Problem with my Scag ZTR
- Thread starter Doc
- Start date
. Bob
I wish we had that problem up here
Me too. It's been cold, wet and miserable here.
Doc, apart from your recent problem with the Scag, how do you like the machine? The reason that I'm asking is that I'm really tempted to get a zero turn late next year. I must admit that I got the hots for the diesel model at the Kubota dealer when I was there a couple of weeks back but I can't decide if I can really justify/need a diesel or if a gas model will work just as well for me. Realistically, I would be putting 150 to 200 hours a year on it and probably be using it for (hopefully) 10 years or so. What do you think? Any insight would be helpful as I know very little about zero turns but I have noticed that most of the commercial yard cutting companies around here run gas powered Scags.
B
bczoom
Guest
ETF - How much do you have to mow?
What's the ground condition (smooth, bouncy...)
Obstructions (trees and such)
Flat ground, hilly?
What's the ground condition (smooth, bouncy...)
Obstructions (trees and such)
Flat ground, hilly?
Hey Frank. BC asked some pertinate questions ...I'l answer them for me. On the old tractor site I used to go to folks advised me against a zero turn because most of my yard is an old tomato field. Very very bumpy. The parts that aren't bumpy have hills. Nothing to serious, but they are hills.
I cannot mow at full speed across the bumps or it jars my teeth and back pretty bad. But varying speed is simple with a ZTR so going slower over those areas is a breeze. It also handles my hills with no problem, as long as they are dry. If wet, stay off the hills.
I have seen ZTR on landscapers trailers with a R4 type of tread instead of turf tread like most ZTR's come with. IOW, even if you have serious hills, there are ways to make the ZTR handle them.
I didn't have to many obstructions before getting the Zero Turn but since getting it I have not hesitated to add trees or whatnot in the yard. Before, when mowing with the Kubota using a 6' 3PH pull behind I cringed at the mention of adding new landscaping tot he yard. Now I welcome it.
Mowing is actually fun, or as fun as mowing can be. I always where shades or clear safety glasses when I mow now because with the ZTR a quick turn can end up putting grass and dust in your face. Much more than sitting high up on the Kubota. No biggie, just something to be aware of.
I love the Scag. I shoppped and shopped before buying it. I was leaning to an Exmark but when I found there were no local dealers I looked hard at the Scag and other offerings in the market. I like how rugged Scag was built. It was far from the cheapest but I was buyin a 10 year mower, like you plan to do. I'm at 5 years in and I'm sure I'll get more than 10 years out of it. 15 or 20 seem reasonable, but I don't put 200 hours on it a year. I'm more like 100 hours.
The gas engine has plenty of power, so from that angle I think the Scag would do you fine. At 200 hours a year, where the diesel would pay off is longevity. At the time I bought I also dreweled over the Kubota diesel. Very nice ZTR. The price difference between the gas powered Kubota and the deisel power Kubota was 3k. I could not justify that difference, and if I were buying new again today, I would make the same decision and buy the Scag Wildcat (it was listed at 8500 marked down to 7500 when I bought it). The Wildcat is more of a commercial mower, a middle of the line offering 1500 or so more than the Tigercat Scag.
If you have any other questions just fire away Frank.
I cannot mow at full speed across the bumps or it jars my teeth and back pretty bad. But varying speed is simple with a ZTR so going slower over those areas is a breeze. It also handles my hills with no problem, as long as they are dry. If wet, stay off the hills.
I have seen ZTR on landscapers trailers with a R4 type of tread instead of turf tread like most ZTR's come with. IOW, even if you have serious hills, there are ways to make the ZTR handle them.I didn't have to many obstructions before getting the Zero Turn but since getting it I have not hesitated to add trees or whatnot in the yard. Before, when mowing with the Kubota using a 6' 3PH pull behind I cringed at the mention of adding new landscaping tot he yard. Now I welcome it.
Mowing is actually fun, or as fun as mowing can be. I always where shades or clear safety glasses when I mow now because with the ZTR a quick turn can end up putting grass and dust in your face. Much more than sitting high up on the Kubota. No biggie, just something to be aware of.
I love the Scag. I shoppped and shopped before buying it. I was leaning to an Exmark but when I found there were no local dealers I looked hard at the Scag and other offerings in the market. I like how rugged Scag was built. It was far from the cheapest but I was buyin a 10 year mower, like you plan to do. I'm at 5 years in and I'm sure I'll get more than 10 years out of it. 15 or 20 seem reasonable, but I don't put 200 hours on it a year. I'm more like 100 hours.
The gas engine has plenty of power, so from that angle I think the Scag would do you fine. At 200 hours a year, where the diesel would pay off is longevity. At the time I bought I also dreweled over the Kubota diesel. Very nice ZTR. The price difference between the gas powered Kubota and the deisel power Kubota was 3k. I could not justify that difference, and if I were buying new again today, I would make the same decision and buy the Scag Wildcat (it was listed at 8500 marked down to 7500 when I bought it). The Wildcat is more of a commercial mower, a middle of the line offering 1500 or so more than the Tigercat Scag.
If you have any other questions just fire away Frank.
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I mow about 4 acres of "yard" at the house every week and about 5 acres for the local library every second week.
Both places are far from smoothe. "Bouncy" might be a good word with the occasional rough patch. At present I use the B2400 with 5' rear finishing mower at the house and use both it and the L4740 at the library. At both places I tend to go fairly slow 'cos I'm too old to be bounced around and there's no sense in beating the crud out of the equipment. At both places I probably mow about 1 acre an hour and that includes cutting some parts twice to get all the bahia.
There are slopes on both places. Nothing to terrify you but enough to force you to be careful and pay attention. There's one small part in both places that I won't run across the slope but have no problem running up and down.
I live in East Texas, there are trees everywhere. I've never counted them but there must be at least 20 at the house and even more at the library. So I spend a lot of time backing up to get close to the trees and also running over the surface roots.
Doc, the problem I'm having is the same one that you had. The price tag on the diesel Kubota at the dealer was just under $11,900 and at my age I'm not sure I'll live long enough to justify that extra $4,000 over the gas powered one.
All the commercial ZTR's I see around here are all gas powered and when I can get a gas one AND a backhoe for the B2400 for approximately the same price as the diesel, it's something to think about. I say think about because the CFO isn't aware of my master plan yet.
Doc, thanks for all the information you've given already.
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B
bczoom
Guest
You're going to find that your mowing time will easily be cut in half from your current system.
At my house, I do about 2 acres with lots of hills and obstacles. Even going around everything, I can still do it in about 45 minutes.
At my other property, I have to mow about 4-5 acres. Very bumpy which slows me down. That takes me about 2.5 hours.
If you do consider a ZTR, I'd propose you get it demo'd at YOUR property to test it out. Some you'll like, others you wont. One will rise to the top.
At my house, I do about 2 acres with lots of hills and obstacles. Even going around everything, I can still do it in about 45 minutes.
At my other property, I have to mow about 4-5 acres. Very bumpy which slows me down. That takes me about 2.5 hours.
If you do consider a ZTR, I'd propose you get it demo'd at YOUR property to test it out. Some you'll like, others you wont. One will rise to the top.
Before we bought the Scag I mowed with the Kubota 3PH pull behind mower and the wife mowed with a 17hp Simplicty around the house. It took us 2 1/4 to 2 1/2 hours to finish up mowing. The Simplicity literally blew up. I knew it was on it's last legs and sure enough, when she was done, that was all she wrote. I finished the season with the Kubota w/ 3PH pull behind mower. Then it took me 3 to 3 1/4 hours to mow.
The next season we bought the Scag. The 3PH pull behind mower has not been used since. I can finish all mowing in less than 2 hours. 1:50 usually, sometimes 2 if I mow part of the neighbors lawn. As mentioned before over 1/2 of my yard is bumpy. I do not go full speed but even the slow speed on the ZTR's is faster than most mowers. Zipping around trees and obsticles saves a lot of time. I do think the time is so much quicker because my blades are cutting grass 95% of the time. I suspect the Kubota was actually cutting grass about 60% of the time. Lots of manuvering around stuff.
My point is that no matter what ZTR you get I suspect you will cut 1/4 or more off of your mowing time ....even when you have to go slow because of the rough terrain.
For as much as you are mowing I would go with at least a 5' deck. I have 61"s on the Scag and it's the perfect size for me.
The next season we bought the Scag. The 3PH pull behind mower has not been used since. I can finish all mowing in less than 2 hours. 1:50 usually, sometimes 2 if I mow part of the neighbors lawn. As mentioned before over 1/2 of my yard is bumpy. I do not go full speed but even the slow speed on the ZTR's is faster than most mowers. Zipping around trees and obsticles saves a lot of time. I do think the time is so much quicker because my blades are cutting grass 95% of the time. I suspect the Kubota was actually cutting grass about 60% of the time. Lots of manuvering around stuff.
My point is that no matter what ZTR you get I suspect you will cut 1/4 or more off of your mowing time ....even when you have to go slow because of the rough terrain.
For as much as you are mowing I would go with at least a 5' deck. I have 61"s on the Scag and it's the perfect size for me.
Thanks for all the input. I didn't mean to highjack the thread but when you have people who have the experience that you don't, I always think that it's a mistake not to take advantage of them. 
Zoomer ... a joystick, tell me more.
Zoomer ... a joystick, tell me more.
B
bczoom
Guest
Mine is a Country Clipper Charger
http://www.countryclipper.com/commercial_charger.shtml
In the picture, you'll see a joystick on both sides. The one on the right handles all movement, the left one is fixed and just something to hang on to if you want. I like the setup for a few reasons. It keeps my left hand free for moving low-hanging branches out of my way; I can hold my "beverage" easily and my arms are on the armrests instead of sticking out in front of me (which can get tiring when doing large areas or when bouncing a lot).
The other main reasons I went with the Country Clipper:
It holds hills better than any other I tried. Where others would slide down the hill (especially when traversing a hill), this one keeps going.
The mower deck flips up in a matter of seconds for cleaning or sharpening blades.
Like others, it has an articulating front end and suspension seat.
http://www.countryclipper.com/commercial_charger.shtml
In the picture, you'll see a joystick on both sides. The one on the right handles all movement, the left one is fixed and just something to hang on to if you want. I like the setup for a few reasons. It keeps my left hand free for moving low-hanging branches out of my way; I can hold my "beverage" easily and my arms are on the armrests instead of sticking out in front of me (which can get tiring when doing large areas or when bouncing a lot).
The other main reasons I went with the Country Clipper:
It holds hills better than any other I tried. Where others would slide down the hill (especially when traversing a hill), this one keeps going.
The mower deck flips up in a matter of seconds for cleaning or sharpening blades.
Like others, it has an articulating front end and suspension seat.