So my old mower bite the dust today. It's an old toro proline walk behind. It's had an oil leak/ burnt oil for a good while and today it just gave out. Checked the oil before hand and was good. My question Is does anyone have a Bad Boy mower? Likes/dislikes. How are they if you need parts for them? The local TSC has them and a buddy has one. I talked to a small engine guy down the street and he had good things to say about them. I mow a little over an acre, mostly flat. I have about a dozen trees to mow around 2 outbuildings and my garden. Thinking about the 54" deck. Ground is slightly sloped but nothing major. Thoughts?
When I was in the market for a zero turn in '07, Bad Boy was pretty new. On the pro mowers forum, they were well liked by the people that gave them a fair chance, those who owned them commercially also really liked them. Of course some folks are so brand loyal that anything else is junk.
I was looking for used. Found a Toro Z-Master with 32 hours on it. Its been great. Are you looking for a residential grade mower (should be plenty for 1 acre) or a commercial grade? ETA: TSC isn't going to have commercial mowers. Which model BB is it?
I looked at them. Then I stopped in at the local ope shop. Turns out they do warranty work for several TSCs and HDs in the area. He said he certainly wanted to sell me a mower, but if I went with the bad boy, he would make some money from me either way I ended up with a Gravely HD 60 for the same price. Actually less, because he 'paid the sales tax'. Pretty good bunch of guys I've gotten to know the last few years. First name basis with most of them, and I get a coffee when I walk in the door. Can't say the same about TSC.
How big is the deck on the ole Proline Jet? Have had 2 of those. Any chance you could swap out the motor... or, is it time to just try something different?
4' deck. Thinking about swapping the motor but don't know if I can find one cheap enough to be worthwhile. Not so much looking at commercial, but after seeing how "junky" some of the other stuff is It may be a good option. I like the welded deck on the bad boy.
This concerns me: Transmission - Dual Integrated Hydro-Gear Hydrostatic Transaxle It maybe fine but true commercial mowers are fully hydraulic. MasterMech may know about these.
I'm keeping my options open and not rushing out to buy yet. I do have a regular dealer about 15 miles away and will probably go check them out when I get a chance.
My buddy joshmain just bought a new Bad Boy last year. Unsure of the actual model (HP and Deck size)? But he has been thrilled with it. Hopefully he can chime in with some insight. I bought my Dixie Chopper 3374 (33 HP 74" deck) from the same dealer just over 3 years ago (they started selling Bad Boy the year after I bought my Dixie) And bigwalleye bought a new Ferris from that same dealer this year. All 3 of us are happy with our choices. Hard to beat a good ZTR. How many acres are you cutting? This is a little Overkill for most applications.
It probably works out to an acre. Just my property. I have no plans of cutting for a living or anything like that. I've basically just looked at the models that TSC has, but saw on their website they have a few others. Unfortunately my mower budget is about $3.50 and all the pocket lint in my right pocket. In seriousness would like to stay under 4 grand. I know I could go to HD or Lowe's and get one for less but I would rather have a welded deck. I think you get better cut quality from them.
I bought a badboy zt elite with a 48" deck I went with the kohler engine dueto cost ,the Kawasaki was a grand more. I love the mower it has decent speed, wide tires and the front forks are half inch the next model down had smaller forks and smaller rear tires. If you need any info just ask I researched for a while before I went all in.
That is totally fweakin' sweet, DexterDay! Are those duck Cepek tires on that beast? Smells like seed planting to me....
I am unsure. I know they are 26" and could easily go on an ATV. It definitely hauls the mail. $4,000 buys a very nice mower. I ran a 54" Cub that was around $3,600 and it actually laid a better stripe than my Dixie. I had to make a homemade striper to equal what my homeowner Cub Cadet would do from the showroom floor. I also have a buddy with a Gravely Zero Turn (I wanna say it's the 60?). It is a very nice machine for the money. I could have bought almost 3 of those for my one Dixie Chopper. Live and learn I guess.
I use to mow up on Long Island back in the early 90's. We (me & the owner of the company) used a Skag with a 60" welded deck, 20+ Hp twin Kohler, three wheel ZT. Loved that machine...
I should mention that I financed my Gravely. At 0%, with $0 down. That makes it hard to not use someone else's money. Make sure you look at blade speed if you look at lower-priced machines. It's a huge factor when it comes to the cut.
lukem and joshmain have you guys had any issues with them? I read that some of their customer support is lacking. But some of it was people complaining after they admittedly hit stumps and such. Spoke with a dealer today and he has the CZT elite for the same price as the ZT elite at TSC. Going to take a look at it next week probably.
I think the dealer matters in this situation. I can't speak to all dealers. But the dealer that the 3 of us bought from? Is top notch in my opinion. I have bought a 6 x 12 trailer from them, as well as my Fahrenheit pellet furnace came from them. They also sell Golf Carts and Car ports/pole buildings (it is a very eclectic business).They do very well in what they do.
