun to drive, I look forward to mowing now!
My opinion is most every manufacturer has a good product line and an entry-level product line, which are cheap junk. If you see the same cut machine with similar features but one costs an extra grand or so, spend the grand and get something of value.
Gilly

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John Deere 455

Quite possibly the best mowing machine made.

Gilly, If you think that every manufacturer has a good product line you have never owned a mower made by MG.

My dad has had his kubota zero turn mower for more than 5 years(it has the 2 arms for steering) and it runs like new. They are good mowers. Stay away from cub cadet.

They're probably made by MTD.
Most lawn tractors you find at a box store are MTD or AYP built, with different graphics and paint. Sometimes they have different features, like store A will only have manuals, while store B has only hydros. I had a Ranch King tractor that was a hydro, and a K-Gro tractor that was a manual, both were 100% identical past the names and transmission.

kip - do you mean MTD? Modern Tool and Die? They're base out of Ohio and you are correct, they have seemingly acquired many brands - like Troy-Bilt and Ryobi, and they also produce stuff for brands like Toro and even Craftsman. Seems like they buy big brands and then put out cheap products, perhaps relying on the existing brand strength to sell them? Until people find out they are crap I suppose...

Info here -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTD_Products

I don't believe they own Stihl, however. Stihl is still an independent family-owned company based out of Germany. Which is, of course, why their chainsaws kick some serious sawdust (I've got an 036 Pro).

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Chris
2007 E550 4Matic - 61,000 Km - Iridium Silver, black leather, Sport package, Premium 2 package
2007 GL450 4Matic - 62,000 Km - Obsidian Black Metallic, black leather, all options
1998 E430 - sold
1989 300E - 333,000 Km - sold
1977 280E - sold
1971 250 - retired

"And a frign hat. They gave me a hat at the annual benefits meeting. I said. how does this benefit me. I dont have anything from the company.. So they gave me a hat." - TheDon

The downside of Kubota is their price - I would venture that most couldn't come up with the money to buy a new diesel Kubota. Even though they're the best small tractor on the planet - and their prices reflect it. A business client in Houma, LA. bought one new in 1980 - best diesel tractor I've ever seen - or seen since.

As regards to Cub Cadet? My 1973 Cub Cadet 73 (bought new) is running just fine & never let us down. Your comment on Cub Cadet, without context is meaningless.

Never heard of them.....

I bought a Gravely Z152 last year on repo. Was $7,000 something new, I bought it with 100 Hrs. and it cost me $3,000. I love that machine, and I've used them all (Scag, Honda commercial, Bunton, Exmark etc). This mower is the bomb, and built like a tank. Look on Flea-bay for low hour repossession units, they are out there.
Here is a link to my mower:

http://www.gravely.com/Commercial/Zeroturn/100i/152imxdz/Pages/features.aspx

Good luck in your search.

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1992 500SEL 25K
1995 E320 40K
1995 SL600 120K
2002 JX8 Sport 43K
2005 Volvo S40 95K
2006 Isuzu NPR 304K (Frankencamper)
2007 Crown Victoria 150K
2014 Smart Electric 20K