Used LazerZ????

mkdarby76

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Hello everyone, I’m looking at a 2008 Exmark LazerZ with a 1,000 hours on it. It has a 28hp Kawasaki engine and the Ultracut 72” deck. The mower appears to have been taken care of and serviced correctly according to the previous owner. If anyone has had any experience with this mower if you could tell the good and bad about it I sure would appreciate it. I will be just using it to cut my grass so it won’t be used commercially. Thanks
 

Darryl G

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I've never owned a full-sized Lazer but my Lazer Z HP and my walk-behind Exmark have been excellent machines. The full-sized Lazers are the mowers of choice by many landscapers. That and Scag, and in my area Bob-Cats too. Exmarks have a fairly highly baffled deck that gives an excellent cut and fine clippings, but they tend to clog and spit clumps in heavy and/or wet cutting conditions. As far as hours go, that's a little high, but still less than half of the reasonable life expectancy of the motor and maybe 25 percent of the life expectancy of the machine.

My main concern would be the hydros. Make sure there are no leaks at all and that they operate properly and smoothly when the unit is hot. You could give it a quick test drive and think it's fine only to find that after 1/2 hour of use one side stops operating properly. They shouldn't "howl" either. Or the engine may run and start fine when cold and then break up and stutter when hot or not start hot. The same with the electric PTO- fine cold and disengages hot. This goes for any mower, not just Exmarks/Kawasaki engines. And a Kawi is always my choice too. I can't speak for that specific engine though.

Basically I'd want to run a mower like that through at least a half hour of mowing before bringing it home.
 

mechanic mark

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I fully agree with operating all controls and driving a bit before making a purchase, just as you would before purchasing a vehicle.
 

mkdarby76

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I've never owned a full-sized Lazer but my Lazer Z HP and my walk-behind Exmark have been excellent machines. The full-sized Lazers are the mowers of choice by many landscapers. That and Scag, and in my area Bob-Cats too. Exmarks have a fairly highly baffled deck that gives an excellent cut and fine clippings, but they tend to clog and spit clumps in heavy and/or wet cutting conditions. As far as hours go, that's a little high, but still less than half of the reasonable life expectancy of the motor and maybe 25 percent of the life expectancy of the machine.

My main concern would be the hydros. Make sure there are no leaks at all and that they operate properly and smoothly when the unit is hot. You could give it a quick test drive and think it's fine only to find that after 1/2 hour of use one side stops operating properly. They shouldn't "howl" either. Or the engine may run and start fine when cold and then break up and stutter when hot or not start hot. The same with the electric PTO- fine cold and disengages hot. This goes for any mower, not just Exmarks/Kawasaki engines. And a Kawi is always my choice too. I can't speak for that specific engine though.

Basically I'd want to run a mower like that through at least a half hour of mowing before bringing it home.

Thanks for the information.
 

cruzenmike

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I received my 2006 Lazer Z CT with approximately 500 hours on it and had to replace the PTO clutch, spindle bearings, belts, blades, voltage regulator, tires and do a carb rebuilt all in the first year that I had it. The mower was used to cut just 3 acres on a residential property and was always stored inside. You have to be very thorough with our inspection of the equipment and look for anything that looks worn, and listen for all of the little noises that the mower makes, at low throttle, high throttle, with the PTO engaged or disengaged and while traveling in all directions. As well built as Exmarks are, and I would never steer someone away from one if they really want it, the replacement parts like clutches, hydraulic pumps and drive motors can be EXPENSIVE. If I were to lose just one drive motor on mine I would be out almost $500 for the parts alone. But with all that being said, if everything functions properly and you do not see what appears to be any urgent repairs, then why not? The cost of a new, comparable model would be 2-4X what you would pay for a used one. That cost savings can fund any upcoming repairs that you may or may not have.
 

Darryl G

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With all due respect Mike, it sounds like he's looking at a full-sized full commercial machine, whereas yours in a step below my 2003 HP/23 Kawi and I believe yours was more of a residential estate mower. I know that the earlier CTs had a smaller/lighter frame, smaller tires, lower ground speed, smaller engine, cheaper spindles, lower grade wheel motors. Maybe they'd beefed them up a bit by 2006 but they're not meant to be run long and hard like the full Lazer is. My HP is an entry level commercial unit and works well for a solo pro. With a 72 inch deck the OP has to be looking at a full blown top of the line Lazer.

I've had no issues with my HP at 1900 hours except for the mercury tip switch and the 23 HP Kawi getting tired, likely due to a lot of heavy leaf grinding and bagging and long bi-weekly cuts. I think I'm only on my 2nd set of belts, and I've only serviced the hydros once - I know, bad boy Darryl. I've never even blown a fuse or replaced a switch. It does have a broken deck pulley now. I lent it to a friend and received it back like that with the deck totally plugged with long wet grass. I've replaced the starter twice from trying to start with it cold - it lives in an unheated shed and I run until mid December in Connecticut - and the FH series Kawi like mine is known for hard starts cold. The choke has to be closed 110%, lol. But it's been run hard and never let me down and until we were left without a nearby dealer, it's what was on at least 80% of the landscaper trailers in my area and they still make up a good percentage. They leave a beautiful cut and stripe nicely without even trying.

I'm sure your unit was frustrating and soured you towards Exmark at least a bit, but those types of problems are not normal for Exmarks, at least not the higher end units.

P.S. - I still have the original tires on mine and they still look good.
 

cruzenmike

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Darryl,

I completely understand that my puny little CT may be geared towards the consumer/homeowner but I have personally seen a few of these on trailers of commercial lawn services; likely because of their compact size. Even to this day, I still believe that my mower is still better built than the current lineup of residential Exmark mowers (Quest and Radius E). And to be honest I am not at all soured by my experience. I enjoy tinkering with equipment and now I know my machine inside and out.

Like I said, I would never steer someone away from an Exmark but the whole point of my post was that when buying a piece of used equipment, due diligence must be done. Once the equipment can be looked over and there is confidence in the condition, then one can make the purchase.
 

Darryl G

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Darryl,

I completely understand that my puny little CT may be geared towards the consumer/homeowner but I have personally seen a few of these on trailers of commercial lawn services; likely because of their compact size. Even to this day, I still believe that my mower is still better built than the current lineup of residential Exmark mowers (Quest and Radius E). And to be honest I am not at all soured by my experience. I enjoy tinkering with equipment and now I know my machine inside and out.

Like I said, I would never steer someone away from an Exmark but the whole point of my post was that when buying a piece of used equipment, due diligence must be done. Once the equipment can be looked over and there is confidence in the condition, then one can make the purchase.

Understood and I absolutely agree. I just wanted to make sure that the OP knew that the machine he's looking at is about as robust as they come and higher up the line than yours and mine.
 
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