Buying Advice Suspension seat for ZT

[fox5flyer]

I would look into this thing, I read where a commercial mower put these on three of his machines and really likes them. ZTR Lawn Mower Replacement Seat - ZTR Puffer
If you are not interested in this, then I would definitely get a good suspension seat and they do help with a bad back, also I do not know what tires you have on the front, but I changed out my run flats for pneumatic tires and that really helped with the front end bunny hop you can get with the run flats.

Again, thanks for the input. It all helps.
First, I think one of the previous posters was correct about the reason other mowers don't use 4 wheel suspension. Patents. In my opinion, Ferris is selling faster than they can produce them and the suspension is the main reason. There are lots of us old farts out here with big lawns and need to save what is left of our crippled up backs. I have a local Ferris dealer here who told me he can't keep them in stock and sells at MSRP. Eventually, the patents will run out and I think we will see the other manufacturers start producing similar setups. Just my opinion only.
Now, the various suspension seats, kits, etc. I've come to the conclusion after spending beau coup hours searching and reading reviews, that both the Michigan and Puffer units have merit and will surely help. However, these are mostly band aid fixes and what is need is complete redesign of mowers. The reason is, I think, that we have mowers now that used to travel at speeds of around 5 mph which took the bumps without much problem, but now they are moving twice that speed which magnifies the severe shock and jarring directly to the spine of the rider. This equates to increased fatigue and latent injuries that will likely manifest themselves over time with back problems that can plague a person indefinitely.
I don't mean to make a speech, but it probably sounds like it. I still haven't decided whether to use the band aid or bite the bullet and upgrade to something with a better ride.
Meanwhile, I might keep bothering you folks until I get the answer I'm looking for, which at this time is unknown.
Thanks, again.
Deke

 

[fox5flyer]

Personally I'd go with the suspension seat. I view the Ferris and their shock system as nothing more than a gimmick and a waste of money and the reason I say that is because if that type of system actually worked as well as they claim why doesn't every manufacturer use it on there mowers in one way or another. As far as the flex forks go I believe Dixie Chopper has been using them for years on a couple of there models and they tend to wobble at certain speeds which can be most uncomfortable. Seat is the way to go IMO.

I lowered all air pressures to 10psi which helped a tad, but not near enough. I even put a 4.10 tire under the seat (someone elses idea on this forum) which helped a bit too, but again, not near enough.
Well, since it is late in the year and not much mowing time left here in NE Michigan, after a lot of research and advice, I decided to order the Michigan V5300 suspension seat from Northern Tool. There were a lot of good things said about it, but I don't recall anyone saying anything bad about them. If I upgrade to a different mower, I can just keep the seat and install it on the new one. I'll give everyone a report once I'll tested it. I'll know right away if there is a significant difference.
Deke
NE Michigan

 

[fox5flyer]

I lowered all air pressures to 10psi which helped a tad, but not near enough. I even put a 4.10 tire under the seat (someone elses idea on this forum) which helped a bit too, but again, not near enough.
Well, since it is late in the year and not much mowing time left here in NE Michigan, after a lot of research and advice, I decided to order the Michigan V5300 suspension seat from Northern Tool. There were a lot of good things said about it, but I don't recall anyone saying anything bad about them. If I upgrade to a different mower, I can just keep the seat and install it on the new one. I'll give everyone a report once I'll tested it. I'll know right away if there is a significant difference.
Deke
NE Michigan

Just a follow-up post regarding the suspension seat I bought. First off, it arrived in a box that appeared to have been dragged around a rodeo arena a dozen laps by a very pissed off Brahma bull. I mean, that box was huge with no internal packing and about 2 rolls of 2" packing tape that appeared to have been applied by the UPS driver. It was a mess! To be fair though, the seat is pretty robust and even as poorly as it was packed, it arrived in pretty good shape with nothing much to complain about. Install was fairly east other than I had to swap seat switches for things to work properly. That seat is heavy at close to 60 lbs. It has vertical suspension, adjustable lumbar support, and the seat back has about 30 degrees of adjustment.
After about 4 hours of mowing, mostly at full speed the seat isn't what I would call wonderful, but it's pretty damn good over what I had previously with a very noticeable difference in the ride. Bumps that previously knocked the wind out of me are now much less fatiguing. In a nutshell, for the price I think it was a good purchase and I would recommend it.
Deke from NE Michigan

 

[klg]

I bought a suspension seat for my Kubota z 724 off ebay for less than 160.00 dollars shipped, made a world of difference.

 

[fox5flyer]

Just a follow-up post regarding the suspension seat I bought. First off, it arrived in a box that appeared to have been dragged around a rodeo arena a dozen laps by a very pissed off Brahma bull. I mean, that box was huge with no internal packing and about 2 rolls of 2" packing tape that appeared to have been applied by the UPS driver. It was a mess! To be fair though, the seat is pretty robust and even as poorly as it was packed, it arrived in pretty good shape with nothing much to complain about. Install was fairly east other than I had to swap seat switches for things to work properly. That seat is heavy at close to 60 lbs. It has vertical suspension, adjustable lumbar support, and the seat back has about 30 degrees of adjustment.
After about 4 hours of mowing, mostly at full speed the seat isn't what I would call wonderful, but it's pretty damn good over what I had previously with a very noticeable difference in the ride. Bumps that previously knocked the wind out of me are now much less fatiguing. In a nutshell, for the price I think it was a good purchase and I would recommend it.
Deke from NE Michigan

Just a followup to my previous followup. I've put several hours on the new seat and I'm glad I bought it. The improvement was immediately noticeable and now I don't feel the need to shell out thousands for a new Ferris. So, I'm happy with it.
Now, let me add this. Recently I received a request from Northern Tool to provide a feedback on the seat, which I did and I gave it a good one. However, just today I received a notice from Northern Tool that my feedback was rejected. Actually, I gave the seat a great feedback, but I also said that the packing was atrocious and described the condition of the box when it arrived . That was the part that they censored and told me that I would have to rewrite it and leave that part out. I was stunned. What more can I say.

 

[exotion]

Just a followup to my previous followup. I've put several hours on the new seat and I'm glad I bought it. The improvement was immediately noticeable and now I don't feel the need to shell out thousands for a new Ferris. So, I'm happy with it.
Now, let me add this. Recently I received a request from Northern Tool to provide a feedback on the seat, which I did and I gave it a good one. However, just today I received a notice from Northern Tool that my feedback was rejected. Actually, I gave the seat a great feedback, but I also said that the packing was atrocious and described the condition of the box when it arrived . That was the part that they censored and told me that I would have to rewrite it and leave that part out. I was stunned. What more can I say.

So much for honesty.... Asshats

 

[fox5flyer]

Just a followup to my previous followup. I've put several hours on the new seat and I'm glad I bought it. The improvement was immediately noticeable and now I don't feel the need to shell out thousands for a new Ferris. So, I'm happy with it.
Now, let me add this. Recently I received a request from Northern Tool to provide a feedback on the seat, which I did and I gave it a good one. However, just today I received a notice from Northern Tool that my feedback was rejected. Actually, I gave the seat a great feedback, but I also said that the packing was atrocious and described the condition of the box when it arrived . That was the part that they censored and told me that I would have to rewrite it and leave that part out. I was stunned. What more can I say.

It pretty much goes to say that the feedback that is given on Northern Tool is not to be taken very seriously. Total censorship IMO. Soooo, I resubmitted it and changed the subject line and a couple other things, but left the text the same to see if I could get it past the censors. They may have a key word search intended to flag any feedback that criticizes shipping.
Will let you know what happens.
Deke
NE Michigan

 

[Srqcraig]

I bought a suspension seat for my Kubota z 724 off ebay for less than 160.00 dollars shipped, made a world of difference.

I am needing a suspension seat for my new Kubota ZG227? Can I ask what seat you bought?