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I'm in the market for a Zeroturn mower. I have 1.1acre that is somewhat hilly and rough in spots. I have a budget aroudn 5500 bucks.

I'm looking at these brands because I have dealers in my area that I can work with.

Cub Cadet Z-Force LZ 48"
Big Dog Stout MP 54"
Hustler FasTrak (maybe a SD model) 54"

Possibly a Kubota, but not sure on the model... but they look nice..

I'm possibly going to be doing not only my lawn, but some others to help pay for the mower. I'd be working with an existing lawn service (friend) who will pass work over to me that he cannot do.

I need advice on the Engines and drive train. I hear Kawasaki and minimum 3100 pumps. So, I get a bit nervous when I see a Kohler engine. Please help.

thanks,

Dave

dshoffman77 said:

I'm in the market for a Zeroturn mower. I have 1.1acre that is somewhat hilly and rough in spots. I have a budget aroudn 5500 bucks.

I'm looking at these brands because I have dealers in my area that I can work with.

Cub Cadet Z-Force LZ 48"
Big Dog Stout MP 54"
Hustler FasTrak (maybe a SD model) 54"

Possibly a Kubota, but not sure on the model... but they look nice..

I'm possibly going to be doing not only my lawn, but some others to help pay for the mower. I'd be working with an existing lawn service (friend) who will pass work over to me that he cannot do.

I need advice on the Engines and drive train. I hear Kawasaki and minimum 3100 pumps. So, I get a bit nervous when I see a Kohler engine. Please help.

thanks,

Dave

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Kawasaki engines are great. The fx series is heavy duty commercial, the fs series is commercial, and the fr series is residential. The zt 3100 pumps are in the middle of hydro gear's line. Their zt3400 and zt5400 are their largest pumps and are full commercial/ heavy duty. The zt3100 are what I refer to as semi commercial some call low end commercial. Of the mowers you listed the ones I have experience with are the hustler fastrack and the kubota kommander. Very good mowers. There are other options out here in your price range if you want to shop dealers, but I understand if you want to stay local. I have no experience with big dog, or the cub cadet zero turns. They all should have similar drive trains, so try them all and go with the one that you are most comfortable with.

dshoffman77 said:

I'm in the market for a Zeroturn mower. I have 1.1acre that is somewhat hilly and rough in spots. I have a budget aroudn 5500 bucks.

I'm looking at these brands because I have dealers in my area that I can work with.

Cub Cadet Z-Force LZ 48"
Big Dog Stout MP 54"
Hustler FasTrak (maybe a SD model) 54"

Possibly a Kubota, but not sure on the model... but they look nice..

I'm possibly going to be doing not only my lawn, but some others to help pay for the mower. I'd be working with an existing lawn service (friend) who will pass work over to me that he cannot do.

I need advice on the Engines and drive train. I hear Kawasaki and minimum 3100 pumps. So, I get a bit nervous when I see a Kohler engine. Please help.

thanks,

Dave

Click to expand...

Why so nervous about seeing Kohler it's a real good engine. I put well over 700hrs on my 22hp kohler, over 500hrs on my 20hp and never had any issues and they were both the Z-Force mowers ran commercially. If your thinking of continuing with the existing lawn service I'd go with the Big Dog or the Hustler. Out of the three mowers mentioned the Big Dog seems to have the best set up with the FX691 and the 3400 drives, it would be the full commercial set up. If your looking to stay under the 5K budget and just doing your 1.1acre there's nothing wrong with the Cub Cadet Z-Force it's a good mower. It basically depends on your intentions for the mower.

Ric said:

Why so nervous about seeing Kohler it's a real good engine. I put well over 700hrs on my 22hp kohler, over 500hrs on my 20hp and never had any issues and they were both the Z-Force mowers ran commercially. If your thinking of continuing with the existing lawn service I'd go with the Big Dog or the Hustler. Out of the three mowers mentioned the Big Dog seems to have the best set up with the FX691 and the 3400 drives, it would be the full commercial set up. If your looking to stay under the 5K budget and just doing your 1.1acre there's nothing wrong with the Cub Cadet Z-Force it's a good mower. It basically depends on your intentions for the mower.

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Well, reading through the forums (as a newbie) you often pick up on key items, such as engines, pumps, etc.

So, its the fear (and somewhat ignorance) in things I dont deal with day to day.

BTW, the Zforce was the Commercial version.

dshoffman77 said:

Well, reading through the forums (as a newbie) you often pick up on key items, such as engines, pumps, etc.

So, its the fear (and somewhat ignorance) in things I dont deal with day to day.

BTW, the Zforce was the Commercial version.

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Ok if that's the case than any of the three you can use. I ran the residential model with the fab deck and a commercial grade Kohler as a commercial, I had 734 hrs on it before I purchased the Z-Master. The commercial lz 48 should do everything you need.

First, im in the same boat as you, been doing a lot of research, the best ive found so far is a husky MTZ 52, 5899.00 but ive found them for 5200.00 at several places, they have the kawie FS commercial motor and the 3400 trannies, cast iron spindles ,rops and a bunch of great stuff I did not find in many other same price range mowers, you might give them a look. great reviews' too here on this forum, 14 pages of user comments.

Dave1954 said:

First, im in the same boat as you, been doing a lot of research, the best ive found so far is a husky MTZ 52, 5899.00 but ive found them for 5200.00 at several places, they have the kawie FS commercial motor and the 3400 trannies, cast iron spindles ,rops and a bunch of great stuff I did not find in many other same price range mowers, you might give them a look. great reviews' too here on this forum, 14 pages of user comments.

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The mzt is a very good mower as well. I almost bought one myself. My uncle has one he mows about 3 acres with and it leaves a great cut.

Shughes717 said:

The mzt is a very good mower as well. I almost bought one myself. My uncle has one he mows about 3 acres with and it leaves a great cut.

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Thanks for muddying THOSE waters.. LOL.. I'll look at the Husky's. The Hustler dealer is also a Husky dealer...