Re: New Owner of Ferris IS 1000
New is relative right? I bought a mate of mines old Ferris with 250 hours on it. It has been great but no so great ATM due to moving to steep sloped land! Not sure Ferris is ideal for this land, anybody else using one on steep slopes?
I have had only one problem in the 4 years I have owned it and that was odd, the arms would jam and you could not get them to move, then suddenly it went back to normal. Put it in for service and $900 later it is sort of fixed ie only jammed once in last year,
All in all a great mower which I use in conjunction with my tractor.
How big is the slope? Most ZTR's are going to struggle with decent slopes and are rated for 10 to a max of 15 degrees. I have one that is 17 or 19 depending on if you believe my measured calculations or a 2x4 and my iphone. I had a RaptorSD that was just too light and it sucked on that hill. Point the nose up at an angle and still end up going downhill by the end. It was in the lot next door owned by a church and I'd cut it for them once and a while. I had a simplicity lawn tractor before too, but I'd have to lean too much and it would cut the PTO off. that sucked.
The Church had 950deere ZTR and that guy would drive up and down. The city cut it a couple times with a Kubota commercial, but this kid had no idea what he was doing. He'd start at the top and end up going sliding down sideways. Once we bought it I bought the SRSZ2 from Ferris and i have zero issues going across the slope with this machine.
Some tips, start at the bottom and work your way up. ALways turn uphill. slow down, if you start slipping or nose gets pointed down on some hills, just ride it to the bottom and start over
But ZTR's aren't the greatest for slopes. If it's too much walk behinds or standers make better options.