Too good to be true? Raptor 52"

[Kelvininin]

The mower came today... Not overly impressed with Lowes delivery service but it was "free." I had to help manhandle the mower off the truck.

I am thoroughly impressed with the build quality. The mower is very well put together. I fired up the engine for the first time and wow! What nice sounding engine. I never worked with a two cylinder mower before, the engine just sounds cool.

After letting the engine fun for about 15 min as a run in, I took to dinking around in the driveway for a few min before I took to mowing the lawn. Took some getting use to. I tore of my yard a bit in places, but getting the technique down.

Best part is, it took, what use to take me three hours to mower, down to just one hour. I am pretty sure for most of the summer I won't have to trim but once every other mow.

So far very happy with the mower. Can't beat it for having the Kawi engine, and fabricated deck at this price.

 

[zmister11]

The mower came today... Not overly impressed with Lowes delivery service but it was "free." I had to help manhandle the mower off the truck.

I am thoroughly impressed with the build quality. The mower is very well put together. I fired up the engine for the first time and wow! What nice sounding engine. I never worked with a two cylinder mower before, the engine just sounds cool.

After letting the engine fun for about 15 min as a run in, I took to dinking around in the driveway for a few min before I took to mowing the lawn. Took some getting use to. I tore of my yard a bit in places, but getting the technique down.

Best part is, it took, what use to take me three hours to mower, down to just one hour. I am pretty sure for most of the summer I won't have to trim but once every other mow.

So far very happy with the mower. Can't beat it for having the Kawi engine, and fabricated deck at this price.

Congrats on the new mower. It'll save you alot of time

 

[Ric]

I'm considering that same mower. IMHO, you scored a great deal!

Very interested to read your impressions of it after you've had a chance to run it.

Just FYI If your considering the Raptor its list price is $2799 at lowes, and that's what Hustler advertises them for, you can look it up online and its Blade tip speed is 16,600 on the 52" deck.

 

[Ric]

Hello,

I thought I would gather some incite on a recent experience at Lowes. I have been eye balling zero tern mowers for a while now, but was having a hard time justifying the cost. Well yesterday, my semi local lowes had a 52" Raptor sitting on the floor marked down from $2999 to $2699. This lowes usually only has the big name brand mowers on the floor. I was intrigued and checking the mower out.

Sales guy comes up we shoot the breeze about the mower for a while. The mower was brand new, never used, special order, the guy who ordered it wanted something bigger. We talked a little about the pricing and the guys says "how does $2299 delivered for free sound?" Uhhh.... Ok! So now I have new never used Hustler 52" Raptor being delivered on Monday.

Typically I have found that deals that sound too good to be true, are. So what am I missing here? Or did I actually get lucky?

It just seems odd to me that lowes would cut such a deal on a mower. I would imagine $2300 is pretty close to what lowes paid for the mower. Why would lowes be so desperate to get the unit off the floor?

Anyway, I am going to give it a shot and if it doesn't seem to work out I could probably sell it for what I have in it.

Well to begin with the mower List for $2799 not $2999 so selling it for $2300 plus tax you really didn't get all that much of a break. You could have probably done as well at a dealer and had there service department. Most dealer will work with dropping there price because of the mark up on the mower.

 

[PVHIII]

Unless you like to lay on the ground scraping grass clippings from underneath your mower deck...DON'T PULL THE TRIGGER ON A RAPTOR!! JMO!

 

[greeen]

regarding digging up the lawn a bit...you will learn real fast not to let the inside/pivot tire sit in one place. Keep it moving forward or back when you turn. when you get to the end of the strip, either stop and turn in place (inside wheel going in reverse) or do a three point turn. You'll get the hang of it, just watch what that inside wheel is doing.

 

[Kelvininin]

Well to begin with the mower List for $2799 not $2999 so selling it for $2300 plus tax you really didn't get all that much of a break. You could have probably done as well at a dealer and had there service department. Most dealer will work with dropping there price because of the mark up on the mower.

I don't know what Lowes website you're looking at but according to the Lowes website links below, for the 52" deck it's $2999, for the 42" deck is $2799.

Shop Hustler Raptor V-Twin Dual Hydrostatic 52-in Zero-Turn Lawn Mower with Kawasaki Engine and Mulching Capable at Lowes.com
Shop Hustler Raptor V-Twin Dual Hydrostatic 42-in Zero-Turn Lawn Mower with Kawasaki Engine and Mulching Capable at Lowes.com

I called around to my local dealers, no was was willing to come down from the list price for a 2015 mower. The manufacture date on my mower is 4/20/2015. The list price, according to my local dealers for a 52" deck is $2999.

Here is an example of one of the local dealers.
Hustler Zero Turn Residential Raptor 42"& 52" Lawn Mower

As for service departments. I started driving in 1994. I have always bought, paid for, and serviced my own vehicles. The only one that has been back to dealer for warranty work was my 2011 F150 which had a turbo replaced under warranty. I do 99.9% of my own work on everything I own, and in the rare instance I pay for work to be done for me, I regret it. So, I just do my own work. Parts are available online for a fraction of the cost of local dealers. If I had the expendable income I would consider supporting my local dealers, but I have a family of 5 to support, I can't afford to send someone elses kids to college.

 

[Kelvininin]

Just FYI If your considering the Raptor its list price is $2799 at lowes, and that's what Hustler advertises them for, you can look it up online and its Blade tip speed is 16,600 on the 52" deck.

Maybe down there in FL but up here in MN is $2999.

Shop Hustler Raptor V-Twin Dual Hydrostatic 52-in Zero-Turn Lawn Mower with Kawasaki Engine and Mulching Capable at Lowes.com

 

[Kelvininin]

Unless you like to lay on the ground scraping grass clippings from underneath your mower deck...DON'T PULL THE TRIGGER ON A RAPTOR!! JMO!

That is not a problem I am experiencing on my Raptor.

 

[PVHIII]

That is not a problem I am experiencing on my Raptor.

That's just one of the problems with this mower... I have a Fast Trak SD that I bought when I took my Raptor back for a refund.. I paid twice as much for this mower however it's more than twice the mower of the Raptor...I wouldn't own anything but a Hustler but a Raptor is a box store quality mower at best and Hustler is hurting their brand with this line of mowers... after seeing the 2015 models I'm not impressed with direction Hustler is moving towards at least with their Fast Trak models anyway... Glad I have 2014 model...I do wish you the best of luck with your mower.