I have a 2013 MZ 42" w/ B/S 19hp purchased May 2013. I went with the 42 so it would fit through my fence gates. Mowing just over an acre.
Review:
In retrospect, I wish i had've spent the extra 700 and went with the Kaw. The only reason I say this is that I cannot mow at full speed if its been over a week or so in my thickest parts and damp, but really that's just me being lazy. It really does supply very ample power for residential mowing. Even with only a 540cc - it provides enough torque to bring the front wheels off the ground several inches. YES I know this damages the trans. First ZT - I learned quickly in the dealer parking lot!
Deck DOES scalp if you have a lot of high spots. I've learned my yard pretty well, so I know how to hit them so that the anti scalp wheels hit the high spot, but the first few times I definitely dug. The solid deck does provide the advantage of the fact it is ROCK SOLID. I hit a stump going full throttle mowing and it hung. It did absolutely no damage, as verified by my dealer. Blades were still completely balanced. I've nearly destroyed a Deere floating deck doing something similar before, and it was a much slower mower.
Someone mentioned the sand grit foot rests. I mow once twice a week for a season and a half and it shows no wear. The deck seems to get a high amount of discharge buildup. Ive removed the outfeed shoot on mine as i like it to distribute the clippings further, and that helped some. I usually clean it with a pressure hose every few weeks and spray a good coat of cheap olive oil under. It is a big help. Paint is scratched in places, but to be expected with ad many trees as i have to mow around.
Biggest complaint sounds silly, but NO CUP HOLDER?
I use conventional oil - changing about every 50 hours. A little fast, but oil makes the engine.
I do have one issue where, since new, the mower seems to track to the left when bars are both fully engaged. Maybe someone can give info on this?
About a month ago I had a SEVERE issue. I was mowing for about a half hour when the engine started to sputter and blowing plumes of smoke. I disengaged the blades, sat a minute with the engine at half throttle and it stopped. I continued on, this repeated several times. I thought at first I had over filled the crank case a bit - but it had perfect fill. I looked down to see the block had split at one of the engine mounts.
My dealer came and picked it up and shipped it back to briggs. They inspected the block and found it to be a defect in the cast. Engine was promptly replaced with a brand new Intek 19hp under warranty. This isn't really a bad boy issue, but worth mentioning.
STRIPING:
To get great striping you could go spend tons on a SCAG Tiger Striper... OR build one. I'm sure I'm not the first to do this, but in case youve never seen it done heres one way to build it to use the hitch on a BadBoy (or any pin hitch) without drilling mower.
Materials:
-3-4" piece of PVC schedule 80
-two end caps
-4-6' steel cable
-two grade 8 1/2" bolts, nuts, lock washers
-24"x2"x1/4" flat steel bar
-4 bolts/nuts of any size
-2 large washers
-sand
Drill hole diameter of hitch pin in center of bar. To the left and right, drill two 1/2 holes so that the edge of the hole lines up with the bottom plate of your hitch. Looking from above this would look like o\o/o on most hitches. Put the grade 8's in the outer holes. This will keep the bar from turning when the pin is in. At each end of the bar, drill holes the size of your cable (at least 1/4").
Drill holes the size of the cable 6" from each end of the pipe. Feed the cable through the hole, then through a washer so that the washer is on the inside of the pipe. Tie the end around one of your extra bolts & tighten a nut on it so that the bolt is against the nut is against the inside of the pipe. Do this for each end.
Glue on one end cap, fill the pipe with sand, now glue on the other end. The result is a heavy piece of pipe with a cable sling on it. Pressure from pulling on the cable is against the washer.
Now cut the cable in the center.
Attach bar to mower hitch.
feed the cable through the ends of your bar so that the pipe is dragging the ground with little slack.
Wrap around a bolt and tighten as before. No washer needed as it won't pull through the PVC like the other end can.
now. you have a quick detach striper that will perfectly bend grass.
Mow the same direction for a few mowings to "train" and it will look good as Wrigley.
