Big box store ZT's worth the money?

djdicetn said:
So I'm curious.....had you paid MSRP for that Country Clipper new would it not have been a $4K(or close to that) ZTR??? My opinion is you need to approach the $4K price range on Residential ZTR's to get anything that will hold up.
Click to expand...

It will hold up as long as you maintain it...
 
My original Snapper disproves that theory. It cost $2700 and had sealed eaton 7800 hydro's. I did annual oil changes and greasings, It was very abused the 1st 3 years. Less than 25 hours a year for the last 12. It sat outside much of the time. (which I dont recommend) Now it could be the Snapper was atypical of the current breed of low end residential, however short of abuse exceeding what I was capable of in its early years I would expect the sub 3k mowers to do as well or close anyway. I learned the 1st week to be careful with hitting the deck on things as it could be bent. The typical owner that just mows a large yard up to 1 acre once a week or less should be fine. Again that is only my experience and it could be atypical. The country clipper is closer to a 4k mower with fab'ed deck and heavy duty spindles and a much higher blade speed than the snapper had. were it not for my chance discovery of the slide out deck of the country clipper... I would not have hesitated buying another snapper ZTR.
 
txzrider said:
My original Snapper disproves that theory. It cost $2700 and had sealed eaton 7800 hydro's. I did annual oil changes and greasings, It was very abused the 1st 3 years. Less than 25 hours a year for the last 12. It sat outside much of the time. (which I dont recommend) Now it could be the Snapper was atypical of the current breed of low end residential, however short of abuse exceeding what I was capable of in its early years I would expect the sub 3k mowers to do as well or close anyway. I learned the 1st week to be careful with hitting the deck on things as it could be bent. The typical owner that just mows a large yard up to 1 acre once a week or less should be fine. Again that is only my experience and it could be atypical. The country clipper is closer to a 4k mower with fab'ed deck and heavy duty spindles and a much higher blade speed than the snapper had. were it not for my chance discovery of the slide out deck of the country clipper... I would not have hesitated buying another snapper ZTR.
Click to expand...

I think the older Snappers were atypical when compared to many other brands 15 years ago. I'm not certain when Briggs & Stratton purchased Snapper, but would guess that yours came before that. Not saying that today's Snappers(or Simplicity or Ferris mowers....also made by B & S) are not good machines, but I think the "original Snappers" were better machines. Similarly, the Dixon ZTR's have a heritage of quality construction and components but they just aren't quite the same machines now that they are a "blue Husqvarna".
 
My Sears GT (Kohler Command Twin) is about 15 years old and has about 750 hours on it. I changed the oil/filter every 25 hrs; cleaned the K&N every 25 hrs; lubed everything possible every 25 hrs also. It has the 6-speed manual and I have used it for everything including pulling a car trailer around (no car on it). It still runs great and I will keep it to drag around my DR Lawn vac for the leaves. The only reason I replaced it is because I had to always mow in one direction (CCW) to not create mounds of grass. The cut was never very good, and the grass buildup underneath was terrible. I guess what I am trying to say is that you can get Big-Box store residential units to last.
Bruce
 
DJ you have a point, when I looked at the Cub cadet RZT S I really liked it but the deck looked much thinner than my Snapper. I still kinda wish I had a kawasaki engine... but I am convinced my B&S will be fine. All that being said... I am convinced with proper care and maint., and buying a large enough mower for the job... i.e. dont try to make a 38 inch deck mower mow 5 acres a week... these mowers will hold up.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top