Deciding on a new mower, recommendations needed

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I have a 42” tractor and it is taking forever to do both.

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So I assume you want bigger?

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would prefer a “commercial” mower

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around 5-6k?

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You’d probably have to look for a used one at that price. I like Gravely and the Pro Turn’s (commercial model) start at about $9k brand new. But you can get the ZT HD in 60” for about $7k brand new.

Doesn’t have to be bigger, just want to go faster. The yards are an acre each give or take and it’s taking me almost 2 hours of mow time.

Home Depot has a 54” deere that’s tempting me but I’ve heard either really good or really bad about Deere stuff.

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Home Depot has a 54” deere that’s tempting me but I’ve heard either really good or really bad about Deere stuff.

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Look at the Gravely ZT-X and ZT-XL and compare them. Comparable price with welded decks instead of stamped. Kawasaki engine. You get a better product for the price IMO. I have a 10 year old Gravely that has been bulletproof. I’ll probably be upgrading this year.

I bought a gravely and absolutely love it. Proturn 260 and it cost me about 11k but worth every penny

Google Spartan mowers and read story. Replaced my 54" JD Z810 commercial after drive motor destroyed itself and cannot find a replacement motor because JD had Parker build special unit for just for them then just three years later discontinued the whole line. I replaced it with a a 54" Spartan with a Kawasaki mtr late last cutting season. Only cut with it a few times and really like it. I cut about 4 acres. ps JD parts are stupid high!!!!

I'll also add that in my opinion, with a mower you don't need to be overly concerned with dealer support and distance. The only time a mower should go back to the dealer is warranty issues (which should be very rare on a quality residential machine). You can get OEM or knock off parts sent right to your door. Mowers are very easy to work on. I once had a nice Ferris for over 10 years that never saw a dealer. My current mower is on year 7 amd it will never see a dealer since the day I bought it.

I have a 52” Scag Patriot. About to start it’s fourth season. It has right at 200 hours on it.
Zero problems with it. Kawasaki engine. I change the oil and filter every 50 hours.
I cannot remember exactly what I paid but, it was around $6000 out the door. It is called a commercial/residential. The deck is thick and the mower is well built. I recommend it based on my personal experience.

I sold a few lines before I retired and got out of the business.

$4k to $6K you can get a prosumer unit in most major brands that will get you where you want to be.

Really want to look at the transmission usually Hydro-gear ZT 28 to ZT 30 is fine.
You don't need a Parker pump transmission.

Most brands are decent in this price range and most brands should have a fab deck.
Stamp decks are usually used in lower end units and gives you a good air flow with a smaller engine to lift the grass for a good quality of cut. They are made for neighborhood lawns not field cutting.

I sold alot of brands and I liked the Cub Cadet ZTX series which was a solid unit along with Gravely, Hustler, Toro, Exmark. Bad Boy makes a nice deck along with spartan, but the spindles use to piss my customers off. I have not seen the 2022 units as I retired in 2021. Finding units might be tough, so don't wait as mfg are still cutting dealers orders from what I am hearing.

The thing is to find you a good dealer who will service your product in a timely manner vs a dealer that will put you on the back burner to take care of their larger customers.
Biggest thing I use to see are the transmission especially if people do not change the filters and oil. Engine that is fairly easy change the filter and oil initially after 5 to 10 hours and then after that around 50 hours which is once a year for the avg homeowner.

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If you can do rudimentary maintenance, dealer support is negligible for homeowners.

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LOL, as a dealer we do nearly $3 mil annually in parts and labor, but no they don’t need us. We keep 9 mechanics busy working 40hrs a week year round, but they don’t need us. We run 2 pickup/delivery trucks full time just to pickup and deliver customers mowers for service, but they don’t need us. That’s with 80% residential customer business, most large commercial operations have their own service departments. We do all that and we only service 3 mower brands.

Many customers can’t even route a belt correctly. Many customers would rather pay us to service their mower while they play golf or fish. Not everyone needs a dealer but ask the guy who has a brand with no place for service if he wishes he’d bought from a dealer.