Looking to get a '23 Gravely ZTX 48/52 Kaw model, input?

[doughoag]

I am in the market for a new machine as my Cub Cadet LTX 1046KW finally crapped the bed. I am thinking of jumping ship to a zero turn for my property which is pretty flat and about 20K square feet of grass. My friend has a ZTX from a few years back and seems to love it so this model shot up my list of top picks for under $5K. So I am hoping for a few questions to be answered:

1. Does anyone have any first hand experience with the '23 models and if so what are your thoughts? I know a lot changed and I haven't been able to find much about it being so new.
2. Is 48/52 deck size just preference or is there a benefit jumping up to a 52 with the "bigger" motor, even though its really the same torque I believe. I was originally looking 42" as my property is small enough, but I prefer the deck sticking out past the wheels for edges and the 42" looks way to close to the edge of the wheel line for that.
3. How is the mulching on this mower/side discharge? I would rather mulch/side but would need to probably cut 2x a week for that to work (thick KBG) which is fine, I have always just bagged though because my CC sucks at it. I do plan to buy the non-motored bagging kit for it though.
4. Any hard no people out there for this model?

I just took delivery of a 2023 ZT X 48". I've only been able to put a couple hours on it because of the extremely dry weather we've been having. I like many of the features on this mower, but still feel I've taken a downgrade from my old Cub Z-Force. My biggest concern is the downsizing of the blades and spindles compared to my old Cub. I'm also not thrilled with the weird design of the deck's exit chute. My guess is it is designed to enhance the effectiveness of a grass/leaf bagger. We'll see soon, as leaves are starting to fall. I have several areas with narrow access and need to run without the plastic chute, so I made a mod with a piece of HDP sheeting that terminates at the edge of the deck. Works well for my normal mowing.



I bought the mulching plate to go with it, but haven't had a chance to try it yet. OP, do you have any feedback on how you've made out?

 

[rekit500]

I'm 70, but it would have been iffy even when I was younger. My Dad taught me to work smarter, not harder. I use either a ratchet strap that I tie down eqpt with, or my favorite has been an old boat winch I have. Mount it to a suitable board clamped to the deck, so easy! Use a 2-3' long board so you have room to move the strap lateraly to get the spring on/off the attachment doodad. I use a spring hook between the winch strap and the spring.