Spartan Commercial Mowers...

[BILLINTC]

So looking at putting together a new equipment dealership and trying to come up with a few brands to carry.

The obvious first choice was Scag as many of the landscaping companies around my area seem to have a hard on for them. LOL Now of course there is a reason, but there is already a Scag dealer so waiting to hear back from the region sales manager to see how for out their "territory" goes?

Anyway, after looking at the long list of other companies, who all appear to have some really nice mowers, I came across Spartan and I am not gonna lie, the mowers are sick. But like a beautiful woman, unless she can perform, all she is, is a beautiful woman who will leave you wanting for more. And let me apologize for this terrible reference to any ladies who may read this.

So anyway, do any of you commercial guys have experience with Spartan Mowers in commercial use?

It is funny that I was also looking at Bad Boy (Hustler and Dixie Chopper too), as further research has shown me that there was a falling out between these companies and they are actually right next door to each other!

Anyway, just wondering if anyone has any thoughts and thanks for your input.

 

[ILENGINE]

I have read that the owner founder of Spartan was an engineer or something for Bad Boy, but have been told by a Spartan dealer that Bad Boy was owned by two brothers and they had a falling out and split and the losing brother formed Spartan.

 

[bertsmobile1]

As a dealer & agent, the deciding factor will be minimum orders & credit conditions.
If for instance they expect you to have one of each model on the floor at all times but only give you 30 days, that will be a lot of dead $$$$$$ siting on the floor.
I got myself Kohler certified thinking I could open an account with Kohler directly.
I could but they required a minimum complete engine inventory of $ 30,000 plus another $ 10,000 in parts.
On top of this I would have to use ( for another fee ) their workshop invoicing softwear which automatically reorders parts as used on a weekly basis, thus ensuring there would be a delivery fee on every order
In the 7 years I have been here only ever fitted 3 kohlers as comparred to 22 Briggs & 9 Kawasakis.
The Brigges came in on pallets during the off season from one of the surplus vendors & the Kawakasis because I get a really good price on them.

 

[Darryl G]

How would you like a mower that when you go over a high spot it causes the deck to drop into the dirt? They blame it on improper adjustment but I blame it on poor design. Also quite a few cut quality issues, at least at first. I don't know if they've been resolved. With that said, they have some cool features and seem to be a good value.

 

[BILLINTC]

Seems likea simpe, enough fix, but I agree should not have to worry about that in the first place. Nice to see that they are at least addressing it though?

How would you like a mower that when you go over a high spot it causes the deck to drop into the dirt? They blame it on improper adjustment but I blame it on poor design. Also quite a few cut quality issues, at least at first. I don't know if they've been resolved. With that said, they have some cool features and seem to be a good value.

 

[Darryl G]

Seems likea simpe, enough fix, but I agree should not have to worry about that in the first place. Nice to see that they are at least addressing it though?

Yeah but things like that that have to be adjusted just so to work properly can be a pain in the arse over the life of a machine. My tolerance for accidentally dropping the deck into the dirt is zero.

 

[PTmowerMech]

It seems the prices on the Spartans are up there. Even the used ones (61") I'm seeing are over $8000.

 

[hlw49]

So looking at putting together a new equipment dealership and trying to come up with a few brands to carry.

The obvious first choice was Scag as many of the landscaping companies around my area seem to have a hard on for them. LOL Now of course there is a reason, but there is already a Scag dealer so waiting to hear back from the region sales manager to see how for out their "territory" goes?

Anyway, after looking at the long list of other companies, who all appear to have some really nice mowers, I came across Spartan and I am not gonna lie, the mowers are sick. But like a beautiful woman, unless she can perform, all she is, is a beautiful woman who will leave you wanting for more. And let me apologize for this terrible reference to any ladies who may read this.

So anyway, do any of you commercial guys have experience with Spartan Mowers in commercial use?

It is funny that I was also looking at Bad Boy (Hustler and Dixie Chopper too), as further research has shown me that there was a falling out between these companies and they are actually right next door to each other!

Anyway, just wondering if anyone has any thoughts and thanks for your input.

Might look at Big Dog it is a good mower actually built by Excel who builds Hustler. Dixie Chopper is a good mower as well but they have been bought by Rhino Ag and distributing them under the Alamo Group. Their prices have jumped too much and are pricing themselves out of the market. We sell both Dixie Chopper and Big Dog but are probably going to drop sales on the Dixie Chopper and just be a parts and servicing dealer because of this. Whatever you do, do not spread yourself too thin. I have been in this business 46 years in the spring and see too many dealer carry to many product lines. If you carry three or four lines which one are you going to do justice to and you would have to stock too many parts to service them all. Pick the least number of lines you can to service your market. If you could carry one line that serviced your market you would be ahead of the game. There is only one line out there like this that I know of and that is Husqvarna. They have it all from String trimmers, blowers. push mowers, residential and commercial mowers. Just my 2 cents.

 

[PTmowerMech]

Might look at Big Dog it is a good mower actually built by Excel who builds Hustler. Dixie Chopper is a good mower as well but they have been bought by Rhino Ag and distributing them under the Alamo Group. Their prices have jumped too much and are pricing themselves out of the market. We sell both Dixie Chopper and Big Dog but are probably going to drop sales on the Dixie Chopper and just be a parts and servicing dealer because of this. Whatever you do, do not spread yourself too thin. I have been in this business 46 years in the spring and see too many dealer carry to many product lines. If you carry three or four lines which one are you going to do justice to and you would have to stock too many parts to service them all. Pick the least number of lines you can to service your market. If you could carry one line that serviced your market you would be ahead of the game. There is only one line out there like this that I know of and that is Husqvarna. They have it all from String trimmers, blowers. push mowers, residential and commercial mowers. Just my 2 cents.

Where would you say Husqvarna stands on their biggest residential ZTR, quality wise? I'm looking for something around a 60" ZTR. And I'm not sure why, maybe it's the marketing, but every time I do a ZTR search, Husq covers almost every search page.