Buying new mower help me decide

[Carl in CT]

Sure was a big disappointment when I first looked at it and knowing what the price was I thought I was going home with it but that all changed when I got on it and sit down.

Wow, that stinks, that is a big disappointment. Well, hopefully the Simplicity will come in soon so you can try it. If it doesn't or if it does but you don't like it I don't think you can go wrong with the Deere.

 

[Black Bart]

Wow, that stinks, that is a big disappointment. Well, hopefully the Simplicity will come in soon so you can try it. If it doesn't or if it does but you don't like it I don't think you can go wrong with the Deere.

Well I'm in no hurry so I will wait and see what the Simplicity is like.

JD has a rebate that will end the last of May but if that happens I will just wait till fall and see if they have a deal then.

I have plenty of mowers so I don't have to have a new one.:laughing:
I have 2 guy's that are both hot to buy my JD 430 diesel, Not sure if I want to sell it the 430 is a real work horse

 

[Black Bart]

After a month my local dealer still don't have a Simplicity champion but yesterday I was in a large city near where I live and I stopped at a Simplicity dealer and he had a Champion.

The suspension on it was waaaaay too stiff to be of any real usefulness.
I'm not saying that if you hit a big hole it would not move but if I had a hole that big I would fill it with some dirt.

Bottom line is I think the dealer that sells several brands including Simplicity had it right when he told me Simplicity had a nice Gimmick with their suspension.

They have just used a spring and shock from a motorcycle rather than designing one for their mower.
It has the exact same type of adjustment as a motorcycle and all are set on the softest setting.

All dealers will tell you it is adjustable but all of them come set on the softest setting and that is waaay too stiff.

Since they want more money for the Orange paint than what I can buy Green and Yellow I think the Simplicity is a no go.

 

[Jetblast]

You might want to try another forum or do some Google searches to get a wider variety of input from Ferris or Simplicity owners. Their suspension is anything but a gimmick. My yard is kind of bumpy so if I hadn't needed front wheel steering, I wouldn't have considered anything but a full suspension ZTR. Not everybody loves them, but I did a lot of research on these and found that most people who own them wonder how people use anything else. No flex fork or suspension seat can compare to that ride quality.

If you're too light for the stock springs even with minimum preload, you should be able to install slightly softer springs.

 

[Black Bart]

You might want to try another forum or do some Google searches to get a wider variety of input from Ferris or Simplicity owners. Their suspension is anything but a gimmick. My yard is kind of bumpy so if I hadn't needed front wheel steering, I wouldn't have considered anything but a full suspension ZTR. Not everybody loves them, but I did a lot of research on these and found that most people who own them wonder how people use anything else. No flex fork or suspension seat can compare to that ride quality.

If you're too light for the stock springs even with minimum preload, you should be able to install slightly softer springs.

Well if my 304 lbs. won't budge it how much would it take.

Yes I could re-engineer the whole thing but why should I have to do that the engineers should have got It right.

To pay $4799.00 for a mower then start rebuilding it to make it work sucks.

 

[Jetblast]

If you weight 304# you might find it a bit soft, but that can be fixed by adjusting in a little more preload to the springs. On the showroom floor the mower won't bounce up and down like a car, because compared to a car it's very light so you're pushing against the springs with little vehicle weight to help. Out in the field however, at speed, you'd find the suspension well compliant.

It sounds like you've made your mind up. No problem. I'm sure you'll do fine with whatever you buy, but just in case someone else comes along through a Google search I thought they should get a rebuttal to the idea of full ZTR suspension being a gimmick. I drove a Simplicity Champion on my dealer's property for quite a awhile before I eliminated it due to my slopes, but that was a tough thing to do because the suspension worked beautifully and the ride was superb. Although my present suspension seat works pretty well, I would have enjoyed mowing far more on that thing or on a Ferris. If I could own one, I would.

 

[Black Bart]

The use of the word Gimmick is not mine if you actually read what I posted you will see it was a Simplicity dealer that labeled it a Gimmick but I do agree with him.

Your comment about the mower is too light and not like a car is wrong a suspension should be designed for the load it will be carrying.

I pointed out in early post that at speed if you hit a deep hole it would move but if I had a hole in my lawn that big I would fill it so the suspension is virtually useless to me.

You see it as a asset so we have a difference of opinion and that is what makes a horse race

 

[widowmaker2011]

Re: 2011 Z445

After reading your post today I called the dealer that had offered me a Z445 with the Kawasaki engine and told him about your post.

He said that was true but since I had said I was interested in the Kawasaki he quoted me a priced for one that they still had that was built early 2011.

When these are gone that will be the last of the Kaw engines in a JD

I talked to another dealer today and he said XMark was not going to offer the kaw engine either.

I would guess the B&S that will be offered in place of the Kaw engine cost the manufacture less $$$$$

It is beginning to look like JD is focused on competing with the lower priced mowers even at the expense of lowering quality.

With all the junk being imported from China we are accustom to buying this cheap stuff and no longer willing to pay for quality

The Briggs is costing John Deere MORE than the comparable Kawi. Its not cost. The Kawi would not meet 2011-12 Emission standards and the Briggs already does.

 

[Black Bart]

After weeks of shopping for a new mower I bought one yesterday.
I bought a new JD Z445 with 54" deck.

This will work better in my lawn than the Grasshopper with the 72" deck
The GH was 12 feet long and just too big when in small spaces.

I know that in a few years I may not be able to get on a mower and this was part of my decision to buy the Deere.
I don't know about the rest of the country but around here it is much easier to sell a JD and it will bring more money than anything else so I know when the time comes I can sell it real quick at a good return on my investment.

We have had constant rain for weeks and my trailer is in tool shed and I don't want to drive across the grass until it drys so I told them to hold it till middle of next week then I will go get it.

I bought from a dealer about 50 miles from my home saved a bunch of money but I told them I would come get it myself.

 

[robert]

BlackBart, my Exmark with a Brigss ELS did not even get me 4 hours before the engine needed warranty repair AND the ZT 2800 drives are problematic also-50% of the time the growl has to be heard to be believed-still waiting to hear if anyone is going to taken the unit back for me. As for the cut quality, seems the small deck has a well documented 'history': short grass is ok, taller is a nightmare.

BUT-while the ELS is nothing more than an Intek the 'Professional' is allegedly different and I will be very interested in hearing your experiences. From a design standpoint there is alot to like, the oil cooler AND Briggs' version of a remote style air filter 'seem' to indicate that perhaps this model is different and I don't think that JD would gamble their rep again with Briggs...

As for my bad luck with the ZT2800, as far as I am able to determine mine is the only one with noise issues.

I did look long and hard at the model you bought and had they offered it in a sub 48" deck size there would be one sitting in the shed now-and I suspect that it would not have more trailer time than mowing time. Deere does NOT offer their 30 day satisfaction protection on the zt, and this I find interesting.