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hu lowery

Member
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445
Location
just south of the LA/MS border off of I-55
My brother is needing about a 60" ZTR, seven acres to cut. Looking at probably a commercial grade unit. I kind of like the Dixie Chopper myself, think they are made not to far away and they are hydraulic motor driven, no transmission which I think can be a weak point on some of these. Of course the Dixie Chopper has the wheels bolted directly to the hydraulic motor shafts so if you bend an "axle" you have probably ruined a motor.

Anyway, while I certainly welcome advice from anyone here that is familiar with these beasts what I am mostly looking for is a forum or two to read up on them at. I thought one of my old sites had a lawn care forum but either it is gone or I confused which site it was on.

Thanks for any assistance!

Hu
 
I've got a Ferris is700z, which has front and rear shock/coil suspension. The model up from mine has all independent suspension, which I wish I had went with, but it's much better than one without any. I had originally wanted the Kawasaki engine, but ended up with the B&S engine, Ferris is owned by Briggs and Straton, so figured they would use a better engine than they provide to other manufacturers. I've been happy with it so far, just hit about 55 hours on it. It also had a 4 year warranty on it that covered everything as long as it was for residential use.

Skag mowers is another that provides some form of suspension on their mowers, mostly the operators carriage is riding on springs.

The Magnum version of the Dixie Choppers uses a HydroGear 3200, which is a little thicker axle than the Zee 2 model, which has the HydroGear 2800. Also if he's pulling a lot of hills I'd go with the larger transmission since it has a bit more pull.

GrassHopper brand makes a nice model with the mower in front that allows for easy blade sharpening.

I had looked at Big Dog mowers, which are built like a tank (1/4 steel in many places), but being that they were relatively new around here and they only had 2 year warranties, I passed on them.

I also looked at John Deere, but found that the color of the paint was an up-charge. ;)

Most of the manufactures, unless your getting into the larger commercial versions will use B&S or Kawasaki engines, and almost all use the Hydrogear transmissions (these vary, so check what models are being used to compare apples to apples), so look at the other features and their warranties to see what fits your needs.
 
Darren,

Appreciate the info. I did find one site, lawnsite.com. Looks like a lot of options. I also see that some of the hydraulic motors are rebuildable and some aren't. I think separate motors would be best since Mike is basically planning this to be a run it forever machine putting probably 800 hours a year on it or less.

Looks like Dixie Chopper might be in some kind of a transition or disappearing, I guess I'm not looking at them. Kinda inclined to find something that doesn't ride rough as a pig too since I often do more of Mike's grass mowing than he does with him traveling and me retired. Want a ROPs both for the protection and to hang a canopy off of, a canopy is nice with temp's in the nineties or higher. Mike has found out all about the upcharge for green and yellow paint owning a compact Deere! Handy little tractor but anything at the dealer's that fits in the palm of your hand is fifty dollars minimum, if it doesn't fit in your palm the prices start at 100!

Hu
 
I have a Skag and its been great. No issues after 4 years now. Its a commercial grade, very heavy. Best part is how easy it is to remove the blades, no crawling under the deck to get them off. I believe its a 24 hp briggs.
 
Sayer Fancher said:
I have a Skag and its been great. No issues after 4 years now. Its a commercial grade, very heavy. Best part is how easy it is to remove the blades, no crawling under the deck to get them off. I believe its a 24 hp briggs.
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The name sounds horrible but this seems to be one of the premier brands! Of course it is pretty obvious they aren't marketing to old geezers like me when I read the names, Bad Boys, Hustlers, etc. From what I am reading the main criteria are going to be which hydraulic motors the machine uses and the deck design and material. I think he wants five or five and a half inches of deck height to get the vacuum. I think it is Kawasaki motors that has three different levels of motor so it isn't enough to know what brand of motor they are using, got to know which model! With all the trimming around trees and such the machine will probably see three to four hours run time to cut the seven acres. A moderately steep hillside too. Toss in that the place is in Bahia, an old hay field, and he is going to need a good quality machine like the Skag.

Hu
 
Darren Wright said:
I've got a Ferris is700z, which has front and rear shock/coil suspension. The model up from mine has all independent suspension, which I wish I had went with, but it's much better than one without any. I had originally wanted the Kawasaki engine, but ended up with the B&S engine, Ferris is owned by Briggs and Straton, so figured they would use a better engine than they provide to other manufacturers. I've been happy with it so far, just hit about 55 hours on it. It also had a 4 year warranty on it that covered everything as long as it was for residential use.
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Darren,

While still flexible my brother is looking at the Ferris with straight front axle or a BadBoy. The engine can be the same, the hydraulic motors are the same, the big difference is the suspension and the Ferris is a thousand more. The full independent suspension is four thousand more than the other machine, three thousand more than the 700 Ferris he is looking at. The ten-thousand dollar machine does offer bigger hydraulic motors and some other features too but he doesn't want to move from six to ten thousand for the same cutting width.

Neither of us have ever operated a ZTR so the question is on a medium smooth seven acres with some hillside and such, will the suspension on the Ferris gain us speed over ground? I have no idea how badly a ZTR bounces you around, I do know they are light in the front end. A lawn tractor bounces around enough on some of this ground that the rough ground does become a limiting factor.

I realize I am asking you a tough question when you haven't seen the land but I'm trying to get some feel for the differences in ride quality between the 42" lawn tractor, the 60 inch no suspension ZTR and the straight axle ZTR with suspension. I think it may be 61 inches but that is splitting hairs.

Thanks for any help!

Hu
 
hu lowery said:
Darren,

While still flexible my brother is looking at the Ferris with straight front axle or a BadBoy. The engine can be the same, the hydraulic motors are the same, the big difference is the suspension and the Ferris is a thousand more. The full independent suspension is four thousand more than the other machine, three thousand more than the 700 Ferris he is looking at. The ten-thousand dollar machine does offer bigger hydraulic motors and some other features too but he doesn't want to move from six to ten thousand for the same cutting width.

Neither of us have ever operated a ZTR so the question is on a medium smooth seven acres with some hillside and such, will the suspension on the Ferris gain us speed over ground? I have no idea how badly a ZTR bounces you around, I do know they are light in the front end. A lawn tractor bounces around enough on some of this ground that the rough ground does become a limiting factor.

I realize I am asking you a tough question when you haven't seen the land but I'm trying to get some feel for the differences in ride quality between the 42" lawn tractor, the 60 inch no suspension ZTR and the straight axle ZTR with suspension. I think it may be 61 inches but that is splitting hairs.

Thanks for any help!

Hu
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Well, yes hard to say without knowing the property, but I will say that the ditches that go down two sides of my property are really rough, half the effort of mowing my 2.5 acres was spent on them when I had my little John Deere 214, they really knocked the wind out of you in some areas. I can now mow over those areas pretty quickly now with my is700z, I still have a few areas I know to slow down for, but most of it I can hit at mostly full speed. The straight axle suspension will help you in areas where the bumps aren't parallel to one another, but when hitting one that both front or rear wheels hit the same ruts is sure to cause some bounce. The seat does have some springs to help with shock too though.

I know the Badboy has some larger tires on it also, which will help with riding over some of those. Also not sure what the tire pressure is on them, but may be a little lower on it to help with absorbing some shock. So as I mentioned before, the warranty was the winning factor between the two for me, but not regretted buying the Ferris and has worked well for the last two years.
 
With a little shopping around and figuring the Bad Boy will require a seat change that the Ferris won't the Ferris has gotten pretty close in price to the Bad Boy. Going look at Ferris's in a few days, pretty sure Mike will wind up with one. Red vs yellow paint has to be worth something and the Ferris impresses me as a nicer unit although Mike likes the deck better on the Bad Boy. Never easy choices unless you want to drop fifteen or twenty thousand on a lawn mower!

Hu
 
hu lowery said:
unless you want to drop fifteen or twenty thousand on a lawn mower!
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I have to say the concept is completely mind boggling to me.. :eek: That's more than I've ever paid for a vehicle... (including full sized tractors - which yeah I know don't work for beans here).

I'd suggest sheep but they're just so very good at killing themselves and then fencing and...
 
Went with a Ferris 700 with a 61" deck. Engine choice was a 26HP Vanguard. Seemed like the best choice of the three engines. A new 27hp B&S commercial turf engine, a Kawasaki 23 or 24hp engine, or the Vanguard which is actually a Briggs too. It will be delivered in a few days so when the rains stop we will see what we have. Ran a demo unit with a 52" deck yesterday and it was pretty impressive.

Hu
 
Sounds like a good choice Hu. I had looked at the 61" myself, on the day I picked it up I was glad I didn't go with it as my trailer was only 60" wide, but didn't realize that until I was driving the 52" up on it and it barely fit with the shoot pulled up on it. The Vanguard engines are supposed to be good ones. :thumb: :lurk:
 
Darren Wright said:
Sounds like a good choice Hu. I had looked at the 61" myself, on the day I picked it up I was glad I didn't go with it as my trailer was only 60" wide, but didn't realize that until I was driving the 52" up on it and it barely fit with the shoot pulled up on it. The Vanguard engines are supposed to be good ones. :thumb: :lurk:
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Darren,

Those leetle minor size issues can be killers! I broke a clevis on my three point hitch out by the locks on my pond and had to put a sixty inch box blade in a sixty inch front end loader bucket. Usually keep some chain on the tractor to make things like this a little more feasible. Naturally it wasn't on the tractor at the moment. With a little gentle persuasion I got the box blade in the bucket with just a few nudges from a section of tree trunk.

The biggest surprise was when the box blade came back out of the bucket easier than it went in. I had a nasty feeling I was doing a near permanent install when I was wedging it in.

My brother only had a midsize truck and covenants didn't allow him to have a trailer at his house so we have been cutting seven acres with a 42" lawn tractor, the biggest that fit in his truck. 61" ain't huge but with more speed over ground, more width, and more maneuverability I think we will cut the rough-in time on the place by about 2/3! Still a day trimming but he is purchasing a second trimmer on wheels so that time will shrink too. Might be possible to do the whole place in a day to a day and a half.

Hu
 
I'll tell you how I take care of grass. A bazillion years ago I had a small grass area. It was a triangle about 40' on a side. That grass cost me more to maintain than all of the rest of the property. I took the grass out, planted a garden and have not had grass since.

Enjoy,
JimB
 
Jim C Bradley said:
I'll tell you how I take care of grass. A bazillion years ago I had a small grass area. It was a triangle about 40' on a side. That grass cost me more to maintain than all of the rest of the property. I took the grass out, planted a garden and have not had grass since.

Enjoy,
JimB
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Years ago a friend put in a backyard swimming pool. Then he poured a little concrete around it. A little rock garden style landscaping. A deck. A garden. "Walt, pretty soon you aren't going to have any yard left."

"Bingo!"

Hu
 
hu lowery said:
My brother is needing about a 60" ZTR, seven acres to cut. Looking at probably a commercial grade unit. I kind of like the Dixie Chopper myself, think they are made not to far away and they are hydraulic motor driven, no transmission which I think can be a weak point on some of these. Of course the Dixie Chopper has the wheels bolted directly to the hydraulic motor shafts so if you bend an "axle" you have probably ruined a motor.

Anyway, while I certainly welcome advice from anyone here that is familiar with these beasts what I am mostly looking for is a forum or two to read up on them at. I thought one of my old sites had a lawn care forum but either it is gone or I confused which site it was on.

Thanks for any assistance!

Hu
Click to expand...

http://www.mytractorforum.com/
 
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