MZ-5424S

[lonestarjeff]

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, 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.

 

[Jake in CT]

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.

Great to hear Jeff.

Are you happy with the cut as well?

 

[lonestarjeff]

Great to hear Jeff.

Are you happy with the cut as well?

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]

......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:

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

 

[lonestarjeff]

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

Jeff

 

[lawn mower fanatic]

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

Jeff

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

 

[lonestarjeff]

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

 

[lonestarjeff]

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

 

[lonestarjeff]

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:

 

[Shughes717]

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:

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