Entry level commercial grade zero turn mowers?

Holy frick! These things are expensive, but I've made the decision it is where we are and what I need. I am looking at the entry level zero turn mowers. I am looking at commercial grade ones because a lot of the residential ones don not allow you to service the hydraulics, thus shortening the life of the mower.  I've looked at the below listed ones and a I have a few questions:

1. What else should I look at?

2. Anyone have experience with any of these or others?

3. Most come with the Kawi engine, there is a Kohler available. Is there a reason to get the Kohler over the Kawi? 
 

mowers I looked at:

Scag Liberty Z 

Ferris 400S

Husqvarna Z254Z

Snapper (forgot the model) 

Cub Caret ZL1 and ZT1

EDIT:

Hustler and ExMark are on the list to look at, but the dealer is about 40mins from me. 

thanks 

Guy that works for me got a Gravely a couple years ago, and is still talking about how great it is, I know he compared a lot of them.

Other end of the spectrum, but my Father-in-law got a Grasshopper about 14 years ago, it was ~$10K but, it's used frequently, and still going strong.

I got a "free" Husqvarna RZ46i, a little smaller, but similar to that Z254Z on your list.  It's got a stamped deck so I struggle calling it a commercial mower.  I'm on my 3rd season with it, and it's fine, it mowed maybe 2 seasons before being parked and neglected for 4 years before I rescued it.  It's a little underpowered with a 23 HP B&S and a 46" deck, so I don't have great expectations for that Z254Z's 24 HP & 54" deck.

I've only got about $500 in parts and maintenance in mine, so it's tough to complain much, it's sure not a model I would have pursued, were I buying it new though.  The B&S has been fine, after some TLC, finding carb parts were more difficult than expected, but it's a short production run only made for a few years, model with the auto choke.

My deck is starting to show some wear and it really hasn't mowed a lot in the grand scheme.  As mentioned earlier, commercial mowers typically have a thicker, fabricated or welded mower deck, as apposed to the stamped steel mine and some on your list have.

Thanks Lee. I should have mentioned I only want a fabricated deck. 

One of my little luxuries in life is I do not mow my own yard.  I have a 1/2 acre lot and 25% is cover by house, 25% is covered by concrete leaving 50% or 1/4 acre covered by grass.  My guys show up with something similar.  one hits the weed wacker and the other drives the mower.  They are here for less than 20 minutes, more like 15 minutes.  

The one they use has bagging capability.  I don't know the brand but it seems like a quick way to tackle less than 3 acres.  

So I was in this same boat back in 2018. I ended up going with an Exmark RAE708GEM52300 52" for $5200+tax, 0% financing for 5 years.  I had the cash, but hey, if you're willing to sell it to me slowly for free.....

As you can see in my thread, this forum was awesome with discussion, though, and in general any of the options in the ~$5k range (well, the 2018 $5k range!) were all pretty comparable and good.   I went with the Exmark because I liked the frame, deck, and there's a local dealer.  Everything seemed pretty easily serviceable.

This thing is so fast my for my ~3 acres that I mow that I really don't put enough hours on it per season to justify an oil change.  I'm expecting that I have another 3 to 4 years before I hit my first transmission service.  I can do all 3 acres in a touch less than an hour if it there's not too many sticks or kids toys to stop and pick up.

If you have the option I would go with the Ferris for the suspension. I have an older Cub Cadet M48 tank that was a good deal but it does beat me up with no suspension. My friend's Ferris is so much smoother. 

We have the previous version of the Kubota Z781KWI-54. Kohler 32 horse and 54" cut deck. It's generally a beast but after 400 hours I'm noticing the fuel is not picking up from the tank and we are stalling because of it. We bought it used for $2800 with 130 hours. It was a $9000 unit new. The replacement starts at $10k.

John, I cut every 3-4 days from late Feb to late June. Local guys here get $40-50 a cut. That junk gets expensive.  I did borrow a walk behind from a buddy, and it cut great. But if I am gone on work travel my wife and 2.0 can't use the walk behind. Another buddy has a Scag Patriot, I think. His is bigger than the one I looked at, but he let me and my 2.0 take it for a spin and that seems to be the best bet for us. 
 

It is a bad time to buy one of these things, supply and demand is like everything else right now. No 0% APR on anything at the moment. 
 

The Ferris is a 48" deck, with suspension, but has smaller front wheels. $4400. 2 years full warranty, 2 limited years.

The Scag was a 52" deck, suspension set, largest front wheels of the lot $4700. 5 year warranty on residential. 

The Husqvarna was a 54" deck, and no real frills $3300. 3 year warrant from Husq, additional 4 years available for $400 

Cub cadet is the same one you can get at Home Depot $3400. Idk on warranty. 

Wonko thanks for the link to your post. That had a lot of info. 

Ditto on the Ferris. 

I was part of a team at a church that cut the grass.  We cut 43 acres every week during the season.  We had a SCAG and it would beat you up.  It took us 19 hours to cut the 43 acres.  That did not include trimming and blowing time either!

The SCAG was getting long in tooth and the search was on for a replacement.  I found a new Ferris and while it was a couple hundred more than the SCAG (Church discount) I convinced the powers that be that it would be a good investment.  They let me get it.

Well it cut our time on the mower from 19 hours to 13 and everyone could walk upright when getting off of it.  Read that as it was so much smoother.  The cut rivaled the SCAG and longevity seemed comparable.  Both mowers were 72" cut.

Go drive a Ferris.  I understand the ExMark has developed a mower with 4 wheel independent suspension but it came after we had gotten the Ferris.  I don't cut the grass there anymore.

That is all I have to add.

If you do not opt for the Ferris, you can always buy a suspension seat. Not a perfect solution, but they do help some.

I used a grasshopper once. They are designed a little different, making them longer than most, and with the deck way out in front it doesn't work as nice as the ones with the deck underneath you for getting around trees and such, but that being said holy moly that thing ripped. You could fly and didn't bog down and cut really nice. Also the discharge worked awesome, it chucked the clippings pretty far and spread them nicely so I didn't have the ugly rows of clippings. It was an older one but it was built like a tank, so they should last a long time. It wasn't a good fit for me because I have too many obstacles and the maneuverability I mentioned before would be an issue, but if I had a more open yard one of those would be high on my list.

I upgraded from a consumer-level Cub to an entry-pro Exmark two years ago. Old and new:

I friggin' love this Exmark. Thing is a tank, all it does is mow my lawn. The Cub was constantly breaking, belts, switches, electrical bits, you name it. This should be the last mower I ever buy. Yes, it was expensive, but worth it, IMO.

In reply to Tom_Spangler (Forum Supporter) :

We did something similar in 2008 when I bought the Dixie. I just put new throttle and choke cables on it and changed the oil. The old Kohler 23hp Courage is starting to smoke now. But the rest of the mower is a tank.

When this one dies, we're hiring the yard out. 

Went by the Hustler and ExMark dealer: 

The Hustler Raptor XDX is the the first level Hustler that has hydraulics you can service. Kawi engine 42" deck, 3 year warranty $5300

The ExMark was a Radius $5199 44” deck 5 year. The engine at this level was the ExMark engine. I asked, and the ExMark engine has a deeper sump and a 2 barrel carb. 

@Tom, the Radius I looked at didn't have the roll bar or suspension seat.

octavious said:

@Tom, the Radius I looked at didn't have the roll bar or suspension seat.

The seat was optional, and I strongly recommend it. I thought the roll bar was standard. I'll be honest, I leave it folded, I have too many low-hanging branches it interferes with.

octavious said:

Went by the Hustler and ExMark dealer: 

The Hustler Raptor XDX is the the first level Hustler that has hydraulics you can service. Kawi engine 42" deck, 3 year warranty $5300

The ExMark was a Radius $5199 44” deck 5 year. The engine at this level was the ExMark engine. I asked, and the ExMark engine has a deeper sump and a 2 barrel carb. 

I was part of the extrajudicial group, did all their training and we rented ex ark mowers at bobcat. They're solid. The radius is their low end commercial/residential mower butnit still has all the hood stuff of their bigger mowers. The rops is only standard in 48" and larger mowers iirc. It's a federal standard now. I had fleet customers that used ex mark exclusively and they beat them hard. 2000hrs was their flip point on them and they usually did that every 18-24 months (remember grass doesn't grow here for at least 3 months a year). The warranty is excellent too. 
 

if I had to do it again I'd probably look at them first. 

I bought the lowest 'commercial' Gravely about 5 or 6 years ago. 21hp, 42" cut, fabricated deck. The main thing that made it commercial was the transaxle. Their  homeowner stuff was a sealed rear unit that had to be partially disassembled to change fluid and it had small diameter axle shafts. The unit I have has a drain port and dual fills with sight glass reservoirs. I got the mower, a mulch kit, and a Stihl weed eater for $4k at zero percent interest. It's paid for now and runs like a top. Makes cutting my 3/4acres fun instead of an all-day hate fest. 

Is there any side hill that needs to be mowed? Obstacles? I ask because I graduated from a traditional "lap bar" ZTM to a new Cub Cadet "steering wheel " model. We have LOTS of elevation on the property and 80 trees that need to be mowed around. With the old Husqvarna there were certain areas that no matter how slowly or gently I tried, there would always be tire marks. Before you ask, YES I know how to drive a ZTM as I used to work for a company that had a lawn care division.
 

The new Cub Cadet Z-Force SX-54 has a steering wheel that acts directly on the front wheels with a steering rack instead of slowing down or speeding up the rear wheels via the drive motors. Also and this is the big one, the steering is synchronized to each of the drive motors and slows the inside rear wheel when making a turn. I used it twice so far this year and not a single mark anywhere on the 3+ acres I seem to constantly mow. The unit has a 24hp Kawasaki motor, 54" cutting deck(48 is available), twin gas tanks an adjustable seat and adjustable steering wheel. My fiancée tried to drive the old Husky in the driveway and absolutely hated the lap bars. The day we brought this new CC home, I had her try it and no issues. She actually jumped on it and drove up and down the driveway very easily. I think the reason is that it has a steering wheel, gas pedal and brake pedal. It's just like driving a golf cart. It was right around $6000 but I feel it was money well spent since I'm not out repairing turf damage every mowing.

I would look into Wright lawn mowers. Their stand-on mowers are the best mowers in the business, IMO. My dad owns a Stander ZK from a few years ago. Never broke anything, even things like the deck belt went over 500 hours. They have less serious duty machines, but if you want to cut fast, you want a ZK.

https://www.wrightmfg.com/

In reply to Derick Freese :

Good to see ya Derick!

For those that don't know, Derick is in lawn care business. 

In reply to John Welsh :

Was in the lawn care business. I'm planning on making an update thread to show you guys what's been going on with me. I'm doing IT work now.

In reply to Derick Freese :

Any real world pros and cons on a stand up mower? 
 

I mow about 3 acres now with a regular sit down 60" zero turn. 
 

Soon will be mowing about 5-6 acres with trees and some barns. 
 

The site you linked now has me interested in the stand up mowers. 

There are many advantages to a standing mower, as opposed to a seated mower. Less shock to your back, because your legs provide some shock absorption. At least on the top-of-the-line ZK series, the standing platform was spring loaded and provided significant shock absorption as well. Dismounting is as easy as stopping the mower, turning off the PTO for the blades, and stepping off. With a normal sit-down ZTR, you have to swing the control levers out of the way and get up off the mower to dismount, turn off the PTO, stepping across the mower deck to get on and off. Sometimes you have to do this in a counter-intuitive order to keep the mower from activating it's rider safety switch. Since the control position of the stand ups is behind the deck, you don't have to stretch. I can't attest to how well the entry level Wrights cut, but the 52" ZK I used would cut grass at full speed, which is 12MPH, and leave a finished cut unless the grass was very wet or a tough variety such as Bahia. The Kohler fuel injected engine that mower was equipped with is no longer used by Wright, but they have an even more powerful Briggs commercial EFI engine that replaces it. None of the other mowers we had would last a full day of cutting without topping up the gas, but at least on the ZK, they have dual fuel tanks, holding more fuel than the average economy car. Something like 13 or 15 gallons. If you're seriously interested in a stand-up, look at a few, as they all have different controls. The Wrights have what I feel is the most intuitive controls of any lawn mower I've ever used.

Sorry if this sounds like a canoe, I just firmly believe they build the best commercial lawn mowers on the market.