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Am looking at a used mower Ferris IS1500ZX. The hour meter says 19.5 hours. $5000 with a used landscape trailer. I cannot find this model on Ferris web site. Does anyone know when it was discontinued? How reliable is the hour meter?
Opinions of this mower please.

I am a big fan of ferris. I have a snapper pro s150xt myself. It is the same mower without the suspension. The is1500 and the is500 were discontinued for the is600 and is700. I believe they were discontinued last year. The hour meter on my mower is very accurate. I can tell you all the things to look for before buying, but there is already a great thread on here concerning buying used mowers (things to look for when buying a used mower). What engine is on the mower you are looking at? What year model is it? I can say that if there mower only has 19 hours on it then that is a great price.

Kawi engine. Bought in 2012

I wish I had found that deal

Yes I did buy it. The things are still on the tires. I have used it once and it done great. I need to find out if the steering dampers are self centering. If you pull the steering levers back they will go to neutral when released. If you push them forward they will stay in place till you pull them back. Is this normal?

pcclipper said:

Yes I did buy it. The things are still on the tires. I have used it once and it done great. I need to find out if the steering dampers are self centering. If you pull the steering levers back they will go to neutral when released. If you push them forward they will stay in place till you pull them back. Is this normal?

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My snapper pro will come back to neutral when released, they are almost identical mowers except for the spring suspension. It sounds like the springs on the dampeners were either removed or came off on their own. Do you have a problem with the mower jerking when in the forward position? It's still under warranty, so I would go by the dealership and ask them.

I would post a picture of the lever brackets to show where there is supposed to be a spring connected near the dampeners, but I am not very computer savy lol. If you lift your seat you should be able to see a spring on each bracket. The spring is a bout 1/2" in diameter and is a few inches long. If you don't have them then they have been removed. Wouldn't think they would have broken off with only 19.5 hours.

Are the springs in addition to the gas dampeners?

pcclipper said:

Are the springs in addition to the gas dampeners?

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Yes. They mount on the bracket separately. I will try to figure out how to post a pic, but I can't make any promises lol. I barely figured out how to post replies.

I think I know the springs you're talking about. They seem to return the steering levers to neutral from reverse, but not from forward. The springs compress when levers are pulled toward rear of mower. On the mower I have, with the engine not running, if steering levers are pushed forward they will not return to neutral. To me either the dampeners are not self centering or they are not functioning as they should. I will call the dealer today to find out if they know whether the dampeners are self centering.

Dealer says they are self centering which means they should pull levers back to neutral.

pcclipper said:

I think I know the springs you're talking about. They seem to return the steering levers to neutral from reverse, but not from forward. The springs compress when levers are pulled toward rear of mower. On the mower I have, with the engine not running, if steering levers are pushed forward they will not return to neutral. To me either the dampeners are not self centering or they are not functioning as they should. I will call the dealer today to find out if they know whether the dampeners are self centering.

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the springs I am talking about stretch when the levers are pushed forwards. They compress back when the levers are released. They are supposed to bring the levers back. Probably a good idea to contact the dealer.

Went to the dealer to see for myself. The mowers at this dealer are the same from 3 different brands. Ferris, Snapper and Hustler. The steering levers do not return to neutral without the operator pulling them to neutral. What I found out is there is nothing wrong with the one I bought. Will check to see if warranty is transferable.
Thanks for your help.

pcclipper said:

Went to the dealer to see for myself. The mowers at this dealer are the same from 3 different brands. Ferris, Snapper and Ferris. The steering levers do not return to neutral without the operator pulling them to neutral. What I found out is there is nothing wrong with the one I bought. Will check to see if warranty is transferable. Thanks for your help.

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You mean Ferris, Snapper, Simplicity?? You said Ferris twice. Anyways it's probably how your dealer adjusted it. No harm in what he did just different from mine.

DSepe said:

You mean Ferris, Snapper, Simplicity?? You said Ferris twice. Anyways it's probably how your dealer adjusted it. No harm in what he did just different from mine.

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Yeah mine comes back when you release the levers too. Don't know what's different.

Fixed it. Thanks

Levers return to neutral from reverse but have to be pulled from forward.

pcclipper said:

Fixed it. Thanks Levers return to neutral from reverse but have to be pulled from forward.

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As long as your happy with it. I guess it was never technically broken...just different adjustment. I might loosen mine because it takes a good amount to push forward. Enjoy your mower!

DSepe said:

As long as your happy with it. I guess it was never technically broken...just different adjustment. I might loosen mine because it takes a good amount to push forward. Enjoy your mower!

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Agreed. Im jealous. Dont get me wrong i really like my snapper pro, but i would love to have the suslension.

Shughes717 said:

Agreed. Im jealous. Dont get me wrong i really like my snapper pro, but i would love to have the suslension.

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Yeah Shughes the suspension on the IS600z/700z is fine definitely does the job...but the independent suspension was smooth as butter on the 2100z I demoed on my yard.

Well ferris is made by simplicity and we had a ferris walk behind and it caught fire in 2001 and in 2009 we bought a ex mark and I highly perfer exmark

Hansen said:

Well ferris is made by simplicity and we had a ferris walk behind and it caught fire in 2001 and in 2009 we bought a ex mark and I highly perfer exmark

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Actually ferris snapper pro and simplicity are owned by b&s. Exmark mowers are very good products.