Hey guys;
I'm looking for a mower, and need some help...... I have about 2.5 acres of lawn that I am mowing at our house, and it's taking me *forever* on my Kubota BX1500 with 48" belly mower. Property used to be an apple orchard, and has since been cleared, and we installed a Rain Bird irrigation system 2 summers ago. The lawn looks great, but between the large open spaces and the 45 evergreens that surround the perimeter, it's taking me a good 3+ hrs to mow, edge, trim, and blow the clippings off the driveway.
I'm not going to get rid of the Kubota, as I use it for snow blowing my driveway, and it has a loader as well, which is handy to have, but I need something much faster/more time-efficient to mow the lawn.
I will say that the lawn looks great, but it is not putting-green smooth, it has some lumps and bumps in a few spots, and a decent sized grade going into the back yard where we have a walkout basement and large garden area. (I'd estimate 15 degree slope, which I can cut with the Kubota if need-be).
I've got somewhere between $3,000 and $4,000 max to work with. I don't want to buy a cheap residential ZTR and destroy it with my yard, I'd rather find a nice used commercial unit to buy.
Local Cub Cadet dealer here has a 2012 or 2013 model Z-Force S48 that was purchased by a customer who thought he wanted a ZTR (coming from a tractor), used it last summer, his wife didn't like the ZTR, so he traded it back in on another Cub Cadet tractor. I have not seen the unit in person (I will, obviously), but it should be very low hour and excellent shape. I could have it for $3500 including a rear bagger system (which I don't need, I have one for the Kubota that I don't use).
Is this a decent mower?
From what I can tell, the PROS:
a) it has a fabricated deck
b) Kawasaki motor
c) steering wheel will probably be more natural for me coming from a lawn tractor
d) heavier duty than an entry-level unit would be
CONS:
a) Only a 48" deck, not going to be as nice edging around my 45 trees, as a larger deck would be, correct?
b) I assume this unit has the sealed EZT transmissions, since it is the lower HP 21.5 Kawi, not the newer 24hp Kawi that has ZT2800 transmission according to Cub Cadet's website?? Is this **really** gonna be that big of a deal for me, with my property? I mowed from 2005 until 2013 with a John Deere LT180, which had some sort of non-servicable transmission that never gave me any issues (although the rest of the tractor did)
c) is blade tip speed much lower on the 48" deck than a larger one would?
Any thoughts or comments appreciated, I have looked around quite a bit, and it seems as though this Cub would be a definite step above other ZTRs in the low $3000 range, like the Toro TimeCutter SS5060, etc.
I'm open to ideas and suggestions,
Thanks for the help!!
I'm looking for a mower, and need some help...... I have about 2.5 acres of lawn that I am mowing at our house, and it's taking me *forever* on my Kubota BX1500 with 48" belly mower. Property used to be an apple orchard, and has since been cleared, and we installed a Rain Bird irrigation system 2 summers ago. The lawn looks great, but between the large open spaces and the 45 evergreens that surround the perimeter, it's taking me a good 3+ hrs to mow, edge, trim, and blow the clippings off the driveway.
I'm not going to get rid of the Kubota, as I use it for snow blowing my driveway, and it has a loader as well, which is handy to have, but I need something much faster/more time-efficient to mow the lawn.
I will say that the lawn looks great, but it is not putting-green smooth, it has some lumps and bumps in a few spots, and a decent sized grade going into the back yard where we have a walkout basement and large garden area. (I'd estimate 15 degree slope, which I can cut with the Kubota if need-be).
I've got somewhere between $3,000 and $4,000 max to work with. I don't want to buy a cheap residential ZTR and destroy it with my yard, I'd rather find a nice used commercial unit to buy.
Local Cub Cadet dealer here has a 2012 or 2013 model Z-Force S48 that was purchased by a customer who thought he wanted a ZTR (coming from a tractor), used it last summer, his wife didn't like the ZTR, so he traded it back in on another Cub Cadet tractor. I have not seen the unit in person (I will, obviously), but it should be very low hour and excellent shape. I could have it for $3500 including a rear bagger system (which I don't need, I have one for the Kubota that I don't use).
Is this a decent mower?
From what I can tell, the PROS:
a) it has a fabricated deck
b) Kawasaki motor
c) steering wheel will probably be more natural for me coming from a lawn tractor
d) heavier duty than an entry-level unit would be
CONS:
a) Only a 48" deck, not going to be as nice edging around my 45 trees, as a larger deck would be, correct?
b) I assume this unit has the sealed EZT transmissions, since it is the lower HP 21.5 Kawi, not the newer 24hp Kawi that has ZT2800 transmission according to Cub Cadet's website?? Is this **really** gonna be that big of a deal for me, with my property? I mowed from 2005 until 2013 with a John Deere LT180, which had some sort of non-servicable transmission that never gave me any issues (although the rest of the tractor did)
c) is blade tip speed much lower on the 48" deck than a larger one would?
Any thoughts or comments appreciated, I have looked around quite a bit, and it seems as though this Cub would be a definite step above other ZTRs in the low $3000 range, like the Toro TimeCutter SS5060, etc.
I'm open to ideas and suggestions,
Thanks for the help!!