How many Hours on Your Raptor/SD??

5

577jersey

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Just wanted to see how many hours you Raptor owners are getting and how the machines are treating you either commercially or residentially?

Repairs,warranty,customer service,would love to hear your stories.

Also open to any mods that would better the mower.

Also would like to know how the 7000 series engines are holding up for you guys since it looks like Kawi is gone for the Raptor series for now?

I have 20 hours on my RSD so far,it has a kawi FR and the only thing I dont like about the mower is the discharge opening on deck is a bit restricted,the deck hangers and lift system look a little under kill,they do flex,and the exhaust scorches the grass if left running in one spot for 30 seconds or longer.

I plan on using this mower to cut a bunch of residential lawns and hope it holds up at least for a few years or at least 1000 hours of well maintained use.

Regards

Tommy :)
 
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5

577jersey

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Hmmm,
I thought this thread would have taken off by now,,there is not much info on the longevity of the Raptor online,guess its to early.

I was told by my dealer a guy had used a RSD commercially very hard all season for 700 hours and never had many issues,he traded it in on a different mower at end of season and they sold it in good working order.

700 hours of hard commercial use is pretty good and sold me on the SD but I would like to hear more stories,I really enjoy this mower so far :)
 
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Ric

Ric

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577jersey said:
Hmmm,
I thought this thread would have taken off by now,,there is not much info on the longevity of the Raptor online,guess its to early.

I was told by my dealer a guy had used a RSD commercially very hard all season for 700 hours and never had many issues,he traded it in on a different mower at end of season and they sold it in good working order.

700 hours of hard commercial use is pretty good and sold me on the SD but I would like to hear more stories,I really enjoy this mower so far :)
Click to expand...

Your asking for info about the Longevity of the Raptor and it really hasn't been around that long to have a lot of information on the issue. It's not like the mower has been around for twenty years. As far as being told what you were told dealing with the 700 hour issue?? That's a bunch of hours for one season in New Jersey (mowing season is not that long) and you have to consider who told you that, I mean the guy is a salesman and would most likely tell you anything to sell a mower.
As it stands at the moment Hustler from what I read here on the forum is having issues with the RSD and there engines so I'd be careful.
Read the thread below.


http://www.lawnmowerforum.com/showt...w-Hustler-is-Junk-biggest-mistake-I-ever-made
 
5

577jersey

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Yeah I have read that already,
I dont see them being junk at all,,I mean the 2800 drives are decent,,and the engine being an FR series on mine is good so far.

The deck is 10 ga. I believe,its not as thick as my Bobcat but I dont see a problem with it..the deck idler is a little shady but we shall see.
Also the hydro idler looks a little cheesey.Pulleys are decent.Spindles are good solid quality,I hear the greasless they use on the SD will last 1000+ hours no problem.We shall see.

The frame is huge in the front,solid,very little flex throughout the frame,castors and castor brackets are huge,solid,tires and wheels are great quality.

The only thing I am concerned about is the deck hanging system,the brackets that the deck hangers attach too look a little on the weak side and flex over rough terrain for the bigger 54 and 60 decks,if you take it easy over rough terrain should be fine,,other than that its all the same stuff.

3 year 300 cant really go wrong...

BTW-Ive seen guys put close to 1000 hours a season on here in NJ..its not that hard if you run 8 hours a day,5 days a week for even 6 mos(we cut from april till november here,it slows way down after October,thats still 8 mos the machines are up and running),,that would be around 960 AVG.
Most of the time its the guys who have the huge condo developments that never stop mowing.All depends on the weather really.700 hours is alot for one season but I can see how you would think its smoke...and why would a big dawg buy an SD for a huge account like that unless he was just trying it out for the year??

Tom :)
 
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Ric

Ric

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577jersey said:
Yeah I have read that already,
I dont see them being junk at all,,I mean the 2800 drives are decent,,and the engine being an FR series on mine is good so far.

The deck is 10 ga. I believe,its not as thick as my Bobcat but I dont see a problem with it..the deck idler is a little shady but we shall see.
Also the hydro idler looks a little cheesey.Pulleys are decent.Spindles are good solid quality,I hear the greasless they use on the SD will last 1000+ hours no problem.We shall see.

The frame is huge in the front,solid,very little flex throughout the frame,castors and castor brackets are huge,solid,tires and wheels are great quality.

The only thing I am concerned about is the deck hanging system,the brackets that the deck hangers attach too look a little on the weak side and flex over rough terrain for the bigger 54 and 60 decks,if you take it easy over rough terrain should be fine,,other than that its all the same stuff.

3 year 300 cant really go wrong...

BTW-Ive seen guys put close to 1000 hours a season on here in NJ..its not that hard if you run 8 hours a day,5 days a week for even 6 mos(we cut from april till november here,it slows way down after October,thats still 8 mos the machines are up and running),,that would be around 960 AVG.
Most of the time its the guys who have the huge condo developments that never stop mowing.All depends on the weather really.700 hours is alot for one season but I can see how you would think its smoke...and why would a big dawg buy an SD for a huge account like that unless he was just trying it out for the year??

Tom :)
Click to expand...

Hey don't get me wrong, I think Hustler makes one of the best mowers on the Market, Hustler has never made junk of any kind. To put close to 1000 hours a season on mower is not hard if your running 5 or 6 days a week, been there done that and it's not fun. I just don't buy what the salesmen said or told you. The RSD with the Kawasaki engine was a good mower and a well built mower no doubt, it's just ashamed that Hustle went to that Kohler 7000 cause it just isn't as good an engine as the Kawasaki.
 
BlazNT

BlazNT

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Ric said:
Hey don't get me wrong, I think Hustler makes one of the best mowers on the Market, Hustler has never made junk of any kind. To put close to 1000 hours a season on mower is not hard if your running 5 or 6 days a week, been there done that and it's not fun. I just don't buy what the salesmen said or told you. The RSD with the Kawasaki engine was a good mower and a well built mower no doubt, it's just ashamed that Hustle went to that Kohler 7000 cause it just isn't as good an engine as the Kawasaki.
Click to expand...

What I was going to say was the sales man will say anything to sale a mower so I would bet it was more like 500 hours in a season.:laughing:
 
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kraky

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Raptor SD has been out since at least 2014..... there certainly have to be some people out there commercial Mowing that have some hours racked up.
 
Ric

Ric

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kraky said:
Raptor SD has been out since at least 2014..... there certainly have to be some people out there commercial Mowing that have some hours racked up.
Click to expand...

I for one wouldn't run a residential mower for commercial work again, (been there done that) and it really doesn't work well. To many thing against it. I never seen an RSD used commercially. It's a mower designed with the homeowner in mind. 10 to 12 hrs a month not a day that's why they made the thing, that and to compete in the homeowner market with other manufacturers. If your doing commercial work the Fastrak SD is the least expensive and the starting point for Hustler.
 
RhettWS

RhettWS

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Tom,

My RSD with Kaw has about 18 hours on it. Overall I am pleased considering my yard is not too big. Runs well, no issues to speak of. Glad I got the Kaw motor. I'm not married to one brand of engine or another but I do not like automatic anything. The new Kohlers have the automatic choke. I've heard of a few having issues with it. Why would you need an automatic choke. Crap, can't people just adjust with the cable pull??

I did modify my deck by removing the chute and putting some lexan in its place. Works great and makes the unit narrower overall. Grass sprays out very evenly with no clumping unless the grass is really wet. I posted about my mod a month or more back.

I've been thinking about taking a torch to the deck to make the opening bigger because it does tend to catch a bit of grass in the corner although it is only a problem with the grass is really wet.

Did put some slime in my caster wheels this weekend. Had a pinhole in one tire due to thorns. Slime should keep me going for a couple of years I suspect.

Overall, I like it and the price was good for me. ........... Rhett
 
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kraky

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Ric... not trying to be a smart aleck but just because you wouldn't run a raptor SD in a commercial situation doesn't mean somebody else might not. Not everybody starting off a lawn service can afford a $9,000 commercial unit. If they bought a commercial unit for $9,000 and ran it for a year it would be worth about $6,000.
someone can buy a raptor sd for $4,000 and run it for 2 years and it would probably still be worth 1500 to 2000. Years ago when I worked at a John Deere dealership we sold a small Countryside Cemetery a tin can Sabre for $1,600 because they had no budget. It actually lasted them about 3 to 4 years and at 1,000 hours finally spit the hydro because it was getting pretty hot going forward and backward around all the gravestones ...everything else about it was still pretty sound. They were actually pretty thrilled with the service they got for the price..... and by that time they had a little more in their budget for a better unit which they bought from us.
One day I even stumbled across a YouTube video where a commercial operator was running a regular Raptor with a 42 inch deck and mulch kit for specialty mowing in small yards.....it happens!
 
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