Requesting Suggestions: ZTR Mower Purchase

[Meetloaf13]

Hello,

Looking to purchase a ZTR riding mower before our mowing season starts in 3-4 months.

- Have about an acre, with a few decorative islands that I have to mow around.
- I need the ability to bag, and I'd like to sharpen the blades myself, so easy access under the deck (without having a jack or jack-stands) is a must.
- Willing to buy new or used
- My lawn is a 3D hybrid, likes to be cut fairly short, so it can't clog up easily with moist turf
- Budget probably under 3K, better if around 2K

Thanks for your suggestions and help!

 

[reynoldston]

Hello,

Looking to purchase a ZTR riding mower before our mowing season starts in 3-4 months.

- Have about an acre, with a few decorative islands that I have to mow around.
- I need the ability to bag, and I'd like to sharpen the blades myself, so easy access under the deck (without having a jack or jack-stands) is a must.
- Willing to buy new or used
- My lawn is a 3D hybrid, likes to be cut fairly short, so it can't clog up easily with moist turf
- Budget probably under 3K, better if around 2K

Thanks for your suggestions and help!

You get what you pay for. For that amount of money you are starting on the low side so it isn't going to matter what you buy. I would say something made by MTD would be a good choice.

 

[Ric]

Hello,

Looking to purchase a ZTR riding mower before our mowing season starts in 3-4 months.

- Have about an acre, with a few decorative islands that I have to mow around.
- I need the ability to bag, and I'd like to sharpen the blades myself, so easy access under the deck (without having a jack or jack-stands) is a must.
- Willing to buy new or used
- My lawn is a 3D hybrid, likes to be cut fairly short, so it can't clog up easily with moist turf
- Budget probably under 3K, better if around 2K

Thanks for your suggestions and help!

Mite want to check into something like this, Hustler Raptor with flip up deck.

 

[reynoldston]

Mite want to check into something like this, Hustler Raptor with flip up deck.

The Hustler looks like a nice outfit, in the high part of your price range but now the flip up deck accessory brings it up to 5,000 dollars. All you have to do is add another 5 thousand making it 10,000 dollars and you can buy a Farris Pro 60 that the deck lifts. Its only money, did you say you wanted to spend 2K?

 

[Ric]

The Hustler looks like a nice outfit, in the high part of your price range but now the flip up deck accessory brings it up to 5,000 dollars. All you have to do is add another 5 thousand making it 10,000 dollars and you can buy a Farris Pro 60 that the deck lifts. Its only money, did you say you wanted to spend 2K?

It's the cheapest flip up deck he is going to buy, His other alternative would be the Hustler Raptor which you can get for about $2495 and the buy the Mojack for his lift. I sure would waste $10000 on a Briggs & Stratton Product.

 

[reynoldston]

The Farris Pro 61 comes with either two engines Briggs or a Kawasaki. I sure wouldn't waste my money on a Kawasaki. Now as far as my Farris go's its the best mower I ever own. Its going on 15 years old with 900 hrs and other then maintenance its never give me any problems. We could argue all day but no one agrees on mower brand or oil. Now the only thing I don't like about Kawasaki is the price of parts. I don't know what engine or mower you like but I am sure it has its problems also.

 

[Ric]

The Farris Pro 61 comes with either two engines Briggs or a Kawasaki. I sure wouldn't waste my money on a Kawasaki. Now as far as my Farris go's its the best mower I ever own. Its going on 15 years old with 900 hrs and other then maintenance its never give me any problems. We could argue all day but no one agrees on mower brand or oil. Now the only thing I don't like about Kawasaki is the price of parts. I don't know what engine or mower you like but I am sure it has its problems also.

The correct spelling is Ferris. A Ferris is actually owned by Simplicity manufacturing who is a subsidiary of B&S. 900 hrs is not a lot of hours for a mower that's 15 years old when you consider the monthly time it was used. I had a Cub Cadet with a Kohler Courage that was just less than 2 years old when I sold it that had 773 hrs on it and it never gave me any problems. I've run 3 Kawasaki engines for the last three years and this parts thing is a myth. It cost no more for maintenance on them than it did for the Kohlers and with the warranty's the mowers have never cost me a dime in repairs which have virtually been none and I can't say the same for any B&S that I've ever owned. When you start putting 700 to 1000 hrs a year on mower engines it's a different ball game.

 

[reynoldston]

If this is a spelling or grammar test you win hand down. All this forum is to me is entertainment. I am just a dumb mechanic if this is something you need to know and you are one very intelligent person. So you win the spelling bee. :thumbdown: For anything that has come into my shop that says Kawasaki on it including bikes, snowmobiles, and mowers has more major problems then any other brand and this is many years back. Yes if I was to buy a new mower and it have a Kawasaki engine in it, the engine brand wouldn't matter to me one bit what it had in it. As a matter of fact if I resell a mower and it has a Kawasaki engine it sells faster. We sure don't need to like each other or what brand we buy. BMW stinks next to a Harley Davidson if you would like to get into that war.

 

[Ric]

If this is a spelling or grammar test you win hand down. All this forum is to me is entertainment. I am just a dumb mechanic if this is something you need to know and you are one very intelligent person. So you win the spelling bee. :thumbdown: For anything that has come into my shop that says Kawasaki on it including bikes, snowmobiles, and mowers has more major problems then any other brand and this is many years back. Yes if I was to buy a new mower and it have a Kawasaki engine in it, the engine brand wouldn't matter to me one bit what it had in it. As a matter of fact if I resell a mower and it has a Kawasaki engine it sells faster. We sure don't need to like each other or what brand we buy. BMW stinks next to a Harley Davidson if you would like to get into that war.

You can use the forum for entertainment, a lot of people do. It's also a source of information to some. As far as winning a spelling contest goes I have too say I did fairly well in English when I was in school but probably couldn't hold a candle to what the kids are learning there today. With the computer you are using you really don't need to be to intelligent to spell because it tells you when a word is misspelled as your typing your message and you can use the spell check too correct the spelling. For myself I think a post with the correct spelling is a lot easier to read than trying to guess what someone is trying to say.
I can agree with you about a mower with a Kawasaki engine always selling better and faster than the others. True they cost more to buy but are worth the money. As far as saying BMW is better than a Harley goes I really couldn't say as I've never owned either so there's no war there.

 

[Lawnboy18]

You can use the forum for entertainment, a lot of people do. It's also a source of information to some. As far as winning a spelling contest goes I have too say I did fairly well in English when I was in school but probably couldn't hold a candle to what the kids are learning there today. With the computer you are using you really don't need to be to intelligent to spell because it tells you when a word is misspelled as your typing your message and you can use the spell check too correct the spelling. For myself I think a post with the correct spelling is a lot easier to read than trying to guess what someone is trying to say.
I can agree with you about a mower with a Kawasaki engine always selling better and faster than the others. True they cost more to buy but are worth the money. As far as saying BMW is better than a Harley goes I really couldn't say as I've never owned either so there's no war there.

Not sure what to say about that... You told me you had one.

Anyways, lets just help the guy out here on choosing a mower. A Toro SS4200 would be a good mower. It is at the maximum of your budget tho.
If you would want to buy used, well that is a whole new story. You really have to be carefull.
It would be nice to know how many acres you are going to mow.