Decisions, Decisions

Lawnjoer

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I’m fixin to buy my first zero turn. I’ve been looking at John Deere, Gravely, and Hustler (I have good local dealers for each brand). In the end I want a machine with longevity and I have enough hills to warrant a grippier unit.

I have 1.5 acres to mow, plenty of trees, a couple steep spots, and want a 60 inch deck. The yard is fairly smooth, the few bumps left I am slowly filling in and seeding. It isn’t necessary to discuss scalping, striping, or whether this mower is too big because I just want to mow the grass quickly. I’m using a 25 year old 48 inch Craftsman hydrostatic drive so any zero turn I end up with will be a vast improvement.

Of the units I am comparing they all have Z-3100 hydros and 13x6.5 casters. Cost is a small issue to me, I’d like a mechanically sound motor and hydros and prefer to do my own maintenance. I’ll spend what I think will get me those things (within reason).

I had nearly settled on the Gravely Pro Turn Z. What concerns me I’d that it weights 930 pounds. I understand that it has a heavy duty frame and deck. It has 22x12-12 drive tires. The other Gravely, the ZT HD, has the same drive tires and weighs 870 pounds. The John Deere 730 weights 970 pounds. Oh, and the Pro Turn Z has a Loncin motor. The Gravely ZT HD has a Kawasaki FR730, John Deere has a John Deere, and the Hustler has a Kawasaki FR730.

The Hustler Raptor SDX has a bit smaller drive tire, 22x11-10, however it weights 670 pounds.

I realize this weight difference comes from build material. I’m not concerned about all-out durability or a super cushy ride. Our family must be pretty easy on equipment because we have never cracked that old Craftsman deck or frame, the spindles lasted 24 years, and the motor and hydros are still strong. Back when we got it my dad instructed us to run it a bit off full throttle and not too fast, especially in tall grass. We pull a utility trailer behind it when collecting leaves.

LONG story short, will the lighter weight Hustler handle hills better? All the mowers have similarly powered motors so I assume the lighter weight model has more power to spare. Do you have any insights I may not be considering? Thanks!
 

cruzenmike

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LONG story short, will the lighter weight Hustler handle hills better? All the mowers have similarly powered motors so I assume the lighter weight model has more power to spare. Do you have any insights I may not be considering? Thanks!

Machine weight, tire width/tread pattern and grass conditions are all important for getting traction. As for actually getting up the hill, the transmission must be capable of generating enough torque to move the mass of that machine and it's rider up that hill.

With that being said, you want the widest rear tires with a good tread, and then the highest torque output to weight ratio possible. For example, you want a machine with a 12" wide rear tire instead of 10" and in machines of comparable weights you would take the ZT-3100 instead of the ZT-2800 transmissions. There is a lot that goes into it but at the end of the day your use of the word "power" infers torque and is not necessarily determined by engine power and instead the capabilities of the transmission.

You could always test drive and see which machine navigates an incline with the greatest if ease and without losing traction.
 

Lawnjoer

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Oh man! I couldn’t log in and I wasn’t getting replies when I submitted a password reset request. Well, I was getting replies, they were going into my spam folder. Why do those spam guards only work for emails I want?

I should have been more clear. When I was talking about hills, I meant side hilling and stability driving up hills. I got my question answered.

I bought a Fastrak today (60 inch deck). I definitely trust the dealer and their shop. Not the closest however I prefer to buy from them.

I did so much research I hardly needed a walk around when I got there. The dealer gave me a good deal on flex forks so I got those too.

This review isn’t worth squat since I have never owned a zero turn. The tractor I was using was old and tired. The Fastrak worked really well. It was easy to drive and floated over the lawn. My yard is fairly bumpy too. The engine never bogged down on the steeper hills and it side hilled better than I expected. I mowed the lawn in half the time. The only places it scalped were the same places I had to watch out for on the old garden tractor.

It seems Hustler has been listening. Some reviewers didn’t like the bolts holding the belt guards in place. Hustler put hand knobs on there now. I don’t think the seat flipped up on the older units, this one has a latch and the seat flips up. The deck pin was keyed before, the new one is magnetic so you don’t need to line it up to pull the pin.

I‘m sure the Gravely Pro Turn Z would have been great too, here’s why I like the Hustler. The seat has suspension. The spring tension is adjustable so you can find the sweet spot. The Gravely seat has isolators (looked like thick rubber washers to me). The flex forks on the Hustler cost extra but the machine has a seriously impressive ride. The Hustler has the Kawasaki FR730, the Gravely is made by Loncin. That Loncin may be a great motor, I don’t know. I do know Kawasaki has made a ton of motors, have a ton of parts, and a lot of people swear by them. I don’t know anything about the Loncin.

Gravely’s are supposed to be tough machines, I’m sure they are. This Hustler is no slouch either. Form what I can tell it’s rock solid. The deck didn’t have any discharge issues today, the lawn was pretty dry. Time will tell.

Ask me in 15 years if it was worth every penny. I’m gonna treat this mower well and I hope to get a lot of trouble free years out of it. I paid less for the Hustler with the flex forks then I would have for the Gravely and Hustler threw in a generator (I haven’t run the generator however it’s a neat little unit. It has digital fuel and load meters and ”they said” its darn quiet. It’s just a little 1800-2200 unit however its dressed up in slick plastic and looks nice. Retails for $800). Oh, and they gave me two hats, I like new hats.
 
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