Opinions on Scag Patriot for 2 acre homeowner

JPE

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I'll be closing on my new home in 3 weeks so it's time to start looking at ZTRs. After talking to some folks (friends, relatives, and coworkers) advice is pretty much all over the map on brands and models which, I suppose, it both good news and bad. Good in that there are a lot of quality brands with loyal followings, and bad in that there's no consensus on what's important in a residential ZTR. So I figured why not turn to the internet to make sure what I'm looking at is in line with my requirements and expectations. :laughing:

First off, a little about my property. It's 2 acres, relatively flat (small drainage ditch at the front along the road), few trees (9 total) with lots of space between the trees (no trees are planted close to each other), 820 linear feet of fence (9' spacing between poles and 4' 2"x4" no-climb wire). Seeing as I'm north of 50 comfort is important to me. Also on my list of important things are: reliability, cut quality, minimal time spent cutting the grass, long life (I would love if this is the only ZTR I had to buy), and of course price.

So I went to one of my local Scag dealers this afternoon and he let me ride the Liberty Z and the Patriot on the field next door. The field looked smooth - flat with no ruts and no rocks or dips that I could see. But even looking relatively smooth, I was bounced out of the seat several times while riding the Liberty. And it was pretty jarring hitting unseen bumps even when I didn't get bounced all the way up. But on the Patriot things were much better. It was more of what I would describe as a bouncy ride instead of a jarring one. He didn't have a Freedom to demo, but I suspect the ride is similar to the Liberty

I know it's a subjective question, but what are your thoughts on the Patriot for my application? Are there other things I should be considering?

Thanks,
JPE
 

Darryl G

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Hi. A few things. Any of those mowers will do the job and give you many years of service on a 2 acre lawn. Zero-turn mowers are pretty quick, so the ride can seem harsh, and being as it's a rigid frame, it kind of is. The tires provide most of the shock absorption. Unfortunately, many dealers don't bother to bring the tires down to the recommended pressures...they leave them at shipping pressure which is max PSI, generally around 22, whereas they should be in the 10-12 PSI range. No idea what the ones you rode were at. An upgrade to a suspension seat or a suspension seat base makes a big difference in what you'll feel.

With that said, the Patriot would knock out your 2 acres quickly, give a beautiful cut and probably last you the rest of your life. Personally I'd pick a Kawasaki engine over a Kohler, but opinions will vary. I think the Freedom is actually more like the Patriot than the Liberty, with the Patriot being sort of a Freedom pro.

Other mowers to consider in the same/similar league that I'm familiar with are the Exmark Radius and the Bob-Cat XRZ Pro/XRZ Pro RS. Excellent warranty on the Bob-Cat. You'd need to step up to the Radius X to get away from the proprietary Exmark engines, but from what I've heard they're pretty good engines, made in China for Exmark by Loncin.

However, I don't think you really need to look further than the Patriot if it's in your budget. About the only thing negative I can say about Scag machines is that they're very heavy and tend to rut. But weight = traction too and that weight comes from their sturdy build. The lighter machines can struggle for traction.
 
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JPE

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Thanks for the comment, Darryl. I've look at Exmark and Bob-Cat (and Hustler and Gravely and Torro and and and) and while you can get a quality machine from any manufacturer, I've narrowed it down to Scag based on friends with personal experience and a solid brand history. And really for no other reason than I could go back and forth between brands forever and never reach a decision on what to buy, so I just made the executive decision to go with Scag. :smile:

And you're right, it's more fair to compare the Patriot and the Freedom, not the Liberty. But for $1500 more on the Patriot I can get the Kawasaki FX vs. the Kohler on the Freedom, plus the suspension seat, plus the better/faster hydros. For me personally that seems like money well spent. And yeah, it's more than I want to spend, but it's always cheaper to buy once than twice.
 

Darryl G

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Thanks for the comment, Darryl. I've look at Exmark and Bob-Cat (and Hustler and Gravely and Torro and and and) and while you can get a quality machine from any manufacturer, I've narrowed it down to Scag based on friends with personal experience and a solid brand history. And really for no other reason than I could go back and forth between brands forever and never reach a decision on what to buy, so I just made the executive decision to go with Scag. :smile:

And you're right, it's more fair to compare the Patriot and the Freedom, not the Liberty. But for $1500 more on the Patriot I can get the Kawasaki FX vs. the Kohler on the Freedom, plus the suspension seat, plus the better/faster hydros. For me personally that seems like money well spent. And yeah, it's more than I want to spend, but it's always cheaper to buy once than twice.


Sounds like a good plan as long as the Scag dealer is reputable and reasonably convenient. I'm a firm believer that a good nearby dealer can be as or more important than the color of the machine. The Patriot is enough machine to be cutting a 2 acre lawn almost indefinitely, but you could always upgrade to the Tiger Cat II to be sure. :laughing:
 

DK35vince

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Sounds like you have done your homework and that machine should last you a long time.
 

jekjr

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Go a head and buy a Tiger Cat II Scag. It will last you 25 years or longer. The Velocity Deck is a game changer when it comes to cutting grass. Get either the 52" or 61" with a Kawasaki engine. There is nothing on the market that we have ever run or saw run that will out cut it.
 

JPE

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Go a head and buy a Tiger Cat II Scag. It will last you 25 years or longer. The Velocity Deck is a game changer when it comes to cutting grass. Get either the 52" or 61" with a Kawasaki engine. There is nothing on the market that we have ever run or saw run that will out cut it.

I'm already going over budget with a Patriot. I just can justify going that much over budget again for the Tiger Cat II. Yeah, I've heard great things about the deck, and the TC2 will last forever. But realistically the Patriot should last me forever too, and while it won't be as nice a cut as the TCII it should still be a plenty acceptable cut. At least that's how I'm looking at it, but I don't have experience with ZTRs so I realize I could be wrong.
 

JPE

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Sounds like a good plan as long as the Scag dealer is reputable and reasonably convenient. I'm a firm believer that a good nearby dealer can be as or more important than the color of the machine. The Patriot is enough machine to be cutting a 2 acre lawn almost indefinitely, but you could always upgrade to the Tiger Cat II to be sure. :laughing:

Yeah, there another dealer I have to go check out. The first dealer was good but I figure it's worth checking out the other. The dealer I haven't checked out yet is 20 miles and 30 minutes away from my new property so it's a little closer than the one I visited. As for the TC2 - yeah, that's a little more than I can justify. :laughing:

Sounds like you have done your homework and that machine should last you a long time.

Thanks - that's my hope.
 

mcdonell

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Go a head and buy a Tiger Cat II Scag. It will last you 25 years or longer. The Velocity Deck is a game changer when it comes to cutting grass. Get either the 52" or 61" with a Kawasaki engine. There is nothing on the market that we have ever run or saw run that will out cut it.

I agree with jekjr. While the lower priced Skags might actually be the best value for you, higher price models will give a better ride, cut, and durability long after you forget the cost difference. There is a reason I see more Cat II's vs Patriots or Libertys in landscape trailers.

I have just 3 acres in Texas and use a Cheetah with 61 velocity cut. My son has 2 acres and a Cat II. We both have budget concerns. However, we decided the task of mowing is best performed by a commercial choice machine with solid experience. Admittedly, the better seat is more important each year. :wink:

Just my cents.
 

JPE

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I agree with jekjr. While the lower priced Skags might actually be the best value for you, higher price models will give a better ride, cut, and durability long after you forget the cost difference. There is a reason I see more Cat II's vs Patriots or Libertys in landscape trailers.

I have just 3 acres in Texas and use a Cheetah with 61 velocity cut. My son has 2 acres and a Cat II. We both have budget concerns. However, we decided the task of mowing is best performed by a commercial choice machine with solid experience. Admittedly, the better seat is more important each year. :wink:

Just my cents.

McDonell - I agree, it's the debate between cut quality and cost. Certainly the Velocity deck on the TC II will provide a better cut than the deck on the Patriot, but I do believe the deck on the Patriot will provide a good cut and getting the better cut just doesn't seem worth the extra $1500 - $2000 for the Cat II. I certainly could be wrong, but seeing as the Patriot will allow me to cut the yard in ~30 minutes I just can't see going longer than 1 week between cuts in the height of the growing season here in North Texas so I have to believe it will be an acceptable cut to me without major clumping or other problems. If you think I'm wrong about that, please let me know!

And as for ride quality - I found the Patriot ride quality to be perfectly acceptable at full speed vs. the Liberty which wasn't in the same league!
 
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