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Good morning everyone,

I am new to the forum and don't usually post things like this but I wanted to take time out and share my experience with this newly introduced model. I hope anyone considering this model will find this information useful.

Let me begin by saying I originally owned a Craftsman 42" cut front engine, rear bagger riding tractor manufactured by MTD, with the Kohler engine, that I bought new in 1997. That mower lasted me 20+ years with regular maintenance and repairs. Over the last two seasons it began being a constant repair nightmare ultimately convincing me to look for a replacement. Honestly speaking, I surely got my money's worth out of the Craftsman and I am very pleased with how well it held up over the years.

Last January I began searching for another mower... I had some requirements I wanted to get in the new mower... First I want something that would mow my lawn faster, I wanted to reduce my 2 hour mowing time due to the Florida heat... Secondly, I wanted something that I could get a bagger for as we have lots of oak trees here and the leaves are terrible once they begin falling.. We can have a 8 inch thick layer of leaves on the lawn in just a few days so collecting them is a necessity.
I wanted something reliable and dependable as I try to get many many years out of my equipment. I have a very strict maintenance program I follow with all our mechanical things... Car, truck, Mower, small equipment etc. I am a maintenance freak. I wanted hydro's that I could service as some of the lesser expensive homeowner models didn't offer.... They offered sealed hydros.

Going with a zero turn would give me the time improvement I was looking for. So then I had to figure out which one I wanted that would meet my other requirements. I wanted either the Kohler or Kawasaki engine.
I looked at a 55" Cut Gravely... The gravely was the highest priced at $5500. Gravely didn't offer a dedicated bagger for their zero turns, only a mulching block off... So Gravely was moved down my list...

I then looked at the Bad Bay.... The Bad Boy was priced slightly lower then the Gravely at $4900. They offer all kinds of accessories for their zero turns, but their bagger assembly was an aftermarket part manufactured by another company and was over $1000 so the Bad Boy was moved down my list.

I then looked at the 2019 Cub Cadet Ultima ZT2 60" Fab deck.... I was skeptical as this was a new model just recently introduced to the public. It was priced the lowest of the three at $4400. I had previously done allot of research on engines and found both the Kohler and Kawasaki used on these three models were used in the commercial versions of all these mowers and consumers seemed very pleased with either choice. Kawasaki edged Kohler very slightly in consumer reports. Cub cadet offered two bagger assemblies on their website for this 60". a two bin and a three bin... Both are manufactured by Cub (MTD) so the Cub Cadet moved to the top of my list...

I tested each mower and found all three were comparable in how they cut and how the finish looked with the Bad boy having the fastest forward speed, Gravely came in second followed by the Cub at 7 mph. The Gravely and the Bad boy felt much more heavy duty then the Cub Cadet however I was only buying for my personal lawn, not commercial so that didn't really play into my decision. Which ever one I would finally decide on would last me for years as I only put about 20 minutes on it a week.

I ended up buying the Cub Cadet Ultima ZT2 60" and I have to say, I am pleased with the mower for the most part... It has the 24 hp Kawasaki FR730V engine and serviceable hydro's with spin on oil filters, which I really like... I purchased it from Tractor Supply. They were offering it regular price and out the door the total with tax was $4389 out the door. a week later they put it on sale so I went back and they credited me the $200 difference so I got it for $4189... This made me even more pleased.

After putting 9 hours on the mower mowing my lawn several times, It has reduced my mowing time from 2 hours to 20 minutes per mow... Huge time savings. It cuts great, has tons of power and the lawn looks like a carpet when finished... Overall I am pleased.

Now for the negatives..... Tractor Supply did a terrible job assembling the zero turn. The seat was loose, the steer handles were loose, the deck wheels were loose, they didn't fill it with oil, it was only half full. They didn't bother to install the cable that keeps the seat from flopping all the way over to the foot platform. I had to purchase this cable from Cub and install it myself. Only $8 but it's the principle behind it.
The ZT2 has LED headlights that you cannot shut off, there is no switch. They are on as long as the key is on. The plug for the lights is under the seat so I opted to unplug them so that energy is charging the battery instead of wasting it running the lights.

The biggest aggravation for me at this point is the lack of available parts... I've tried for weeks to order a second set of blades to have a spare sharp set on hand.. They have been on National backorder since the day after I bought the mower... Due to the slow sales of the 60" ZT2, Tractor supply has no plans on stocking the 60" blades which I didn't find out until AFTER I bought the zero turn. They do however have the 54 and 56" blades in stock. The three bin bagger assembly is on National Back order as well...

With everything said and done, I love the mower but if I cant get replacement blades or the bagger then maybe my choice wasn't the best one... For those considering this zero turn, just be advised that these issues are currently present... I am sure parts will begin to be available after the mower has been out a while but it appears the 60" ZT2 has not been a big seller so parts for it have been slow to roll out.

I hope this information helps anyone in the market...

Good day all.

Hello, I think you made a good choice with the ZT2 60. I just bought one but wont use it till next spring as mowing season is about over and Ill use my ZT1 46 the rest of the year. Just FYI the dealer told me the mowers didn't have any grease fittings but ive found two so far on the front spindles . Im trying to find out if they're any more. Have a good one. OH one more thing , Do you have the part # for that cable you got from Cub. I want to put one on the ZT1 46. Don't like the seat going all the way to the floor board either. Thanks again..