Lots of competition in that market. You have the big box stores, the midrange, and heavy commercial. Prices go from 3-4k, 7-10k, and 12k up. I bought a Ferris IZ700 61" last spring with the Vanguard 26 hp because it satisfied what I have learned from my conventional mowers, and the Hustler Fastrak 44 Z, and the DR 52 combo (walk-ride) Z. I didn't need to move into the commercial mowers as I don't do that kind of work. Skaggs is the commercial mainstream around here and are priced as such. The tractor dealer where I bought my last ZT sold half a dozen brands, primarily the mid and upper end mowers, none tractor brand related.
I saw a Ferris work over a hospital parking lot, had heard about them and their soft ride, and was impressed with the performance, and their survival over the years as a domestic mower supplier. I didn't catch the model but caught the action, up and over curbs, across the asphalt, over another curb, back to cutting, circles, forward, back, left, right. Liked the suspension as I have rough ground and my back doesn't like it. The 700 came in at $7.2K with the deluxe seat.
It required a few changes to suit me: A 48x52 canopy conveniently fit the ROPS, additional springs under the seat, and changeout of the rear tires from 12" rim, standard turf tires of 23-25" OD, to 2 ply studded (large balloon to soak up shocks) ATV tires on 8" rims run at 8-10 psig. Sucker floats across the ground now.
One of the things that I liked about it was the way the deck was made: Plenty deep with a wide discharge (common in commercial units) so that the clippings sweep out easily and clogging with wet grass is reduced, high blade speed supporting the same, and best is the sloped frontal area managed to prevent clippings from blowing up, over, and onto the deck which I found commonplace with my other two ZTs with vertical fronts on their decks.
Fuel is not an issue as the BS engines I have, (five last count on mowers) are very fuel efficient anyway, the mower runs fast over the terrain....really like your truck on a bumpy road.....speed up and let the suspension carry the bumps.....and at 5' you cover a lot of ground on a pass. But I bought it to mow large areas in and around my hay fields.
The 44" Hustler is the best for lawn work around obstacles as it can get in and around things in tight spaces. Haven't had problems with any of my machines, (44 and 52 purchased in 2005, just now starting to replace belts) except the conventionals (JD and Husqvarna) I bought from big box stores run about 600 hrs and you have to start replacing deck components. Engines are stout, transaxles are stout, seat springs vary although I have noticed that somebody found out that "valve train return springs" aren't really what you want under a lawn mower seat and the 44 didn't even have springs under the seat....till I added such.
HTH.
