Bad Boy ZT Elite vs. Gravely ZT HD

[NickTF]

Well looks like that is settled by Ric. Non-greasable bearings should hold up fine. He also made me feel better about my Kawasaki FS...upon further inspection that 500 hour thing is basically saying it will comply with EPA standards for at least 500 hours nothing more. Not an engine lifetime expectancy whatsoever or anything. Unless it's a Vanguard made in partnership with Daihatsu. Stay away from the B&S Commercial Turf which is a beefed up Intek engine. Just look at Intek reviews on the official B&S website...nuff said. The commercial turf cyclonic is so new it only has 3 reviews.

Well the question then becomes what if the Snapper Pro is optioned with the FS Kawasaki motor........ The snapper definitely would seem to have a productivity advantage but I don't want to give away 1000-500 hours of life expectancy in the process. I guess my exhaustive research will now move on to the FX vs FS motors from Kawasaki..........

 

[DSepe]

Well the question then becomes what if the Snapper Pro is optioned with the FS Kawasaki motor........ The snapper definitely would seem to have a productivity advantage but I don't want to give away 1000-500 hours of life expectancy in the process. I guess my exhaustive research will now move on to the FX vs FS motors from Kawasaki..........

Good idea Nick I'm curious what you find. In my findings from the website all I notice in description difference is what type of air filters they use. I'm curious to know every single difference. Good luck on search let us know how it goes.

 

[Ric]

Well the question then becomes what if the Snapper Pro is optioned with the FS Kawasaki motor........ The snapper definitely would seem to have a productivity advantage but I don't want to give away 1000-500 hours of life expectancy in the process. I guess my exhaustive research will now move on to the FX vs FS motors from Kawasaki..........

Save your self some money. You as a home Owner don't need anything more than the FS Kawasaki engine. I believe you said at the start that you were cutting like 3/4 of acre, if so The Fs is all you need to buy. The FX would be over kill for what your mowing. I use the Fs 541 on the Grandstand every day except Sunday. It's a 15hp and I mow 70 plus yards a week. If you can afford the FX or it happens to come on the mower you want to buy fine but if you can get the mower with the FS save your money. Change the oil and oil filter ever 50 hours and the FS will out live you.

 

[DSepe]

Save your self some money. You as a home Owner don't need anything more than the FS Kawasaki engine. I believe you said at the start that you were cutting like 3/4 of acre, if so The Fs is all you need to buy. The FX would be over kill for what your mowing. I use the Fs 541 on the Grandstand every day except Sunday. It's a 15hp and I mow 70 plus yards a week. If you can afford the FX or it happens to come on the mower you want to buy fine but if you can get the mower with the FS save your money. Change the oil and oil filter ever 50 hours and the FS will out live you.

Thanks Ric since your mowing commercially on a FS I think your recommendations are definitely worth worth a listen. I would have really considered a Toro based on what you run for your business...unfortunately no dealers were even close to my small town.

 

[Ric]

Thanks Ric since your mowing commercially on a FS I think your recommendations are definitely worth worth a listen. I would have really considered a Toro based on what you run for your business...unfortunately no dealers were even close to my small town.

What dealers are nearby. Toro also owns Exmark. How about Worldlawn or Encore Dealers?

 

[djdicetn]

Well looks like that is settled by Ric. Non-greasable bearings should hold up fine. He also made me feel better about my Kawasaki FS...upon further inspection that 500 hour thing is basically saying it will comply with EPA standards for at least 500 hours nothing more. Not an engine lifetime expectancy whatsoever or anything. Unless it's a Vanguard made in partnership with Daihatsu, stay away from the B&S Commercial Turf which is a beefed up Intek engine. Just look at Intek reviews on the official B&S website...nuff said. The commercial turf cyclonic is so new it only has 3 reviews.

Yep, like usual user Ric is spot on with that advice. More and more manufacturers are going to the sealed bearings(wheels and blade spindles) and it sometimes stirs up quite a controversy. There have been significant advances in the design and materials used in sealed bearings over the last few years and their longevity greatly increased. I, too, was accustomed to a lawn tractor that had greases zerks in the blade spindles and I religiously lubed them every 25 hours. When I began shopping ZTR's in the summer of 2012 I found that MANY of the higher quality(Commercial) ZTR's had sealed bearings and was quite disappointed that you could not perform maintenance on something so important(especially on such expensive mowers). I asked every dealer why and the resounding response was that not only were the sealed bearings just as good....but that for years some manufacturers were actually adding grease zerks on spindles that contained "sealed bearings". The Gravely dealer mechanic actually showed me a spindle that they had rebuilt and indeed the original bearings that were removed were completely sealed and the grease zerks only filled the spindle cavity around the bearings and never touched an actual bearing. He told me the manufacturers were doing that because the consumers demanded grease zerks and that the addition of them was nothing more than a placebo to satisfy consumers who insisted on maintaining their spindles. And I got this same story from 4-5 different dealers as well as on forums like this. The more I researched this the more I was convinced that sealed bearings were not a concern. The Gravely mechanic assured me that the life expectancy on the sealed bearings used on my Pro-Turn was easily 2,500-3,000 hours and were very much good for the expected lifetime of most ZTR's. And yes...the improvements to sealed bearings were propagated by professional landscapers who needed the time they had to devote to maintenance reduced.

 

[djdicetn]

Well the question then becomes what if the Snapper Pro is optioned with the FS Kawasaki motor........ The snapper definitely would seem to have a productivity advantage but I don't want to give away 1000-500 hours of life expectancy in the process. I guess my exhaustive research will now move on to the FX vs FS motors from Kawasaki..........

I, like user Ric, have recommended that you go with the Toro Z-Master. I'm not saying that the Snapper Pro isn't a good ZTR, but you said you could get the Z-Master 2000 for around the same price and the Turbo-Force deck is much better than the ICD deck. If you want to throw a little extra money into your investment, upgrade to the Z-Master 3000 series. You'll have every head in your neighborhood turning(even more after you are finished mowing your lawn:0)

 

[Vanousb]

For what its worth, I was looking at the same two plus the Exmark Pioneer S this spring. After all the specs research, opinion, etc. I decided, after test riding all three the Pioneer S offered the best ride, quality, and some commercial details was the choice for me. Best for the money paid in my opinion. Had if for about a month now. Mow 3 acre lawn and some around my father in laws farm. I find myself more impressed with each mow. Exmark dominates commercial and serious residential mowers in my area....and I see why. For me important to have deal local as well. Sure you will find your best ride for you. These are some good guys on this site and it really helped me with opinions and valuable information in what to look for. You are in the right place.

 

[NickTF]

I really do appreciate all the good info here guys thanks! I have the dealer for the Toro coming to the house tomorrow to look at my Cub LT1050 so we'll see how it goes. I'm leaning to the zx-2000 which is already far more than I need for my yard and likely far more than I need for picking up a few yards to cut in addition to mine on the side. Exciting times.........!!!!

 

[djdicetn]

I really do appreciate all the good info here guys thanks! I have the dealer for the Toro coming to the house tomorrow to look at my Cub LT1050 so we'll see how it goes. I'm leaning to the zx-2000 which is already far more than I need for my yard and likely far more than I need for picking up a few yards to cut in addition to mine on the side. Exciting times.........!!!!

Like most of us when we began shopping ZTR's.......you've progressed from considering a Gravely ZT HD and Bad Boy ZT Elite to looking to buy a Toro Z-Master 2000 or Snapper Pro(a quantum leap:0)
For what you are mowing, the 48" Z-Master will be plenty large enough and IMHO the 52" Snapper Pro was a little bit large of a deck for your needs. We all tend to get more than we really need(I've only got a 1.5 acre lot I and bought a 52" Commercial Gravely:0)
But for the price difference between the Bad Boy and the Z-Master you will have a machine that will most likely outlive you!! That's why I "overbought" as a "retirement investment". I figure my son and possibly my grandson will get many years of service out of my Gravely when I'm gone and no longer need it!!