I am currently looking for my first commercial mower ever. I currently have two 21" Toro SR4(s). I would like to save a much money as possible and not spend a lot, but I want to spend enough that I am buying an excellent piece of equipment. I have been looking at pretty much every single company that makes a walk behind that has a dealer near me. I researched zero turns, stand on mowers, and walk behinds. I have settled on a walk behind so don't try to start selling me on a zero turn or something. Right now the front runners are the Scag SWZT and the Snapper Pro SW35. I will lay out some of the pros and the cons between the two mowers. I am open to other brand recommendations.
Scag
Pros:
1. I have and some people I know personally recommend Scag and not just recommend them but also so how well they have run for them. Also, lots of people here on the internet say that Scag is an amazing brand. So as far as I can tell by what other people say I believe that Scag is a quality mower.
2. I know Scags stripe well and that is pretty important to me.
3. Not much more expensive than Snapper Pro as far as I can tell.
Cons:
1. The closest scag dealer is about a 20-30 minute drive one way. I don't have a ton of clients yet so I'm not super concerned with time, but I would prefer to save time so at least I have it do something other than driving a mower to a dealer.
2. Smaller engine so I'm not sure how well it will do considering I want to mulch pretty much 100% of the time and use a sulky.
3. Not the Velocity+ deck.
4. Not sure how well it mulches.
Snapper Pro
Pros:
1. The dealer is super close. My current dealer carries snapper pro and from my house to the dealer is about a five minute 5 drive if that.
2. Has two engines to choose from either Kawi and B&S and the B&S has plenty of horsepower.
3. Cheaper by a bit, but if you factor in how big of an engine it comes with it is much cheaper than other walk behinds with that much power.
Cons:
1. The question of quality. I heard that snapper pro at one point used and might still be using more plastic than competitors. I heard in the 90s or early 2000s that they used plastic pulleys or something. I'm just not sure if they are quality I have always kind of thought of Snapper as cheap.
2. Not sure how well it mulches.
3. Not sure about striping. I've seen pictures that look really good and others that don't.
Mulching capabilities are VERY important considering I would prefer to mulch 100% of the time other than maybe fall clean ups.
I'm planning on getting either a 48" or a 52" with either a 30" or 21" Toro push mower.
One thing that is the same with both models it that there are no scalp rollers on the 36" one in the middle on the 48" and on the 52" it has rollers in the middle and sides. So for the option of more scalp rollers I might go with the 52 inch.
My Toro push mowers have been awesome so I thought I might go with a Toro/Exmark but when I found out that a floating deck hydro drive was going to cost at least $8,000 I started looking at other brands
I feel like I am forgetting some details that I might need to add, but for now just ask if you need any more information to help me pick the right mower.
Scag
Pros:
1. I have and some people I know personally recommend Scag and not just recommend them but also so how well they have run for them. Also, lots of people here on the internet say that Scag is an amazing brand. So as far as I can tell by what other people say I believe that Scag is a quality mower.
2. I know Scags stripe well and that is pretty important to me.
3. Not much more expensive than Snapper Pro as far as I can tell.
Cons:
1. The closest scag dealer is about a 20-30 minute drive one way. I don't have a ton of clients yet so I'm not super concerned with time, but I would prefer to save time so at least I have it do something other than driving a mower to a dealer.
2. Smaller engine so I'm not sure how well it will do considering I want to mulch pretty much 100% of the time and use a sulky.
3. Not the Velocity+ deck.
4. Not sure how well it mulches.
Snapper Pro
Pros:
1. The dealer is super close. My current dealer carries snapper pro and from my house to the dealer is about a five minute 5 drive if that.
2. Has two engines to choose from either Kawi and B&S and the B&S has plenty of horsepower.
3. Cheaper by a bit, but if you factor in how big of an engine it comes with it is much cheaper than other walk behinds with that much power.
Cons:
1. The question of quality. I heard that snapper pro at one point used and might still be using more plastic than competitors. I heard in the 90s or early 2000s that they used plastic pulleys or something. I'm just not sure if they are quality I have always kind of thought of Snapper as cheap.
2. Not sure how well it mulches.
3. Not sure about striping. I've seen pictures that look really good and others that don't.
Mulching capabilities are VERY important considering I would prefer to mulch 100% of the time other than maybe fall clean ups.
I'm planning on getting either a 48" or a 52" with either a 30" or 21" Toro push mower.
One thing that is the same with both models it that there are no scalp rollers on the 36" one in the middle on the 48" and on the 52" it has rollers in the middle and sides. So for the option of more scalp rollers I might go with the 52 inch.
My Toro push mowers have been awesome so I thought I might go with a Toro/Exmark but when I found out that a floating deck hydro drive was going to cost at least $8,000 I started looking at other brands
I feel like I am forgetting some details that I might need to add, but for now just ask if you need any more information to help me pick the right mower.
