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Hi everyone,

New member seeking the asking the same old question I suppose. I'm looking to upgrade from my Deere 318 garden tractor (46 inch deck) to a zero turn. I cut maybe 2 acres of grass and it currently takes about 2 1/4 hours on my tractor. The ground is pretty rough, so I dont go nearly as fast as the tractor would run.

Anyway, I wasnt giving much thought to deere zero turns until I started thinking about long term parts availability should i keep this mower 10 years or longer. The deere model I would consider would be the Z655. $6,150, 54 inch deck, briggs motor.

Until now I had been thinking about:

Entyr Commercial?
Gravely Pro Turn
Snapper Pro S150
Ferris 500 or 700

High End Residential:
Gravely HD
Scag Freedom Z
Kubota Kommander (afraid of the three recalls)
Husq m-zt-52

Making a decision here is hard! Like most other homeowners I can im looking at a lower price point but quickly find that escalating. I'd like to pay as little as possible, but will pay a bit more for some additional quality.

I was thinking primarily about the gravely pro turn but then happened upon the Snapper Pro. FX kawa motor and zt-5400 hydros. Seems like the best of all I'm looking at, but I'm not sure about the brand? Is this a quality machine?

Sure wish I could go with one of the high end residential units of it I'd be better served by one of the commercial level units I'm looking at.

I'd sure appreciate any feedback!

I just bought the Gravely zt60hd and it is plenty machine to cut the 3+ acres i cut with it. I have no doubt it will last me 20 years easily. I have very rough ground and this thing handles it like a champ. Parts will be available on all those machines i would think as long as you would need them. Bang 4 buck I say go with the gravely HD series. Sure the others are a little nicer, but IMHO a waste to pay that much more. If you are near central Ia. go see Dan at CNM in Indianola. Tell him Scott at Noble ford sent ya!

I was just about to post a similar question about this JD. I'm surprised there isn't more discussion on it. There is an excellent review of it here at lawnsite.

It uses the same 7-iron deck of the commercial machines, only at 9-gauge instead of 7. This appears to be one of the most highly regarded deck designs for both wet and dry conditions, along with the Gravely X-Factor (which is on the HD and up).

The JD also has one of the best tire-to-weight ratios I've seen... 23x10.5 for 755 lbs. The Gravely's (and others) have less tire with more weight. Some folks like more weight as a sign of greater build strength, but I live in a wet climate and have moist turf and mud frequently, so more traction and less weight is key for me.

It also seems to have one of the best warranties at 4-yr 500 hrs. Gravely is only 3 years, Kubota Kommander is 300 hrs.

The main thing I'm worried about is the hydros. Everyone else uses the Hydro-Gear commercial series and I never read any complaints. I can't find much info on these Tuff Torq units in the JD. When I look at the specs they seem to have less torque (182 Nm) than the ZT3100 (217-270 Nm continuous). But another spec that caught my eye was the 1000 lb max weight limit for machine + operator + attachments. I can't help but think that a 755 lb mower plus me after a hearty meal plus potentially a bagger could surpass that. I think I would prefer to be well within such limits rather than pushing the envelope.

Yeah, I like the idea of more weight thinking it equates to build quality. Its another thing that points me in the direction of the snapper pro. However, maybe this is misguided and any compaction as it relates to additional weight is more of a detractor. I dunno!

Mdchambe, if I were you I would go for the Gravely, they have about the tallest front tire as any, this will help on ruff ground, we just bought a new ZTR mower & if there would have been a Gravely Dealer nearer we would have gone with the Gravely, we wound up getting a Toro 3000 series, with 52 in. deck, just had it delivered yesterday, I wonder why we don't see more JD ZTR mowers, I see a Lot od Farmers that run JD have JD ZTR mowers, but not many of the pro grass cutters, they look hard to service to me, I was watching a guy changing is oil & filter, it was hard to get at, don't know what model it was, that 1 of the things I was looking at, where is the oil filter, how easy is it to get to the belts, all things that we will have to do at some point,

Rat

LakeRat1 said:

Mdchambe, if I were you I would go for the Gravely, they have about the tallest front tire as any, this will help on ruff ground, we just bought a new ZTR mower & if there would have been a Gravely Dealer nearer we would have gone with the Gravely, we wound up getting a Toro 3000 series, with 52 in. deck, just had it delivered yesterday, I wonder why we don't see more JD ZTR mowers, I see a Lot od Farmers that run JD have JD ZTR mowers, but not many of the pro grass cutters, they look hard to service to me, I was watching a guy changing is oil & filter, it was hard to get at, don't know what model it was, that 1 of the things I was looking at, where is the oil filter, how easy is it to get to the belts, all things that we will have to do at some point,

Rat

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I work 4 a ford dealership and our owner has always had grasshoppers. He bought a big JD zt because the local dealer boiught a truck or 2. A short time later he decided to get another mower just cuz. We have a couple guys who work with me who have Gravely's and they talked him into buying one. Now the grasshoppers and the new JD SIT! He (our owner) only wants to run the Gravely. He says it is hands down twice the machine the Deere is. Not sure what model but it was about 10-11k and the Gravely I think about 8k. I also heard JD was going to quit building ZT and only make tractors-not sure how true that is though.

SCMCG, I have about the same opinion as You about JD, mowers, to tell the truth I don't think JD gives a Rats +++ about what people think of there Mowers, They Know that the Ones that Bleed Green will buy what every they have for sell, I am the owner of 2 JD Lawn tractors, 1 is a JD LT 166 bought new in 99 the other is a JD LT 445 bought new in 2001, they are both still going, but the Bitch I have with then is the Plastic Body Parts, Both Mowers look to be 30 years OLD, hood on both Mowers all cracked & broke up, some one said to keep them out of the Sun, Now get that, Most Grass that I know grows in the Sun, I kind of wonder about all the Plastic on there new Combines,

Rat

I have a weld/fab shop as a neighbor at work. He has been cutting the grass on our mutual vacant lot that my company owns to keep up the road visual exposure for his biz. Usually he does it with a Cub Cadet ZT, but last week he used a JD ZTrak 9XX mower. I wandered over to ask him for help on some tree trimming (he has 2 mongo all terrain forklifts), and I asked him about the JD. It belongs to the county, and this is the third time in for it for welding patches on the deck. The stamped deck is totally worn thru on a Z9XX series from sand and debris wearing it away. A stamped deck for that money is laughable. It was 2 years old.

well, sounds like I'll pass on the deere. Theyve got a 655 with 6 hours I could probably get for around 5,500 and I like the warranty, but if the machine isn't up to par then why get it!

Ive shortened my list to:

SCAG freedom z
Gravely HD or Pro Turn
Snapper Pro S150

I'm leaning to one of the gravely, I just need to get the chance to drive one.

Well, I decided on the Gravely pro turn, but neither dealer in the area was willing to deal at all. Guess I'll just let them sit for a while or maybe consider the scag.

mdchambe said:

Well, I decided on the Gravely pro turn, but neither dealer in the area was willing to deal at all. Guess I'll just let them sit for a while or maybe consider the scag.

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You wouldn't regret getting the Pro-Turn. Like user Jehelam said the X-Factor deck on the Gravely is definitely commercial duty!! If you want to "get a deal" you will probably have to do what I did. I started looking and making offers in September, 2012(just before dealers begin placing orders for the new year models). My dealer had a 2012 Pro-Turn XDZ 152(they didn't have the "base Pro-Turn" until the 2013 models). The ZTR was already discounted for year-end clearance and I made a counter offer of several hundred less than that cash price out-the-door. The dealer didn't even hesitate and I saved a total of around $1K off the MSRP plus tax. But this time of year, like others have said, a dealer doesn't have any incentive to make a deal, but they want to get rid of any inventory left in the fall and will be receptive of a fair offer.

I just demoed the Gravely Pro-Turn this morning and now I'm totally disillusioned. My lawn is quite lush and the side discharge was no better than my current Hustler Sport. Left just as big wind rows that I had to go over again with the deck raised and chute off to disperse.

He also brought the powered bagger. I was very impressed with the performance of that. He warned me that with how thick and wet my lawn was that I would have to go slow with the bagger or it would clog. I started off slow, but then went faster and faster. It just kept gobbling everything up no problem and left a beautiful clean finish. This seems like the way to go for best appearance, but the problem is my whole point for getting a new mower was to get the job done faster, and having to dump bags would take longer, not to mention other issues like finding enough space to dump clippings and maneuverability in tight places. I would also have to stick with the 48" deck in order to fit through my shed door with the bagger. It's also about an extra $1800.

If I decide to bag then I might go with the Hustler FasTrak because the bagger has a vertical blower that saves 6", so I can go to a 54" deck. Also, I like the maneuverability and control of my Hustler much more than the Gravely. I'm not sure what the difference is, perhaps mostly a weight difference, also Hustler as more travel in the arms, but it's like driving a sports car vs a large truck.

I still want to demo the JD, though too. That 7-iron deck is very highly regarded.

The gravely is a good machine you might wont to consider the gravely 100 series gust for the fact it has the suspension seat and x factor deck , wider tires and you can cut wet grass also 3 yr warranty. And just to ad on any 4 yr 500 hr warranty if your professional it don't take long to put 500 hrs on and that brings your warranty to 1.5 yr. Well thats my 2 cents.
Hope this helps u make your decision.

I would stay away from the jd z655 , I have one many issues also the warranty isn’t that good. Don’t pay for a name they are better machines available at a cheaper price. I recommend to anybody who ask to check out the bad boy mowers made in Arkansas but buy one from a dealer,many people who listened are very happy with the purchase