Please help me. Buying my first ZTR

yellow109r

yellow109r

Member
I'm new to the forum and to the riding lawn mower world. My new house has about 1 acre and I have a budget of $4000.

I want a good quality ZTR mower. Any thoughts?

Been looking at
Bad boy mz magnum
Raptor SD

Thanks in advance for advice
 
Do you have any steep hills on your property you will be mowing? Residential ztr mowers don't do well on hills. Snapper pro s50xt should be close to that price range. We'll built mower. It isn't a full commercial mower but it is an estate mower. I am not a big fan of the residential badboy mowers. They are fine on flat surfaces but will not hold a hill well at all. Would suggest staying with a kawasaki engine or even Koehler. Don't go with the low end Briggs. Also want to lift the seat on the mower and look at the hydro pumps. Make sure there are cooling fans mounted on top of them. Also find the mower with the largest hydro pumps you can get for your budget. You don't want anything smaller than zt3100 pumps.
 
Like most here we all have our brand of mower and will tell you why they like their mower. I prefer Exmark mowers. Especially when you get to residential with commercial options added and commercial mowers. I feel the quality and detail are better in my opinion. Be sure when you compare mowers you are comparing apples to apples. All the name brand full on companies (Exmark, toro, gravely, etc) have residential, the in betweens, and the commercial mowers. Price goes up as you go form residential to commercial. The price range you have given would the residential Exmark Quest (Exmark Manufacturing - Products) E or S series 2999 to 3999 in most cases. At 5000 you can begin to look at the in-betweens/commercial series. For Exmark, that is the Pioneer Series (which is what I decided on a couple months ago) and the Lazer series (Lazers are commercial). I would also suggest you consider the dealer who will service your mower. Are they local? Do that have a good reputation? Are they timely? etc. This was a big deal to me when I bought a couple months ago.

Take your time and do your research. With just an acre, you don't need overkill, but you do want quality. You are making a potential long term investment with good care of the mower.
 
As with all advice if there are no links to the "Do not buy" or "Stay away from "
statements, to reinforce and back them up, then disregard as uninformed and ignorant biased drivel.
Not directed at anyone. Just saying. Also the part of the country you live in makes a difference.
Can we ask where you live and what dealers are around for support?
4 k can get you a lot of machine. Do you have size restrictions? Gates or such?
Do you plan on towing anything? Do you have areas that stay wet longer than others?
Do you have physical limitations?. I'm asking because some decks are easier than others to lift on the fly.
Some mowers burn the grass when you stop to move something. Some a are serviceable by the owner and some are not.
Do you have low hanging branches? Asking about hills is serious. Any ponds?
We can help with your question. But spending your money takes some input from you also.
Let the games begin.:licking: Also if you want to drive at night there are threads here if your mower needs lights.
Weight and tire size may factor in. Also some places offer mower with blower and trimmer for package deal price.
 
Last edited:
serelaw said:
As with all advice if there are no links to the "Do not buy" or "Stay away from "
statements, to reinforce and back them up, then disregard as uninformed and ignorant biased drivel.
Not directed at anyone. Just saying. Also the part of the country you live in makes a difference.
Can we ask where you live and what dealers are around for support?
4 k can get you a lot of machine. Do you have size restrictions? Gates or such?
Do you plan on towing anything? Do you have areas that stay wet longer than others?
Do you have physical limitations?. I'm asking because some decks are easier than others to lift on the fly.
Some mowers burn the grass when you stop to move something. Some a are serviceable by the owner and some are not.
Do you have low hanging branches? Asking about hills is serious. Any ponds?
We can help with your question. But spending your money takes some input from you also.
Let the games begin.:licking: Also if you want to drive at night there are threads here if your mower needs lights.
Weight and tire size may factor in. Also some places offer mower with blower and trimmer for package deal price.
Click to expand...

Agree with most of what you said in your post. Someone's experience with equipment shouldn't be dismissed as uninformed drivel. For instance I have used honda and Briggs small engines on our farms for years. Old Briggs engines were great. Newer small Briggs don't last as long as the Hondas. Saying that, my father has a mower with the Briggs vanguard big block. Good engine with a lot of power, but that's on mowers that will cost more than 4000. You appear to be very well educated on the subject and I am interested to know what you own. The pond ? Is also a very good one. A close friend has a large pond behind his home. He owned a residential john deere ztr. Couldn't stay on the bank and he ran it in the pond twice lol. He now owns a hustler one x and loves it. Hasn't put it in his pond yet.
 
Live in central Oklahoma
Mainly flat with a small ditch running down one side of the property
Dealers around me are hustler badboy John Deere and Gravely
 
Sounds like you have a pretty easy lawn to mow. With no hills, ponds, or obstacles to worry about you will most likely be happy with any of the mower brands you have listed. The one thing about john deere is they have a great support network. With only 1 acre you don't have to get a huge deck to mow the lawn in a timely manor. One of those brands with a 48" is more than enough to mow it in no time. Could even go with a 42" deck with no worries.
 
yellow109r said:
Live in central Oklahoma
Mainly flat with a small ditch running down one side of the property
Dealers around me are hustler badboy John Deere and Gravely
Click to expand...
Thank you so much for the replies.
Now we can find you the thickest fabricated easy adjustable chain hung deck, engine power,
Hydro transmissions, largest tires, grease fitting equipped parts, adjustable high back suspension seat,
dampened steering, largest fuel tank, rops equipped, longest warranted, zippity doo dah dayed unit.
I'm sure the contestants will be rolling in shortly. A lot of peeps are at work and will be happy to reply.
 
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