Best commercial mower under 8500

[Ric]

Ric, u live in Florida right? How far away do you live from brandon florida? Lol

Is that where you are at is Brandon? I know where that is, I've been there once.

 

[Shughes717]

I think it depends on or your the location as to what make mower is being used. In the 8 going on 9 years I've had the business I don't think I've ever seen but maybe two Ferris and a couple of JD and I've never seen a Snapper being used commercially or other wise. The big knock on those type units is there weight. And I don't understand why people put such an emphasis on the size of drives when in reality it doesn't mean all that much.

The difference in the drive is the amount of torque available. You even mentioned that in one of your posts on this thread. Quite a bit of difference the the drives. Are you saying the knock on them is they are heavier? If so you talk about how much heavier the frame is on the toro. If they are built heavier then why are the snapper pro and ferris mowers heavier. You would think the toro would weigh more.

 

[Ric]

The difference in the drive is the amount of torque available. You even mentioned that in one of your posts on this thread. Quite a bit of difference the the drives. Are you saying the knock on them is they are heavier? If so you talk about how much heavier the frame is on the toro. If they are built heavier then why are the snapper pro and ferris mowers heavier. You would think the toro would weigh more.

No, I'm saying the knock on those mowers Like the Ferris the JD and some others is their weight. Putting a mower that weighs 12 to 1500 lbs on someones lawn is crazy. As far as the drives go hte 5400 drives you talk about aren't really going to do anything in your mower than a 2800 drive in a mower there installed in. Your 5400 is pushing a 1200lb mower and can handle 2200lbs GVW the 2800 is pushing a 500lb mower and can handle 1000 lb GVW There all installed by GVW. The weight ratios are basically the same. Your Snapper is heavier because, well lets see you have a larger engine, you carry more gas, your drives weigh about twice as much as my 3400 just for starters.:smile:

 

[Shughes717]

No, I'm saying the knock on those mowers Like the Ferris the JD and some others is their weight. Putting a mower that weighs 12 to 1500 lbs on someones lawn is crazy. As far as the drives go hte 5400 drives you talk about aren't really going to do anything in your mower than a 2800 drive in a mower there installed in. Your 5400 is pushing a 1200lb mower and can handle 2200lbs GVW the 2800 is pushing a 500lb mower and can handle 1000 lb GVW There all installed by GVW. The weight ratios are basically the same. Your Snapper is heavier because, well lets see you have a larger engine, you carry more gas, your drives weigh about twice as much as my 3400 just for starters.:smile:

Can't find anywhere on toro's site that gives the weight of their z master line. I find it hard to believe they can be heavier built and lighter than the ferris or snapper pro mowers. A snapper pro s150xt 48" has a dry weight of 1107. An s125xt 52" with 5.5 gallon fuel capacity, zt3400 drives, and fs691 engine has a dry weight of 1059. How can toro supposedly build a mower with heavier metal and yet weigh less? Defies logic. I know the 5400 drives are bigger and heavier. They will do a great deal more than a zt2800. Have had mowers with both drives on hills, for instance, and the zt5400 drives are much better. Top of hydrogear's line.

 

[Ric]

Can't find anywhere on toro's site that gives the weight of their z master line. I find it hard to believe they can be heavier built and lighter than the ferris or snapper pro mowers. A snapper pro s150xt 48" has a dry weight of 1107. An s125xt 52" with 5.5 gallon fuel capacity, zt3400 drives, and fs691 engine has a dry weight of 1059. How can toro supposedly build a mower with heavier metal and yet weigh less? Defies logic. I know the 5400 drives are bigger and heavier. They will do a great deal more than a zt2800. Have had mowers with both drives on hills, for instance, and the zt5400 drives are much better. Top of hydrogear's line.

My Toro Z Master weighs in at just over 900lbs dry weight. The Largest ZM in the 2000 series is under 1000lbs. I've Had and used the 2800 drives and the ratios are very similar to any other drives for the weight of the mower.

I really don't think it defies any logic that Toro builds a heavier duty commercial machine than snapper all you have to do is compare spec's and you can see that, everything about the machine from the frame too the deck and even the deck lift system is heavier duty.

 

[diamatron]

When I started looking into the zero turn market it was very confusing. Because most all the machines share the same drive trains. So, I narrowed it down to what's available in my area. Then since he the the drivetrains are so similar I compared the whole build. Like the tires, seat, deck Quality, size of hardware mounts, warranty, price. Also, noticed most commercial users in my area were ferris and skag.

I ended up buying snapper pro s200xt. Other then online, I knew nobody who had one, nor even seen one before I went to the dealer to drive it. I believe they are built like a beast and the mow is fantastic. I have a neighbor who has a toro laser z, not sure of the actual model. We really don't know each other, but his cut quality also looks nice.

 

[zmister11]

Is that where you are at is Brandon? I know where that is, I've been there once.

Yes sir I live right in brandon

 

[Ric]

When I started looking into the zero turn market it was very confusing. Because most all the machines share the same drive trains. So, I narrowed it down to what's available in my area. Then since he the the drivetrains are so similar I compared the whole build. Like the tires, seat, deck Quality, size of hardware mounts, warranty, price. Also, noticed most commercial users in my area were ferris and skag.

I ended up buying snapper pro s200xt. Other then online, I knew nobody who had one, nor even seen one before I went to the dealer to drive it. I believe they are built like a beast and the mow is fantastic. I have a neighbor who has a toro laser z, not sure of the actual model. We really don't know each other, but his cut quality also looks nice.

Now I'm Confused :confused2: Your profile says your mower is a Toro but your post says you purchased snapper pro s200xt. So do you own both or which one do you own

 

[Shughes717]

My Toro Z Master weighs in at just over 900lbs dry weight. The Largest ZM in the 2000 series is under 1000lbs. I've Had and used the 2800 drives and the ratios are very similar to any other drives for the weight of the mower.

I really don't think it defies any logic that Toro builds a heavier duty commercial machine than snapper all you have to do is compare spec's and you can see that, everything about the machine from the frame too the deck and even the deck lift system is heavier duty.

How can it be built heavier and weigh less? How do you know the mounts are built heavier if you have never had a ferris or snapper pro? Can't make claims about mowers that you have no experience with. The snapper pro/ferris icd deck is 7/10 gauge just like the toro deck. I have asked this question before with no answer and I will ask again. Have you ever seen the frame on any commercial zero turn mower break? I haven't, and I even mounted a 25 gallon chemical tank on the front of my mower. No damage to my frame and I have sprayed some rough ground. They are all built heavy. No one who owns a snapper pro / ferris and posts on here has ever had a problem with the deck lift system breaking either. The only problems you ever see are the same ones that everyone else has with their brand. Either engine, or hydros, and all the brands use the same drive train manufacturers. I understand weight ratio, but having enough extra torque to pull 1100 pounds is much better than 500 pounds. Put a 200 pound man on the mower and you only have 300 pounds of available torque with the zt2800. Still have 900 with zt5400. Btw, by your numbers the z master doesn't even have the two to one ratio.

 

[Ric]

How can it be built heavier and weigh less? How do you know the mounts are built heavier if you have never had a ferris or snapper pro? Can't make claims about mowers that you have no experience with. The snapper pro/ferris icd deck is 7/10 gauge just like the toro deck. I have asked this question before with no answer and I will ask again. Have you ever seen the frame on any commercial zero turn mower break? I haven't, and I even mounted a 25 gallon chemical tank on the front of my mower. No damage to my frame and I have sprayed some rough ground. They are all built heavy. No one who owns a snapper pro / ferris and posts on here has ever had a problem with the deck lift system breaking either. The only problems you ever see are the same ones that everyone else has with their brand. Either engine, or hydros, and all the brands use the same drive train manufacturers. I understand weight ratio, but having enough extra torque to pull 1100 pounds is much better than 500 pounds. Put a 200 pound man on the mower and you only have 300 pounds of available torque with the zt2800. Still have 900 with zt5400. Btw, by your numbers the z master doesn't even have the two to one ratio.

All you have to do is look at and compare the spec's to see how it can be built heavier and weigh less, I've already gave you some reasons or examples. The Snapper frame is a 2 x 1.5 11ga frame. The Toro is a 3 x 1.5 10 ga. it's larger and heavier, look at the spec's. As far as how I know how Snapper and Ferris are built is the fact I've seen them on the showroom floor at the dealers, I've looked at them, I've set on them and compared them to the Toro just like I have the Gravelys and Scags and Cub Cadet and a few others and the only mower that even comes close to the build quality of a Toro ZM IMO is a Hustler X One and up. I talk about frame relating to the ride of the mower, the heavier the frame the better the ride, I'm not worried about a frame or a lift system breaking. The thing is really it doesn't take some one with a degree to look at and compare two or three different mowers and tell which one is a better built mower and which is not. :smile: