About to purchase a Tiger Cat II....Right decision?

mac0822

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Hello,

I'm about the pull the trigger on a 61' Tiger Cat II with the 29hp Kohler EFI engine. I was quoted $9,500. I'm just a homeowner with 2 acres, with the possibility of mowing my parents 3 acres at some point (they're not getting any younger). I have been researching mowers non stop. I kept coming back to the Tiger Cat II.

My basic question - is there something comparable for a cheaper price? $9,500 is an overkill, but every time I look at something for less, it doesn't seem to compare.

Also, other than scalping....is there really any reason to get a smaller mower? I just don't see why I'd get a 48 or 52, when a 61 is not much more money.


Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!
 

clay45

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Uneven ground, lots of gaps between trees too small, larger trailer; those would be considerations on dropping down a size. Otherwise enjoy the wider cut. Sounds like a great mower and once you've enjoyed a commercial machine you won't regret the purchase.
 

Steve0853

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Hello,

I'm about the pull the trigger on a 61' Tiger Cat II with the 29hp Kohler EFI engine. I was quoted $9,500. I'm just a homeowner with 2 acres, with the possibility of mowing my parents 3 acres at some point (they're not getting any younger). I have been researching mowers non stop. I kept coming back to the Tiger Cat II.

My basic question - is there something comparable for a cheaper price? $9,500 is an overkill, but every time I look at something for less, it doesn't seem to compare.

Also, other than scalping....is there really any reason to get a smaller mower? I just don't see why I'd get a 48 or 52, when a 61 is not much more money.


Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

You will like your Tiger Cat. I have owned a Turf Tiger for the last 5 years or so and it's a 61 inch with a Kohler 31 HP liquid cooled. I prefer Kohler Engines. The 61 inch cut will be great unless you really have a lot of tight spaces and if you will be cutting up to 5 acres, you'll really need the 61.

You are right about $9,500 being a lot for a mower, but if you spend $5,000, you'll be replacing it in a few years and you won't enjoy using it nearly as much.

My son and I did a lot of research before selecting the Turf Tiger for our small lawn mowing business. We think Scags are the best value for the money even though they are pretty pricey.
 

jekjr

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  • / About to purchase a Tiger Cat II....Right decision?
I own three Tiger Cats which are pretty much identical to the Tiger Cat II. We cut a whole lot of grass. I personally have never seen a mower that will touch one in tall stemmed grass especially. They have more pros than they do cons for sure. We run the 52" mowers with the Kawasaki engines. I personally have never seen anybody in my part of the woods that have had a problem with the Kawasaki motors. I have seen several that have had problems with the Kohler engines on various brands of mowers.

If there was a better mower sold in my area I would be running them. For my business model the Tiger Cat with the 22HP Kawasaki and 52" deck does me an incredible job.

$9,500 is about $1,000 more than I remember us paying for the regular Tiger Cats. Course ours are the Kawasaki 22 hp and 52" deck so that might be the difference.

With a 52" deck we can cut an acre of Bahia grass in under an hour with one mower......

Also one other thought. I have a friend that has a Tiger Cub which is the predecessor of the Tiger Cat that is over 20 years old and he runs it all of the time cutting his grass. He cuts an acre or more with it.

I have never seen a mower that will cut grass with the Scag with the Velocity decks.
 

Mad Mackie

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  • / About to purchase a Tiger Cat II....Right decision?
The Tiger Cat II has a lot of upgrades compared to the Tiger Cat, thus the price difference.
This is not to look down at Tiger Cats or Tiger Cubs as there are thousands of these machines in service.
Just got my Tiger Cub out of storage, I did nothing to it last fall other than drain the fuel, run the carb dry and remove the battery.
So I have spring stuff to do to it and clean the deck. Oh well!!!:laughing::biggrin::smile:
 

NorthBama

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  • / About to purchase a Tiger Cat II....Right decision?
I purchased my Toro Z Master in 2007 and it has been a good machine but I wish I had spent the extra money for the Tiger cat
 

ditz

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  • / About to purchase a Tiger Cat II....Right decision?
I personally would not recommend buying one for only personal use. I have a Tiger Cat and it is a very well built machine which is why I bought it. The damn thing has an intermittent fail to start problem and the dealer does not seem to give a crap. It has been in the shop once and they found no problem. Most of the time it seems to start just fine but sometimes if I shut it off in the middle of a mowing for some reason it just won't start when I return. It just seems dead.....no click or anything. I got to believe that it is one of the safety lock out switches of the starter switch. I read in another thread that there seems to be a problem with a relay behind the dash close to the starter switch. This thing has less than a hundred hours and to spend this kind of money for a mower and then have this kind of problem and the dealer is ignorant of a fix is just terrible. I changed the oil this spring and I went to the dealer to get a new oil filter and they sold me the wrong one and I had to go back and exchange it. How stupid can a dealer be?

I would not buy another Scag. Too bad as they seem to be very well built machines.
 

ditz

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  • / About to purchase a Tiger Cat II....Right decision?
I personally would not recommend buying one for only personal use. I am mowing less than an acre and a half so it does not get used very heavy and it has only been used for a little over one season here in Middle TN. I have a Tiger Cat and it is a very well built machine which is why I bought it. The damn thing has an intermittent fail to start problem and the dealer does not seem to give a crap. It has been in the shop once and they found no problem. Most of the time it seems to start just fine but sometimes if I shut it off in the middle of a mowing for some reason it just won't start when I return. It just seems dead.....no click or anything. It will usually start after I let it sit for a couple of hours as if nothing every happened. Very frustrating. I got to believe that it is one of the safety lock out switches of the starter switch. I read in another thread that there seems to be a problem with a relay behind the dash close to the starter switch. This thing has less than a hundred hours and to spend this kind of money for a mower and then have this kind of problem and the dealer is ignorant of a fix is just terrible. I changed the oil this spring and I went to the dealer to get a new oil filter and they sold me the wrong one and I had to go back and exchange it. How stupid can a dealer be?

I would not buy another Scag. Too bad as they seem to be very well built machines.
 

Mad Mackie

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  • / About to purchase a Tiger Cat II....Right decision?
I'm 73 and have been wrenching since I was 12. There is no such thing as a perfect machine!!!!
There is no such service department that puts out 100% repaired equipment!!!
Servicing dealers vary in quality from less than 1 to around 9 out of 10.
The customers attitude has a lot to do with the turn around time and quality of service that comes out of most servicing dealerships.
Bear in mind that I had been on the other side of the counter for a lot of years and now that I'm retired, I find myself in line with a very varying sort of folks!
As for Scag machines, the cranking relay has been problematic, there are other machines that use the very same relay and some of them have similar problems with these relays.
My last job was as an aircraft mech and the dealer had recently sold a new 7 million dollar aircraft to a customer that they were not familiar with. This customer turned out to be the biggest pain in the rear that I had dealt with in recent years. The director of maintenance was afraid of this customer and put him on me. Long story short, there is a reason why my coworkers nicknamed me "Mad Mackie"!!!! The aircraft owner and I had a good chat which at times got "hot", but settled down after he realized at least for the moment that he was out of line. When the aircraft was delivered, the pilot thanked me and handed me an envelope from the owner with a nice note and two one hundred dollar bills. I sent a thank you note to the owner, we are still friends although at very different social/economic levels.:laughing::biggrin::smile:
 

ditz

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  • / About to purchase a Tiger Cat II....Right decision?
Assuming the relay is the problem what are the odds of getting a new one that functions as it should?

I do appreciate the position of the dealer and the manufacturer. I have worked in the Automotive industry for many years and believe me they are not forgiving of problem parts. They charge their suppliers tens of thousands of dollars for just one problem part. The quality requirements of the automotive industry are far less forgiving than the Airplane industry. The last place I worked hired a quality manager out of the Airplane industry and he failed with a just a few months. Over the years my tolerance has been reduced concerning poor quality.
 
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