"Tire kicking for the old girl"

[zippy1]

Thinking about replacing the old girls grass cutter. She's using a Husqvarna lawn tractor with a twin 18 hp Kawasaki, and 48" deck. That deck never was on my like list, you have to clean the damn thing out after every cut.
I can cut the same parts with mine, and I'm lucky to get much more than a coffee can of debri after the whole season.
OFF TOPIC, MY BAD. Anyway.
With my shoulders being the way they are, getting worst and a few other things, we won't get into, she's (Nancy) is going to be doing the majority of the grass cutting for awhile. Maybe a long while.
She DOES NOT want to use one of my tractors. It was a , "no way, if I'm cutting, we get something else, or I'll keep what I got".
So brings me to my question. I want to get her a Z-TURN mower, and it will be Cub Cadet, and I will be buying it from my dealer (buddy), no other choices.
I understand they will cut circles around a tractor, and we only want a 48" deck for getting around the trees, and ROCKS in the yard.
Now from my limited amount of research, I gather the RTZ is rather cheaply made. So looked at others. Pretty much have my mind made up, but would like some opinions from those that use a Cub Cadet Z-TURN, on their ranch, and your experience with them, good, bad, otherwise.
These are the two I'm "thinking" on. And before anyone goes off half cocked, about looking at new, this one is for Nancy, to cut down on her time mowing.



Side by side comparison. Both have fabricated decks...
http://www.cubcadet.com/equipment/Co...ductId=1963374I'm leaning towards the Z-FORCE® SX 48 KW

The PRO Z 148S EFI, but don't know enough about the EFI. Price difference is only $1,300. The Z-Force is the cheapest of the two.
Let me know what you think of either.

[OldSkull]

Originally Posted by zippy1

The PRO Z 148S EFI, but don't know enough about the EFI. Price difference is only $1,300. The Z-Force is the cheapest of the two.
Let me know what you think of either.

Apparently that's all we can say (What we think)

I like them Todd! On paper their spec look impressive, one got up to 350Lbs of torque per wheel, the other up to 500lbs per wheel, those are powerful commercial hydro gear tranny used on most expensive Z, ask your buddy if he can let your spouse try them for a spin and see if she like them. Be careful, one have twice the power of her little Husqvarna, she may pop few wheelies on that one.

[Sam Mac]

Thread moved at Todd's request

[john hall]

Todd, I have no experience with any of the Cadet ZTR machines. I looked/drooled at a pristine TANK this past winter, but that was it. Here are my thoughts, you KNOW quality when you see it. Look them over good and see if you see any red flags concerning how things are built. Both the engines are respected brands, now we all know everyone makes a lemon once in a while, hopefully neither of those is problematic. Just by the price, neither is a "box store" machine.

Any way your buddy can let her drive them (mowing would be really nice if he would permit)? Just how hilly is your property? Around here you see guys running ag tires. My cousin had a Deere in the $8K range and got in a jam mowing near the creek in his yard this year--needed a tow to get out. Since we are not on flat land, I would lean toward the one with the ROPS. Possibly he has sold some of these to commercial cutters that you could contact for an evaluation. Do you know any of his mechanics that might give you an honest opinion?

[zippy1]

Originally Posted by OldSkull

Apparently that's all we can say (What we think)

I like them Todd! On paper their spec look impressive, one got up to 350Lbs of torque per wheel, the other up to 500lbs per wheel, those are powerful commercial hydro gear tranny used on most expensive Z, ask your buddy if he can let your spouse try them for a spin and see if she like them.

Originally Posted by john hall

Todd, I have no experience with any of the Cadet ZTR machines. I looked/drooled at a pristine TANK this past winter, but that was it. Here are my thoughts, you KNOW quality when you see it. Look them over good and see if you see any red flags concerning how things are built. Both the engines are respected brands, now we all know everyone makes a lemon once in a while, hopefully neither of those is problematic. Just by the price, neither is a "box store" machine.

Any way your buddy can let her drive them (mowing would be really nice if he would permit)? Just how hilly is your property? Around here you see guys running ag tires. My cousin had a Deere in the $8K range and got in a jam mowing near the creek in his yard this year--needed a tow to get out. Since we are not on flat land, I would lean toward the one with the ROPS. Possibly he has sold some of these to commercial cutters that you could contact for an evaluation. Do you know any of his mechanics that might give you an honest opinion?

Well I called the dealer today, and he has nothing left in stock, but can get whatever I "need". If he had one on the floor, he'd let her run it around the lot, but not to actually mow with it.
He did say if it were him, he'd go with the Z-Force, over the Pro for what we need it for.
Either would do fine around our place, but near the highway ditch she would have to do a little more trimming with the push mower.

[Dirty Steve]

Todd,

I bought a new 54 inch Z-Force S in 2011. Had a 24 or 25 hp verical shaft.

1. It was way faster than my lawn. Shook me awful. I blamed the solid front end. No pivoting axle. There were times when one front wheel would leave terra firma in certain situations.

2. 54 inch fabricated deck. Cut nice. Did not discharge worth a damn. My lawn has alot of clover and broad leaf weeds. Cut once-nice. Second time you hear it struggling with grass not clearing from deck in the thicker sections lawn grass. By the third time it was clumping awful. Had to scrape it out every other mowing and would get an entire 5 gallon bucket of grass scrapings. Pi$$ed me off to no end. Local dealer said newer decks are better. Your mileage may vary.

At least get one with a thicker suspension seat. A standard garden tractor tip up seat was what mine had and with the "solid" front end it SUCKED!

[alsparl]

Todd, Thank you for sharing this thread with us on here because I think a lot of us have had experience with this either as a spouse trying to convince his wife of a zero-turn or on the sales side watching a potential customer bring his spouse in and all along her heals are dug into the ground.

From a dealer stand point, now mind you I have not been there for nearly 12 years now, we were blessed to have a demo Tank machine. And yes, I loved it. Sticks only, no steering wheel.

When the opportunity presented itself, I would take the unit out back, ask the lady to hop on and start mowing....meanwhile "...ma'am,your husband and I would be back in 15-30 minutes." Why you might ask? Intimidation. In the home, she is a confident domestic goddess, Super Woman; but at a dealership, she is a fish out of the water as it's a man's playground. As much as us men try not to, sometimes the slightest smirk or glare is perceived/interpreted as judgment towards them even though the man didn't intend it to be.

In other words, get your wife to get some seat time....but walk away. Let her get comfortable at her own pace. Next thing you know, she will be telling you which model and how soon you will be buying one, no matter what color it is. Good luck and let us know how it goes. Aaron

[zippy1]

So after weighing all the options, doing comparisons, and Nancy agreeing she can learn how to operate a mower with sticks, rather than a steering wheel, we went with big orange.
We bought the Z700
It'll be delivered sometime next week, or the week after. It's a 54" rather than the 48" we wanted, but it'll work fine...
Glad now I checked around, and asked questions before jumping on my first choice. Thanks to those that had experience, and contacted me. You know who you are.

Pictures upon delivery. Cause yeah, I know, pictures or it didn't happen.

[OldSkull]

Congratulations!
Holy moly! You stretch your budget a lot! They worth more then 9K on my side of the fence! Can't go wrong with the big Orange!

[J-Mech]

I think you made a good choice Todd. Congrats on the Bota!