Hello all,
I am currently cutting 10+ acres yard with a tractor and pull behind finish mower. It takes a good 7+ hours to do and chokes the finish mower pretty easily.
I'm finally going to join the ZTR world and have narrowed my choices down to 3 manufactures and 3 or 4 mowers. All are 60"-61", all will have the suspension seat option, all but one have the Kawasaki FX730V 23.5hp engine, all have some variation of a 7 gauge deck.
The candidates are: John Deere Z-Trac Z925M, the Scag Tiger Cat, the Toro Z-Master 3000, and the Toro Z-Master 5000.
Price wise they are all within a couple hundred dollars of each other. (Except for the Toro 5000 series that is $1200-1500 more.)
I like all of the dealers so that doesn't figure into things.
Here's the comparison:
The Deere has a stamped 7 Iron Pro deck, integrated 13cc pump/motors, Aluminum spindle housings, 18000 blade tip speed, 24 X 12 12 tires, flat free 6.5" casters, heaviest machine at 1283lbs, 3 yr warranty.
The Toro 3000 has a bull nose deck lip, integrated 12cc pump/motors (ZT3400), cast iron spindle housings, top speed is slower than the others by 1.5 mph but the blade speed is faster at 18500, 23 x 10.5 rear tires, pneumatic 6.5" casters, 5 yr warranty (lifetime on frame), for $500 more I can get the 25hp Kohler Command Pro EFI.
The Scag has a tri-plate deck, separate pumps (ZT3100) and motors, tapered roller spindle and caster bearings, cast iron spindle housings, 24 X 12 12 tires, 6.5" pneumatic casters, 3yr warranty.
Of course my favorite is the most expensive-- the Toro 5000. However I'm not sure it's worth the additional $1200-1500 over the others. It takes the Z-Master 3000 series and adds: a standard suspension seat, larger rear tires, flat free casters, larger "27hp" Kohler Command Pro engine, larger gas tank, shock valves to the pump, and is 1.5 mph faster.)
Questions:
1. How much difference do larger tires and casters make?
2. How much difference does a 1.5 mph top speed make? (Other than getting to and from the grass, will I ever be able to cut even close to the top speed of these machines?)
3. Any issues with stamped decks? On lesser gauge steel I would think so but the 7 Iron Pro 7ga plus a 1" reinforcement bar on the sides is really beefy looking.
4. How much additional power and less fuel (realistically) will an EFI engine provide?
I am currently cutting 10+ acres yard with a tractor and pull behind finish mower. It takes a good 7+ hours to do and chokes the finish mower pretty easily.
I'm finally going to join the ZTR world and have narrowed my choices down to 3 manufactures and 3 or 4 mowers. All are 60"-61", all will have the suspension seat option, all but one have the Kawasaki FX730V 23.5hp engine, all have some variation of a 7 gauge deck.
The candidates are: John Deere Z-Trac Z925M, the Scag Tiger Cat, the Toro Z-Master 3000, and the Toro Z-Master 5000.
Price wise they are all within a couple hundred dollars of each other. (Except for the Toro 5000 series that is $1200-1500 more.)
I like all of the dealers so that doesn't figure into things.
Here's the comparison:
The Deere has a stamped 7 Iron Pro deck, integrated 13cc pump/motors, Aluminum spindle housings, 18000 blade tip speed, 24 X 12 12 tires, flat free 6.5" casters, heaviest machine at 1283lbs, 3 yr warranty.
The Toro 3000 has a bull nose deck lip, integrated 12cc pump/motors (ZT3400), cast iron spindle housings, top speed is slower than the others by 1.5 mph but the blade speed is faster at 18500, 23 x 10.5 rear tires, pneumatic 6.5" casters, 5 yr warranty (lifetime on frame), for $500 more I can get the 25hp Kohler Command Pro EFI.
The Scag has a tri-plate deck, separate pumps (ZT3100) and motors, tapered roller spindle and caster bearings, cast iron spindle housings, 24 X 12 12 tires, 6.5" pneumatic casters, 3yr warranty.
Of course my favorite is the most expensive-- the Toro 5000. However I'm not sure it's worth the additional $1200-1500 over the others. It takes the Z-Master 3000 series and adds: a standard suspension seat, larger rear tires, flat free casters, larger "27hp" Kohler Command Pro engine, larger gas tank, shock valves to the pump, and is 1.5 mph faster.)
Questions:
1. How much difference do larger tires and casters make?
2. How much difference does a 1.5 mph top speed make? (Other than getting to and from the grass, will I ever be able to cut even close to the top speed of these machines?)
3. Any issues with stamped decks? On lesser gauge steel I would think so but the 7 Iron Pro 7ga plus a 1" reinforcement bar on the sides is really beefy looking.
4. How much additional power and less fuel (realistically) will an EFI engine provide?