Looking for a problem free 42" Zero Turn Mower

[slomo]

As said none are trouble free. They all will have problems. It just the nature of mechanical equipment. They all have their weak points.

Its like people that bad mouth autos. Some hate the Ford line, Some hate the Mopar line, and some hate the Chevy line. Well I reckon I can bad mouth my Chevy PU for the transmission failure. Now of course it has 343,000 miles on it and now I got to put in a rebuilt transmission. For me it cost as much to rebuilt it myself as getting one that has a 4 yr warranty. The Ford I brought was someone else's failure that they didn't fix just pawn it off on the dealer., THe Mopar I had had engine and transmission problems but they were well over 200,000 when these occurred. My brother blew up my IH pu at 180,000 and none us mechanics could where the block crack was. Ended selling it for scrape as was 30+ yrs old.

Trouble free vs worn smooth out is different. These are not our grand pappy's farm tractors.

 

[GroundLoop]

The most problem free mower that is available to USA owners are the articulated ones by Stiga followed by the Rider Pro ( Pro-Rider ? ) by Husqvarna
They are also very low maintenance .
The original Husqvarnas imported from Europe are head & Shoulders better than the downgraded cheapened made to a price ones that they make in the USA

Both of these are reasonably priced for the quality of the design which is not suited to all yards and like so many posters you have given us absolutely nothing upon which to give you sound advice

CC are now relegated to "Rebranded MTD Throw Away Junk " because that is what has happened since MTD took over & now that Stanley- B & D have taken oover MTD the quality will only go further down so I advise my customers not to by any CC product .


The only 2 residential grade ZTR's I suggest to my customers are the EZ range from JD and the Time Cutters from Toro and of these 2 the JD is head & shoulders less problem than the Toro which has that silly electric brake module that is prone to failure but apart from that they are fairly well bullet proof
In my run there are 5 x z225 ( now discontinued ) 3 of which are being used commercially & done 2000 to 4000 hrs , 1 x 255 ( also discontinued ) , 1 x 335 , & 1 x 355 .
None of these JD's has given any problems apart from the 3 225's being used commercially, all of which have needed repair to the deck lift arm but then they were not designed to be mowing 10 to 15 residential yards a day let alone multiple yards up to 5 acres a day . The ones that are used domestically require noting but routine maintenance .
IMHO nearly all of major break downs are due to owner abuse and the big repair bills come from lack of proper maintenance .
So no matter how good the design is or how well it is made if you do not look after it the mower will fall apart 1 day after warranty expires .

I am curious when did CC (rebranded MTD) become junk? what year? I have a RZT-50 Yardman (CC(MTD)) mower I bought in 2010 and it is still doing well with 575 hours on the clock. Only things done to it is 1) changed both the deck and drive belts - learned the hard way to use MTD part on the drive belt. 2) replace the carb. 3) replace the starter.

I know the Hydro-Gear units will need to be serviced soon.

I am just now looking to purchase a backup because I know it will be reaching the end of its life soon and I cannot afford to have it down for any length of time.

 

[bertsmobile1]

The day MTD took them over
The old CC's were bullet proof commercial grade gear made by a real tractor company ( International Harvester ) to work as hard & last as long as a real tractor
I have 2000 series Cubs in the run that have better than 4000 hrs on them & still going strong
Got a market gardner with a couple of 3000 series fitted with blades & rotary hoes , one has 6000 hrs on the clock while the others clock died at 4400
Blade spindles use the proper bearings for the job, tapered rollers , not deep grove balls with hollow greasable spindles that were easy to access.
Shaft driven Eatons transmissions with Horizontal shaft engine that will run for ever
Tyres with 4 ply side walls & 6 ply treads made with tractor grade rubber which are virtually puncture proof
Decks with big 3/4" overlaps so you do not leave rooster tails when the blades get the slightest wear
Plus made with real steel rather than heavily powder coated tin foil

So you have a good one
How well it goes & how log it lasts will have a lot to do with how well you maintain it and what you cut with it .

All of the new CC's in my service run are forever in my shop for repairs for broken spindle housings , dead spindle bearings, cracked frames , cracked deck mountings cracked decks , rusted through decks warped frames
The steering wheel jobs collect debris under the floor like crazy which is a 2 hour job to clean out
And now that some of them are pushing 5 years the steering is forever requiring adjustment because the front wheel movement is now out of kilter with the rear wheels .
The only ZTR's that come in more often than CC's are the bottom end Husqvarna's regardless of the brand on them .

To appreciate just how bad the new ones are you need to have seen / used / serviced the old ones

As to weather the new CC ZTR's are a cut above the std MTD ZTR I have no idea as no one imports any MTD ZTR's down hear other than the CC's which are still being flogged off using the robust reputation earned by IH & CC before they got MTDed

 

[nc10]

I have narrowed my list of potential mowers to Bad Boy Rambler, Cub Cadet ZT1, and Ariens. .........
All this to say, what brands have the least amount of problems?

On the chance you haven't looked at CR, the models that have the highest reliability ratings, and were rated highest by customers in Consumer Reports were Gravely, John Deere, and Bad Boy, Toro was close to those 3. CR seemed quite impressed with the reliability of JD models. Curious why JD wasn't on your list, maybe price?

The attached bar chart are the CR mfr ratings for ZT mowers only, not all mowers.

There were a few 42" ZT battery models that received high performance ratings (top rated were 2 from EGO, 1 from Greenworks, 1 Ryobi), but CR lacked reliability data, and long term battery life data. Run time was 60-90 min. Was curious, the Greenworks CRZ428 sells for $4k, comes with 6 X 5 amp hour batteries and replacements are $330 each. Half the price to replace the batteries. Harder to find info on the others. Made in China.

 

[Frustration is my Name]

My riding mower will not last the season, so I'm looking for a zero turn mower(ZTM). I had a Cub Cadet ZTM several years ago and now have a 0.75 acre lot. I have looked on YouTube for "Best ZTM for 2023" and there is nothing bad ever mentioned. I have narrowed my list of potential mowers to Bad Boy Rambler, Cub Cadet ZT1, and Ariens. The 42" desk is plenty for my 0.75 acre lot. Recently, I started to read that each has some bad history. For example, the Bad Boy has spindle problems, the Ariens has transmission problems, etc.
All this to say, what brands have the least amount of problems?

Examine any possibilities for how easily routine maintenance is to do. I have a Gravely with a Kawasaki engine that is 4-5 years old. The dipstick is at an angle that makes it impossible to draw straight out to check the oil level. There is practically no room to access the oil plug (I installed a Drainzit, which helps), the spark plug on one side needs a deep socket plus a five inch extension to get it out because the mower's panels and cables impede access. Engineers who design these monstrosities ought to be made to try to do the maintenance on them!

 

[homer888]

SCAG.Made in Mayville wi.

 

[thigg001]

My riding mower will not last the season, so I'm looking for a zero turn mower(ZTM). I had a Cub Cadet ZTM several years ago and now have a 0.75 acre lot. I have looked on YouTube for "Best ZTM for 2023" and there is nothing bad ever mentioned. I have narrowed my list of potential mowers to Bad Boy Rambler, Cub Cadet ZT1, and Ariens. The 42" desk is plenty for my 0.75 acre lot. Recently, I started to read that each has some bad history. For example, the Bad Boy has spindle problems, the Ariens has transmission problems, etc.
All this to say, what brands have the least amount of problems?

Have you considered electric? We bought a EGO Z6 42" earlier this year, love it. Got it though Lowe's, free delivery and assembly, got it on sale and put it on our Lowe's CC for additional 5% discount, about net $4,200. It has a 5 year warranty on mower and batteries, so other then sharpening blades or blade replacement, zero maintenance, no more belts to change, getting too old for all that! We put tire sealant in the front tires 1st thing, those small tires are a total pain to replace, unplug the 2 deck motors, pull a couple of pins, slide the deck out, flip it over, replace blades or sharpen, easy peazy. We have about a 2 acre lawn, it comes with 4 10 amp batteries and will not mow our entire lawn with one charge, but not an issue to mow in 2, only takes an hour or less to charge, could always add 2 more batteries ($600 about). We have other EGO tools and the batteries are all interchangeable. I have a solar battery bank that we charge from so zero cost. Even off the grid only costs about 27 cents to charge vs 2 gallons of gas for our 60" 25hp Swisher ZTR about 6 bucks. Can easily change blade speed depending on the grass. So far NO issues or complaints!

 

[ErnieN85]

Try a Grasshopper they are built like a tank

 

[13brian]

I can only speak from research, on this forum and personal experience. I have about 3.5 acres of field that I mow, not really turf. It is very rough in some parts. I bought a Scag Liberty Z and could not be happier with my purchase. Thing is built like a tank, has been thoughtfully put together for things like oil changes, has dual hydros, in lieu of single hydro. 2.5 years and I just turned over 50 hours, I did put a suspension seat on it. Expect this will last me most of the rest of my (mowing) life, am in my low 50s. I have a good dealer close, but have not needed them for anything so far, except purchase, delivery and oil filter. FWIW

 

[13brian]

Try a Grasshopper they are built like a tank

I agree, I think you could not go wrong with a Grasshopper.