Zero turn mowers

Cawood86_rivals

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Feb 20, 2005
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Need a little advice. Looking to get one to start up a mowing business. Any recommendations? Best overall performance and reliability? Easiest to do maintenance on etc.
Any help is appreciated and thanks in advance.
 

HUBER

Active member
Jan 9, 2003
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Need a little advice. Looking to get one to start up a mowing business. Any recommendations? Best overall performance and reliability? Easiest to do maintenance on etc.
Any help is appreciated and thanks in advance.

Are you kidding me? Why haven't you called me yet?
 

KopiKat

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Nov 2, 2006
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Find a quality shop that can service your commercial mowers. Buy from them. After a few seasons, they will likely no longer carry the brand they are currently selling. You will want them to be able to continue to service it for major repairs and even some minor services like hydraulic fluid change at 500 hours. Several quality name brands from which to choose.

Mower size is you primary choice. A 60-inch mower is a good size but can often be too wide for ditches, smaller properties with trees and landscaping, etc. Some commercial operations you will see using strictly 48-inch cut ZTR mower with 19-20 hp motors. So what you need to invest in really depends on what type of properties you have, how many, at what heights do they expect their grass to be maintained, etc.?
 

KentuckyStout

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Sep 13, 2009
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Need a little advice. Looking to get one to start up a mowing business. Any recommendations? Best overall performance and reliability? Easiest to do maintenance on etc.
Any help is appreciated and thanks in advance.

I owned a 52" eXmark Lazer Z that was liquid-cooled. It was very good, fast and very reliable. Liquid cooled is more expensive but it will last longer as it keeps the engine at a constant temperature. If I was serious today I would consider getting a liquid-cooled Kubota Diesel.

Frankly though, if you are starting residential I would build my business around the 36" eXmark Viking Hydro and work my way up from there. If your business succeeds, then get the big Zero turns.
 

Cawood86_rivals

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Feb 20, 2005
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Find a quality shop that can service your commercial mowers. Buy from them. After a few seasons, they will likely no longer carry the brand they are currently selling. You will want them to be able to continue to service it for major repairs and even some minor services like hydraulic fluid change at 500 hours. Several quality name brands from which to choose.

Mower size is you primary choice. A 60-inch mower is a good size but can often be too wide for ditches, smaller properties with trees and landscaping, etc. Some commercial operations you will see using strictly 48-inch cut ZTR mower with 19-20 hp motors. So what you need to invest in really depends on what type of properties you have, how many, at what heights do they expect their grass to be maintained, etc.?
Probably be mostly residential to start. Figured to go with a 48 inch because of that. Local Dealer here that sells Scag mowers. They any good?
 

Cawood86_rivals

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Feb 20, 2005
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I owned a 52" eXmark Lazer Z that was liquid-cooled. It was very good, fast and very reliable. Liquid cooled is more expensive but it will last longer as it keeps the engine at a constant temperature. If I was serious today I would consider getting a liquid-cooled Kubota Diesel.

Frankly though, if you are starting residential I would build my business around the 36" eXmark Viking Hydro and work my way up from there. If your business succeeds, then get the big Zero turns.
Thanks. Heard a lot of praise for eXmark. No dealers local though.
 

KopiKat

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Probably be mostly residential to start. Figured to go with a 48 inch because of that. Local Dealer here that sells Scag mowers. They any good?

I've known people who were both very pleased and not so pleased with Scag models. Just so you know, a lot of brand names can be traced to the same style / configuration as Scags, as inventor "Dane Scag" contributed to the start-up of several commercial zero-turn mower businesses. Obviously, "Dane" mowers is one those. There are others.
 

Xception

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I've owned scag and exmark , can't go wrong either way . some exmarks are built for lower maintenance
 
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HUBER

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How do I contact you?

You must not be the same Cawood who used to tailgate with us years ago. Where are you located at?

Exmark & Scag are the 2 main producers of zero turns in the industry, (Exmark building twice as many as Scag) but there are alot of good manufactures out there making mowing equipment. I am a dealer for John Deere, Kubota, Exmark, Ferris, Cub Cadet, & Grasshopper and have grown up in the industry. I know a majority of the dealers in Kentucky and can help make some recommendations on where you're located at.

One of the biggest things I've learned in this industry is that the dealership you buy from matters just as much as the piece of equipment you buy. These things do break and many dealers don't stand behind their equipment like they should as far as turn around times in their shop and parts on hand. This is especially is important if you're thinking of starting a commercial lawn company. One day of downtime from a broken piece of equipment can cost a lawn care company hundreds, sometimes thousands of dollars.
 
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Cawood86_rivals

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You must not be the same Cawood who used to tailgate with us years ago. Where are you located at?

Exmark & Scag are the 2 main producers of zero turns in the industry, (Exmark building twice as many as Scag) but there are alot of good manufactures out there making mowing equipment. I am a dealer for John Deere, Kubota, Exmark, Ferris, Cub Cadet, & Grasshopper and have grown up in the industry. I know a majority of the dealers in Kentucky and can help make some recommendations on where you're located at.

One of the biggest things I've learned in this industry is that the dealership you buy from matters just as much as the piece of equipment you buy. These things do break and many dealers don't stand behind their equipment like they should as far as turn around times in their shop and parts on hand. This is especially is important if you're thinking of starting a commercial lawn company. One day of downtime from a broken piece of equipment can cost a lawn care company hundreds, sometimes thousands of dollars.
Thanks for your response and the info. I am in the Richmond/Berea area.
 

Cawood86_rivals

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I've known people who were both very pleased and not so pleased with Scag models. Just so you know, a lot of brand names can be traced to the same style / configuration as Scags, as inventor "Dane Scag" contributed to the start-up of several commercial zero-turn mower businesses. Obviously, "Dane" mowers is one those. There are others.
Thanks. I have a Scag dealer very close.
 

Xception

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Those are the two I will probably pick from. Any pros or cons for either you can think of?
They are two top of the line mowers , so they have fewer cons than most . Expense of repairs for them will be steeper than cheaper mowers , for example if you wear out or damage the seat it will cost you around $500 bucks to replace the scag seat . So you can figure that others items are costly but they also break down less and have fewer issues .

Even with a similar size deck I always thought the scag cut a wider swath , and their decks appear to be deeper . The seat on the scag is so comfortable , could sit on it all day . Due to design there may be a rattling noise associated with the scag when the blades are engaged and in operation . Mine has this noise and others on the Internet had the same slightly annoying condition , it may be the springs rattling . It has a bunch of grease zerk locations , not a problem but maintenance feels more manual . This is small nit picky stuff as I loved the machine .

Exmark lazer z is what I own now and it has minimal maintenance as they built it with that in mind . It's comfortable as well and I don't have anything negative to say about it , just haven't had any issues . They're both great machines and it really comes down to feel , be mindful of the motor you choose . Mine has a Kawasaki and checking the oil is different as you aren't suppose to screw the dipstick flush when checking the oil . If you buy one you need to get the hydraulic oil changed at a dealer , if you don't purge properly then you could get air into the pump and cost yourself a thousand bucks . I change my own motor oil , grease zerks , remove and sharpen the blades . Just test ride both .
 
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HUBER

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Thanks again. I will check the link for sure. Do I ask for Huber if I can make it up there?

Just ask for the crazy UK fan Huber out of the four Hubers there.

We are one of the largest Exmark dealers in the country and have sold the brand since 1995, so I'm a bit biased. I've been around most of the brands manufactured today, I don't think there is a mower built as good as an Exmark. Unbelievable cut quality, ease of service, built like a tank, incredible resell value, and typically they only select the best dealers to sell and support the product.

With that said, there are still a ton of mowers out there that are great products and would probably suit your needs. So many manufactures buy their components (engines and transmissions) from the same manufactures, so look at engineering, serviceability, frame and deck engineering, and comfortability. Also check manufacture warranties and ask to see the dealers service shop and parts departments. Also don't be afraid to ask about their turn around time in Spring to gauge how quickly their turnaround time is.
 
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Exmark is the best. We had a Lazer Z that we used to mow 10 acres on a fairly rugged piece of land in Lexington. Thing was an absolute beast.
 

slick rick.ksr

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I have a Scag Turf Tiger 60" I am very happy with
Dealer support is very important

Scag, Exmark, and Grasshopper would be my three choices
 

UKGrad93

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@HUBER - my mom is looking at either a Ferris 2100 60" cut or a Scag Tiger Cat 2 60" cut. She mows about 4 acres of rough land(used to be woods). Will wear out a typical lawn mower in a year or two.
 

BlackMamba12.5

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For Huber... by any chance did Exmark or Scag make the Bunton brand several years back? I believe Bunton made a lot of golf course maintenance equipment.

We had a low-level commercial grade Bunton that was awesome, but I heard the company was subsequently bought out. I would love to find out the original manufacturer.
 

weused2luvhim2

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I bought a hustler 52 in 24hp. I love it. I only mow 1 acre and my building where I store my mower only has a 56 inch door so I didn't go any bigger.
 

BlueVelvetFog

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Apr 12, 2016
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Yeah I need one, too. I'm in the market for something that will cut my entire yard in 4.4 sec.

#poorsandwhatnot