Ok folks gonna be a tough one to answer. I am looking for a high end residential or the starting point of a commercial zero turn 52" to 54" mower. Looking for the best engine,transmission,deck,pulleys,features,quality etc. for the price. Looking for the best bang for the buck & service from the mfg. available!! I do not mow commercially. Just my 2 acre lawn and want to buy my last mower and I take care of my stuff. Been looking at Graveley, Spartan,Dixie Chopper,Hustler & Bad Boy. Love to hear your honest opinions. I,m at my witts end having spent over many hours of research!!!! HELP PLEASE !!! The more detailed you can be will be of great help. I like to hear the facts and I am very detailed oriented. Thank you in advance!! Ps There is a dealer selling a Dixie Chopper Blackhawk HP for $4995.00. Seems like a hell of a deal to me. But I found out today that Dixie Chopper has been bought out again in the fall of 2019 to a new company called the Alamo group agricultural division and talked to them today as of last fall. GO !!!
who makes the best zero turn starting commercial mower
- Thread starter mrspedi
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sassafras manor
Well-known member
I have a 64" Scag Turf Tiger and I wouldn't trade it for anything. It has a fully adjustable seat and adjustable control handles to make the mowing as comfortable as possible. I believe it has a 35 hsp engine so it doesn't bog down and has enough power to keep me horizontal when mowing ditches and spillways.
NO to Dixie Chopper. They break constantly and they havn't kept up with advancing technology, aka they turned into a gimmick.
NO to Bad Boy. NO NO NO and more NOs!!!! They are junk, you paying for their boobs and bikinis … I mean their huge marketing budget ;-) :nod:
NO to JD. Expensive green paint
Look into Toro, Exmark, Kubota, and Cub Cadet.
Be willing to spend just a few extra bucks for one of quality and longeivity.
There are TONS of Zturn mower companies now, take your time. At farm and machine show in Louisville you'll see, 25+ easily, different companies, all with cool paint jobs, "comfort" seats, etc etc. Sift thru the BS to find the best one for you.
I highly recommend going to Louisville next week if you can, you can see all of them in one day. And they'll have plenty of the series/models you're looking for.
NO to Bad Boy. NO NO NO and more NOs!!!! They are junk, you paying for their boobs and bikinis … I mean their huge marketing budget ;-) :nod:
NO to JD. Expensive green paint
Look into Toro, Exmark, Kubota, and Cub Cadet.
Be willing to spend just a few extra bucks for one of quality and longeivity.
There are TONS of Zturn mower companies now, take your time. At farm and machine show in Louisville you'll see, 25+ easily, different companies, all with cool paint jobs, "comfort" seats, etc etc. Sift thru the BS to find the best one for you.
I highly recommend going to Louisville next week if you can, you can see all of them in one day. And they'll have plenty of the series/models you're looking for.
cumminspuller
Active member
My dad and I cut commercially for both of our second jobs. We run older Deere's. (ex. 737,757,777). They have given us very good service over the last 20 years. That being said Deere stopped building these models in 06. A low houred one is getting harder to find. Before the 757 and 2 777's we have I tried two other mowers. A Grasshopper 721D which is a front mount mower. Mine had the metal box collection system on it. It would make a yard look great if it was not very thick. The deck was not deep enough to handle a lot of grass at one time. I ran it a year and a half and traded it for a brand new super z Hustler. The Hustler would run 16 mph and cut grass at that speed if it was a yard that was cut every week. Ran it 2 and a half years and it was in the shop 9 times under warranty in the first 2 years. I sold it with 900 hours and went back and bought 757 Deere. Then came 2 777 Deere that we are still running. I really like the old 700 series Deeres. If I had to buy a brand new mower it would likely be a Scag or Exmark. My opinion is even if you are not cutting commercial if you will at least buy a lower end commercial mower you will have no problems getting 20 years of service out of it cutting a 2 acre yard. All that being said don't waste your time looking at anything sold at Home Depot, Lowe's etc. They are not quality mowers no matter whose name is on it.
HDRider
Well-known member
I'd think about who will be around in 5 years or more. Seems like a lot of mower companies go away.
Hardnosecattleco
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Stay away from Dixie chopper 300 hours and mine blew up
BigBear56
Well-known member
I was in the market for the same type of mower a few years ago. Had it down to Gravely and Kubota. In my research I found that most mowers in this category were pretty similar. I wanted the rebuildable HydroGear 2000 pumps and fabricated deck. I ended up buying the Gravely. If I were to do it again I would buy the Kubota only because of the tires. I have some slopes on my property and the Gravely ZT series simply has tires that are too small and it slides off the hills every time. Other than the tires I have been extremely happy with the Gravely. Mine has a 24HP Kawasaki and a 60" deck
HDRider
Well-known member
BigBear56 said:
My brother bought a Kubota, and the engine burned up at about 300 hours. Gas was getting into the oil by some faulty gasket.
BigBear56
Well-known member
HDRider said:
With a Kawasaki engine? That sounds like a Kohler Courage Pro to me. They are notorious for "grenading".
NonTypicalCPA
Well-known member
Kubota all the way. And get a diesel. Love mine!
There are several good ones out there. We personally run Scag both commercially, at the ranch and our at our homes. I would not mind Kubota or JD for easy accessibility to a dealer. No matter the brand of mowers... ONLY Kawasaki motors.
Bigfoot bought a Spartan. You may want to reach out to him.
https://cattletoday.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=110500
https://cattletoday.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=110500
Ky hills
Well-known member
I would look at a commercial mower, I have had a commercial Husqvarna for several years other than yearly maintenance all I've had to do is replace a belt last year. It has a Kawasaki engine which I think a lot of them have. If I were looking for one myself at this point a Kubota would be my first pick. John Deere may be worth a look too. There is a definite difference between the ones at the box stores and dealerships.
HDRider
Well-known member
BigBear56 said:
I do not know what engine it has
He had a heck of a time with it. The warranty had just expired.
Stickney94
Well-known member
As crazy as this sounds, find a store that will let you test drive one. Even let you cut some grass.
As someone else noted regarding tires/tire width, after a test drive we opted for the model we "compared" our top choice against mostly because of its larger tires and wider stance for side hills and ditches. My wife does most of the mowing and she also noted that the feel of the steering can really differ between brands.
As someone else noted regarding tires/tire width, after a test drive we opted for the model we "compared" our top choice against mostly because of its larger tires and wider stance for side hills and ditches. My wife does most of the mowing and she also noted that the feel of the steering can really differ between brands.
Engines and transaxle are all the same basically. I bought a mid grade Husqvarna MT 54 in 2014 I liked it for the larger tires and the way the steering felt. Had an oil leak on the Briggs engine and a bad starter relay. Other than belts that has been it but it has low hours. I looked pretty hard at Ferris also. The cheaper ones have the smaller transaxle that have given people trouble.
John Deere far and above the rest. Best parts availability and they will be in business long after the others have been bought out or just bankrupt. I just bought a Z930M to replace the 11 year old Z465 that I sold for over half what I paid for it new. Other brands have little to no value after 11 yrs of use.
