First time shopper

DK35vince said:

Certainly not typical of a Kubota Diesel at such low hours.
Did he run some seriously bad fuel threw it to lose both a pump and injectors at such low hours ??

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My thoughts exactly. Any engine can have a problem at anytime, but with clean, moisture, and algae free fuel the injectors and pump should need no attention for a long time.
My wife, kids, as well as myself all drive ALH TDI Volkswagens that have 190K to over 400K miles on them with original injectors, pumps, turbos and even clutches. I know of examples of the same cars having all those items replaced at less than 100K miles at great expense. I also know of a man in The Dallas Metro area that had his ALH TDI totaled at 780K miles and was highly aggravated because it was still a great car with little to no value from an insurance perspective.
I need a mower and have been focusing on Scag TT 2’s, specifically a 2017 35hp Vanguard used for $8500 or a 2018 TT 2 Kubota at $13K. Both used mowers have 250 hours on them. A new 37 EFI can be bought from across state lines with no tax for $12K with a full warranty. The used do not have a transferable warranty unless I used the original owners name which I would not do. My local DMV said they would not collect tax on an out of state purchase and that is legal to purchase in that manner.
I would like a trouble free mower for a long time and do not want to be under powered as my yard was formerly a cattle field with very thick grass that kept my 318 JD running up against the govenor most of the time. Help me make a decision between these mowers or something cheaper that would not disappoint.

mcdonell said:

My friend's TT Kubota had to have new injectors and pump at less than 1000 hours. He said he paid the Kubota dealer about a grand. I can't remember what the second trip to the Kubota dealer was about. But he said it wasn't cheap.

I know his diesel seems louder than my 27 hp Kawasaki or my F350 6.7 Diesel. :laughing:

I know too that people should buy what they want or they won't be happy.

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These newer diesels are a nightmare. In some cases, you can just about buy a new gas engine for the price of a set or two of injectors for a diesel. Add the high maintenance costs of emission components, higher priced oil changes, fuel filters, etc. and I can't imagine why someone would want a diesel mower engine over a gasoline engine.

AT&T in our area just bought new Ditch Witch 410SX trenchers with Kubota GAS engines due to the high maintenance costs of the diesels. There hardly isn't a diesel out there these days that doesn't spell high maintenance costs with all the emission components and direct injection.

ARN Greencare said:

AT&T in our area just bought new Ditch Witch 410SX trenchers with Kubota GAS engines due to the high maintenance costs of the diesels. There hardly isn't a diesel out there these days that doesn't spell high maintenance costs with all the emission components and direct injection.

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These Scags use a 25 HP Kubota's.
25 HP or less diesels currently do not have/require the emission crap on them, so a non issue.
These engines will last thousands of trouble free hours.

I would have preferred diesel on my zero turn, but due to the several thousand $$ extra cost new I went with the gas model.
My 35 HP diesel compact tractor uses about half the fuel per hour my 35 HP gas zero turn does (Kawasaki FX 1000V)

DK35vince said:

These Scags use a 25 HP Kubota's.
25 HP or less diesels currently do not have/require the emission crap on them, so a non issue.
These engines will last thousands of trouble free hours.

I would have preferred diesel on my zero turn, but due to the several thousand $$ extra cost new I went with the gas model.
My 35 HP diesel compact tractor uses about half the fuel per hour my 35 HP gas zero turn does (Kawasaki FX 1000V)

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Kubota is meeting tier 4 emissions without an exhaust particulate filter cause they are not as strict in the stated 25HP range. They are using combustion temperatures, injection timing, and fuel pressures to get the engine's emissions to an acceptable level. Though they have evaded the use of a particulate filter, the higher fuel pressures and combustion temperatures have still compromised their longevity.

And comparing a tractor's fuel economy to a mower's is not fair. Unless you are running the tractor at it's peak RPM with constantly varying loads it's entire run time, just like a mower. Though the diesel does use less fuel I will agree.

ARN Greencare said:

And comparing a tractor's fuel economy to a mower's is not fair. Unless you are running the tractor at it's peak RPM with constantly varying loads it's entire run time, just like a mower. Though the diesel does use less fuel I will agree.

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It doesn't matter what I'm doing with the tractor.
I also use my diesel tractor for mowing the lawn.
My tractor running a 7' rear finish mower uses about half the fuel per hour as my gas powered zero turn with a 6' deck. Both the same HP mowing the same lawn

DK35vince said:

It doesn't matter what I'm doing with the tractor.
I also use my diesel tractor for mowing the lawn.
My tractor running a 7' rear finish mower uses about half the fuel per hour as my gas powered zero turn with a 6' deck mowing the same lawn

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It does matter. If your tractor is pulling a small unloaded hay wagon, it is probably doing less work than your mower. If it is mowing grass, it is probably doing more work than your mower due to the added weight and powertrain components. But because they are such different pieces of equipment, and the tractor's wide range of usages, it could be doing more or less work. My Oliver 550 gas engine tractor will use less fuel than my 61" mower most of the time unless I am either plowing or bush hogging with it, then it uses more.

I agreed the diesel is more fuel efficient, isn't that good enough? I am not trying to argue. I work in a truck and equipment garage in which we work on various pieces of equipment. And today's diesels are no where near as reliable as they once were, and are much more expensive to repair and maintain.

I love my Kubota tractor, Kubota makes great engines. There is more however to a mower than just the engine.
I ran Kubota mowers for a while until I demonstrated Scag. The Scag is on a different planet than the Kubota as far as cutting grass. If you want prestige go with Kubota. If you want to cut grass go with the Scag. A Tiger Cat with Kawasaki is a hard animal to beat cutting grass and is much less money than the diesel Kubota mowers. I have run them both in the same yards side by side. I have a Tiger Cat with the 22hp Kawasaki that has over 2000 hours on it that has been more than abused and I run it daily. Between me and my friend we have 5 Tiger Cats and Tiger Cat IIs and as far as I am concerned anything else is a waste of money. They are incredible machines and I have never seen any brand that will cut Pensacola Bahia Grass with one. If there was a better mower sold locally that is what we would be running. There isn't.

jekjr said:

I love my Kubota tractor, Kubota makes great engines. There is more however to a mower than just the engine.
I ran Kubota mowers for a while until I demonstrated Scag. The Scag is on a different planet than the Kubota as far as cutting grass. If you want prestige go with Kubota. If you want to cut grass go with the Scag. A Tiger Cat with Kawasaki is a hard animal to beat cutting grass and is much less money than the diesel Kubota mowers. I have run them both in the same yards side by side. I have a Tiger Cat with the 22hp Kawasaki that has over 2000 hours on it that has been more than abused and I run it daily. Between me and my friend we have 5 Tiger Cats and Tiger Cat IIs and as far as I am concerned anything else is a waste of money. They are incredible machines and I have never seen any brand that will cut Pensacola Bahia Grass with one. If there was a better mower sold locally that is what we would be running. There isn't.

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The OP is asking about Scag mowers with the Kubota Diesel engine. Not Kubota mowers.

I stopped my head from spinning from all the research into the commercial mower market by making a purchase. After considering the benefits of buying new, I could not overcome the high price to mow my 4-7 acres, so I bought a 10 year old Turf Tiger Cat diesel from an individual.
It has a light kit so I gave it a test in the dark last night. The area behind my 40x60 shop has not been cut for years and while dead and brown, it is 8+" deep and I am impressed by the torque as the engine did not labor at all. Getting too close to an untrimmed tree with head level branches, I pushed hard on the sticks and experienced a power wheelie as if I were on a 1000cc sport bike. I know these two examples are not an accurate indicator as to how well it will cut fresh green grass, but I suspect it will meet and probably exceed my needs.
Thanks for all the help and comments!