What y’all know about Bad Boy mowers

I just got a 54" Magnum. Its their entry level, but its a beast. 7 gauge fabbed deck. it was around 4k and compared to what 4k gets you elsewhere it seemed a better deal. I looked at Ariens but the comparable model had a lot of complaints

I watched a lot of "best zero turn under 5k" videos and BB was in most of them.

1 complaint - the black seat gets HOT.

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it was around 4k and compared to what 4k gets you elsewhere it seemed a better deal

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This is what I keep coming back to.

I’m probably choosing between Deere and Bad Boy at this point. I don’t want to shell out the extra money for a Deere but I have a dealer that can service it a couple miles down the road and I’ll be hauling a bad boy over an hour away to get that.

However everything I’ve read points to BB being a reliable machine.

Do you have the Kohler or the Kawasaki engine?

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Kohler

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The dealer I bought mine from said they havent seen any engine reliability with either one. Some people swear by the kawi and some by the kohler.

Theres a BB facebook group out there too, but a lot of those folks have the higher end ones that are like 11k etc

Watched a ton of those videos with both bad boy and skag cheetah models but none are available around me. Lookin at a Rogue 61" with the Kawa engine over in Alabama

My father (RIP) bought one a few years ago. As most have said, it's a beast. I cut about 3 acres with it.

I'm trying to decide between the Toro 60" and badboy 54".

Much closer to Toro service.

They're made in Batesville, AR. Unsure if that's just the assembling though with parts made in China? Other than that, seems like a decent brand. I have a scag consumer model, but wouldn't hesitate to get the prosumer version.

Get a REAL Deere, not the ones out in front of Lowes or Home Depot.

I’ve had a 54” BB Magnum for ten years now. Kohler engine. It’s been absolutely great. Only mechanical issue I’ve had that I could blame on the machine was the valve cover gasket leaking a bit of oil a few years ago. I changed that myself, and I’ve done oil and blade changes myself, as well. One spring I was ready to mow for the first time that year, and the PTO wouldn’t engage. Took it to a shop, and they found a mouse nest under the control covers that had been built during the preceding winter. Little bastards had chewed the wiring up pretty good, and that was the issue. Not the fault of the machine. I would recommend them wholeheartedly and would buy another in a heartbeat.

I have an older MZ48 bad boy. Cut about 4 acres with it.

Has the larger Briggs motor.

Yearly maintenance:

Mobil1 0w40
M1 version of Ford fl400s oil filter (triples capacity and better filtration)
Briggs air filter
Husqavarna 48 inch blades (one will require a tiny bit of filing at one corner, they perfectly fill out the deck)
Belt (I buy one at the end of the season and just keep it until one fails. Sometimes that's a year. Current one lasted four)

Three year maintenance:
Drive belt
Front wheel bearings
Usually an idler pulley

As needed:
Spindle bearings (got five years out of originals, two out of chinese replacements, now running japanese metal sealed bearings on fourth year)

At 10 years I put a new vacuum fuel pump on it for 20 bucks.


The poor thing gets abused. Keeps chugging along.