Zero turn shopping is a real mental drain.....

Looks great, Tom. Won't take you long and you'll be driving like a pro. You'll find the hydraulics will respond better at higher RPM's too. Just go easy on the sticks.

 

Yes my rpm’s directly affect my blade speed so mow at full but learn to drive a lower speeds


Not concerned at all, you can drive cars truck boats snowmobile and motorcycles
A z turn not that hard

 

Come on over & watch my wife.

It appears to be like rocket science….

 

My two cents worth on zero turn mowers — we bought a decent low use Husqvarna maybe 5 years ago, 25 hp 54” deck. First couple years it wasn’t too bad but it has turned into a real piece of crap. I dread seeing it head out to mow as more often than not I will have to fix it before the day is over. Lots of stupid problems from weak deck spindle housing that shatter to electrical problems. Seems to have been built for a few thousand square foot town lawn that gets cut twice a week rather than a farm yard. It would delight me to sell the engine off it, crush the rest and send it to the scrap yard.

 

Unfortunately this is my attitude towards *many mowers these days (among other products). I went commercial (used) hoping to avoid the falling apart stuff. It's not been problem free, but chincey manufacture is no issue as it turns 19 years old this year. I bought a used one, all 1700 pounds of it because 'new' is cost prohibitive to me. Current model prices out at 20 grand to spec what I have. I gave 6500 for mine. Noticed the sidewalls of the drive tires are cracking and I have a sticky pto actuator shaft. Those are the type of issues I deal with on the machine. Bought it fully intending for it to outlive my own ability to use it. Barring any engine/transmission failures that statement still stands. 11 years so far.

 

Same here...20 year old Hustler Mini Z...small (52"/20hp) commercial duty machine...really haven't had any major issues with it in the 12 years I've had it...did a wheel motor seal right when I got it, replaced the idler pulley/bearings, that's about it other than basic maintenance...getting about time to do some new bushings on the deck mounts though...

 

My wife can’t drive it either.. then my beautiful bride when we were 10 miles from home and she had a soft tire looked at me as if I had 3 heads when I said


Compressor full in garage has air chuck on it just fill tire. I then drove car back and fixed tire and got things we needed from freezer

But I have every confidence Horkn can handle the task

 

Yeah, I saw this unit at the price it was at, the low hours, and general nice condition and just hoped that it was as it sounded. It appears to be.
I know 'botas are made well but after looking at countless other zero turns, mostly homeowner spec ones, I could quickly see why a machine like this costs more new, and hold value used. The deck steel is thicker, and the entire machine is solidly built. I think I bought this fully depreciated. I could probably sell it for what I bought it for down the road. I don't have those intentions though. They still make this model, but took away the LED headlights and slightly redid the front pan. That's it. For $7800 new now.

JimBear
I had a few tutorials on YouTube on how to me and my wife was interested. So I cast my phone to the TV and we watched a couple of how to drive a ztr videos and she said "that looks like fun". Idk if it was the fractured ankle talking, because she's barely been outside since March 16th. We'll see.

I'll get it, hell, I can ride a standup jet ski, and do a lot of stuff that takes skill.

A video online showed me that I can in fact drink a beer or 3 while mowing. That's for a slightly more advanced me though. Crawl before running...

 

I always try and overbuy most everything. Cost of disappointment is pretty high.
If you spend too much money after a while you will forget about it.
If you spend too little and have problems you will be constantly reminded and probably wind up paying more in the long run.

 

Commercial units are much better than homeowner level IMO

 

Not sure about Toro’s quality anymore, I have less than a year on a 30” time master. Last year (less than 6 months in) the blade belt idler bearing came apart and tore up the blades. Repaired that with the heavy duty bearing kit and new blades. This year cut grass 2 times and now it’s running like crap, not sure what’s wrong with it. Ended up purchasing a new Scag 30” walk behind. I get to cut with it for the first time today, as it has been raining/wet here last couple of weeks. My Deere EZtrak 915E was 10 years old when I sold it. Several sets of blades and oil changes were all it required. I sold it because I went from 2 acres to .65 acres with a ton of concrete and obstructions to mow around. Really thought the Toro was going to be a good mower. I’ll get it fixed and bring it to my cabin in WI, as I’ll need a mower there sooner or later.

 

If you didn't buy one of their commercial grade units, then it's just box store garbage. Doesn't matter the parent company. A green mower from one of the box stores ain't quality either. Use it till it breaks and buy a new one, The New American Way.

 

Unfortunately this is totally true.

I changed the oil on my 'bota today. Then I washed it.





380 hrs. On it at oil change. I'll probably need to do the 3100 transaxle oil and filters at the end of this mow season

 

Lookin good. A tip I tell people for learning to drive a ZT, rest your elbows on the arm rests. Less jerky that way untill you learn to float your arms correctly. Eventually you'll be driving one handed with your fingers and drinking a beverage.

 

I had to warm the engine oil up to change it. I was using a long grabber they gave my wife at the hospital and picking up twigs/ small branches and taking them to the burn barrel. I was driving with a soda in the beer holder( I know, sacrilege) and was one handing it with a good 50-70% throttle . I didn't spill any soda. I can graduate to beer now I think. I don't even have a half hour of run time on it yet.

It's pretty easy, so far at least. The way things are growing, I'll probably need to mow next weekend.

 

That one got some weight on the front end or is it easy to pop wheelies? When I mowed lawns, the guy I worked for had commercial xmarks. They were lite in front. Good at times and bad, usually on hills.

 

I was trying to not spill my beverage. I'll find out soon enough. I find wheelies on anything that is even slightly capable of doing them.

I have a feeling most zero turns are pretty easy to wheelie, most of the weight is just barely in front of the rear axles and the engine behind them.

 

The oil change was simple to do in the bota. There's an oil hose with a plug on the port side. You just drop the hose through a hole, and undo the plug let it drain and then replace the plug when it's empty. Then you pull the hose up and re secure it above the engine deck. On the oil filter side the engine deck has a hole in it to allow the oil to drip below and into a pan. Really easy, but now I know why the Kohler filter is yellow. You can write on it with a sharpie and it is obvious. The Mobil 1 filter I bought is black, and had just a little white area on the sticker where I could write the date in the oil change on it with a sharpie. I think I'll need a white or light color paint pen for future oil changes. The Mobil 1 filter is a great filter and costs less than the Kohler/ Rehlko one.

 

100% to keep the hydros cool.

 

Our Bad Boy CZT is very stable, only pops wheelies when the bagger in on the back, full of green grass...