$2500, 1 Acre, A Hill and Shed Restrictions. What To Look At

[Shughes717]

Your right, I need to be realistic about this. No matter what I get its going to work just fine. I stopped by the John Deere dealer on the way home and looked at the Z235, nice mower and seems pretty well built. Its not like I'm going to be traveling with this, I will bring it home and its life will consist of going in and out of a shed. I'm going to stop by a Toro dealer tomorrow then take a look at Hustler over the weekend. With the idea that I should be looking for the best engine that I can get for the price range, Kawasaki>Briggs>John Deere>Kohler in that order?

I am not a fan of the low end Briggs engines. Their commercial turf engines seem to be pretty good, and the vanguard is one of the best commercial engines out there in my opinion, but both of those options are way out of your budget. The fr series Kawasaki is a very good engine. I have also had good luck with kohler command engines. You will get many different opinions on that question. You won't be putting a lot of stress on whatever engine you go with, so truthfully you should be ok with whatever engine you go with.

 

[Ric]

Your right, I need to be realistic about this. No matter what I get its going to work just fine. I stopped by the John Deere dealer on the way home and looked at the Z235, nice mower and seems pretty well built. Its not like I'm going to be traveling with this, I will bring it home and its life will consist of going in and out of a shed. I'm going to stop by a Toro dealer tomorrow then take a look at Hustler over the weekend. With the idea that I should be looking for the best engine that I can get for the price range, Kawasaki>Briggs>John Deere>Kohler in that order?

If your thinking about a ZTR the kawasaki or Kohler are the way to go. The problem your going to have with a ZTR is your budget. Any ztr you buy in the $2500 range will most likely have the EZT drives and IMO wont do what your looking at very long without problems. That's the reason I recommended the the cub cadet XT2 IMO it's the best way to go for the money you want to spend and the nice thing about the tractor is it has attachments you can get that could be very useful where you are located, like maybe a trailer for hauling a small load or maybe small snow plow etc.

 

[Magsrgod]

If your thinking about a ZTR the kawasaki or Kohler are the way to go. The problem your going to have with a ZTR is your budget. Any ztr you buy in the $2500 range will most likely have the EZT drives and IMO wont do what your looking at very long without problems. That's the reason I recommended the the cub cadet XT2 IMO it's the best way to go for the money you want to spend and the nice thing about the tractor is it has attachments you can get that could be very useful where you are located, like maybe a trailer for hauling a small load or maybe small snow plow etc.

The only thing I'm finding in a ZTR with the Kawasaki is the Hustler Raptor 42, looks like it has a Fab deck as well. I'm going to check that out and the Cub Cadet this weekend!

 

[Ric]

The only thing I'm finding in a ZTR with the Kawasaki is the Hustler Raptor 42, looks like it has a Fab deck as well. I'm going to check that out and the Cub Cadet this weekend!

The Raptor will have or comes with the Kawasaki 21.5HP FR651V. It has the 11ga fab deck, the only thing that hurt that mower imo are the ezt drive units, that and it only has some where around a 16000 BTS.

 

[Magsrgod]

The Raptor will have or comes with the Kawasaki 21.5HP FR651V. It has the 11ga fab deck, the only thing that hurt that mower imo are the ezt drive units, that and it only has some where around a 16000 BTS.

Have their been lots of issues with the EZT transmissions? Also what is BTS, is that the blade rpm's? I just looked at the specs for the Cub Cadet and its 48.5 with the chute up so its just a hair to big to fit into the shed. It looks like the 42" will fit with no problem

 

[Ric]

Have their been lots of issues with the EZT transmissions? Also what is BTS, is that the blade rpm's? I just looked at the specs for the Cub Cadet and its 48.5 with the chute up so its just a hair to big to fit into the shed. It looks like the 42" will fit with no problem

BTS is Blade tip speed or how many FPM (feet per minute ) the mower can cut. There are no issues with the ezt drives if there used for what they were designed for and that's for a small lawn that maybe takes 30 minutes a week to mow. There a sealed unit and according to hydro gear do not ever need service, they do not use any type of oil filter. They have small 10cc pumps and motors. There cheap to have and cheap to run and that's why you find them on $2500 ztr.

The thing is that it doesn't really matter what I or anyone else say or tells you because it's all opinion. You need to buy what you'll be happy with and will preferably do the job you need to have done. The one thing I would tell when you buy a mower is don't buy the mower, Buy the warranty.

 

[Magsrgod]

The thing is that it doesn't really matter what I or anyone else say or tells you because it's all opinion. You need to buy what you'll be happy with and will preferably do the job you need to have done. The one thing I would tell when you buy a mower is don't buy the mower, Buy the warranty.

Your 100% right, but I do listen well especially when it's a realm I know nothing about. These are all things I would completely look over when looking at a spec sheet. I started out at just looking who made the motor and what the width was, but now I know more and that's a good thing!

 

[KrashnKraka]

Your 100% right, but I do listen well especially when it's a realm I know nothing about. These are all things I would completely look over when looking at a spec sheet. I started out at just looking who made the motor and what the width was, but now I know more and that's a good thing!

Been following this (thread) along to concur you are likely going
to settle on a yella - or now red, so I hear) - 42" ZTR, just as I did.
This for longevity on the dollar invested.
My ride is excellent.
However, I do suggest you read my thread and ask before
buying, especially in light of some recomendations given through
the thread. Know what you are buying.
http://www.lawnmowerforum.com/small...a-fr541v-top-end-bobbins-rocker-assembly.html

Trust that helps some.

KK

 

[Shughes717]

BTS is Blade tip speed or how many FPM (feet per minute ) the mower can cut. There are no issues with the ezt drives if there used for what they were designed for and that's for a small lawn that maybe takes 30 minutes a week to mow. There a sealed unit and according to hydro gear do not ever need service, they do not use any type of oil filter. They have small 10cc pumps and motors. There cheap to have and cheap to run and that's why you find them on $2500 ztr.

The thing is that it doesn't really matter what I or anyone else say or tells you because it's all opinion. You need to buy what you'll be happy with and will preferably do the job you need to have done. The one thing I would tell when you buy a mower is don't buy the mower, Buy the warranty.

The ezt transmission can handle more than 30 minutes a week of mowing. It is by no means designed to be used commercially, but as long as the op isn't attempting to pull trailer loads of things around the lawn it can handle his lawn easily. 1 acre with a mild incline is exactly the type of lawn the 42" raptor was designed for. I have a neighbor who mows 8 acres with a 52" raptor. It takes him over 6 hours to mow his property. Has been mowing it for two seasons so far and the ezt hydros are still holding up with no issues. The church across the street from my house uses a john Deere ztr mower with ezt hydros to mow about 5 acres. They have been using the same mower for at least 4 years and their mower is still going. Takes them about 4 hours to mow the whole property.

 

[Magsrgod]

Thank you for all of your responses. I'm going to go around in the next week and do my due diligence. I have most of the major dealers pretty close to me so I will go check out all of their offerings. I will let everyone know what I end up getting!