Zero Turn Mower Buying

[MParr]

Well, here's the long and short of it:

Gravely ZT XL 48 vs. ZT HD 52 - the ZT HD 52 out the door, delivered, tax included is exactly $900 more than the ZT XL 48. I am leaning towards spending the extra money for it, but before I do, figured I should ask here.

Thoughts? Thanks again!

Before buying a 52” Gravely, have the dealer fire it up and engage the blades. Some of the 52” Gravelys have presented a bad deck vibration. This issue was supposed to be addressed by Ariens Co. Do the same test on the 48” and the 52” decks.

 

[ztmowerhelp]

Before buying a 52” Gravely, have the dealer fire it up and engage the blades. Some of the 52” Gravelys have presented a bad deck vibration. This issue was supposed to be addressed by Ariens Co. Do the same test on the 48” and the 52” decks.

I can definitely do it for the 52", but the 48" is about two hours away and would be handled over the phone (drove it already but didn't engage the blades). I have read about the deck vibration though, so definitely something that I can look into. Thanks for the input!

 

[slomo]

Also both machines are 54 inch manufactured decks. And is sad compared to what the price of zero turns today. These were 2850 each. Both machines total price was 5700.00 that's mowing atleast 100 inches a pass. Pretty cheap.

100" is pretty small these days. You got to keep up with the Jones' family. They have a 246" deck.

 

[bertsmobile1]

A 52" deck os pretty big for a 1 acre block
Anda big deck is no time saver if you have to use a walk behind for 1/3 of the yard because it won't fit past obstacles in your yard .

 

[ztmowerhelp]

A 52" deck os pretty big for a 1 acre block
Anda big deck is no time saver if you have to use a walk behind for 1/3 of the yard because it won't fit past obstacles in your yard .

Great input, thanks! The yard doesn't have any major obstacles and I am entirely limited by the current inventory. There was one Ariens Ikon XD 42" that was perfect, but sold. Other than going with a big box store unit (which I am still considering), there aren't any 42" mowers in stock where I live. Smallest I can get is the 48" ZT XL.

 

[bertsmobile1]

believe it or not I have had 2 customers abandon their ride ons in favour of a 24" walk behind I loaned them because it was mid season & I was snowed under.
One of them was on 1 acre & the other 1/2 acre.
Both found the 24" Victa 2 stroke was faster than their 54" & 60" ride ons because 1 tank of 2 stroke did the whole yard & it went everywhere & cut close enough to avoid having to use the line trimmers every mow and being a 2 stroke it cuts everything from 1" diameter saplings to fine couch grass and they could cut all of the steep slopes any which way.
To be fair, both had a lot of trees & would have been fine with a 42" deck or smaller .
Big decks only cut faster on foot ball field lawns

 

[ztmowerhelp]

Thanks for the info. A walk-behind is just not an option for me. It would take way too long and my yard can actually take advantage of a larger deck, though I admit that the ZT HD is completely overkill. Truthfully, if I could get my hands on a 42" or 52" Ariens Ikon XD, it's probably "best" for me, but none are available around me. Still debating on buying it from a big-box store though.

 

[bertsmobile1]

believe it or not I have had 2 customers abandon their ride ons in favour of a 24" walk behind I loaned them because it was mid season & I was snowed under.
One of them was on 1 acre & the other 1/2 acre.
Both found the 24" Victa 2 stroke was faster than their 54" & 60" ride ons because 1 tank of 2 stroke did the whole yard & it went everywhere & cut close enough to avoid having to use the line trimmers every mow and being a 2 stroke it cuts everything from 1" diameter saplings to fine couch grass and they could cut all of the steep slopes any which way.
To be fair, both had a lot of trees & would have been fine with a 42" deck or smaller .
Big decks only cut faster on fllot ball field

 

[ztmowerhelp]

Before buying a 52” Gravely, have the dealer fire it up and engage the blades. Some of the 52” Gravelys have presented a bad deck vibration. This issue was supposed to be addressed by Ariens Co. Do the same test on the 48” and the 52” decks.

So to make a long story short, the deck has a rattle at idle, but not with the blades engaged. Dealer says it's normal and they're all like that (which appears to be false, though I'm sure he's trying to make a sale). On one hand, I don't think I should be paying north of 6k for a mower that has a rattle at idle. On the other hand, it's a lawn mower and I'll be using noise-cancelling headphones 95% of the time.

What do you think? I think I've narrowed it down to this or paying landscapers. I've called all the dealers in my area and there's no inventory, so I can't keep driving myself nuts on a daily basis and trying to predict inventory for 2023.

Thanks for the input!

 

[MParr]

If the deck is not rattling with the blades engaged and wide open throttle, I wouldn’t be too concerned. With any mower you look at, make sure the engine sounds right at all engine speeds. Personally, I think that a 52” mower is a little large. A 42” to 48” deck would probably be all that you need.
Do the math. How much will it cost for a lawn care company to do your lawn once a week during the mowing season. Weigh the cost of a new mower vs. the cost of a lawn care company.