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[Bamacat]

Kawasaki made two excellent engines.
The Mach 500 2 stroke "sceamer".
The "Kraka Four" 900 - their first 4cycle engine.
From there they built their base over Honda, took
them years to get a market after their entry, with crap.

Like I wrote, I aint about bashin' Kawasaki.
I know engines, do you? I put up pix of what I found, you?
I supplied a fix... no charge. You did what?
All you got is specious numbers of showroom propaganda.

Give the waffle a rest, brother and post up the opinion
your mech. engineer writes you. And I aint askin' for
lines of sales pitch from your local grease monkey.
I have seen first hand what your Maryland types produce.
You want to convince folk they are buying quality?
Prove the design is not what I found, and post pix!

Stick your head under a FR541V tapett cover and you might
just get an education.

/HAND


KK

New guy to this forum,but getting up there in years.Not being a smart donkey but
I remember putting a new head gasket on a Kawasaki 650 twin four stroke around 1972. A W1orW2 series? . Looked similar to the Brit bikes [BSA and Triumph]. That was the year I traded my 500 triple for a 750 triple that would humble most anything [including its own rider..] until the 900 you speak of showed up. Thanks for stirring some good memories !!

 

[bigdaddyr]

New member here. Just bought a new Raptor SD a few days ago and am loving using it so far. Will post some pictures once I can size them properly.

Was looking for a place to find out some answerers and share some experiences with other that have the same mower and this looks like the spot.

Look forward to participating.

Rick

 

[oldsaff]

Hello all,

Just joined the site and just bought a Hustler raptor 42" last week. With 2.3 Hours on the clock its going back to the dealer to be replaced with a new one. the new Kohler 7000 engine that HuslterTurf is using now has failed. The motor is leaking oil like a stuck pig between the cylinders on the rear of the mower. I sure wish they still used KW.

 

[Rob45679]

Hello all,

Just joined the site and just bought a Hustler raptor 42" last week. With 2.3 Hours on the clock its going back to the dealer to be replaced with a new one. the new Kohler 7000 engine that HuslterTurf is using now has failed. The motor is leaking oil like a stuck pig between the cylinders on the rear of the mower. I sure wish they still used KW.

Had no idea they went back to Kohler. I bought my 42" back in April. The dealer had none in stock and ordered from the factory. Makes me wonder why hustler made the switch so fast. Sorry you haven't had a very good experience so far. From my little experience and from what I have read. Hustler has very good customer service.

 

[oldsaff]

my dealer said KW is not producing them fast enough to keep up with demand so hustlertruf went with kohler for the raptor and raptor sd...

 

[bertsmobile1]

New guy to this forum,but getting up there in years.Not being a smart donkey but
I remember putting a new head gasket on a Kawasaki 650 twin four stroke around 1972. A W1orW2 series? . Looked similar to the Brit bikes [BSA and Triumph]. That was the year I traded my 500 triple for a 750 triple that would humble most anything [including its own rider..] until the 900 you speak of showed up. Thanks for stirring some good memories !!

It is a copy of the BSA A10/ Ariel Huntsmaster which I don't think BSA exported to the USa.
Only difference is they were made to a much closer tollerance & had an end fed crank like the BSA should have & was originally designed with.

 

[gpool]

Hello new here. Don't have a ZTR yet but about 95% I'm going to buy a 42" Raptor (also considering the 36"). I had been looking online and was close to buying when I went to the dealer and found out the engine had changed to Kohler. Probably will still buy but was just surprised. One guy at the dealer told me that Kawasaki cannot meet the demand (as oldsaff stated as well) so that's why Hustler went to Kohler. Another person told me Hustler "likely" switched because Kaw went up on their prices and Hustler wanted to keep the Raptor at $2,799. I am curious as to what the reason is because after researching ZTR mowers ad nauseam I see that numerous brands (Toro, MZ, Ariens, etc) have switched from Kaw to Kohler on their residential ZTRs in the past year or so. Also curious as to why Home Depot and Lowes have no Raptors in stock online or in their stores but still have them on their websites. Someone at Home Depot told me they won't have the 42" Raptor back in stock until early 2016. Wonder what the reason is they're not selling any 42/52 Raptors with the Kohler engines? If I knew that the 2016 Raptor would have Kaw engine I'd probably just wait. I'm sure the Kohler engine is very good I was just set on the Raptor because of the Kaw engine....mainly because I grew up with a John Deere 185 Hydro with Kaw FC540V engine that lasted for 28 years. Certainly wouldn't expect the Kaw FR engine to last that long...

 

[mko1024]

New Raptor SD 48" owner. My "old" mower is an International built Cub Cadet 782 with a 50" deck from 1980. The new machine is awesome to drive. Now I can take the old girl apart and work on a full restore.

 

[bigdaddyr]

Hello new here. Don't have a ZTR yet but about 95% I'm going to buy a 42" Raptor (also considering the 36"). I had been looking online and was close to buying when I went to the dealer and found out the engine had changed to Kohler. Probably will still buy but was just surprised. One guy at the dealer told me that Kawasaki cannot meet the demand (as oldsaff stated as well) so that's why Hustler went to Kohler. Another person told me Hustler "likely" switched because Kaw went up on their prices and Hustler wanted to keep the Raptor at $2,799. I am curious as to what the reason is because after researching ZTR mowers ad nauseam I see that numerous brands (Toro, MZ, Ariens, etc) have switched from Kaw to Kohler on their residential ZTRs in the past year or so. Also curious as to why Home Depot and Lowes have no Raptors in stock online or in their stores but still have them on their websites. Someone at Home Depot told me they won't have the 42" Raptor back in stock until early 2016. Wonder what the reason is they're not selling any 42/52 Raptors with the Kohler engines? If I knew that the 2016 Raptor would have Kaw engine I'd probably just wait. I'm sure the Kohler engine is very good I was just set on the Raptor because of the Kaw engine....mainly because I grew up with a John Deere 185 Hydro with Kaw FC540V engine that lasted for 28 years. Certainly wouldn't expect the Kaw FR engine to last that long...

In talking to the dealer I bought my 54" Raptor SD from they aren't available right now as Hustler stopped production to retool for switching to the Kohler Engines. I paid list for mine as it was the only one I found after calling 6 dealers in my area. Initially he told me he had sold them all but then called back and had one on the lot when out with another customer. I felt a bit like I had found a Unicorn. He said they were changing the engine because of the residential models going into box store.

From my research over time and I'm no expert what I read by LCB owner operators was that the Kohler engines were good for about 1000 hours whereas the Kaw would be good for 1500-2000.

My dealer said that he might be getting a few more in last week and that's in Frederick,MD.

Most dealers told me they wouldn't have until late August due to the shutdown so I'd imagine that Hustler is turning on the supply faucet to their dealer network first and then the box stores which is the way it should be.

All I can say is I'm happy as crap with my SD so far and it cuts great. Mowed two of the neighbors yards yesterday in 74 min. Usually took me 2 hours and 30 min with the 42" Craftsman. That will be retired to a snow removal unit.

Happy Mowing.

Rick

 

[Donkman]

Hi All, Just ordered my new 2015 Hustler Raptor 42" Can't wait to get it! Won't be delivered for 4 weeks!
Michigan native here !