First off, this mower is awesome. It's much more than I expected. I intend for this to be an ongoing review of the machine, so let's get started.
I researched for roughly a month to the point of mental exhaustion. I went back and forth between this mower, the Pro Z models, and the Snapper Pro S125X mainly. Also researched Toro, Ferris, Gravely, Hustler, Spartan (a little), Kubota (diesel models), and Scag. These were all very impressive machines, but at the end of the day, I didn't need a commercial mower, and the LX offered the same hydros and other features many of these other models had within my price range. Also, there's a Cub dealer 10 min from me and they're very involved and supportive with their customers... more so than the other brands' dealers in my area.
I live on 12 acres with 1 acre of grass that I intend on maintaining regularly (aerate, dethatch, fertilize, overseed) and another 2 acres that will be cut high with the LX (5"). The rest is a large field that is plowed and a big pasture which is cut for hay. I received the mower this past Saturday and jumped right into getting used to it. I have used a smaller zero turn (my father in law's) so I was very familiar with the control of the lap bars. The 3100 hydros are very stout! It took about 10 minutes to get the feel for them. Overall, very comfortable ride (once I dropped the psi to 12 in all 4 tires) and I'm very pleased with the cut. Now for a breakdown of the main components...
Engine: Kawasaki FR730V 24HP V-Twin
My first impression is that it's quiet! I couldn't get over how quiet it is compared to my FIL's 23 HP Kohler, even with the blades engaged. I really didn't even need hearing protection, but I wore it anyway. Also, the engine is plenty strong. It never bogged down, handled the demand needed for the hydros on strong take-offs just fine, and remained smooth as butter the entire time. I'm very pleased with the engine.
Deck: 60" Fabricated with Mulching Kit I decided to go with the mulching kit for 2 reasons: free fertilizer and no grass clippings. My job is pretty demanding so I'm not able to get out and mow on a regular basis like I'd prefer to, so oftentimes the grass is around 8" when I finally cut it, as was the case Saturday. The mulching kit chewed it up so fine that I really had to dig in the yard to find clippings. The deck itself is huge! I had never operated a mower with a 60" deck, except for a bush hog behind the tractor. I ran into one fence post and the brick of my chimney when I was trimming the house. Took me around an hour to get used to how wide it is. The deck feels very well built and stout, and there were no indications that I had even run into anything those 2 times (hasn't happened since, by the way).
Hydros: Dual Hydro-Gear ZT-3100
They're listed as entry-level commercial. As stated previously, they're quite stout. They move this mower around effortlessly. When paired with Cub's RevTek reverse mowing feature, I can zip around very quickly without tearing up the yard.
Odds and Ends
The seat is extremely comfortable, maintenance kinds of things are extremely accessible, there's plenty of grease fittings, I'm a big fan of the main key that came with it (dealer called it the "pretty key"), and the deck removal seems to be very straight forward and doesn't require tools.
I took some pics of various features, but if anyone has a specific request for pics, let me know and I'll get as many as you'd like. Overall, I'm beyond satisfied with the purchase. I honestly couldn't imagine having a bigger mower with ROPS or something, this one already feels huge. I'm 6'4" and I have plenty of room. Again, if there are any features you want to know more about, let me know!
I researched for roughly a month to the point of mental exhaustion. I went back and forth between this mower, the Pro Z models, and the Snapper Pro S125X mainly. Also researched Toro, Ferris, Gravely, Hustler, Spartan (a little), Kubota (diesel models), and Scag. These were all very impressive machines, but at the end of the day, I didn't need a commercial mower, and the LX offered the same hydros and other features many of these other models had within my price range. Also, there's a Cub dealer 10 min from me and they're very involved and supportive with their customers... more so than the other brands' dealers in my area.
I live on 12 acres with 1 acre of grass that I intend on maintaining regularly (aerate, dethatch, fertilize, overseed) and another 2 acres that will be cut high with the LX (5"). The rest is a large field that is plowed and a big pasture which is cut for hay. I received the mower this past Saturday and jumped right into getting used to it. I have used a smaller zero turn (my father in law's) so I was very familiar with the control of the lap bars. The 3100 hydros are very stout! It took about 10 minutes to get the feel for them. Overall, very comfortable ride (once I dropped the psi to 12 in all 4 tires) and I'm very pleased with the cut. Now for a breakdown of the main components...
Engine: Kawasaki FR730V 24HP V-Twin
My first impression is that it's quiet! I couldn't get over how quiet it is compared to my FIL's 23 HP Kohler, even with the blades engaged. I really didn't even need hearing protection, but I wore it anyway. Also, the engine is plenty strong. It never bogged down, handled the demand needed for the hydros on strong take-offs just fine, and remained smooth as butter the entire time. I'm very pleased with the engine.
Deck: 60" Fabricated with Mulching Kit I decided to go with the mulching kit for 2 reasons: free fertilizer and no grass clippings. My job is pretty demanding so I'm not able to get out and mow on a regular basis like I'd prefer to, so oftentimes the grass is around 8" when I finally cut it, as was the case Saturday. The mulching kit chewed it up so fine that I really had to dig in the yard to find clippings. The deck itself is huge! I had never operated a mower with a 60" deck, except for a bush hog behind the tractor. I ran into one fence post and the brick of my chimney when I was trimming the house. Took me around an hour to get used to how wide it is. The deck feels very well built and stout, and there were no indications that I had even run into anything those 2 times (hasn't happened since, by the way).
Hydros: Dual Hydro-Gear ZT-3100
They're listed as entry-level commercial. As stated previously, they're quite stout. They move this mower around effortlessly. When paired with Cub's RevTek reverse mowing feature, I can zip around very quickly without tearing up the yard.
Odds and Ends
The seat is extremely comfortable, maintenance kinds of things are extremely accessible, there's plenty of grease fittings, I'm a big fan of the main key that came with it (dealer called it the "pretty key"), and the deck removal seems to be very straight forward and doesn't require tools.
I took some pics of various features, but if anyone has a specific request for pics, let me know and I'll get as many as you'd like. Overall, I'm beyond satisfied with the purchase. I honestly couldn't imagine having a bigger mower with ROPS or something, this one already feels huge. I'm 6'4" and I have plenty of room. Again, if there are any features you want to know more about, let me know!
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