I bought a Z735M with 60 inch deck last year. Very impressed - the comfort glide seat is excellent. I also reduced the air pressure in the rear tires which helps.

I can mow my 2.5 acre lot in 90 minutes even with lots of trees, garden boxes and fencing to mow around.

Was just slightly over $8K.

 

Why are you asking about non-commercial. The best value for longevity is in the commercial line.

 

I'm thinking seriously about getting a zero turn mower. Having to remove the bucket and the backhoe on the 1025R each week is starting to get old even with a backhoe dolly.

Yep playing musical implements gets old, fast. It's the main reason we went to a ZTR back in 2002.

 

Shortly after I purchased my 1025R with the 54D Auto Connect Mower, the dealership I work for started selling Bad Boy Mowers made in Arkansas. We think they are a well made mower and sold just under 50 units our first year. I purchased a ZT Elite 54” deck, Kawasaki engine and love it. $8000 will get you into the Maverick (our best seller) which is biggest residential model Bad Boy makes. For a few dollars more will get you into a Maverick HD which is the smallest commercial grade mower. The Maverick is available with a 48”, 54”, and 60” deck. The Maverick HD is available with 42”, 48”, 54”, 60” decks and comes standard with the suspension seat.

Welcome to Bad Boy Country | Power. Performance. Attitude.

Bad Boy Mowers, Tractors, UTVs and Handheld Tools aren’t made for everyone. Our products are designed for people who live on the cutting edge.

badboymowers.com

 

I have had a Bad Boy ZT60 since 2009, zero issues, one belt, normal maintenance. $4999 at the time. Maintained 4 hilly acres for 7 years now about an acre.

 

A gliding seat is the feature you want for a zero-turn.

 

Go commercial. It sounds like I have a yard similar to yours, 4 acres but cut around 3. Bought residential and the bumps I never felt on the 1025 were bone-jarring. Ended up returning the residential zero-turn and went with Scag Cheetah floating rider platform. Outstanding. I don't think a residential grade would have suffered the abuse this machine takes.

 

Go commercial. It sounds like I have a yard similar to yours, 4 acres but cut around 3. Bought residential and the bumps I never felt on the 1025 were bone-jarring. Ended up returning the residential zero-turn and went with Scag Cheetah floating rider platform. Outstanding. I don't think a residential grade would have suffered the abuse this machine takes.

I think this depends a lot on the residential mower you buy. The z3's are bolted together and have thin decks.

Most residentials in other manufacturers still have welded frames and 10mm or 11mm fabricated decks. Rough ground isn't really going to hurt unit so much as your back.

Commercial units are primarily upgraded on the seats, spindles and have serviceable hydros. Spending double for something that is meant to put a few thousand hours on it when you're only going to put a few hundred on it might not be the best money spent. You can probably slap a suspension seat on a solid residential with a Kawasaki for half the money and be just as satisfied. But it's your money, i just don't see the need to double my investment so I can have something "commercial" when I'll put MAYBE 25 hours a year on it mowing my couple of acres.

You can probably slap a suspension seat on it and be good to go for an extra couple hundred bucks.

Sent from my SM-N981U using Tapatalk

 

I've a Ryobi ZT480e that I really like. Since putting lugged tires on it, it's a lot more useful and safer. They're at Home Depot. Used to be $4,200. Probably closer to the $4,999 of the Ego that Lowes has now. These will do about 2 acres between charges. Will the Ego, you could probably have some extra batteries to use with it to extend the time. The Ryobi's are built in lead acid.

 

Up date on this. Ryobi is putting their cross cut blades on their ZTs now. They also have 80v models and ones at 30, 42 and 54 inches. The 54 inch one has a joy stick instead of the oars. These newer models have Nicad batteries rather than the lead acid ones in our ZT480e.

 

I really like my Z730m. Cuts great, rides well. Built like a tank.

 

Thanks for the replies. I originally asked about non commercial mowers because they usually cost less but many of you make good points for a commercial mower too. Where I live we have the most common makes, JD, Kubota, Cub Cadet, Toro, and possibly Ferris. There may be a couple more but I haven't found them just yet. Maybe I should be asking what sort of features I should be looking for too. This mower is going to be run primarily by my wife who is 5ft 8in tall and is looking for a comfortable ride. I'll be using it a little bit too. I'm 6ft 4in. Your thoughts are appreciated.

 

OP - I had the same experience with my 2025r. The drive over worked fine and the swapping was straight forward enough but the weekly swap of backhoe and loader off and then back on was a PITA and took almost as long than the actually mowing . I went with the Z530r someone else posted above. My use case also led me to add a powerflo bagger to the z-turn for leaves in the fall. Has worked out great for me. I kept my 2025r deck for "scalping" the law for overseeding.

 

Unfortunately we put between 100 and 150 hours a year on the 46" yard tractor. Not to mention the push mower to get around some of the trees and under branches.. We had a 42" Craftsman previously to the 46" and literally killed it in less than two years. Sears honored the warranty and we got the bigger tractor. But I digress,....that z530 and the z700 looks interesting. Does anyone have any strong feelings about the engine?

 

Unfortunately we put between 100 and 150 hours a year on the 46" yard tractor. Not to mention the push mower to get around some of the trees and under branches.. We had a 42" Craftsman previously to the 46" and literally killed it in less than two years. Sears honored the warranty and we got the bigger tractor. But I digress,....that z530 and the z700 looks interesting. Does anyone have any strong feelings about the engine?

I still don't think that necessitates a commercial. A good 54" zero turn is going to save you a substantial amount of those hours. Like, 30-50" over a 46" big box lawn tractor. You'll be able to mow at nearly twice the speed and you'll save a boatload of time on going around things. 100 hours a year, you can put 1000hrs on and mid-range prosumer no problem. I have a buddy with a ztrak5 that loves it, he does b4 acres a week in a little over 2 hours.

I'm heavily considering a Hustler for my personal use.

Sent from my SM-N981U using Tapatalk

 

I first had a lawn service when I moved into my house, until I caught them cutting air. They were like every 7 days cut no matter what. I kicked them off, found a lawn company that was getting rid of some of their equipment and bought a bocat pro 60" zero turn. Fantastic machine. Paid for itself in a few years and I still had the mower.

Only reason i swapped it out is everything I have here is diesel and didn't want to keep going to the gas station for 10 gallons of gas each time. We have 550 gallons of diesel here with a 110v pump.

Looked at who did diesel zero turns and bought a used kubota zd331. A bit heavy because of the diesel engine (so you have to learn to not make ruts) but the power is fantastic for a 60" deck. No matter how high the grass is I could go full speed - which is fast and cut without the engine bogging down. I think I bought it used for $7k. Before covid and shortages. I put a canopy on it and now I cut in the shade

Not sure how many acres you are cutting but try to go with a 60" deck if its over 2 acres. But don't get a 72" deck as they really tend to scalp unless you are really flat land

 

We cut about 4 acres of grass almost weekly. When we cleared it about 30 years ago, some of the locals were using the property as their own personal garbage dump so we cleared the tall grass and bushes off it so there was no place to hide the garbage anymore, and we've kept it mowed since. The spacing on the trees isn't going to allow anything bigger than probably 54" so I'm pretty much limited to that. My 1025R is the only diesel I have right now, everything else is gas and I generally keep about 50 gallons on hand in 5 gallon jugs so that's not a problem. I hadn't thought too much about a diesel, only because of cost, but you bring up a good point regarding ruts.

 

I'm surprised that nobody has chimed in as a lawnmower salesperson?
I often think that opening a mower shop would be a nice retirement gig.
Country Clipper is a brand I have researched and would consider.

 

I'm surprised that nobody has chimed in as a lawnmower salesperson?
I often think that opening a mower shop would be a nice retirement gig.
Country Clipper is a brand I have researched and would consider.

unfortunately you would have to deal with people

 

Im just curious if you truly are using your backhoe that often to keep putting it on and off. You would be the first Ive ever heard of that frequent of use.

 

That's funny. I just came in to take a break, been using my backhoe all afternoon. Digging out some tree stumps, starting to dredge out two of my streams tomorrow.

This weekend we were extending our fence line and I was using my backhoe to help dig in the dead mans.

I hate having to take off my hoe to put on my 3 point to be able to spray or to use the post home digger or rototill

I have the 2nd tractor on order and once it comes in the smaller tractor can keep the backhoe on all the time. Will be great not to swap it out.

 

I heard zero turns are for people who don’t have time and want to get their grass cut quickly…. 😂

I prefer - letter O turns instead of 0 turns as the circles are more symmetrical…. Of course that is my OCD, I mean my CDO behaviors

 

Bad Boy, at the time I bought mine, they used commercial serviceable hydros on the Elite series available at TSC.
I service mine yearly.

 

I use the backhoe about once every other week and use it for ballast every time I use the FEL, which is often. The tractor gets .used for something 4-5 days out of a week. We have a lot of dead ash trees that we're taking down cutting into logs and stacking, piling brush, and later on it will be used to help to get rid of the stumps.

 

We may have a winner!!! All that's left is for the Primary Operator to give her seal of approval on a test drive and for the machine to actually get to the dealers lot. It's a z540r and it should be arriving in mid August. One dealer told me that if I didn't find something on a lot, that I'd likely have to wait for 2023 or 2024. Incredible. How can anyone expect the public to wait up to 2 years for their product??? I do hope that salesperson was blowing smoke. Anyway, thanks for all the input and I'll let you know how things ended up in August.

 

One dealer told me that if I didn't find something on a lot, that I'd likely have to wait for 2023 or 2024. Incredible. How can anyone expect the public to wait up to 2 years for their product??? I do hope that salesperson was blowing smoke.

Could be a sales tactic by now. Buy what we've got or wait forever for what you want.

Congratulations on the new Z.

 

Thanks for the congrats but all I've got so far is a promise of first refusal from a salesperson that I've never dealt with before. I hope that it pans out. We'll see in mid August.

 

I recently purchased a Z 730., 60” deck. Its awesome it's residential but commercial grade., so inwas told. Great seat. Cuts great. Good on gas Too. I have 4 acres to mow. Does it quick and looks real good too. I love it.

 

Bought a Deere Z530M earlier this year with 54” deck, Kawasaki engine, and twin bagger (for fall leaves). Started out at local dealer and ended up purchasing from Lowe’s for a lot less money and took the 5% off on top of that with the Lowe’s card. Total for the mower with bagger system was barely over $7.
Seat is good, 54” Scalps less than my previous 60”. Overall, good unit. Biggest CON is lack of traction in damp/wet grass and size of bagger when it’s time to get leaves up in the fall.

 

Biggest CON is lack of traction in damp/wet grass

Even the top of the line models have that problem.

 

Just an update, I've been talking to the saleslady at the dealership and I've got the models wrong. There's a z545R coming in another week, and a z530R coming the week after. I understand that the z545R is fuel injected and has a turbo charger, and the 530 is normally aspirated. Is there any real advantage to fuel injection or turbo charging a lawnmower besides some small amount of fuel economy?

 

I would prefer to avoid turbo for the sake of the added expense and potential for increased maintenance costs. I would prefer fuel injection over carbureted.

 

I'm not particularly interested in the turbo charger either. More curious than anything.

 

Lol, its not turbo charged…