Need a new zero turn, huge decision, lots of cash requir

Hi folks, I know this is not a garden tractor question but I've looked over this forum and seems like a lot of sensible answers here. I need a new zero turn mower. I'm looking at 52-54" decks.

A dealer is pushing me toward ferris IS 600 52" due to the suspension. (ride is important to me) However, it has a briggs and stratton commercial series 25 hp engine. Searching online has shown some pretty negative things about B&S.

What is you opinion of the B&S commercial series 25 hp engine?

Most other ZTs that the dealer has now in my size have kawasaki FR691V engines. Hustlers for example. (salesman says ride will not be a good of course)

Skags are also an option, but salesman says the ride is too rough, in fact he STRONGLY recommended against it. (young guy too?) One of those also has a kohler motor.

My older hustler 48" which I have abused terribly has an ok ride and a honda engine and no problems ever with the engine. I change the oil on occasion and clean the air intake stuff.

I also like to do the maintenance myself, because not much money. Would either kawasaki or B&S be difficult to do rountine maintenance on? for a somewhat adept with this stuff female person?

Finally, I also mow on a couple of pretty steep slopes. my hustler does this ok but not sure about these ones that sit taller? Any experience with that? I know the slope mowing is NOT recommended with these mowers but it still happens.

Thank you for any advice you can offer. Deb

Welcome. I would definitely go with a
Kawasaki engine hands down! The Ferris
ride is undoubtedly the best in a zero
turn. You can get a Ferris with a
Kawasaki. How much do you mow? 1,2,3
acres or more? If you mow around a lot
of obstacles I would consider going
with a 60 deck. It sticks out farther
and you can trim closer to things. I
have a Toro 3000 with a Kawasaki
FX801. The FX is a commercial engine.
It is very simple to do routine
maintenance on. The Ferris is a very
good zero turn. They are expensive but
well worth the money!

I agree with the Ferris with a Kawasaki
engine, both are very well built

I've heard a lot of good things about the Kawasaki engines, but wouldn't be the least bit afraid of the commercial Briggs.

I have the smallest Ferris made. Before that I had the consumer version, a Simplicity. Basically the same frame, but a lawn
tractor mower deck under the Simplicity, and a heavy duty deck under the Ferris. Both with B&S engines. No problems with either. I
have a JD gator with a B&S engine. And a tiller, and a water pump, and, probably something I'm missing! I've been around them for
over 50 years, and they are my choice.
These mowers are terrible on slopes. I don't know if other brands are any different.

Surely Ferris offers a similar size mower with a Kawasaki engine. It would be well worth the extra money.

It depends on which Briggs engine whether it is a good deal or not. Their Intek engines give good service (With regular oil changes and
air filters, but they start slobbering oil at about 600 hours and for me at least, it is impossible to stop it more than just temporarily.
Their Vanguard engines give better service, but here I would only recommend the Vanguard models that were built by Daihatsu for Briggs and
Stratton.

Also, Kohler and Honda both make very good engines. (Except for the single cylinder Kohler 'Courage' engines. Even the Kohler Courage
twins give good service.)

Surely Ferris offers a similar size mower with a Kawasaki engine. It would be well worth the extra money.

It depends on which Briggs engine whether it is a good deal or not. Their Intek engines give good service (With regular oil changes and
air filters, but they start slobbering oil at about 600 hours and for me at least, it is impossible to stop it more than just temporarily.
Their Vanguard engines give better service, but here I would only recommend the Vanguard models that were built by Daihatsu for Briggs and
Stratton.

Also, Kohler and Honda both make very good engines. (Except for the single cylinder Kohler 'Courage' engines. Even the Kohler Courage
twins give good service.)

Another thought: Other manufacturers may not offer a full suspension on their mowers, but most offer a suspension seat which softens the jolts more than a regular seat. Of course a suspension seat is either an extra cost upgrade or standard on only the higher cost models.

I have a buddy that is on his second Ferris,he is running the commercial mowers,his advice is pay for
the upgrade seat. Sofar he has only mowed his yard once with the new mower,his wife likes the new
seat on the new mower. Best deal in town if you can get someone else to do the labor!

Thank you everyone for sharing your experience and knowledge.

I mow on two different places a total of 3 or 4 acres. Never all at once. Lots of obstacles. I mow on a steep pond dam, but I don't want to let trees/brush grow there, which would happen pretty quickly here in southern Indiana. I push mow the very top of the vertical sides of the dam a few times a season (due to extreme steepness) but it would take some time to push mow the whole thing. A friend has recommended goats.

the scag advertises a low center of gravity and better handling on slopes. That was the same reason the salesman said the ride was so bad.

I hesitate going to a 60" deck because I go between some things that might be too tight for that size deck. I would love getting the mowing done more quickly though. On the second property I mow once I get it cleared again I will have lots of open area. It is a brush and cedar mess right now. There has been lots of hustler abuse there.

The sales place near me does not have a lot of inventory of any of these mowers right now. I saw this ferris model with a kawasaki engine in the product catalog, but only one with the B&S in the showroom. there are other ferris dealers within 30 miles or so, but this place near me posts all over the building that they have no obligation to service anything they didn't sell, and always service their own products before others. It's the only place near me so I'm kinda stuck. My late husband liked the place and I have several things he bought there as well. They do not treat women well but they are close to me so I put up with that. (and if you are rolling your eyes right now all I have to say is: you don't know. not that i'm here to bash a place about how they treat people, just sayin.) I doubt they will get more mowers this season, and their prices are nice.

Accessories: they do offer a premium suspension seat. Fancy. catalog does not list price. I think I will get the trailer hitch kit though. This does bring up the thought of replacement blades cost. Those have been pricey for the hustler in the past so I'm sure they would be painful for ferris as well.

Due to the low inventory I feel some pressure to purchase. It seems like 50/50 on the B&S advice. In the product catalog and online they call that a B&S commercial engine, they do not say Vanguard. Not sure on the warranty, maybe 2 years? which wouldn't be long frankly.

thank you for your advice and thanks for listening. I hope everyone has a great day today! Deb

My gripe with ZTs is the rough ride. I currently have a Ferris 700s with the 61 ICD deck and it's not what I expected, having selected
Ferris because they had all the spring/shocks that others didn't offer. I have added extra springs under the seat which has helped,
then I went to a suspension addition and that 1 1/2 deflection wasn't enough to do any good.

I have installed balloon, studded, 2 ply, soft sidewall tires (ATV soft sidewall studs for traction on pond banks) and run them at 5
PSI...for a softer ride. I spent $7k on new machine in 2016 and should have added another $5k and gotten the deluxe model with
more springs and independent suspension up front and an upgraded seat with a decent adjustable spring suspension seat. The BS
26 Vanguard is a superb engine and good on gas for the amount of work this machine can produce.

Other thing is trying to get a soft riding, large cutting, tilt deck so that you can wash it out without a lot of trouble, especially in the
spring when the grass is the wettest. The ROPS is a nice place to install a sun shade but is a PIA for cutting around trees....you need
to keep them trimmed up and out of the way.

Last, you get a wide deck and you have a lot of mass in motion, besides the roar of the engine....they are loud, even with 29dB ear
muffs.

So my 3 gripes are soft ride, noise, and easy washout capabilities. I guess they are out there somewhere...just how deep do your
pockets have to be........

I think you picked the best forum for your question! We have a 42 inch JD Zturn with a Briggs engine, it's been flawless in the 5 years
we've had it. It mows so fast we haven't put many hours on it, only about 230, so time will tell.

The Grasshopper front mounted deck solves a lot of problems but is too bulky for a lot of my close in mowing with the large mower....besides being a high dollar asset. Using a smaller mower for trimming would be an option but just another mower to have to clean up.

Be careful on slopes around ponds. At least 2 men in So. Indiana (one in Floyds Knobs) drowned when a zero turn mower flipped over into a
pond and on top of them. ZTM and side slopes don't mix well. I use an old Snapper rear engine mower for my side slopes, works much better.
For the money I don't think you can beat the Bad Boy elite ZT sold by tractor supply. I got a 10% coupon on one 60 that dropped the price to
about $4200. 4 bolts adds a $250 suspension seat. It is a toyota vs a Lexus (Ferris) but they both last for the same distance...hours on the
meter. Bad Boy has the Kohler engine. I have 5 neighbors with Bad Boys all mowing farm yards and barnyards and none of us has a bad thing to
say about them and would buy Bad Boy again. We all do our own oil changes with an outsider doing a winter tune-up. Service on mowers is
iffy...lots of turnover in the lawn mower sales game. Good luck.

Interesting! I never thought about looking anyplace else for a ZT mower. I'm going to stop by tractor supply on my way home, although I would not have any place to take it for service. When I was researching the B&S engine info online I saw mentions of 'bad boy' but I did not know what they were talking about.

I only mow with the push mower on the water side of the dam. I'm just not that good controlling a ZT and would have driven it into the pond a long time ago.

Any good mower repair shop would service any
brand no matter where you bought it.

i am ferris dealer yes they do ride better but for that ride do not go with the 600 series go to the what is now 2200 series and do the
suspension seat also option. as far as engine i have had no issues with the briggs on those units i only order kawa if unit is sold ahead of
time. still have a 600 unit with kawa engine option and that the only reason still have it all other customers wanted the briggs units.

Hi everyone, thank you for sharing your knowledge here in
this forum.

There are no Bad Boy mowers available in my area right now.
They can be ordered but I want to drive it before I buy it.

Also, only one model available online. Bad Boy MZ Magnum
54. BMZ54K740, 3699.99. They have other brands on the
website, but my local TS only has push mowers in stock.

Im going to go look at the other model of Ferris mowers either
tomorrow or Saturday morning.

Intermittent rain here, all my grass is outta control again. Work
has been pretty busy this week. Deb

In your original post you said ride is really important to you. I would strongly suggest you go with a Ferris.

Deb your comment about not servicing mowers that they do not sell. Ask Ford Motor Company. They found out in the 80s that all of their dealers must warranty all of the cas/trucks.(Federal Trade Commision)

I have a Kubota ZG-20 zero turn with ROPS. I have used it on road ditches which were quite steep. Sometimes it would slide a little when
the grass was wet, but other than that it worked good on the slopes. It has a Kohler 20HP engine and it has been bullet proof. They have a
deluxe seat avail for it. I would recommend it. But I think whatever you get, it should have the ROPS. (Rollover protection system)

I had a Cub 700 series with a Kohler engine and it worked
very well. Nice ride with adjustable seat suspension. The 900
series is even nicer riding. Might be worth looking into if
theres a dealer around.

Note that those are essentially commercial machines. If the
price is too salty, maybe test drive a residential model.

I've got a 60" Toro Titan HD, and a bad back, and I can't say enough wonderful things about that machine. My yard takes 3.5 hrs to mow, with hills, tons of trees, and some "bouncy" areas and my back never has a problem. That being said I will say I think the turf tires it came with are garbage, but the mower is fantastic.

Buy once, cry once...

Just my $0.02