One acre to mow - considering Toro Timemaster 30"

[kiwi_guy]

Apprent less desirables with the Z425 though - stamped deck (even at that price) and Briggs rather than Kawasaki engine. It does have the zt2800 tranny though.

The NZ dealers only import the Toro ZS4200T though, not the SZ4200TF - the 'F' designating a fabricated deck. This being the only difference, on a clean 1 acre homeowner lot, other than longevity in rough environments and bragging rights - would there be any major advantage to a fab deck? Even if it gets wrecked, I presume one can purchase replacement decks?

They do sell the Toro Titan series, but it's over 9k - and even then the smallest deck size is 50", which is too big for me (want 42").

*mumble, mumble...land at the end of the earth...mumble...too far from mass markets...limited model ranges....mumble*

EDIT: Cancel that last comment, I found a dealer that sells the ZS4200TF @ $6595.

Questions now are, is that stamped deck worth the extra $800? Is the Deere's zt2800 transmission worth the extra over the Toro's ezt2200? Is the Toro 30" Turfmaster with Kawasaki worth paying $2500 for, ahead of $1800 for the Timemaster 30". Remember USA cousins, these are New Zealand dollars, not George Washingtons

 

[Ric]

Apprent less desirables with the Z425 though - stamped deck (even at that price) and Briggs rather than Kawasaki engine. It does have the zt2800 tranny though.

The NZ dealers only import the Toro ZS4200T though, not the SZ4200TF - the 'F' designating a fabricated deck. This being the only difference, on a clean 1 acre homeowner lot, other than longevity in rough environments and bragging rights - would there be any major advantage to a fab deck? Even if it gets wrecked, I presume one can purchase replacement decks?

They do sell the Toro Titan series, but it's over 9k - and even then the smallest deck size is 50", which is too big for me (want 42").

*mumble, mumble...land at the end of the earth...mumble...too far from mass markets...limited model ranges....mumble*

EDIT: Cancel that last comment, I found a dealer that sells the ZS4200TF @ $6595.

Questions now are, is that stamped deck worth the extra $800? Is the Deere's zt2800 transmission worth the extra over the Toro's ezt2200? Is the Toro 30" Turfmaster with Kawasaki worth paying $2500 for, ahead of $1800 for the Timemaster 30". Remember USA cousins, these are New Zealand dollars, not George Washingtons

Any answers you get to your questions are going to be nothing more than someones opinion or some sales person trying too sell you on there mowers. The Fab decks are going to hold up better, last longer than the stamped decks and will have a somewhat better cut than the stamped, I've run both and had great cuts from each.

As far as the drives go the 2800 are naturally better than the EZT but it depends on how much use and under what conditions your going to be using the machine as to how well and how long they will work. I ran the 2800 drives on the CC Z Force ZTR doing 70 plus lawns a week for a few years and never had any issues. Personally I wouldn't buy a mower with drives that are not serviceable.

As far as the Turfmaster vs the Timemaster there's no comparison. The Turfmaster is twice the mower and is well worth the difference in price for the Kawasaki engine. The FJ 180 KAI will run rings around the B&S. I've also been running the Turfmaster for a couple of years and have had great success, has a great cut, mulch's well and bags great. Like I said though it's all opinion but if your looking for longevity in a mower, Toro will give you that.

 

[bertsmobile1]

The Briggs branded as JD are nothing like the standard Briggs engine you are familiar with on your old Masport mower
Small engines are made in several grades by most USA factories but they tend to hide this from the end user . As the vertical shaft engine is almost exclusively in mowers and as the mower market is extremely price sensitive vertical shafts are in general the cheapest possible engine to make as most of the domestics will do around 50 hrs / year for 10 years.
The almost identical specification horizontal shaft engine is totally different as these go into things like pumps, air compressors & a lot of small trucks & earth moving equipment.
These are designed to run 50 hrs/ week for the same 10 years are much better made, far more robust better materials and significantly more expensive.
Honda , Kawakasi et al, do no bother making a significantly down graded engine in order to win the race to the bottom thus Honda / Kawakasi /Mitsubishi powered equipment will be significantly more expensive and for the intended purpose are oft over engineered.

Now with the JD branded B & S engines , they are made to the horizontal shaft specs so are a lot better than the standard B & S found in most domestic ride ons.
From what I have seen it appears that the Toro branded B & S engines are also built to a higher spec.
All the other house branded B & S engines appear to be just the std engine with a different cowl & some minor modificatins to suit the mower they are being fitted to.
As such do not heavily discount the B & S fitted to the JD's.
It is not as good as the Kawaka but more than up to the task of mowing your 1 acre for the next 15 - 20 years.
You don't need a Rolls Royce to drive down the road & buy your bottle of milk. however if you really want to there is nothing to stop you.
Used domestically even the bottom end engines will most times out live the mower they are fitted into so long as the idiots at the controls remember to check the bloody oil & stop tampering with the governors.
Used commercially as a lot of the posters here do, things are different. They push their mower a lot longer & harder that you ever will and their mowers are making them money while yours is costing you money so spending the extra to them is easily justified. Your mower will rust out long before it wears out and commercial or domestic they both need the same maintenance.
The next consideration is prices of consumables in NZ the B & S / JD items will be about 1/2 the price of the Kawaka / Toro ones .
Ring a couple of dealers in a different city and ask for price & availability of blades, belts, filters & PTO clutch .
Filters & oil will be a yearly cost ( x 10 to 20 ) blades should go 2 to 3 years, a little longer if you bother to sharpen & rebalance them and belts around 5 years and the PTO clutch will suffer badly from not being used so expect to replace at least one regardless of which mower you decide upon.

As for the hydraulics, you should never need to touch them save an occasional squirt of corrosion inhibitor on the out put shafts before you bed the mower down for winter.
As for repairing the hydraulics , down here it is not economic. I stopped doing this a long while ago as the cost of parts is so high when you add my labour charge, ( which is 60 % of shop rate) it is always significantly cheaper to replace the units. I don't even keep the old units but encourage the owners to put them on evilbay to recoup some of the expense.

 

[kiwi_guy]

Thanks again for all of your esteemed opinions and advice. I think I have enough info to consider now, and will mull it all over in the next few weeks & let you know what I decide in the end!