Which ZTR to Purchase for Residential Use? Suggestions Appreciated

[bertsmobile1]

The super z is one of my two favorite mowers. It's not overkill for 7 acres. When I purchased my s150xt I only had about an acre to mow. It was overkill for the lawn I had. I sold my house and moved closer to where I work. Now I have over 4 acres to mow. Glad I purchased mine when I did. I paid about $5500 for it new in 2012. The same mower now would cost me almost 7k. You can make a residential mower last 15 years or more if you take care of it. I sold my 2002 42" Scott's mower in 2012 to a neighbor and he is still mowing with it.

I still use 3 Rovers 1 x 1966, 2 x 1968.
Got a 1961 & 1976 Victa push and a 1972 & 1988 24" slasher

My loan mowers are all 30+ years old & still going strong.

These are all domestic mowers
All running original engines, just get regular maintenance and in particular regular blade changes.

 

[Shughes717]

I still use 3 Rovers 1 x 1966, 2 x 1968.
Got a 1961 & 1976 Victa push and a 1972 & 1988 24" slasher

My loan mowers are all 30+ years old & still going strong.

These are all domestic mowers
All running original engines, just get regular maintenance and in particular regular blade changes.

Residential Push mowers will generally last longer than residential riding mowers, because they don't have a transmission. I am aware that some are self propelled, but that's not the same thing. The deck doesn't take the punishment that a riding mower does either. Mowers in the 60s and 70s were built heavier than mowers built now a days. Just replace or repair the engine when needed and you stil have a good mower. I have never seen any of the mowers you mentioned. They must be brands mainly found in Australia.

 

[bertsmobile1]

Rovers are all tractors B & S flat head engines Peerless 3,4 & 5 speed boxes solid axels no diff.
They are all over 40 years old.
Victa's are all push
We sold Victa Vortex's to the USA for 1 season then they got legislated out of the market.
Power torque ( 2 stroke ) engines are good for 30 -50 years between rebores.
I sell 30 year old ones and give 2 or 3 years warrantee

 

[1striper1]

Except commercial mowers are designed to be used by professionals so require proper maintenance
Domestics are designed to be as maintanance free as possible because Joe Public has a problem working out which end of a screwdriver you open your beer with.

With all due respect to the number of posts you have, this comment is a big bunch of BS! Typical "highbrow" "I know more than you because I'm a LCO/LCP". But we both live in free countries so we can opine what we think.

 

[DK35vince]

With all due respect to the number of posts you have, this comment is a big bunch of BS! Typical "highbrow" "I know more than you because I'm a LCO/LCP".

I couldn't agree more.
Complete BS.

 

[DK35vince]

Except commercial mowers are designed to be used by professionals so require proper maintenance
Domestics are designed to be as maintanance free as possible because Joe Public has a problem working out which end of a screwdriver you open your beer with.

Oh please.
Its a lawn mower. Not a space shuttle.
I'm not a professional lawn care provider and I could tear my Super Z completely apart and put it back together .

 

[bertsmobile1]

With all due respect to the number of posts you have, this comment is a big bunch of BS! Typical "highbrow" "I know more than you because I'm a LCO/LCP". But we both live in free countries so we can opine what we think.

How many grease nipples on your domestic mower ?

Most have 4 all on the front wheels

How many grease nipples on a commercial ?

Most are around the 10 mark

Deck on a Time cutter non greasable spindles
Same deck on the Z Master, nipples on the spindles and on the tension arm pivot

Why the difference ?
Because most owners of time cutters are domestic and like the B & S No oil change motors are not interested in any way shape or form in maintaining their mower it is just a thing to cut the grass.

Where as most owners of Z masters will usually slip a shot of grease in at least weekly if not daily, sharpen blades & carry out other items of routine maintenance like checking the oil.

Was not meant to be aloof, just an observation with an attempt at a humourious delevery which obviously did the lead balloon bit.

 

[DK35vince]

How many grease nipples on your domestic mower ?

Most have 4 all on the front wheels

How many grease nipples on a commercial ?

Most are around the 10 mark

Deck on a Time cutter non greasable spindles
Same deck on the Z Master, nipples on the spindles and on the tension arm pivot

Why the difference ?
Because most owners of time cutters are domestic and like the B & S No oil change motors are not interested in any way shape or form in maintaining their mower it is just a thing to cut the grass.

Where as most owners of Z masters will usually slip a shot of grease in at least weekly if not daily, sharpen blades & carry out other items of routine maintenance like checking the oil.

Was not meant to be aloof, just an observation with an attempt at a humourious delevery which obviously did the lead balloon bit.

So only a lawn care provider knows how to run a grease gun ????
I wasn't aware lawn care providers went through specialized mechanical training to mow the grass

 

[Ric]

Except commercial mowers are designed to be used by professionals so require proper maintenance
Domestics are designed to be as maintenance free as possible because Joe Public has a problem working out which end of a screwdriver you open your beer with.

With all due respect to the number of posts you have, this comment is a big bunch of BS! Typical "highbrow" "I know more than you because I'm a LCO/LCP". But we both live in free countries so we can opine what we think.

Well I don't know who knows more or if letters before or after ones name makes a difference or not but the problem as I see with his statement that commercial mowers are being designed to be used by professionals so require proper maintenance I find a little off because I see more commercial mowers being used by the homeowner than ever before and commercial mowers are leaning more towards less maintenance than ever before with sealed bearings every where on the mowers where grease fitting used to be I think my Z-Master has a total of one grease fitting and it's on the idler and has to be greased every 50 hrs.

 

[Shughes717]

How many grease nipples on your domestic mower ?

Most have 4 all on the front wheels

How many grease nipples on a commercial ?

Most are around the 10 mark

Deck on a Time cutter non greasable spindles
Same deck on the Z Master, nipples on the spindles and on the tension arm pivot

Why the difference ?
Because most owners of time cutters are domestic and like the B & S No oil change motors are not interested in any way shape or form in maintaining their mower it is just a thing to cut the grass.

Where as most owners of Z masters will usually slip a shot of grease in at least weekly if not daily, sharpen blades & carry out other items of routine maintenance like checking the oil.

Was not meant to be aloof, just an observation with an attempt at a humourious delevery which obviously did the lead balloon bit.

I am not a lawn care professional, or a mechanic, but I have a large lawn and a commercial mower. I grease the casters and bearings on schedule, sharpen the blades every 4 to 5 times I mow, and change the oil every 50 hours. I am what you would consider a "domestic" owner. I can tell you that I know what a screw driver is used for, and it's not for opening beverages. I have never seen an engine that didn't require an oil change. That may be how things are done on the other side of the big pond, but around here people generally maintain their equipment. Those who don't, have to purchase another mower every 3 or 4 years.

A commercial mower is built heavier than a "domestic" mower because commercial mowers mow 30 hours a week or more, where as the domestic mower may be used 2 hours a week. There are a couple of reasons domestic mowers have fewer grease zerks. Ease of maintenance for owners who don't know how to service the mower is one reason. The other is that the bearings and parts used for a domestic mowers are lower quality so as to keep cost down and make the mower more attractive to the consumer. Consumers who look at price first want to spend as little as possible and don't think about the quality of the machine. That's why companies like husqvarna and John Deere make such low quality mowers (they have some great high end mowers). Implying that most people who purchase a mower for residential use doesn't know how to service a mower or even use a screw driver isn't going to go over well in this site because there are a lot of members on here that have high quality mowers for domestic use, and do their own maintenance.