Most dependable lawn mower

Given the prices at the pump it might be worth considering springing for something with an efi power plant.

I did the same as Lyle when I bought my Gravely zt hd48. I demoed toro, exmark (would have bought but it was just not in the budget), country clipper, and the gravely. Went with the Gravely because it was the best combo of quality, gooder dealer, and budget. The Kawasaki fr730 and zt-2800 trannys (that one’s for you Eric VW ) have been rock solid through 700ish hours of rough use. Don't be afraid of that just below commercial category of zero turns. At that 5k-7k price range they all have beefy frames, serviceable trans, and fabricated decks.

 

Well mine’s a commercial but it’s a Lower end commercial. if I remember correctly, you wanted at least 1 inch spindles and Parker pumps. I am about 3 1/2 acres it takes me about 3 gallons of gas and less than two hours. Absolutely none of it’s flat obstacles everywhere and what wasn’t Horse field has had every piece of equipment known to man run over it and making dents and ruts

 

Did you run the toro with myride? I just bought one with it and it's night and day.

 

No it was 8 years ago, not out yet

 

B&S...yuck.

Agreed! Many of these mowers have larger engines than they really need, and are gas hogs. My Hustler MiniZ (commercial 52") has a 20 HP Kohler Vtwin and it just sips gas (carbureted) still plenty of power for a 52" deck too. It actually uses less fuel than my previous Toro 52" with 17 HP single cyl Kohler did (it was a lil underpowered) I can mow my ~2 acres 3 times on 1 tank of fuel...which is about 5 gallons, or just a bit more.

This ^ ^ ^ the "large estate owner" models are a good option for people that aren't actually making their living full time with the mower. Any mower that uses the Hydrogear brand ZTR trans will be fine as long as it has the ZT2800 (or numerically higher) model trans in it. Models lower than 2800 are not serviceable. My Toro had the ZT2200 trans in it...left side rebuilt twice by ~700 hours, not good...lesson learned. The dealer told me to drill the case for a 1/8" NPT plug so oil can be changed...and to switch to Mobil 1 synthetic oil too...I did that, and then sold it...last I heard the new owner is happy with it.
ZT-2800® - Hydro-Gear
Commercial Products - Hydro-Gear

 

Kawasaki is not meeting demand right now. There like 200,000 units short.

 

The scag patriot passed me on a trailer when i was on my way out. They had a 32hp Tiger Cat II there for 11k.
I just couldn't do it.

So...Ferris it is... still pricey but
I hope this ferris works out.

 

Which model??
they are all pricey to just mow grass

 

IS 700
61" ICD deck

 

How’s the ride on that? To me that’s one of the most important things at this age!

 

You already pulled the trigger on it?
When we ended up buying the Hustler Diesel Z at work a couple years back, we had originally intended to buy a Ferris diesel ZTR...one of my old riding buddies is the service manager at this dealership and he was really hesitant to sell us one, especially if we intended to keep it long term.
He said...
1. The diesel version has lots of electrical issues
2. Ferris warranties the suspension for 5 years, so if we intended to keep it longer than that, be prepared to spend some money to renew all the bushings/etc for all the 89 pivot points they have...he said if we put a lot of hours on our mower, it will be pretty loose by 5 years old...and said Ferris is a real PITA about replacing worn bushings/joints when its getting even close to 5 years old...too many people have pulled that stunt I guess (ask for a rebuild right before the warranty runs out) Said its hard to nail them down on exactly how much wear is acceptable, and at what point its considered defective and will replace.

But we are mowing the better part of 20 acres though too...so totally different than how a homeowner will use one...

 

I doubt I'll ever wear it out.
There is no perfect machine, just more expensive...lol
And i gotta finish mowing!

 

I hope this suspension works as good as they say. It's got independent suspension on all four corners and a suspension seat.

 

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We headed for some vaca next week, comon over n care for muh lawn!
Err...wait...free estimate please!

 

Have same model 7 + years old been flawless I don’t think that model came in diesel