Posts: 155
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Joined: Sep 2003
Location: lumberton tx
Both my son and I have the Bad Boy MZ 48 mowers. I use a drag rake for a few years and now my left drive is going out. My sons was unde4 water during Harvey. Engine was full of water. Got it dried out and it runs but has a bad oil leak. My mower is in better shape than his. Figure between the 2 we can make one good one for him. No what di I get. Zt elite mz or different brand. Won’t use a rake again but wouldn like better drives and bigger tires. Got my mower stuck a lot. Also smoother ride would be good. Any ideas
Thanks
Gary
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Location: Front seat on the Struggle Bus
Exmark & Ferris offer suspension systems.....never spent time on anything other than my Deere. It has the good suspended seat......all depends on your yard. Former artillery range or Agusta National.....what I mow goes from one to the other.
Ed
Posts: 31,151
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Joined: Mar 2003
Location: Athens, TN
Too new to the game to really have a learned opinion, but I just bought a slightly used Simplicity Cobalt (Identical to a Ferris IS2100) It also has suspension. Rated to tow 200 lbs too if you want. After reading up, my biggest criteria was to have a large enough gas tank to not refuel, a fabricated deck and rebuildable transmissions. I bought used and saved about 40%. The IS2100 is a $10k mower.
The suspension seems to be real useful.
Rocket Science is more fun when you actually have rockets.
"The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government." -- Patrick Henry
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I tried the EXmark with the suspension platform and hated it you can not adjust the seat and it was like riding a bike with Ape hanger handle bars I got the Gravely 460 with air ride seat and love the ride.
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Location: Butler, PA
FIL used to mow his 3+ acres with a conventional riding mower. He had a bad back and hip replacements and when he was done, said he always felt like he had been in a car wreck. Several years ago, he bought a Grasshopper front mower ZTR. He could never do the whole yard at one time on his old riders, but once he got the Grasshopper, he told me that he could do the whole yard in one mowing and still be able to walk upright when he was done. He was in his late 70's when he bought the mower. Said he paid way too much for it, but he should have done it years earlier.
He passed away a couple years ago. I've been mowing his grass the past 2 seasons and I gotta say that I feel much better when I get off of his mower after 2 straight hours mowing than I do after riding mine for 1.5 hours. Half of his yard used to be cow pasture, so it ain't no golf course. The Grasshopper (with AG tires) can handle some pretty steep slopes and glides over the bumps pretty smoothly. I've never used any other ZTR, but from what I know, the Grasshopper is a pretty nice mower. The electric deck lift feature is great for cleaning and changing blades.
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(05-29-2018, 07:34 AM)Bill Wilson Wrote: FIL used to mow his 3+ acres with a conventional riding mower. He had a bad back and hip replacements and when he was done, said he always felt like he had been in a car wreck. Several years ago, he bought a Grasshopper front mower ZTR. He could never do the whole yard at one time on his old riders, but once he got the Grasshopper, he told me that he could do the whole yard in one mowing and still be able to walk upright when he was done. He was in his late 70's when he bought the mower. Said he paid way too much for it, but he should have done it years earlier.
He passed away a couple years ago. I've been mowing his grass the past 2 seasons and I gotta say that I feel much better when I get off of his mower after 2 straight hours mowing than I do after riding mine for 1.5 hours. Half of his yard used to be cow pasture, so it ain't no golf course. The Grasshopper (with AG tires) can handle some pretty steep slopes and glides over the bumps pretty smoothly. I've never used any other ZTR, but from what I know, the Grasshopper is a pretty nice mower. The electric deck lift feature is great for cleaning and changing blades.
You can upgrade to full suspension on many mowers.
https://www.ombwarehouse.com/seat-suspen...ieEALw_wcB
or
http://seat-warehouse.com/product/seat-s...az850a-fe/
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I had a seat like those and they were not much better then the ones without them. Hustler has some nice seats and a front wheel suspension that you can add on. I had a cub cadet ztr that had a pivoting front axle that was nice.
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I have a Gravely ZT54XL. Bought it four years ago. There is no suspension.
I love that this mower cuts a lot of grass fast. I mow three acres every time, some of it very rough; it gets done in under two hours.
The seat was miserable. Last year, the rough ride was becoming unbearable; I could hardly walk after two hours on the mower. Just some (poor) foam padding. I found an excess ExMark suspension seat and retrofitted it onto the mower. It bolted right in; even the seat safety devices all plugged right up. What a difference!
My advice would be to look for a used mower with the right mechanicals first, then upgrade the seat if needed.
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Location: Bluegrass of KY
(05-29-2018, 07:42 PM)WxMan Wrote: I have a Gravely ZT54XL. Bought it four years ago. There is no suspension.
I love that this mower cuts a lot of grass fast. I mow three acres every time, some of it very rough; it gets done in under two hours.
The seat was miserable. Last year, the rough ride was becoming unbearable; I could hardly walk after two hours on the mower. Just some (poor) foam padding. I found an excess ExMark suspension seat and retrofitted it onto the mower. It bolted right in; even the seat safety devices all plugged right up. What a difference!
My advice would be to look for a used mower with the right mechanicals first, then upgrade the seat if needed.
Good idea. Lots of good mowers out there. A lot use the same components. I have a Snapper Pro. I used to have a John Deere. My neighbors have Exmark and Scag. i have used both and would be pleased to own either.
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Location: Farmington, MN
I have a Gravely ZT42XL, also got the bagger kit for it. Bagger has NEVER plugged, works like a champ. Helluva mower, built like a friggin tank. Got the smaller deck to fit between obstacles on my property. I agree that the ride can get rough, but it's not so bad yet for me at 57 with back and hip issues. Good to know that other seats will bolt in. Something to note - this unit has serviceable transmissions on it. Each side is set up with a drain plug, filler and a FILTER on each transmission so you can change out the fluid. I suspect the lack of fluid changes leads to a LOT of the transmission failures on riders. I can't imagine that I will ever have to purchase another mower.
I also have both a 1963 and a 1964 Gravely L series tractors that I use for snowblowing in the winter and brush cutting in the summer with a sickle bar attachment. Both are still running strong with no signs of giving in yet. Not sure there are too many other brands out there that can show that kind of longevity.
Dave
MKM - Master Kindling Maker
