Does anyone have a ZTR Mower or Reviews

[Tom Henry]

I am in the market for a ZTR riding mower and have it down to these 3.

Toro Z5000
Cub Cadet RZT 50
Husqvarna Z4824

Anyone have any input or reviews?

Thanks
Tom

[Greg Cole]

Tom,
I've logged many, many hours sitting on a few different ZTR's... but ones your average "Joe" won't buck up for. Cut alot of grass a few summers in what gets dubbed as "landscaping"?:rolleyes: The commercial stuff gets the absolute hell beat out of it....
Personally, I've had great luck with Toro, so there's my $0.02.

Greg

[Tom Henry]

Funny...that is the one I am leaning toward. Someone told me to go with the Cub but then I read some really bad reviews on it. I haven't seen anything bad about the Toro...yet!

[Ken Garlock]

Hi Tom. If you want the last mower you will ever need to buy, get a Scag Tiger Cub (http://www.scag.com/tigercub.html).
I bought mine back in 2003, and all I have done is oil change, grease the mower deck spindles, and blade sharpening on a regular basis. The Scag mowers are the orange ZTR you see on large company lawns. They are built like the proverbial brick outhouse. My Tiger Cub weighs in around 1200 lbs.

About the only thing it has real trouble with is 5 ft high Johnson grass, that takes about 4 passes to subdue it.

One big problem is that the initial purchase price is high. :eek:

[Tom Henry]

I don't want to go commercial grade. I have under an acre so I don't need to go crazy...It is bad enough I am looking at machines that are targeting the 2-3 acre market.:rolleyes:

[Rob Bodenschatz]

Tell you what, Tom. Go ahead & get one of those commercial grade mowers & I'll let you come over & do my lawn too.:D

[Dennis Peacock]

Cub Cadet is made by MTD.

I'd go with the Toro.

[Tom Henry]

Bump for the poll.:rolleyes:

[Tom Henry]

Tell you what, Tom. Go ahead & get one of those commercial grade mowers & I'll let you come over & do my lawn too.:D


Rob-

I don't hear from you in how long and now you want me to cut your lawn!!!:eek:

[Jim Creech]

I bought a Gravley two years ago and love it. Cut my mowing time in half from the old "traditional" lawn tractor. I have just a little over one acre. 16 hp, 40" cut.

[James Suzda]

I am in the market for a ZTR riding mower and have it down to these 3.

Toro Z5000
Cub Cadet RZT 50
Husqvarna Z4824

Anyone have any input or reviews?

Thanks
Tom
Before you go too far on your ZTR mower choice is your lawn flat or do you have to cut on some hills? You should be aware that ZTRs can be tippy if you try to turn on a slope.
BTW, I've got a John Deere SST, but JD doesn't make them any more.

[mark page]

I have a friend that has a Cub and he has had nothing but trouble with the deck hardware with it. My father always had to have good equipment and he used a Dixon. I used to watch him run it and it seemed he mowed at 30 mph, lol. Personally I have not the need a larger mower so don't have any personal experiences to share.

[David G Baker]

Didn't see any mention of the Kubota. Not sure if they sell a ZT mower but I have had super service out of one of their 42" riding mowers.

[Keith Outten]

My personal opinion on mowers is to either purchase a high quality commercial machine or the cheapest model you can find. The mowers in the middle of the price field are generally overpriced and not worth the investment.

A high quality commercial machine will be the last you ever need to purchase. The cheap machines are disposible, junk them when they are worn out.

I own a Dixie Chopper with a 72" deck. I have a six acre lawn and enjoy the time saved cutting at ten mph. Any of the commercial mowers will serve you well. All of the cheap machines are made by MTD.

.

[Tom Henry]

Well the Cub is made by MTD and that one is the last on my list right now. The other 2 make the commercial end machines so I would think they are higher end quality for a home owner. Like I said, this is over kill for the amound of lawn I am cutting but I believe this will cut my time in half so I think its worth the extra $$$.

[Wes Terry]

I am in the market for a ZTR riding mower and have it down to these 3.

Toro Z5000
Cub Cadet RZT 50
Husqvarna Z4824

Anyone have any input or reviews?

Thanks
Tom
I own a Dixon. I'm a homeowner in suburbia and I like the mower very much. I am told Dixon was the first with ZTR and with the hydraulic motors which power the drive wheels. Very well built and rock solid. Easy to maintain and the Briggs/Stratton engine hasn't given me a lick of trouble. As you no doubt know by now, none of the ZTRs are cheap, but I have been very happy with my choice and have zero regrets.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

None of the above.
I have a Scagg commercial 48" cut I picked up used for cheap.
Go used commercial and you can't go wrong.

[Ted Jay]

None of the above.
I have a Scagg commercial 48" cut I picked up used for cheap.
Go used commercial and you can't go wrong.

A freind of mine has an exmark for his ten acres, done in 4 hours, and I'm wanting one for my 3 acres. I just gotta convince the LOML that she wan... needs it.:rolleyes:

[Kenneth Hertzog]

what I find amazing is no one ever mentions service.
the big box stores have poor to none.
pick the one from the person who will give you the
best service and warranty work.
where you won't have to wait on parts.

ken

[Keith Outten]

Kenneth,

I agree that service should be a primary reason for purchasing a particular model. Commercial mowers are sold by companies that service the machines they sell to professional lawn care companies, if they don't they go out of business fast. The cost is a bit higher but it is better to pay more than not have any service available.

My experience is that the high quality machines don't really need as many service calls so I think it offsets the costs of maintenance. I do all my own maintenance, that is why I selected the Dixie Chopper...there are almost no dealer specific parts on the machine that I can't purchase direct from the original vendors.

You can't go wrong with any of the big name commercial machines like Skag, Exmark, John Deere commercial models, etc. The idea of purchasing a used machine is a good one and for a home owner may very well be the best value.

.

[Tom Veatch]

I'll have to vote with Wes. I (or my wife) ride a hydraulic drive Dixon around the 2 1/2 acres of our property that's in grass. Before that, I wore out a mechanical drive Dixon in several years of use.

As mentioned elsewhere, if you've got much slope on the ground you mow, a ZTR mower puts some limits on the mowing direction since they can be a little difficult to control going across anything more than a fairly gentle slope. Straight up and down a slope isn't much of a problem. Just the opposite of a push/walk behind mower which shouldn't be used up/down a significant slope.

[Tom Henry]

Does anyone out there have the John Deere EZ225?

[Brian Elfert]

I like Toro as their commercial stuff lasts forever.

I worked on the grass crew for seven years at a 330 acre fairgrounds where we mowed about 100 acres of grass. We had three Toro Groundsmaster riding mowers. Each one lasted about 15 years. The first 10 years they ran pretty good and the last five years they started to show their age. Pretty considering they had over 5,000 hours at retirement and got used constantly during the 90 day mowing season.

The only problem we had was a brand new new unit that had numerous service calls for power steering issues. Toro and the distributor stepped up and gave us another brand new unit about 6 weeks into the season and the new one was fine.

My father used Toro push mowers at home and they lasted about 10 years with three hours use a week.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

A freind of mine has an exmark for his ten acres, done in 4 hours, and I'm wanting one for my 3 acres. I just gotta convince the LOML that she wan... needs it.:rolleyes:

Make her mow it for a season. Get an overseas or out of state assignment for a few months of summer.

[Keith Outten]

Ted,

A good mower can do 3 acres in less than an hour these days. I cut and trim six acres in just about 2 hours flat. The trimming part is about 45 minutes, I have lots of trees and several buildings.

.

[Jeff Kerr]

There are some great here. I personally don't know these machines but even though I only mow 2 acres I went with a Bunton commercial grade ztr. It has been with us for about 6 years.

It should be the last mower I will ever need. I bought it from a commercial dealer that also sells and services the lower end stuff. While it was more expensive it had a 6 months 0% interest plan and I figured if a pro can use one for years every day of the season it will last me a long time using once or twice a week.

As for not being good on slopes, I have a pretty steep slope that I wouldn't ever try with a standard riding mower for I know it would roll and the ZTR takes it just fine.

I have mine serviced yearly. It costs about $300 in my area. Just like with a car, if you take care of it, it will take care of you.