Boocoodinkydow
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- Joined
- Aug 17, 2019
- Threads
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I’m a residential user racking up about 50 hours per year. We spend much of the summer at the vacation home and the Bama lawn is usually much overdue when it does get cut.
I bought a new 2011 Kubota ZG222. I couldn’t fault it from a reliability aspect. Outside of scheduled maintenance and blade replacements the only thing I ever did was replace the battery and deck belt once each. But it did have some nagging quirks that bothered me.
The parking brake switch was virtually inaccessible and despite keeping the area blown out it often jammed and took some coercion to crank.
Unless I used premium gas it would diesel at shut off. I sensed that the engine was probably running hotter than it should have and I feel an oil cooler would have been a good additive.
The hood never latched tightly and constantly rattled. Annoying despite using ear protection.
Way too many zirk fittings and many were challenging to get to.
My biggest complaint was the fact it just didn’t like our infamous Bahia grass. Most of my grass is centipede but inevitably Bahia has a tendency to be invasive and if it’s much over ankle high I have to make 2-3 passes before getting a clean cut.
Time for something new!
I narrowed my choices down to a new Kubota Z700 series or the Scag Tiger Cat 2. Earlier in the season when shopping the Kubata dealer, the salesman owned up to the fact that the ZG models had some issues with stemmed grass but tried to convince me that improvements had been made. The dealership changed hands about a month ago and when I revisited last week the new salesman averred he’d had no complaints. I’m gonna call BS on that one. Looking at the new models, I didn’t see any noticeable differences in the new mower deck and felt there was probably not much improvement on cut quality of stemmed grass. When the salesman tried to pass a demo model off as new, that sealed the deal for the competition.
On to the Scag dealership. I opted for the Tiger Cat 2 with the 61” deck and 26 hp Kawi with EFI.
While the suspension seat on the Scag is a vast improvement over my old Kubota, I’ll have to give the nod to the new Kubota Z700 series in the comfort category. Initially, the ergonomic relationship among the seat, armrests, steering controls and footrests seemed awkward on the Scag. Fiddling with seat position and time in the saddle took care of this and I quickly found my comfort zone.
Comparisons to my old Kubota as well as the new series left me with a feeling that the Kubotas are more “refined” than the Scag. Engineering on the Scag seems simplistic yet rugged. And I state this in a positive context rather than negative. I’m in hopes that the simplicity of construction translates to ease of maintenance. The Kubata could be challenging at times. Many of the moving parts on my new mower appear to be off the shelf items that could be more economically procured or easily fabricated.
Shortly after delivery, I got a fright. Having barely completed my first lap, the mower suddenly came to a stop and it appeared that the “check engine” light was on. In a panic I started looking for the cause. It seemed my dealer had put just enough gas in it to load and unload it from the trailer. The light was just the sun light shining through it. Note to dealer: “I just spent $9000 with you. Is it gonna break you to spring for a couple of gallons of gas?!?!”
The cut quality of the Scag in Bahia is impeccable at nearly any speed. I’m impressed! With the increased ground speed, wider cut swath and not having to make multiple passes on tough grass, my cut time is going to be reduced significantly. It appears gas consumption is also going to be cut almost in half.
Really liking my new mower but I have a couple of gripes. First, it’s impossible for me to operate the deck lift unless I move the right control arm to the neutral position. Legs just too long. I’ve gotten used to being able to lift the deck on the fly to jump a small stump occasionally. Gonna really miss this if I can’t rectify it. I think I can raise the steering control arm by fabricating new piece of longer square bar stock that connects the handle to the mechanism.
The other complaint is the fact that during slower maneuvering in sparsely grassed areas, dust and debris discharge from the front of the mower deck is insane! Disappointing!!
When the honeymoon period expires, I may query my decision to abandon the Kubata line but right now I’m ecstatic with the Scag in spite of the couple of shortcomings. Looking forward to a long and happy association.
I bought a new 2011 Kubota ZG222. I couldn’t fault it from a reliability aspect. Outside of scheduled maintenance and blade replacements the only thing I ever did was replace the battery and deck belt once each. But it did have some nagging quirks that bothered me.
The parking brake switch was virtually inaccessible and despite keeping the area blown out it often jammed and took some coercion to crank.
Unless I used premium gas it would diesel at shut off. I sensed that the engine was probably running hotter than it should have and I feel an oil cooler would have been a good additive.
The hood never latched tightly and constantly rattled. Annoying despite using ear protection.
Way too many zirk fittings and many were challenging to get to.
My biggest complaint was the fact it just didn’t like our infamous Bahia grass. Most of my grass is centipede but inevitably Bahia has a tendency to be invasive and if it’s much over ankle high I have to make 2-3 passes before getting a clean cut.
Time for something new!
I narrowed my choices down to a new Kubota Z700 series or the Scag Tiger Cat 2. Earlier in the season when shopping the Kubata dealer, the salesman owned up to the fact that the ZG models had some issues with stemmed grass but tried to convince me that improvements had been made. The dealership changed hands about a month ago and when I revisited last week the new salesman averred he’d had no complaints. I’m gonna call BS on that one. Looking at the new models, I didn’t see any noticeable differences in the new mower deck and felt there was probably not much improvement on cut quality of stemmed grass. When the salesman tried to pass a demo model off as new, that sealed the deal for the competition.
On to the Scag dealership. I opted for the Tiger Cat 2 with the 61” deck and 26 hp Kawi with EFI.
While the suspension seat on the Scag is a vast improvement over my old Kubota, I’ll have to give the nod to the new Kubota Z700 series in the comfort category. Initially, the ergonomic relationship among the seat, armrests, steering controls and footrests seemed awkward on the Scag. Fiddling with seat position and time in the saddle took care of this and I quickly found my comfort zone.
Comparisons to my old Kubota as well as the new series left me with a feeling that the Kubotas are more “refined” than the Scag. Engineering on the Scag seems simplistic yet rugged. And I state this in a positive context rather than negative. I’m in hopes that the simplicity of construction translates to ease of maintenance. The Kubata could be challenging at times. Many of the moving parts on my new mower appear to be off the shelf items that could be more economically procured or easily fabricated.
Shortly after delivery, I got a fright. Having barely completed my first lap, the mower suddenly came to a stop and it appeared that the “check engine” light was on. In a panic I started looking for the cause. It seemed my dealer had put just enough gas in it to load and unload it from the trailer. The light was just the sun light shining through it. Note to dealer: “I just spent $9000 with you. Is it gonna break you to spring for a couple of gallons of gas?!?!”
The cut quality of the Scag in Bahia is impeccable at nearly any speed. I’m impressed! With the increased ground speed, wider cut swath and not having to make multiple passes on tough grass, my cut time is going to be reduced significantly. It appears gas consumption is also going to be cut almost in half.
Really liking my new mower but I have a couple of gripes. First, it’s impossible for me to operate the deck lift unless I move the right control arm to the neutral position. Legs just too long. I’ve gotten used to being able to lift the deck on the fly to jump a small stump occasionally. Gonna really miss this if I can’t rectify it. I think I can raise the steering control arm by fabricating new piece of longer square bar stock that connects the handle to the mechanism.
The other complaint is the fact that during slower maneuvering in sparsely grassed areas, dust and debris discharge from the front of the mower deck is insane! Disappointing!!
When the honeymoon period expires, I may query my decision to abandon the Kubata line but right now I’m ecstatic with the Scag in spite of the couple of shortcomings. Looking forward to a long and happy association.