Ferris 500s or Bad Boy Maverick, which is best for my farm?

[Okie_gal]

I'm looking for advice on a zero turn mower. We mow about 8-9 acres each week and my 13 year old Dixie Chopper, which has worked flawlessly for me up to now, is finally pooping out. I've been looking to replace it with either a lower end commerical unit or upper residential model, hoping to stay around $7k budget. I'm not in the lawncare business so speed and fuel capacity are not important, and although those fancy "air ride" seats look pretty neat, I'm not sure it's all that important to me. What's most important is durability and low maintenance. I need a mower that will withstand an occasional armadillo hole or rock that we seem to grow in this area of the country, and handle well on the slope edges along the driveway and pond. We live in a pretty rural area and our two local mower dealers carry Bad Boy, Ferris, and Hustler. Right now, I'm looking at a Bad Boy Maverick 54" with Kohler ZT740 engine and a Ferris 500s 52" with Briggs and Stratton cXi commercial 25hp engine. The Bad Boy definitely seems to be a heavier machine and costs about $1,000 more, but the Ferris has an excellent reputation and better warranty. My concern with the Ferris is the Briggs engine. I've always heard to stay away from them and opt for Kohler or Kawasaki, but the dealer assured me the new Briggs engines are built much better and require less maintenance than the others. Can anyone confirm this? Any experience or advice as to which brand would hold up best in my situation? Thanks.

 

[SHB]

I have an older bad boy, Koehler engine, 60” deck. Got it at auction, was about 11 years old when I bought it. Built like a tank, I have abused it mercilessly clearing brush & briars on our place. Put lugged tires on it to better handle slopes. Only negative has been documentation, the manual & parts list are sketchy, took two tries to get a correct spindle and fans for the hydrostatic drive.
Retired it two years ago, replaced it with an X-mark Radius. Have both bad boy & X-mark dealers in the area, chose X-mark because that’s what I saw on the pros trailers. Had the dealer put lugged tires on the X-mark before they delivered it.

 

[hardluk1]

Last year I needed a replacement mower and after some ride time on a few I was about ready buy another Husqvarna but after the advise from a friend and running his Ferris 600z something that he has had about 4.5 I think years for his side job mowing 10 property's . I'm in western NC mountains so mow season is shorter ! He said the ferris has shown been a better over all machine than his last couple and he is a workaholic . So I bought on the ferris 52" 500s for my needs as it has larger zt 3100 transaxles and holds enough fuel for our prop[erty . No springer seat but ride is good to me so I have been pleased with the product except for the turf tires . Our property is only 4.5 acers is old hay field / farm field not flat level lawn and has some fairly well slooped ground I could not mow well horizonally before the tire change . So on my buddys advise I bought a set of ORT 22mag 22.5-11x10 tires for imy ferris and now can mow all but the steepest grade . Steep enough if I mow it top to bottom oil will make it to the cylinders when going up the sloop and smoke !! So I mow it cross horisonally now . The replacement tires are great for my needs buy most folks will be fine with the standard turf tires . A still run amsoil in the new brigs 26hp after the first 7 hrs run tire .

OK . One down side , When you change the oil filter you will more than likely make a mess and the stock oil filter was beyond tight . I have several good filter wrenchs but they did not work on the brigs filter . Iended up driving a screw driver threw it to rotate it enough to unscrew it . Oil every where . I have since gone to a longer automotive filter like in the past and and do not over tighten ! .. BUy the ferris 500s . Its a real nice ZT mower .

Do you also have a small tractor and a 5 or 6" finish mower for that right 8 or 9 acres . Not as nice and cut but way smoother .

 

[neighborbill]

I have a SCAG mower with Kawasaki 23 hp engine. I've had it for over 30 years now and still going. Personally I don't like Briggs. Kohler seems to be a good engine (I had a 20hp) but either it's running great or the engine is bad. I've had great experiences with the Kawasaki engines. Know nothing about the Bad Boy except that it is another one that just popped up and heavy on advertising. I just bought a Ferris IS2600Z, 20 hours and it is back for warranty work? Built like a tank, but tanks break too. Jury is out on the Ferris.
Warranty looks good. We'll see after I get it back.
If those were your only choices. I'd take the Ferrris

 

[bkeller500]

I have a Simplicity Courier XT which is a clone of the Ferris 500 or 600 ( not exactly sure) and it is a beast. The mower runs well, is solid and EZ to maintain. The deck is EZ to level and rarely needs adjustment. Traction is good on my berm and on my culvert. I only maintain 1-acre but I can't think of any better build than Simplicity/Ferris. You might do some investigation on the Bad Boy's...seems I read somewhere that they had weld issues for awhile. MY concern with Bad Boy is it seems dealerships do not last very long.

 

[jpreuss]

I'm a little late to this response, but, my opinion-BUY ANYTHING BUT A FERRIS!! I have a Ferris Fx800 that I fully expect to eclipse the purchase price by the price to maintain and repair it. It has been in the shop almost as much as it's been in use. It's currently in my side yard, won't start two and one half cuttings after getting it out of the shop with a $1500 bill. this bill did not include replacing the electric motor to lift the deck which burned out last year. junk/junk/junk

PS my next door neighbor with 10X the yard size has very few problems with his Ex Mark-he has cut my yard many times while mine is in the shop. Thank God for him but I do have to take the ribbing.

 

[Lenster]

I'm looking for advice on a zero turn mower. We mow about 8-9 acres each week and my 13 year old Dixie Chopper, which has worked flawlessly for me up to now, is finally pooping out. I've been looking to replace it with either a lower end commerical unit or upper residential model, hoping to stay around $7k budget. I'm not in the lawncare business so speed and fuel capacity are not important, and although those fancy "air ride" seats look pretty neat, I'm not sure it's all that important to me. What's most important is durability and low maintenance. I need a mower that will withstand an occasional armadillo hole or rock that we seem to grow in this area of the country, and handle well on the slope edges along the driveway and pond. We live in a pretty rural area and our two local mower dealers carry Bad Boy, Ferris, and Hustler. Right now, I'm looking at a Bad Boy Maverick 54" with Kohler ZT740 engine and a Ferris 500s 52" with Briggs and Stratton cXi commercial 25hp engine. The Bad Boy definitely seems to be a heavier machine and costs about $1,000 more, but the Ferris has an excellent reputation and better warranty. My concern with the Ferris is the Briggs engine. I've always heard to stay away from them and opt for Kohler or Kawasaki, but the dealer assured me the new Briggs engines are built much better and require less maintenance than the others. Can anyone confirm this? Any experience or advice as to which brand would hold up best in my situation? Thanks.

I bought a Ferris 500s with the 25 hp Briggs commercial. Put only 60 hours for two summer seasons mowing 3 - 4 acres (because it's fast, nimble, powerful, mows forward or backward). No issues with the Briggs engine. The dealer sold me about not needing to worry about this commercial series engine from Briggs. The Ferris has 4 wheel suspension, my land is bumpy, so I like that a lot. I really like the (optional) bagging attachment. It easily comes on or off, and does not need any special power blower, just the wind from the mower's blades. I wanted grass clippings for garden mulch early in the season, and leaf clean up later in the season. This one machine will do it all with a grass catcher. I needed the 48" to maneuver around my property, and gardens, but it also goes like crazy in the open, maybe 10 mph. No regrets, just smiles, for me on buying this machine. I compared the Ferris with a similar Gravely, but the suspension on the Ferris won me over.

 

[MParr]

The Bad Boy would be my pick.
Why not a 60” deck?