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**Lets Talk Zero Turn Mowers**


You should buy a good used commercial walk behind with a 36-48 in deck and a Kawasaki or Kohler engine.
Scag
Toro
Ransomes
Xmark
It will be the best mower you ever own . Any riding zero turn in that price range will be a piece of crap or a money pit.

What he said. I prefer the Kawa engines. Also the commercial grade mower decks are nice, they are plate steel and available on most brands.

I think ExMark is a commercial variation of Toro. I would take either.
 
What about Kobota?
The kubota's I've seen look pretty solid I imagine they are good quality but I'm sure they are expensive.
Anything from a box store with a rolled sheet metal deck will just not hold up well. If you have a civilized lawn it may hold up but if you have anything like I did when I bought my first walk behind you will be bending casters and snapping spindals.
However if you just want a riding mower old fashioned snappers with the T handle bars are the best for the money.
Im seeing alot that are residential grade BUT with a Fabricated deck? Thoughts?
I think that is a response to complaints about rolled sheet decks.
I bet underneath you will still find cast aluminum spindles and low quality hydraulics.
If you don't mind walking a good belt driven walk behind Is tough, easy to maintain and will cut better than a rider.
 
Residential anything.....I would not recommend it. The units with "upgraded" decks are still cheap in other areas. They're basically made to lure people into thinking they got a great deal on a "commercial" mower lol. It's not real

True commercial gets my vote.
 
oh, and just like appliances there are a handful of manufacturers compared to the brands they sell under. Ariens has at least 3 or 4 brands as an example.
 
i have been looking at Toro and wondered if it was a good brand. This is good to hear. Thanks
Toro owns Xmark. The Xmark is the commercial version of the Toro. There are various grades to be had in the Xmark from light duty to heavy duty. My Xmark is a 42 or 46 inch cut (can't remember which) and it cost over $7k 10 years ago. If you are looking at commercial grade zero in that price range, you are looking at one that needs work and will cost you. I just replaced the motor on mine and the motor alone cost over $1900 installed \ tax \ disposal.............I have seen commercial mowers needing new motors go for $1500 or better with blown motors that have good hydraulics.
With that said, what do you need it for? If you are just cutting your own yard, a homeowner grade zero turn from Lowe's or Home Depot will do you fine assuming you're not cutting 20 acres at a time. The are many differences between the homeowner and commercial varieties. The commercial is designed for heavy, heavy use and as such has a separate hydraulic motor for each wheel (the average home owner version has one motor and a valve to divert power / fluid. The commercial will have a heavy gauge steel welded deck and heavier gauger spindles and blades and the deck will raise slightly higher generally than the homeowner grade as well as have more anti scalp wheels and such. On my second motor now, All original deck, spindles, pulleys and control arms. Lastly, you pull the switch on a homeowner grade mower and you hear the blades like any other mower you grew up with. The commercial versions, depending on motor (they are often larger and more powerful) spin the blades much faster, making a lot more noise and put out a lot more air, grass, and other debris (meaning you can break a windshield better then ever). This extra blade speed helps the cut look cleaner and allows you to cut grass a little faster than the homeowner variety, but not without draw backs. You will wear out belts faster on a commercial as a result of the increased blade speed. Belts range from $30 to 120 and I go through at least if not two per year. My dad has a regular riding mower and I help him periodically cut his yard. My commercial mower gets the same cut his does but travels at about 1.5 times as fast doing it. Tall grass slows both of us down, but he has reduce to a crawl where as I just slow down to the speed he normally cuts at. We did an experiment using my yard and both mowers. I cut with his one time and with mine the next. It took 1.5 hours to use his and do a good job on my yard. It took 50 minutes using mine. Being able to turn faster and cut faster saves time. My mower though costs three times what his does and used twice the fuel for the same yard. The commercial handles tall grass like a champ as a result of the blade speed and deck design, but it costs extra to buy, run, and maintain that machine. If it was only for personal use, buy a toro homeowner grade from Lowes (or like brand). If you are going to be cutting for money, you definitely will need a commercial mower and need a bigger budget.
 
^^with that said you have bout talked me into getting a residential . It will only be 2.5 acres and smooth yard

And if you have a "residential" grass, not like the pasture grass and weeds I have, you may get away with a Residential mower... Will also help if you mow regularly and keep it short....
Until recently (last 30 days), I had to trailer my mower a 100 miles to get to my property... At times, it was 3+ hay grass with lots of weeds.... This would require a commercial model, even if it was a level property
 
IF you decide to go residential,which I don't advise...: I would definetly stay away from the single cylinder engine models. They stink lol
 
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