Residential user here, needing to replace two aging garden tractor/mowers that are used exclusively to mow about 2.5 acres. Due to circumstances beyond my control, I must hire a guy to mow. Trustworthy, but his ability to maintain the machine is limited to adding gas. I think he knows what a grease gun looks like, but that's where his mechanical inclination stops. I can personally service at about four month intervals. I have had good luck with a 25 year old John Deere GT 262 with a 17 h.p. Kawasaki and manual trans - 1400 hours. It smokes on start up, but otherwise it is most often serviceable as a back-up to the primary machine, a seven year old hydrostatic drive Craftsman DYS4500 (AYP Built I think) with a 26 h.p. Intek (I alway assumed it's a B&S, but new info suggests Kohler). The Craftsman has under 250 hours, but, like the Deere, suffers from lack of routine scheduled maintenance at the proper intervals. Both these machines were great for the first few years with minimal upkeep, but reliability is suffering (understandably). Looking to replace with a ztr mower. Budget is sub-$4000. The Cub Cadet ZT-1 has come onto my radar. I initially looked at the 54" deck version with a 24 h.p. Kohler engine. But I see the 50" deck for he same price gets a 23 h.p. Kawasaki engine. My experience and my general impression imply many trouble free hours for the Kawasaki, not so sure about the Kohler. If my current Intek is actually a Kohler product, I cannot complain. But if my 1400 hour Kawasaki exploded tomorrow, I'd say it was still a fair return on investment. To me, the Kawasaki is a long-proven, awesome product that exceeds expectations and the Kohler is no problem at about 25% to 30% of the usage level and age compared to the Kawasaki. Both these engines have only had plug and oil changes, plus air/oil/ fuel filter service. That's it.
So my questions are:
1) is trading away from 4" of cutting deck worth it to have the Kawasaki over Kohler?
2) Is the ZT-1 a decent machine for 50-ish annual hours of homeowner use, given a less than optimum service schedule?
3) Current alternative considerations are the John Deere Z300 series machines in similar size (just a bit more money) and the Husqvarna Z254F (price identical the the Cub Cadet ZT-1 in similar size). Jumping to the Deere Z500 series runs the cost up several hundred $$, but it's still within the $4K ceiling.
How would these other possible choices stack up to the Cub Cadet?
4). Any other brands/models under $4000 that should be on my short list?
Thanks!
So my questions are:
1) is trading away from 4" of cutting deck worth it to have the Kawasaki over Kohler?
2) Is the ZT-1 a decent machine for 50-ish annual hours of homeowner use, given a less than optimum service schedule?
3) Current alternative considerations are the John Deere Z300 series machines in similar size (just a bit more money) and the Husqvarna Z254F (price identical the the Cub Cadet ZT-1 in similar size). Jumping to the Deere Z500 series runs the cost up several hundred $$, but it's still within the $4K ceiling.
How would these other possible choices stack up to the Cub Cadet?
4). Any other brands/models under $4000 that should be on my short list?
Thanks!