275 hour cheetah price check

[Sweats]

So I called the guy back and he said he would come down to 12k plus a $100 delivery fee. Total is $13,078 out the door, which is still insane for a lawn mower.

He does have a cheetah for 11k, and a tiger cat for 9.5k both with 61" decks.

... And I thought "what's an extra couple thousand over the course of several years?". Then my wife got over the roll bar thing and suggested we could maybe get the Tiger Cat II and still leave the ramen noodles on the grocery store shelf. I'm telling you, I'd still love to have the Turf Tiger. Then again, I'd love to have several other things that are out of my budget. I do hope you and yours are happy with whatever you figure out.

 

[Asymair95]

Sweats, do you have a tiger cat? How do you like it?

 

[Sweats]

Sweats, do you have a tiger cat? How do you like it?

I put a response up earlier, page 1 of your steam. Some info on my mower is there. In a nutshell though, yes, and I'm really happy with. But, I have nothing but a friend's Toro to compare it to (I like mine more)

 

[mcdonell]

I have a Cheetah Kawasaki 61V deck and mow 3 acres with trees. It is nearly out of warranty and I haven't had any problems. Wish I would bought a Scag years ago. I was cheap for years and bought hardware store junk.

I keep my yard nice and I am mowing once a week in June. I get about about 50 hours a year on my Cheetah. It has 120 hours on it. I assume with 6 acres you will get about 100 hours a year on your mower. Should last nearly forever.

The Turf Tiger would eliminate belt maintenance and it is the top of the line. My best friend has a Diesel Turf Tiger and he loves it. One thing I really like about his Turf Tiger is we can change all three blades with a Air impact wrench. With my Cheetah, the gas tanks get in the way so I have to use a breaker bar on the outside blades.

When you figure how long you are going to have your new Scag, I would buy the new Turf Tiger you like and enjoy it. You will be glad you did for many years after the cost is out of your mind. I have learned to skimp on something else, not the mower. My 2 cents.

 

[Asymair95]

Ok, thank you for the help guys. Will look at the tiger cat some more. I was reading in another thread about the tiger cat having some problems. They also said they would avoid the 61" deck on that model because it's too big for the frame. I have zero experience, just going off what I read on here from the commercial guys who use them. I do like that it is 300lbs less than a turf tiger though. The price is much more reasonable too.

 

[Sweats]

Ok, thank you for the help guys. Will look at the tiger cat some more. I was reading in another thread about the tiger cat having some problems. They also said they would avoid the 61" deck on that model because it's too big for the frame. I have zero experience, just going off what I read on here from the commercial guys who use them. I do like that it is 300lbs less than a turf tiger though. The price is much more reasonable too.

Asymair95, can you direct me to the thread(s) that reference 61" decks and frame size? I just compared the Cheetah frame to the Tiger Cat II frame and they look nearly identical. I've read that the Cheetah has a double tube frame, similar to the Turf Tiger, but that second tube is strictly sesigned to carry the suspended platform. I would think that if anything, that just adds more moving, shifting mass (read "stress") to the main frame. So I guess I'm saying, I'm not buying that argument until I get more info but I'm open.

On a separate note, mcdonell, I can appreciate not wanting to skimp on a mower. I sure know I don't like the idea of going substandard with lawn care (Skag mower, Stihl trimmers and pole saw, etc). I still have three very active school aged kids however who might question my priorities if I should skimp in their department. We all try to get it right.

 

[clay45]

Sounds like a TigerCat or TigerCat II is in your future. I've enjoyed mine for 3+ years now on a rough rocky/sandy 6+ acres and during the growing season with adequate rain mow 6 hrs each week. Its just too rough to mow fast and its more horse pasture than lawn. A Home Depot heavy duty Toro wouldn't hold up here. Don't believe a Bad Boy would either. My neighbor saw how my SCAG conquered the wild. I provided him with the phamplet and dealer contact I had and a week later he came home with a new Cheetah 61" for his 15+ acre horse pasture and sold his finish mower. I tried his Cheetah at high speed for only a short burst and decided I have no use for that feature. Too rough to hang on to. But sometimes I hear him over the rise running along his back pasture and can tell he's really moving. When he's along our common fence he goes same as I do. He loves his Cheetah. SCAG has homeowner models too. They wouldn't make it here any better than a Timecutter would. Get the model appropriate to where you'll use it. Don't shortcut or penny pinch. Maintain it according to the manual and do as much service as you can yourself and if its taking too long get it in to the dealer, let them fix it, suck it up and pay the tab and get back to work. Adopting this philosophy came hard for me due to the price tags but I believe now it has already saved me hundreds. After all the rough and tumble my SCAG is still roaring to go.

 

[Asymair95]

Clay, I looked for it but couldn't find it again. I found lots of threads about the belts breaking early, but I think this problem is fixed. I could be wrong though. The thread I was referring to was a few commercial guys saying how they have had problems with their tiger cat 2 and how they traded them in for something else or sold them at a loss because they were always breaking down. They said out of the three scag models it was the worst. Others were saying it wasn't meant for the 61" deck, but would work good with the smaller decks. I've seen lots of threads where people are happy with them too. I'm wondering if those guys got a bad batch of mowers or something.

 

[Asymair95]

That last post was for Sweats, sorry.

Clay, I will have a closer look at the tiger cat 2. I drove one, but felt it didn't ride as smooth as the turf tiger. I have some back injuries and need the smoothest ride I can get. I also liked the hydros better on the turf tiger, much more smooth. Even the cheetah felt notchy to me after the turf tiger.

 

[clay45]

I stayed with the 52" because of uneven ground and trees I wished to mow between. Less scalping although I wouldn't really bother over it. I do wish to improve the ground and replant in areas but in the end hope to arrive at a healthy field of native grass and keep the broadleaf in check. The nature of our soil leads me to believe it will never be a smooth ride but improvement from where it is now is possible. The only time I wish for the 61" is when I'm mowing close to some brush full of briars and I wish I could stay further away. :laughing: