Looking to start a lawn care business. I first went to all the dealers in the area, see who I liked and who felt like someone I could deal with long term. One dealer sells Gravely, and I've dealt with them for various repairs already, I'm comfortable with using them. Smaller, family run business. The other dealer is on the main drag in town, a little bigger, and they carry Scag & Hustler. Seem like a well run business, but a little more like a car dealership, if that makes sense. Not the same down
home, personal feel as the Gravely dealer, but more of a professional dealership operation. Still, they seem perfectly fine to work with.
So the Gravely dealer has a limited selection, if they had a Pro-Turn 100 or 200 in stock, that would be more equivalent to either the Scag or Hustler I'm looking at. However, the Pro-Turn Z seems like a pretty good value, at about 2/3rds the price. It doesn't have as nice a seat, not really a suspension seat like the others, and the engine is the Gravely model which is unique to this mower. But when I heard the engine is made in Japan, that gave me some confidence. I feel the Japanese make good small motors, generally speaking. So the big advantage with this mower is it gets me in business with the most cost effective mower, yet one that is still of
commercial grade and should be durable, if not the most comfortable. Also, it's the dealer I already feel most comfortable working with.
The Scag is the one that really intrigues me, and frankly it's the 'sexy' model. I feel like it has the most up to date features, including fuel injection which seems like a big advantage in reliability and for fuel economy. It's very comfortable to sit in, and it has the most modern control and gauge system of any mower I've seen. It's American made, which I like, but feels like it could have been made in Europe by the Germans or Swedes. The Hustler looks good, but just going by looks I really like the Scag better. However, the dealer, and also someone who came in the store while I was looking at them, said the Hustler has the nicest ride and "feel" when operating it. They described it as the smoothest machine for ride and the smoothest feel with the controls as your drive it. I'll have to ride one to determine if that is significant enough to be a real decision factor. It comes with either a Kohler or Kawasaki FX engine. The Scag comes with a Kawasaki FX engine, but with the fuel injection, so it wins on the engine no matter what. The Scag is priced between the two different engine models for the Hustler.
So my question for anyone is if there is anything to consider here I've overlooked. Seeing as I like the Gravely dealer, I could just have them order a Pro-Turn 100 or 200, and that way get something more comparable to the Scag or Hustler, and have the best of both worlds. But I don't feel confident that mower is as good as the Scag or Hustler, though the 100 model would be slightly cheaper. I feel the Pro-Turn Z offers the best value over all at several thousand $ less. The Pro-Turn 100 would be a $500-!000 less and Pro-Turn 200 about the same as the Scag & Hustler.
Maybe there isn't a bad decision here, it's more a mater of whether to save money on the Gravely with the inferior seat and lesser known name brand, though still
commercial grade engine. Or just decide which dealer to go with and spend for the appropriate mower with the Kawasaki engine and better seat. I don't want to regret the decision in 5 years, that's the most important thing. So there is picking the best mower, but there is also the factor that if the less expensive mower works out, it will save me enough to add a second mower sooner (larger deck probably), which I hope by growing the business I'll be looking to do sooner than later.
