Gravely/Ariens Owner Check-In --- Read This First!

[jpollman]

Hi all!

My name is John and I picked up a new Gravely Zero-Turn last April. I was sick of throwing money at my Craftsman tractor so we made a major upgrade.

I've got about an acre and a half, but about half of it is wooded so I cut about 3/4 of an acre. But I get TON of leaves in the fall. I used to use a Craftsman lawn tractor and a Trac Vac to do the fall cleanup. I was hesitant to get rid of the Trac Vac and go to a ZTR mulcher. But I have several friends who are landscape contractors and they assured me that if I got a decent machine, I could mulch the leaves. I didn't believe them but took a leap of faith. I put a set of Gator blades on the Gravely and it worked BEAUTIFULLY last Fall!

I got a Gravely ZT52 HD and it is a BEAST! It's a beautiful machine and I LOVE it. Here are some shots from the day I brought it home.

 

[djdicetn]

Hi all!

My name is John and I picked up a new Gravely Zero-Turn last April. I was sick of throwing money at my Craftsman tractor so we made a major upgrade.

I've got about an acre and a half, but about half of it is wooded so I cut about 3/4 of an acre. But I get TON of leaves in the fall. I used to use a Craftsman lawn tractor and a Trac Vac to do the fall cleanup. I was hesitant to get rid of the Trac Vac and go to a ZTR mulcher. But I have several friends who are landscape contractors and they assured me that if I got a decent machine, I could mulch the leaves. I didn't believe them but took a leap of faith. I put a set of Gator blades on the Gravely and it worked BEAUTIFULLY last Fall!

I got a Gravely ZT52 HD and it is a BEAST! It's a beautiful machine and I LOVE it. Here are some shots from the day I brought it home.

View attachment 13825View attachment 13826View attachment 13827

John,
That's a fine looking ZTR and welcome to the Gravely owner family!!!! I too am a new proud owner of a 2012 52" Pro-Turn 100XDZ(bought last September). Only got 8 hours on it, but am VERY pleased. Do you use the Gator blades all the time or just for mulching leaves in the fall? How much did 3 Gator blades for a 52" set you back? I'm thinking about getting some and also experimenting with re-leveling the deck and changing the blade pitch to be lower in the back than in the front(referred to as "heeling the deck"...gives a better quality cut than the factory/normal pitch with the front lower, but requires more engine power...which I think is no problem for our Kawasaki's). This blade setting is described in my Gravely manual as an option....does your ZT HD manual mention it??? I've recommended the ZT HD to several users that were shopping for a high-end Residential ZTR and considered the very same model you got before I decided to go up one step to the entry level Commercial. I think we are going to be happy with our choices for many, many years to come!!!

 

[NeverGiveUp]

Hi all!

My name is John and I picked up a new Gravely Zero-Turn last April. I was sick of throwing money at my Craftsman tractor so we made a major upgrade.

I've got about an acre and a half, but about half of it is wooded so I cut about 3/4 of an acre. But I get TON of leaves in the fall. I used to use a Craftsman lawn tractor and a Trac Vac to do the fall cleanup. I was hesitant to get rid of the Trac Vac and go to a ZTR mulcher. But I have several friends who are landscape contractors and they assured me that if I got a decent machine, I could mulch the leaves. I didn't believe them but took a leap of faith. I put a set of Gator blades on the Gravely and it worked BEAUTIFULLY last Fall!

I got a Gravely ZT52 HD and it is a BEAST! It's a beautiful machine and I LOVE it. Here are some shots from the day I brought it home.

View attachment 13825View attachment 13826View attachment 13827

Hi John, welcome to the club!:biggrin: I just have 3.2 hrs on mine. I love it. DjDice, it's time for your first oil change right? I'm sure you already knew that. Congratulations on your new Gravely John, they sure are good machines.:thumbsup:

 

[jpollman]

Hi guys!
I can't remember exactly, but I think my Gators were less than $50 for a set of three. I'm pretty sure that I picked them up at my local Gravely dealer and I'm pretty sure that they were roughly $15 a piece. They work very well! I used the factory blades for about half the cutting season last summer and they worked pretty well, but I knew that I wanted a set of Gators for fall cleanup. They work AWESOME for mulching leaves, but they do and excellent job on grass too. I'm just going to use them exclusively from now on.

 

[djdicetn]

Hi John, welcome to the club!:biggrin: I just have 3.2 hrs on mine. I love it. DjDice, it's time for your first oil change right? I'm sure you already knew that. Congratulations on your new Gravely John, they sure are good machines.:thumbsup:

NeverGiveUp,
yeah the Kawasaki manual says 8 hours and the Gravely manual(and hour meter reminder) says 25 hours for the first oil change. The dealer mechanic told me 10, and since that's kinda in the middle(leaned towards the earlier) I think I'll cut a couple more times and do it at 10.

Jpollman,
That sounds pretty reasonable for the Gator blades and I always like to have two sets to keep one sharpened and swap them back-and-forth. I'll see how the cut changes when I swap them and decide if I want a third set to use for the best cut and keep the odd set for emergency backup in case I hit something and bend one. Thanks!!

 

[earthworm]

I have an opportunity to purchase an one owner Ariens 2003 2048 mower for $1200 delivered.
Not having ( and now I wish I did have a truck) makes a world of difference...or an automobile with trailer.
Anyway, its a 0.4 acre rough lawn...and its aways wet, it seems.
I am now 73, and as much as the exercise is good for me, pushing the 2006 LawnBoy takes too much time.
Yes, I think that a 48" ZTR riding mower is an over kill , the only alternative is the 30" Toro at $999 but new..
I have many trees and gardens now; maneuverability is vital..
Off subject is this; does anyone make a trim only mower ? The 20-21" LB is too large, bulky..

All the edging/trimming takes almost as much time as the open field mowing...

Returning ... I see that the big-box-store mowers have NO zerks...this Ariens EZR does ( $3500 new)...

IMO, the "perfect" mower would be 30 to 36" and with caster front wheels and push (exercise)....(walking)..
Hard to believe that Ariens is , thus far, the only one with casters.

 

[kaspr]

Hello to all and I ask that everyone pause this memorial day for a couple of seconds to remember our fallen heroes.
I'm Kaspr in Ohio and I have an XT 2044 XL mower w/Kohler Courage 20 motor. The mower has done everything I have asked it to with almost no problems. Ill post my problem in a separate thread as I have searched and found nothing.
Happy Mowing :smile:

 

[lawn mower fanatic]

Hello to all and I ask that everyone pause this memorial day for a couple of seconds to remember our fallen heroes.
I'm Kaspr in Ohio and I have an XT 2044 XL mower w/Kohler Courage 20 motor. The mower has done everything I have asked it to with almost no problems. Ill post my problem in a separate thread as I have searched and found nothing.
Happy Mowing :smile:

Nice mower & Happy Memorial Day to you, too! :smile:

 

[swampdog50]

afternoon...

well I'm finally going to make the move to a new gravely ZT HD 48'' in the very near future (I hope????:thumbsup ''if'' my money man says it's ok to do this yr. if not it will be in the spring . I've been cutting with a JD 212/46' deck for about 16 yrs. now and it's a 84 .....so i'm ready to say the least ...:licking: lol

any hoot I just thought i'd stop in and say hello, i'm goin to go back to reading and learning ..... I hope ..

the site seems to have plenty of great info, and i'm sure i'll have some ????'s about my new ''zero turn'' , hopefully i'll get to try one or two this week and see how they ride and handle ..... i'm pumped....lol

ok i'm off to reading some more

be well

swampdog50

 

[lawn mower fanatic]

afternoon...

well I'm finally going to make the move to a new gravely ZT HD 48'' in the very near future (I hope????:thumbsup ''if'' my money man says it's ok to do this yr. if not it will be in the spring . I've been cutting with a JD 212/46' deck for about 16 yrs. now and it's a 84 .....so i'm ready to say the least ...:licking: lol

any hoot I just thought i'd stop in and say hello, i'm goin to go back to reading and learning ..... I hope ..

the site seems to have plenty of great info, and i'm sure i'll have some ????'s about my new ''zero turn'' , hopefully i'll get to try one or two this week and see how they ride and handle ..... i'm pumped....lol

ok i'm off to reading some more

be well

swampdog50

Welcome to LawnWorld! :smile: