About to purchase a Tiger Cat II....Right decision?

[Mad Mackie]

In my many years as a mech I preferred boats and aircraft as I found cars, trucks and heavy equipment not challenging enough to keep me interested. I have never seen an experienced auto mech that made the grade or had the patience to become a competent marine or aircraft mech. Several that I was involved with training had to be untrained and retrained which was a long and difficult process only to have them go back to their former situation where they made more money and were less accountable for their screw-ups.
Back to Scag,
If you follow the flow of electricity on your machines wiring diagram, you will see that there are many connections, terminals, switches, a solenoid, electronic control module, fuses and ground connections involved with just the engine cranking circuit. It all comes to sufficient battery voltage, good connections, good switches and a good ground to keep the electrical system functioning properly. In the cranking circuit, when there is a high resistance condition somewhere, the cranking relay is the weak point and it starts with intermittent cranking and then a failure of the relay.
The key switch supplies the power to the cranking relay when in the start position. If all the safety circuits are correct, the electronic control module which also needs power and a good ground to function, will ground the cranking relay which then allows power to the starter motor relay. The starter motor relay then provides high amperage power to the starter motor.
I have serviced machines that were two years old with 70 hours that had electrical problems. Many folks think that they can just shut off the engine in the fall and expect the machine to function in the spring without any thoughts to charging the battery and cleaning the battery terminals, let alone the fuel problems.

 

[Mad Mackie]

I wouldn't hesitate to purchase a Scag Tiger Cat or Tiger Cat II from a reputable Scag dealer. Reputable in both sales followup and servicing.
My Scag Tiger Cub(2008) has been repowered from a Briggs ELS engine to a Briggs Commercial Turf Engine which has the Cyclonic Air Filtration System. As I use a collection system most of the time, I have found this air filtration system to be very effective at filtering the incoming air. Every 15 to 20 hours I remove the filter and tap it to loosen the collected dirt. I change the filter generally around 80 to 100 hours. I am very pleased with this engines performance and fuel economy.
I also have a Hustler X-ONE with a Kawasaki FX730V engine. This is a 2012 model with a rear discharge deck and primarily used in an old cemetery. The Kawasaki has the two stage air filtration system, but it is not exposed to as much dust and dirt with the rear discharge deck, however the entire machine and the operator get covered with dust while mowing the cemetery.
Both the Briggs commercial Turf and the Kawasaki FX engines run great, each having their own running characteristics. The Hustler has 350 hours and the Scag has 900 hours with 450 yours of this time on the repower engine.
I don't recommend a Kawasaki FS engine as it has the basic air filtration system installed and as ZTRs are dusty operating by virtue of their design, I feel that the Kawasaki FS engine doesn't have sufficient air filter capacity to deal with the dust produced during machine operation.
Just my thoughts!!:laughing::biggrin::smile:

 

[ditz]

My Scag does have the FX730 Kaw engine and I sure have no issue with any function of the machine and I am quite pleased with the machine in general. The machine functionality does me no good unless it starts. In the first place our winters are usually short and the mowing season tends to be long. I don't generally emty the gas from the carb as I not found it to be needed for the short cold season. The battery is maintained with a battery tender over the winter. The mower will start just fine and then if I shut down the mower during the hour and 15min mowing session sometimes it will not turn over or even click. I do believe it might be one of the interlock switches but from what you have said I am leaning toward the relay being the problem. Sometimes it takes 30min. to function again and sometimes it takes 6 hours before it will again function. Then the issue will not show up for 2 or 3 weeks or maybe the next week. I am no EE but I do not think it is the battery but I have been wrong before. I am not a mechanic either. I am a quality engineer by trade. I have hacked around with cars, mowers, motorcycles, bicycles and hot rods for 60 years. Actually since the autos and Motorcycles have become so electrified I tend to let others mess with my more complicated machines. For years I have wired around all those "safety" switches. I have not done that to this Scag.......yet

 

[John R]

I bought a Tiger Cat II 61" last spring with the Kaw engine, it's a great mower.

 

[55TBird]

I am a home owner and mow about 4-5 acres of country yard. Very rough, challenging mowing with rocks, roots, stumps, ditches and a 15 ft cliff that I learned to not get too close to. I spent about 5K for a mower when I moved there and I always regretted not spending more for a more durable mower. And the 19 hp Kawasaki engine was ok but still bogged down climbing the biggest hill and when the grass got too long (because my mower was always in the shop!) It was a commercial mower but not a Scag. Anyway, you get what you pay for and if a mower is durable, paying extra will pay off over the long haul. I suffered with my old mower, always getting by by having it repaired and saying "someday....someday I'll get a better mower." I started this year by having to pour $2,000 into repairs and after the first mowing it would not start! !@#* I had had enough and went to the Scag dealer and bought a 2017 Turf Tiger II with a 61-in deck and a 35hp Briggs Vanguard engine.

I don't mow to live but I live to mow. Why should the pros be the only one's to have Turf Tigers and Tiger Cats? Overkill? Nah.

 

[mac0822]

Done

 

[Sweats]

Okay, that does it. I just started a thread asking opinions about the difference between the Cheetah suspension deck and the Tiger Cat II seat. I was looking pretty hard at the TCII already but somewhere between the feedback I've already received, the opinions on this post, the number of posts that compare the TCII against the Turf Tiger with no mention of the Cheetah, and the photo above (man you must be excited, Mac0822!), I need to just go ahead and pull the trigger on the TCII too. I'm sure the Cheetah is a great mower; after all, it's a Scag. The Turf Tiger looks awesome, but it's out of my budget. Nope, it's the Turf Tiger II for this guy. Mac0822, I sure hope you enjoy yours and thanks for helping me make my decision.

 

[jekjr]

Okay, that does it. I just started a thread asking opinions about the difference between the Cheetah suspension deck and the Tiger Cat II seat. I was looking pretty hard at the TCII already but somewhere between the feedback I've already received, the opinions on this post, the number of posts that compare the TCII against the Turf Tiger with no mention of the Cheetah, and the photo above (man you must be excited, Mac0822!), I need to just go ahead and pull the trigger on the TCII too. I'm sure the Cheetah is a great mower; after all, it's a Scag. The Turf Tiger looks awesome, but it's out of my budget. Nope, it's the Turf Tiger II for this guy. Mac0822, I sure hope you enjoy yours and thanks for helping me make my decision.

I have never ran the Cheeta either. I have three Tiger Cats and have demonstrated the Turf Tiger a few times. Personally I have never operated a machine that has done a better job for my business model than the Tiger Cat. They are incredible machines.

 

[Sweats]

Hey jekjr (and anybody else who caught it), did I really say "... it's the Turf Tiger II for this guy"? I MEANT, as the photo would imply, the Tiger Cat II. I have a little over five hours on it so far and love it. The only reason I wonder if the TTII would have been a better fit is that its frame seems to be more beefy and I have a rough property with some unexpected horribly rough patches. I've already bounced the deck on my mower several times and wonder if the TTII would hold up better over time. Otherwise, this mower is the bomb to the point of me thinking about doing something to my property to accomodate it.

 

[jekjr]

Hey jekjr (and anybody else who caught it), did I really say "... it's the Turf Tiger II for this guy"? I MEANT, as the photo would imply, the Tiger Cat II. I have a little over five hours on it so far and love it. The only reason I wonder if the TTII would have been a better fit is that its frame seems to be more beefy and I have a rough property with some unexpected horribly rough patches. I've already bounced the deck on my mower several times and wonder if the TTII would hold up better over time. Otherwise, this mower is the bomb to the point of me thinking about doing something to my property to accomodate it.

IN MY PARTICULAR BUSINESS MODLE: I find that the Tiger Cat with he 52' deck is incredible. It goes in holes that the 61" won't go. it is incredibly agile and nimble. Some times we load and unload 12 to 15 times a day also. My personal observation as well is that the 52" deck with high lift blades on it will out cut a Turf Tiger with a 61" deck on it with factory blades. (Meaning cut quality).

We ran the Turf Tiger 61" on the same property as the Tiger Cat with a 52" and it was literally noticeable the difference. The Tiger cat would also CUT faster. Although the Turf Tiger will run faster "I think". Anyway the Turf Tiger would not cut clean as fast as the Tiger Cat would in my opinion. Just because it will run X miles per hour does not mean it will cut at X miles per hour......

Also it was a noticeable difference to me in the amount the 61" deck scalped than the 52".