Bad Boy Outlaw VS GH Front Mount

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dukeblue01

Forum Newbie
Looking to purchase a new 61" mower...I have looked at the Bad Boy Outlaw with a 30 HP Kohler or Briggs and I checked out the Grasshoppers today. I mow 3-5 acres, somewhat would be considered rough terrain but the larger portion of it pretty level. Just looking for some pros/cons of these 2 mower and wondering if the price difference of the GH is really worth it. I do like the front mount, but I feel the BB is very well built. Also, considering the GH diesel. What kinds of info can you guys provide me?
 
dukeblue01 said:
Looking to purchase a new 61" mower...I have looked at the Bad Boy Outlaw with a 30 HP Kohler or Briggs and I checked out the Grasshoppers today. I mow 3-5 acres, somewhat would be considered rough terrain but the larger portion of it pretty level. Just looking for some pros/cons of these 2 mower and wondering if the price difference of the GH is really worth it. I do like the front mount, but I feel the BB is very well built. Also, considering the GH diesel. What kinds of info can you guys provide me?
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dukeblue01,
I made an offer on one of those 54" Bad Boy Outlaws last fall along with a Hustler Fastrak Super Duty, A Dixon DX100 and a Gravely Pro-Turn XDZ100(which I ended up buying). I looked at many others including Toro, Wright, Ex-Mark and Grasshoppers. The Grasshoppers are used a lot here in Middle TN, but they were out of my budget range. I too was impressed with the beastly build of the Bad Boy Outlaw(that 5gauge deck is a honker) but wished it came with a Kawasaki FX Commercial(and a standard ROPS). On this forum and another I have read posts where Bad Boy owners love their mowers, but have also read some very negative posts by owners who were not very pleased with the quality of the cut. I still probably would have bought one though if I hadn't looked at the Gravely and the Gravely dealer accepted my out-the-door counter offer that was ~ $1k less than the MSRP plus taxes. If you want to check out the Gravely's, find a nearby dealer and check online MSRP pricing from a dealer's website here's a link:

Zero Turn Mowers
 
I am not familiar with the Bad Boy but I have been around a good number and owned 3 Grasshoppers of my own. My experience with Grasshopper is they don't wear out you simply rebuild at 1000 hours or so. The decks are nothing short of a beast, heavy gauge welded steel that will not crack even in rough terrain. My preference in engines is the Kubota liquid cooled I'm not sure if you service them regularly that they will ever wear out, I've seen one go 9k hours at a city parks department and was sold at auction to be used by an individule. I would have a hard time going back to anything but a front mount deck, the power fold is about as handy for cleaning and blade sharpening as anything I have ever seen. Their not the cheapest priced out there but I have come to find the Grasshopper is a excelent engineered product with over 30 years of refinement of the front mount style mower.
 
Grasshopper by far. Have you tried one before? I swear once you feel the Cadalac ride you won't consider anything else.
 
djdicetn said:
dukeblue01,
I made an offer on one of those 54" Bad Boy Outlaws last fall along with a Hustler Fastrak Super Duty, A Dixon DX100 and a Gravely Pro-Turn XDZ100(which I ended up buying). I looked at many others including Toro, Wright, Ex-Mark and Grasshoppers. The Grasshoppers are used a lot here in Middle TN, but they were out of my budget range. I too was impressed with the beastly build of the Bad Boy Outlaw(that 5gauge deck is a honker) but wished it came with a Kawasaki FX Commercial(and a standard ROPS). On this forum and another I have read posts where Bad Boy owners love their mowers, but have also read some very negative posts by owners who were not very pleased with the quality of the cut. I still probably would have bought one though if I hadn't looked at the Gravely and the Gravely dealer accepted my out-the-door counter offer that was ~ $1k less than the MSRP plus taxes. If you want to check out the Gravely's, find a nearby dealer and check online MSRP pricing from a dealer's website here's a link:

Zero Turn Mowers
Click to expand...



Gravely makes a good mower too.
 
Well, maybe I'm the only person responding that owns both. I have an 8 year old Bad Boy Lightening Z which is very similar to the current Outlaw model. I recently acquired a lightly used Grasshopper 725K2 with power vac and dump from seat hopper.

I wanted a front mount when I bought the BB 8 years ago, but was not willing to cough up the significant amount of extra money. The BB has served very well. One of the attractive things about the BB was the ease of access to everything. Now that I have a front mount grasshopper I find it every bit as easy to access.

The BB is a very solid built machine. I can't think of any other mower with a deck fabricated from 1/4" plate. The spindles, pumps, motors and other mechanicals have been bullet proof. I have no reason to believe that the GH mechanicals are not equally stout.

The difference in the two is in the drivers seat. The GH does not have the top speed of the BB, but it makes up for it in maneuverability because of the front mount. The GH also seems to have more precise control, with the handles being more progressive in their operation. Part of the mowing I o is over rough ground and in uneven areas like the curved bottom of bar ditches. The GH lends itself better to this kind of work.

In my case my GH and BB are different in that the GH is a 61" while the BB is a 48". So, it should be no surprise that the BB being smaller and with no hopper to watch out for, is better in close quarters, but both of them are better suited for more open mowing than close quarters.

All this said, if I were forced to only have one of them, I would undoubtedly have to give up my beloved Bad Boy. I wish I could have bought the GH 8 years ago.
Larry
 
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