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Well, I pulled the trigger & ordered a new MZ-5424S. I chose that model because it has heavy duty transmissions(ZT-3100)& the heavy duty Kawasaki engine(FS-series). Though neither of those features are considered "commercial grade" I think they will be more than adequate for my 2.5 acres. Also, the MZ has the larger 22" rear tires & 13" fronts...they supposedly ride a bit better, but I was more interested in weight distribution on softer ground. I have a 10-year-old Kawasaki Mule w/ the v-twin water-cooled engine which has been flawless, so I'm hoping they put the same quality in their air-cooled versions. From what I've researched so far, they have.

There are SO many choices out there in the residential or professional lines it's quite a task to figure out what you're getting! I ended up making a kind of spreadsheet to keep the details straight.

My budget was $5000 "out the door" including a collection system. All total my package came out to $4500.

I was on the fence about the bagging system. We'll see if it is a waste of money, but I need something maybe 3 times a year to collect when we have a rainy stretch. It'll be put to the test right away as this will be my 1st cutting & I'm a week late already due to the Dixon expiring.

Jeff

Great choice. Good for you! Hope you enjoy it.

just delivered/in the crate

It finally arrived by semi-trailer this afternoon....still in the crate....







It was quite a job getting that crate off the semi onto my trailer, even w/ the lift gate. I've knocked most of the crate top apart, but still have to put the seat & rear tires on.

1st mow w/ pics

I completely un-crated the MZ friday afternoon....I jacked it up on the crate base & installed the rear tires, then used the tractor to lift it off the crate & trailer. Checked all the fluids(crankcase & transaxles were both a bit low), added fuel, & hooked up the battery. I ordered a bagging kit to go w/ it, so I went ahead & assembled it too.





I had a tough test right out of the box since this is the 1st time I've been able to mow this season. It passed w/ flying colors. I had about an acre around the house that needed bagging, & I didn't have any problems w/ clogging. I did not try to cut it all the way down in one pass, though.

The other outlying yard does not grow as heavy, so I was fine w/o the bagger. BTW, the kit is very easy to install & use. Also very easy to remove when you're done w/ it. The 3 bags slide off the rack & have handles in all the right places for dumping the clippings. Here's some pics w/ the carrier installed, but bagging kit removed....





The mower itself is such a huge performance step above my old Dixon I'm still in shock. I never had any complaints about the job the old mower did, or the speed it moved & cut, but the MZ runs circles around it. It out-weighs the Dixon by 200#, but it's much faster groundspeed(I'd say double). The Kawasaki V-twin is quieter than the old single-cylinder Briggs & uses about the same amount of fuel. I had to get used to the control sticks...much more sensitive, but got the hang of it quickly. Truly what I'd describe as fingertip control.

Jeff

WOW nice mower! Funny you got this model cause I am getting the MZ 5225 next week but love the fact you have the bagging system. I am possibly re-thinking my decision. I am upgrading from my beloved Snapper 33" rear engine rider with Hi-Vac. I was going to retire that as the leaf getter upper but this makes me question the mz 5225 since the bagger for it needs the assist motor for the catcher $$$. Again nice mower and thanks for the pics. Ill have to go research what that bagger you got cost. sounds like you got a great deal! Take Care.

porkchop said:

.....this makes me question the mz 5225 since the bagger for it needs the assist motor for the catcher $$$.... Ill have to go research what that bagger you got cost.....

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The bagging kit I ordered was $549 w/ "free shipping" from Mowers Direct, but I noticed the suggested retail on the Husky site is $499. Not sure what a dealer would sell it for. That is interesting the 5225 needs the assist motor version of the bagger(which is double the price). I don't know what's different about the the two mowers other than engine brand. Just FYI, I rec'd some bad feedback on the power assist bagger when I was researching & shopping. Nothing about performance, but that it was a pain to install & remove.

lonestarjeff said:

The bagging kit I ordered was $549 w/ "free shipping" from Mowers Direct, but I noticed the suggested retail on the Husky site is $499. Not sure what a dealer would sell it for. That is interesting the 5225 needs the assist motor version of the bagger(which is double the price). I don't know what's different about the the two mowers other than engine brand. Just FYI, I rec'd some bad feedback on the power assist bagger when I was researching & shopping. Nothing about performance, but that it was a pain to install & remove.

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Im not 100% sure the MZ5225 takes the blower assist vac collection system but I think it does because that mower (MZ5225) has a fabricated deck. I think the only difference between the model you got and the one I want is the decks and engines. However if I can get the model mower you have and that bagging system for the price you got yours for, I may end up with your setup. Man that's just a lot of machine and a nice collection system you have. Any way I will let you know what I end up with. I will stop in Monday and talk with the salesman to see what he would charge me for your setup. Cant wait to cut my mowing time in half or more!!!

porkchop said:

Im not 100% sure the MZ5225 takes the blower assist vac collection system but I think it does because that mower (MZ5225) has a fabricated deck.....

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I went back & looked at the website, you're right, the blower kit is the only bagger that fits the 5225 deck. I guess the heavier deck & blower are more of a commercial touch. I don't think I would try my bagger w/ heavy dew or other wet conditions.

Good luck on monday.

lonestarjeff said:

I went back & looked at the website, you're right, the blower kit is the only bagger that fits the 5225 deck. I guess the heavier deck & blower are more of a commercial touch. I don't think I would try my bagger w/ heavy dew or other wet conditions.

Good luck on monday.

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Well Lonestarjeff I got my mower Husqvarna mz5225. Nice machine. I can see why you were so happy with getting yours even though mine is a little different. I hope it lasts! sure seems like it is built to. Again thanks for sharing your experience and I will try to get some pics of mine up soon. take care.

Congrats on the mower Jeff!

After searching waaay too much, I think I'm getting the same machine with a bagger. I was debating between this and the kubota and Hustler, but I think Husky is what I'm doing.

Jake in CT said:

Congrats on the mower Jeff!

After searching waaay too much, I think I'm getting the same machine with a bagger. I was debating between this and the kubota and Hustler, but I think Husky is what I'm doing.

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Jake, I think you will be very pleased with the performance. The bagger has been a real time- & trouble-saver this spring....I can't remember a year we've had such heavy growth week after week. The bagger for the 5224 holds 9 bushels of clippings & I'm averaging 25-30 bushels at each mowing so far. That should slow way down now that the we're going into our typical Texas dry hot summer.

lonestarjeff said:

Jake, I think you will be very pleased with the performance. The bagger has been a real time- & trouble-saver this spring....I can't remember a year we've had such heavy growth week after week. The bagger for the 5224 holds 9 bushels of clippings & I'm averaging 25-30 bushels at each mowing so far. That should slow way down now that the we're going into our typical Texas dry hot summer.

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Great to hear Jeff.

Are you happy with the cut as well?

Jake in CT said:

Great to hear Jeff.

Are you happy with the cut as well?

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It cuts very clean whether at 3.5" or up to 4.75". I say that because when the lawn goes too long between cuts(sometimes 2 weeks)I will make a pass at max height & bag it, then make another pass at 4"(or so)w/o bagging. That's saying something considering the height it's grown to a couple of times this spring. The real test will be later in the summer when some of the foreign grass gets really dry & tough.

Not sure if any mower will pass that test :laughing:

lonestarjeff said:

......The real test will be later in the summer when some of the foreign grass gets really dry & tough.

Not sure if any mower will pass that test :laughing:

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Well....we've had a dry spell since my last post, so the old dallisgrass has gotten tough as hemp. Even with 18- or 19000 fps blade speed some of that stuff requires a second pass to get it all. There's another type of grass(thin blade, lighter green, sends up long thin stalks straight up)that the mower leaves about 20% standing after the 1st pass.

Nice thing about this mower with it's speed & cutting width is I can still get the job done in record time.

Jeff

Jake in CT said:

.......After searching waaay too much, I think I'm getting the same machine with a bagger. I was debating between this and the kubota and Hustler, but I think Husky is what I'm doing.

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Jake....did you end up getting the Husky or the one of the others? How did it perform?

Jeff

lonestarjeff said:

Jake....did you end up getting the Husky or the one of the others? How did it perform?

Jeff

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Believe he got the Kommander: http://www.lawnmowerforum.com/kubota-forum/18281-bit-bullet-new-kommander.html :thumbsup:

Had it for a year now...

The MZ-5424S is a year old now. Pulled it out of moth balls last weekend & did my 1st mowing of the spring. Waited a week or 2 too long, but it bagged everything 1st pass.
When I stowed it away last november I filled the tank with treated(stabil)fuel, shut off the fuel valve, & ran the carbs dry. Seems to have worked well...no trouble on start-up. Back in January I left the smart charger on the battery for about a month(like I do the tractors).

So after a year, still very happy with the Husky ZT mower & looking forward to another season with it. I'm still amazed how I used to struggle with clippings this time of year before this mower. What was such a major time-consuming pain is now such a breeze.

Hope you guys are having same experience with yours.:thumbsup:

Jeff

The Husky is well into it's second summer & so far no negatives to report. This part of Texas(NE)is supposed to be in a drought, but I've bagged more grass this year than I can ever remember. Last mowing I stopped counting at 99 bushels of clippings(after 2 1/2 weeks):ashamed:. Thank goodness for the bagging kit. A little too wet this last trip, so I had some clogging issues with the chute, but the 2-piece design makes it easy to clear. I've been pretty good about keeping the deck blown or rinsed off top & bottom. Did the 2nd oil change on the Kawasaki engine & knocked the dirt out of the air filter.

Jeff

3rd season for the 5424 just started for me. Very late start because of so much rain. The ground has been so spongy I could hardly get off the pavement until the last couple of weeks. Other issues conspired to delay my 1st mow of the season until this past weekend.

Just like last year I "Texas winterized".....treated fuel, shut off the fuel valve, burned the remaining fuel in the line & carb, oil & filter change, etc., used a float charger on the battery. The result was no problems with start-up.

With so much rain & quite a bit of warm weather since early March you can imagine the yard looked more like the pastures than a lawn. It was mostly weeds because I didn't get out any weed-n-feed on it. Most of it was 8" to a foot high, but not thick like turf. I set the deck at maximum height & installed the bagger. With that set-up I generally went over everything around the house twice to get a clean-looking cut. To my surprise I had no clogging issues, & the clippings were plenty damp. That night it rained again & I still had the outlying areas to mow.

Next day was windy & sunny, so I let it do it's work & waited to end of the day to start mowing again. More rain was forecast, so I was determined to get everything cut. What a mess....not so much with the bagger, it actually handled things pretty well. My deck couldn't keep itself clear for very long.....the sludge would build-up & the deck couldn't move the clippings across to the chute. The center & right side blades sent their clippings up the chute, but the left blade was essentially mulching after the 1st 10 minutes. I stopped & cleared the deck several times & got through it, but I have to admit I was wishing I had one of those tilt-deck machines to make cleaning a bit easier!

Obviously not a good idea to mow in those conditions, so hopefully I won't be in that situation again this year. We'll see. :ashamed:

lonestarjeff said:

3rd season for the 5424 just started for me. Very late start because of so much rain. The ground has been so spongy I could hardly get off the pavement until the last couple of weeks. Other issues conspired to delay my 1st mow of the season until this past weekend.

Just like last year I "Texas winterized".....treated fuel, shut off the fuel valve, burned the remaining fuel in the line & carb, oil & filter change, etc., used a float charger on the battery. The result was no problems with start-up.

With so much rain & quite a bit of warm weather since early March you can imagine the yard looked more like the pastures than a lawn. It was mostly weeds because I didn't get out any weed-n-feed on it. Most of it was 8" to a foot high, but not thick like turf. I set the deck at maximum height & installed the bagger. With that set-up I generally went over everything around the house twice to get a clean-looking cut. To my surprise I had no clogging issues, & the clippings were plenty damp. That night it rained again & I still had the outlying areas to mow.

Next day was windy & sunny, so I let it do it's work & waited to end of the day to start mowing again. More rain was forecast, so I was determined to get everything cut. What a mess....not so much with the bagger, it actually handled things pretty well. My deck couldn't keep itself clear for very long.....the sludge would build-up & the deck couldn't move the clippings across to the chute. The center & right side blades sent their clippings up the chute, but the left blade was essentially mulching after the 1st 10 minutes. I stopped & cleared the deck several times & got through it, but I have to admit I was wishing I had one of those tilt-deck machines to make cleaning a bit easier!

Obviously not a good idea to mow in those conditions, so hopefully I won't be in that situation again this year. We'll see. :ashamed:

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Great posts. Keep us up to date on your experiences with your machine.

It's been 6 weeks or so since my last post & I've been able to get on the lawn twice in that time. The month of May we had record rainfalls here in TX...over 15" around here. I cut the lawn both times since end of April at max height(4.75")& bagged everything. Here's my mountain of clippings.....



I have to say again how impressed I am with this machine & engine. The Kawasaki engine takes the heaviest cutting in stride & the bagging kit works like a champ. I still have no idea what caused the temporary no-start incident back in April, but no problems since.

Here's a couple of pics to give an idea of the grass height....

I can't remember if I've already posted this on this site, but I've had a strange carburetor problem the last few weeks. I have to choke it heavily on cold start & continue choking it to keep it running for the 1st couple of minutes. Never had to do that before.

I checked fuel flow at the pump & carb, cleaned the carb, & went ahead & replaced the float. Didn't really find anything suspicious in all the above.

Nothing changed for the next 2 mows....hard to start, choking it for couple of minutes until the engine was hot(lots of fuel smoke), stumbling & puff of smoke when blades are engaged.

The only thing left I can think would cause fuel flow issues like this is the carb bowl solenoid. I did check it to see if it retracts when the key is turned on....it does,, but I noticed it gets quite warm, quickly. The solenoid is rather pricey($100), so I'm thinking how can I defeat it rather than replace it

My last post was 5 or 6 weeks ago, & the engine was having what appeared to be flooding issues, but never found a definitive reason why. All I can tell you is it cleared up as quickly as it started. Last thing I did was change the oil & filter. One thing I noticed was the oil was very thin when I drained it(which had 50 hrs on it).

After all the bagging last spring & early summer it turned out to be a dry mid & late summer around here.

Jeff

lonestarjeff said:

My last post was 5 or 6 weeks ago, & the engine was having what appeared to be flooding issues, but never found a definitive reason why. All I can tell you is it cleared up as quickly as it started. Last thing I did was change the oil & filter. One thing I noticed was the oil was very thin when I drained it(which had 50 hrs on it).

After all the bagging last spring & early summer it turned out to be a dry mid & late summer around here.

Jeff

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I'm glad you no longer have that problem. :thumbsup:

My 4th cutting season for the Husqvarna started last month. Some light mowing up until this week. We had a dry, mild start to the year, but April has made up for the dry with multi-inch rains. Just got on it after 3 weeks of wet. The MZ still mows & bags like crazy. Have to keep an eye on the buildup under the deck in these conditions, though.

The last couple of trips I've had that weird no-start issue from last year come back on me. Whatever it is happens intermittently & the only thing I've done to get it to "reset" is disconnect the battery overnight.

What do you think, safety sensor acting up?

Jeff

Probably not.
keep an eagle eye on the oil.
If the level suddenly rises, either take out a patient & sell it to Exon
or
remove the plugs and turn the engine over by hand to expell the fuel that has accumulated in the cylinder because the float has not cut off the fuel.

If it becomes a frequent occurence put a tap in the fuel line, if your mower has a 3 way fuel switch turn it off after each mow and you will most likely need to clean the float needle & seat or replace the needle.

Sorry bertsmobile, I realize from your response I did not state my problem clearly. There were two issues last year. The flooding problem has not happened again since I started shutting off the fuel valve after each use. The other issue I had last year was a dead key switch after I had the mower on ramps to clean under the deck. It never happened again until two weeks ago. It cleared up after I pulled the battery.

Jeff

Go to your local Radio Shack or equivalent and get a bottle or two ( red & Black ) of a product called LIQUID ELECTRICIAL TAPE.
Take to the battery wires & terminals with a wire brush and when they are nice and shinny bolt them together ( give the bolts a rub as well ) and paint all over with the liquid electrical tape.
I use 1.5" long bolts with wingnuts and paint evarything from the nut back to the head so there is about 3/4" of clean bolt poking out for jump starting.
This is done to every mower that goes through the shop, grattis .
ZTR's electrics suffer badly from exposure to the elements and vibrations.
Hold the key in the start position and work the PTO switch.
IF the engine suddenly fires then the PTO switch or wiring between the two is faulty.
The solenoid trigger ( 12V ) passes from the battery to the start switch through the PTO switch then the motion control switches and/ or the parking brake then the solenoid.
Some where in the chain is a weak link, loose wire , broken wire, bad switch .
They are a PIA to find.
For intermittant problems, and customers who can be trusted to work safely I bypass the switches one at a time by removing the wire from the plug & fitting a short bypass wire.
Do not bypass any more than 1 switch at a time and only bypass on the 12V starting circuit.
Be very careful because if you accidently put 12V into the magneto kill wires you will fry the ignition module(s) and then it definately won't start.

OTOH replacing all of the safety switches is less than 1 hour in a workshop and the ignition & pto switches will bring that up to about 2 hours so it depends upon what is more important to you the billfold or the clock.
If nothing else ou will have some known to be good left over switches if you replace them one at a time.

On my sixth season with the MZ now. I realized two things getting on this forum tonight...1) I forgot to post anything at all last season...sorry :ashamed:; 2) photobucketheads strike again I moved all my pics to another host, but I don't know if I can edit all the above posts to re-insert the blocked pics.

Back to my annual report.....last year was another wet year, so there was lots of bagging. I honestly don't know what I would have done in these high rainfall years with the old Dixon ZTR. Somehow I got away without a bagger on that mower for 13 years. Anyway, lots more clippings last year added to the compost mountain. No problems with flooding, nor mystery temporary dead switch episodes. On the fuel issue I've simply gotten into the same habit I apply to my old gravity feed Ford tractors...shut the fuel off whenever I get through using it.

So far this year I've only mowed once. We've had an unusually cool March & April, so things have been slow to start growing(not complaining). I guess I haven't been as diligent as I thought keeping track of blade wear, or, this set of blades went south REALLY quick. I had picked up a new set last fall to install end of season, but didn't get around to it until I pulled the mower out of mothballs last month.



The wear was so severe on a couple of them it could have been a projectile flying who knows where. I've never seen a set worn to that point before...will definitely be keeping a closer eye on the new set. Other than that scary event, the MZ is running & operating really well. Basic maintenance & keeping relatively clean seems to be all it wants. Oh yes, forgot one thing, the deck drive belt gave it up last season. My fault....I didn't realize the belt jumped off the drive pulley & the idler had enough spring tension to keep turning those blades, so I didn't figure out the problem before the belt frayed. Didn't last long after that.

After 5 years of use my only complaint with the MZ is the job of cleaning the underside of the deck, just no easy way to do it. Everything else has been a great experience. I still look forward to climbing on it every time, almost as much as my old tractors.

lonestarjeff said:

On my sixth season with the MZ now. I realized two things getting on this forum tonight...1) I forgot to post anything at all last season...sorry :ashamed:; 2) photobucketheads strike again I moved all my pics to another host, but I don't know if I can edit all the above posts to re-insert the blocked pics.

Back to my annual report.....last year was another wet year, so there was lots of bagging. I honestly don't know what I would have done in these high rainfall years with the old Dixon ZTR. Somehow I got away without a bagger on that mower for 13 years. Anyway, lots more clippings last year added to the compost mountain. No problems with flooding, nor mystery temporary dead switch episodes. On the fuel issue I've simply gotten into the same habit I apply to my old gravity feed Ford tractors...shut the fuel off whenever I get through using it.

So far this year I've only mowed once. We've had an unusually cool March & April, so things have been slow to start growing(not complaining). I guess I haven't been as diligent as I thought keeping track of blade wear, or, this set of blades went south REALLY quick. I had picked up a new set last fall to install end of season, but didn't get around to it until I pulled the mower out of mothballs last month.

The wear was so severe on a couple of them it could have been a projectile flying who knows where. I've never seen a set worn to that point before...will definitely be keeping a closer eye on the new set. Other than that scary event, the MZ is running & operating really well. Basic maintenance & keeping relatively clean seems to be all it wants. Oh yes, forgot one thing, the deck drive belt gave it up last season. My fault....I didn't realize the belt jumped off the drive pulley & the idler had enough spring tension to keep turning those blades, so I didn't figure out the problem before the belt frayed. Didn't last long after that.

After 5 years of use my only complaint with the MZ is the job of cleaning the underside of the deck, just no easy way to do it. Everything else has been a great experience. I still look forward to climbing on it every time, almost as much as my old tractors.

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NICE machine, .. excellent pic too !!

I can't believe it's been 7 years since I bought the MZ. It still feels new to me & I still look forward to starting it up. The machine is holding up very well, especially considering a miss-step on my second year when I learned you have to turn off the fuel valve off between uses. I guess it's a testament to motor oil technology & Kawasaki engineers the engine shows no signs of wear & tear.

I usually mow in this area from late March through September. This time of year the grass is usually too damp for bagging, in part because I usually can't get out to mow more than every other weekend. The stamped steel deck combined with the bagging kit handles even those damp clippings if I keep the build-up cleared out of the deck. The MZ has been a great choice for my couple of acres of lawn, fast & clean.

Thought I'd add a current pic of the mower. Needs a good washing.

Another mowing season over......oil change, filters, & cleaned out the deck. Very reliable all season. I'll drain the tank, put about a gallon of avgas in & run some through the carb. Should be good for the spring.