What is the top commercial ZTR out there?

texmowing

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I would like to here from all the pros:

We are mowing:
- 90 Acres a week
- Mostly flat yards but have some holes and bumps here and there

Scag? But what kind... Cheetah or Tiger cat 2? or other?
Ferris?
Gravely?
Xmark?
Dixie Chopper?
Spartan? (I know ... Covering all bases)
Kubota


... We like the 52" to 62" range

We like our mowers to:
- Take a beating and last
- Cut Clean

...Which one will beat out all others?

Can't wait to hear the feed back
 

jekjr

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I would like to here from all the pros:

We are mowing:
- 90 Acres a week
- Mostly flat yards but have some holes and bumps here and there

Scag? But what kind... Cheetah or Tiger cat 2? or other?
Ferris?
Gravely?
Xmark?
Dixie Chopper?
Spartan? (I know ... Covering all bases)
Kubota


... We like the 52" to 62" range

We like our mowers to:
- Take a beating and last
- Cut Clean

...Which one will beat out all others?

Can't wait to hear the feed back

I cut 90+ yards every 2 weeks from 15 acres or so down.

Most of it is cut on 2 week intervals. Most of it has a large percentage of Pensacola Bahia in them. I have never operated anyitng that will out cut a 52" Tiger Cat Scag.

I have cut grass beside numerous other brands in neighborhoods where we work. Nothing i have seen in my opinion will out cut the Tiger Cat Scag.

In my opinion the 52" has a better cut than the 61". If you are cutting flat out smooth yards that are wide open then I guess the 61" would be ideal but if you are like us and load and unload numerous times a day and cut smaller yards as well then I would still stay with the 52".

We have demonstrated the Turf Tiger with a 61" on several occasions but the quality of cut is not as good or was not for us anyway. Plus the difference in money just did not ad up spending the extra when the cut or amount of grass you could cut in a day was not different.

We operated Kubotas for a while. After running Kubota and Scag I personally would not run a Kubota if Kubota gave me a brand new one to run.

I have 3 Tiger Cats. One bought in 2014, which has over 1700 hours on it. One in 2015, that has over 1000. not sure how many actually because the hour meter went out on it and I did not get it fixed in a timely manner. And one in 2016.It now has over 800 hours on it. I also just bought a new Tiger Cat II a few weeks ago. It now has over 50 hours on it. Not sure without looking.

I traded in a ZD 326 Kubota with 800 hours on its when I bought the second Tiger Cat that I bought in 2015. In my opinion it would not cut grass even close to the Tiger Cat. I had a ZG 222 that I recently got rid of as well that as far as I am concerned was useless to cut grass with.

If there was anyting that is sold in my area that would out cut the Tiger Cat I would be running it. For me unless they make a drastic change that is determinal to them I would not run anything else.
 

texmowing

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This is amazing feedback. The tiger cat 2 was already on my shortlist but now I think it’s a done deal. I think my next post will most likely be with my new scag with more performance maximizing questions.
 

jekjr

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I bought them identical because I can haul the deck belt and the pump belt in my truck and not have to have but one of each. All blades are the same so I don't have to keep blades separated. Filters are all the same also so I don't have to identify something different for each mower...........

Abused is not a strong enough word for what my older three have been through. Assaulted or molested would better describe them and they have been relatively trouble free considering in the conditions they have worked under.

They have operated for days on wet grass at times even in the rain. They have worked in mud. They have operated at times in extremely hot and dry weather with much dust. We have used them in the winter time to cut up leaves which is brutal. There is not much worse work for a mower than an Alabama Summer Day during the Dog Days of Summer. The Bahia Grass grows terribly fast and is terribly tough.

At times long hours and at times stretch out time for service........ You might find something to duplicate them but I don't think that you will beat them. Tough machines.

One thing we have found. If you run high lift blades you will have issues with sandblasting at around 800 hours. If you have a welding machine and some scrap pieces of plate though you can fix them easily.At about 1000 or so hours the baffles under the deck will ear through. I went to a welding shop and had some plate cut and rolled to the correct radius and welded it in.......
 

Rivets

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I’ve been servicing Kubota for many years and there is nothing wrong with Kubota besides personal preferences. Have most of the big landscapers in the area who run them and wouldn’t buy anything else. There is a reason they are a little more pricey, it’s called quality. Everyone has their preference, so you’ll have to go out and test drive those pieces, which have good dealers in your area.
 

Darryl G

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Scag makes some great machines, no doubt. But they are heavy and as a result are prone to causing rutting and other turf damage. I prefer something a bit lighter and more nimble in order to tread as lightly as possible. My Bob-Cat Fastcat Pro with 52 inch deck and 22hp Kawi is over 300 pounds lighter than a TC II with the same deck size and engine.
 

jekjr

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I ran Kubota mowers. Had a ZD 326 and a ZG 222. They are good machines. However they will not cut tall stemmed grass like Pensacola Bahia with a Scag. The deck design is different. They will leave stringers while the Scag Velocity Decks don't.

One of my neighbors bought a new Kubota and finally took a Matabo and cut about 1/2" off the bottom of the front of the deck to get it to cut the mess. I see commercial guys running them daily. There are some here the haul three and four of them on a trailer. However if I am cutting a yard next door to the guy with the Kubota it won't be long before I am cutting that yard too.

I got about the same hours on a belt change on the deck of Kubota as I do with my Scags. With the Kubota ZD 326 you have to pull the deck out and remove bolts out of the gear box to get the belt on. On the Scag it is about 10 minutes and NO tools.

Changing blades on the Kubota is much more time consuming than it is on the Scag.

The Kubota mowers are more expensive to operate as far as parts ect.
 

jekjr

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Scag makes some great machines, no doubt. But they are heavy and as a result are prone to causing rutting and other turf damage. I prefer something a bit lighter and more nimble in order to tread as lightly as possible. My Bob-Cat Fastcat Pro with 52 inch deck and 22hp Kawi is over 300 pounds lighter than a TC II with the same deck size and engine.

We have run next door to Bob Cat mowers as well. If I were not running Scags Bbo Cat would probably be my second choice. However they too like so many others will not cut Bahia Grass like the Scag will. If I am not mistake also Blade change is more of a hassle because you have to get under them while you do not with a Scag Tiger Cat.
 

texmowing

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Getting close to getting the Scag Tiger Cat 2 but wanted to hear thoughts about this particular Swisher:

Swisher Big Mow (66") 31HP Kawasaki Front Mount Zero Turn Mower
 

tbzep

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In my area, diesel powered Grasshoppers are the choice of our full time commercial guys that have the $$ to spend on equipment. The local dealer says the Grasshopper company has better support for him and his customers than any brand he's ever carried, including the other brands he currently has. Our city parks and rec dept runs diesel powered Toros. For small operations and secondary income folks, I see them running Grasshopper, eXmark, Toro, and Husqvarna gas powered mowers because that's our local dealers (within 10 miles) carry. I haven't seen any commercial Gravely machines in my town yet, but my dealer just started carrying them last year. They are being used in the two towns near me that carry the brand. I've only seen one Scag in a town about 10 miles from me, mainly because the closest dealer is over an hour away. I do see them in use when I drive through that area, but haven't seen Kubotas being used. They are sold by the same dealer that has Scags. It may just be timing because I don't drive through that area often.

Edit: And within 24 hours of posting the above, I saw two commercial Kubota mowers on a trailer this morning. Not sure if they were just passing through, or if they have started mowing locally.
 
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