Capabilities of Toro Zero Turns???

[jmrubicon]

You would be $$$ ahead to hire somebody to cut your grass and not buy anything.

I have found someone to bush hog it for $150, so you might be right about that.

 

[Nwatson99]

I do not care to pay for the "right mower". But I also do not want to pay extra $$$ for a mower just so I can say I have a commercial mower. I can afford a commercial if I wanted to, but that is not the point. A mower that is over 5k should be able to handle 3.5 hours of mowing a week in my opinion. The one I have now was 2.5k and it handles the 2hrs a week I mow now just fine. Just seems to me that with this logic the larger residential mowers are useless. Either buy a small one for 3 acres or so or buy a commercial.

You stated you wanted to mow 3 acres now and 8 additional acres every week alternating 4 of those acres weekly, why not get the proper mower and mow it all and be done with it?

Larger residential mowers are just that, they come equipped with the lower quality engine, some have different transmissions, they are a suped up residential.
Get something that will last you an why are you hell bent on Toro for, what part of Ky are you from, I mean we have all dealers and plenty of them?

 

[Ric]

I do not care to pay for the "right mower". But I also do not want to pay extra $$$ for a mower just so I can say I have a commercial mower. I can afford a commercial if I wanted to, but that is not the point. A mower that is over 5k should be able to handle 3.5 hours of mowing a week in my opinion. The one I have now was 2.5k and it handles the 2hrs a week I mow now just fine. Just seems to me that with this logic the larger residential mowers are useless. Either buy a small one for 3 acres or so or buy a commercial.

IMO you wouldn't be paying extra $$$ for a mower just so I can say I have a commercial mower. I know 3.5 hrs a week doesn't sound like a lot of hrs but when you consider that a normal homeowner, that being someone with a residential size lot will put that much time on his mower in a month 3.5 hrs a week is 14 hrs a month. Now I can say that I run both types of ZTR mowers right now, the Cub Cadet Z Force 48" with a 22hp commercial grade Kohler and The Z Master 48" with a FX 20.5 hp Kawasaki and there's no comparison between the two.

Right at the moment the CC is about 4 yrs old and I have to say it has been a great little mower and the Kohler is in great shape with 750 hrs but I'm looking a replacing all the spindles and I'll bet probably a couple of pulleys, also replacing all the bushings in the front end and wheel bearings in the front wheels and shortly doing something with the zt 2800 drives so I was faced with spending a bunch of money on a 4 yr old mower or buying the Z Master which I did and the CC will be going away. The thing is hour for hour my Toro GS with a 15hp Kawasaki has 630 hrs on it in two years and I've never done or have to do any of the things to it that I would have to do to the CC if I kept it and I expect it will be the same for the ZM

Now for another comparison try comparing separate pumps and wheel motors to your hydro gear drives. MY GS has the separate pumps an wheel motors and the difference between it and the ZM is daylight and dark.

The other thing you may want to consider is ease of maintenance, most of the decent commercial stuff is all sealed bearing there's no messing around with grease guns and doing spindles and wheels and what ever else ever 25 hrs.

 

[Shughes717]

There are commercial zero turn mowers with 60" decks between the 5k and 6k range if you want to shop all brands. An example would be the snapper pro s125xt. It's offered with the fs series kawasaki engine 60" deck and zt3400 hydros for $5500. Someone saying they don't want to buy anything a company has anything to do with is an uninformed opinion about that product. All brands offer similar components, and most have comparable machines. Some companies put higher price tags on their machines, but if you look at the main components such as drive train and deck you will see that they all offer a well built machine. My suggestion is to shop every dealer and all brands in your area. This is a good time of year to purchase a mower.

 

[exotion]

There are commercial zero turn mowers with 60" decks between the 5k and 6k range if you want to shop all brands. An example would be the snapper pro s125xt. It's offered with the fs series kawasaki engine 60" deck and zt3400 hydros for $5500. Someone saying they don't want to buy anything a company has anything to do with is an uninformed opinion about that product. All brands offer similar components, and most have comparable machines. Some companies put higher price tags on their machines, but if you look at the main components such as drive train and deck you will see that they all offer a well built machine. My suggestion is to shop every dealer and all brands in your area. This is a good time of year to purchase a mower.

Good advice

 

[Ric]

There are commercial zero turn mowers with 60" decks between the 5k and 6k range if you want to shop all brands. An example would be the snapper pro s125xt. It's offered with the fs series kawasaki engine 60" deck and zt3400 hydros for $5500. Someone saying they don't want to buy anything a company has anything to do with is an uninformed opinion about that product. All brands offer similar components, and most have comparable machines. Some companies put higher price tags on their machines, but if you look at the main components such as drive train and deck you will see that they all offer a well built machine. My suggestion is to shop every dealer and all brands in your area. This is a good time of year to purchase a mower.

I agree there are a lot of ztr mowers you can buy cheaper but keep in mind, you get what you pay for. You buy cheaper you get cheaper. An example would be the snapper pro s125xt and according to there site it's offered in a 52" or 61" deck they don't list a 60" and some of the components are similar or made by the same company's but not everything is the same if you want to compare models.
When I look at the snapper pro s125xt FS series Kawasaki engine 60" deck and zt3400 hydros for $5500 I don't see any comparison to the Z-Master 2000 with the FX series engine financing $6100

 

[Shughes717]

I agree there are a lot of ztr mowers you can buy cheaper but keep in mind, you get what you pay for. You buy cheaper you get cheaper. An example would be the snapper pro s125xt and according to there site it's offered in a 52" or 61" deck they don't list a 60" and some of the components are similar or made by the same company's but not everything is the same if you want to compare models.
When I look at the snapper pro s125xt FS series Kawasaki engine 60" deck and zt3400 hydros for $5500 I don't see any comparison to the Z-Master 2000 with the FX series engine financing $6100

I was simply pointing out there are commercial mowers out there in the op's price range and used the s125xt as an example. Does the z master you priced have the 60" deck or the 48"? No dealer can touch that price for a zmaster with a 60" deck here. Even the op said he could get one for $7800. The s125xt is twice the mower the Mx 6000 is and has a lower list price. I would rather pay $5500 for a commercial mower than $5600 for a residential myself. And I do see a comparison between the zmaster 2000 and the s125xt. Yes the zmaster has the heavy duty commercial engine, but it also cost much more. The s125xt has a commercial engine and hydros and has a lower list price than the one the op got for the residential mx 6000. I'm not pushing the snapper pro, I am saying the op should shop every brand and dealer in his area and get the mower that fits his needs for the best price. Btw I would put my snapper pro s150xt up against a zmaster the same size any day. Mine has the fx series kawasaki engine, zt5400 hydros, and I purchase it for $5300 in 2012. It only has the 48" deck, but it handles my lawn great with no issues. The only difference in commercial mowers is a few features, paint, and price. You can get the same drive train options on just about any brand. It just depends on how much you want to spend. I have used many brands, including exmark and toro. All good mowers some just cost more for the same options. And most offer similar financing.

 

[Ric]

I was simply pointing out there are commercial mowers out there in the op's price range and used the s125xt as an example. Does the z master you priced have the 60" deck or the 48"? No dealer can touch that price for a zmaster with a 60" deck here. Even the op said he could get one for $7800. The s125xt is twice the mower the Mx 6000 is and has a lower list price. I would rather pay $5500 for a commercial mower than $5600 for a residential myself. And I do see a comparison between the zmaster 2000 and the s125xt. Yes the zmaster has the heavy duty commercial engine, but it also cost much more. The s125xt has a commercial engine and hydros and has a lower list price than the one the op got for the residential mx 6000. I'm not pushing the snapper pro, I am saying the op should shop every brand and dealer in his area and get the mower that fits his needs for the best price. Btw I would put my snapper pro s150xt up against a zmaster the same size any day. Mine has the fx series kawasaki engine, zt5400 hydros, and I purchase it for $5300 in 2012. It only has the 48" deck, but it handles my lawn great with no issues. The only difference in commercial mowers is a few features, paint, and price. You can get the same drive train options on just about any brand. It just depends on how much you want to spend. I have used many brands, including exmark and toro. All good mowers some just cost more for the same options. And most offer similar financing.

It's the 48" I would have liked to had the 60" but with my residential lots it just would be on the trailer the majority of the time, the 48" for my use is a lot more productive. The things that I look at when I look for a mower besides the engine and drive are things I mention before like the spindles, there size and if there sealed bearings or not, the size of the frame and the gas tank, is the front end and wheels all sealed bearings, how easy or assessable is it for oil changes etc. The Z Master is set up for a guy who mows daily.

 

[Shughes717]

It's the 48" I would have liked to had the 60" but with my residential lots it just would be on the trailer the majority of the time, the 48" for my use is a lot more productive. The things that I look at when I look for a mower besides the engine and drive are things I mention before like the spindles, there size and if there sealed bearings or not, the size of the frame and the gas tank, is the front end and wheels all sealed bearings, how easy or assessable is it for oil changes etc. The Z Master is set up for a guy who mows daily.

All features on my mower are commercial. Yes I grease the casters, but it only takes about 5 minutes for me to grease every zerk on my mower. I have run sealed bearings and greaseable on farm equipment. Can't get any heavier duty than that. For the heaviest work, such as disking, the bearings are always greasable. So are the front ends of tractors. It is also easy to change the oil on my mower. The spindles are heavy duty 2.4" diameter ball bearings greaseable on my mower as well. My drive wheels are 22x11-10 and so are the ones on the s125xt. The drive wheels on the 2014 s150xt mowers are 23x9.5-12. The ones on the zmaster 2000 are 22x9.5- 12. The 2014 s150xt 48" also holds 10 gallons of fuel compared to 8 on the zmaster 2000. You have not mentioned anything that isn't matched on the snapper pro mowers. Some cases even better. And you can get the snapper pro mowers at a better price. You are comparing to mowers you obviously have no experience with.

 

[Shughes717]

As I said earlier all brands offer comparable mowers. It just depends on what you are willing to pay for the particular brand's features and drive train options. There are other brands out there that offer great mowers at a good price. The best way to find the right mower is to look at all of them instead of dismissing a certain brand because someone doesn't like engines the parent company manufactures. Those engines aren't even offered on the commercial mowers. The only one that is the commercial turf and it is also offered on other brands as well. The vanguard is offered on most commercial brands and they are considered great engines. Uninformed opinion!