zero turn mower gloat?

[Sweet Willy]

A couple of weeks back I bought a Toro ZTM. The MX4250. It's the best purchase I've made in a long time. No back pain. No shoulder pain (I have a permanently torn rotator cuff). And so much faster than my JD 120. The pic will give you an idea of the kind of mowing I do so the ability to maneuver around "stuff" is very important to me. If you have a lot of mowing, get a ZTM.

[aiyou]

Well, I'm jealous.

The mower sounds great, but that view....absolutely gorgeous!

[capncarl]

Chattanooga? I do not remember seeing that much flat land in one area! You'll like the ztr, but they do not much like slopes and hills. I don't know if the owners manual addresses water much, but some earlier ztrs that had water hose hook ups for a deck wash sys had transaxle problems with water being blown past the shaft seals, so careful how you wash it down.
capncarl

[cabinetman]

Congratulations on the new mower. If I had a bigger lot and the storage space I would have bought a ZTM. I just bought a Toro Personal Pace, which is great. I had to go to the dealer for a warranty fix, and saw the ZTM's...nice mowers.

.

[greenacres2]

Bought my Dixie Chopper in 2006 and haven't looked back. What used to be 3 hours of mowing is now 65 minutes. My neighbor cuts 10 acres in about 3 hours with his Hustler, used to take he and his wife about 6 hours on a pair of Simplicity tractors. My Cub and his Simplicities all had 50" decks, i stayed at 50" and he moved up to a 60" deck. Nothing quite like having ground AND the time to appreciate it!!

earl

[eezlock]

zero turn mower gloat

Enjoy it now while you can but, be very cautious about zero turn mowers, they are SUPER expensive to have repaired. I still have ( don't use it anymore) a
Ariens 1742 zero turn mower that I wish I had never bought! The hydo unit,
that is the forward/reverse, steering unit went out on it. The dealer told me that it would be over $850.00 to repair one side of the hydro and he didn't know without tearing it down if the other side needed repairing as well. Here is the bad part, I would try and repair it myself, but there is no available info,
diagrams, parts lists or anything that the public can get to work on them
for the DIY'er.....they are 110% dealer/ distributor only!...a completely closed
circuit network. I can't see putting a pile of money into it,when that is already over half the value of the mower. For this very reason, I tell everyone that I know, how bad a deal this is and it would be the same for them too!

[Sweet Willy]

Thanks guys for all the comments. Eezlock, I did a lot of computer time checking out ZTMs and I went with the Toro because of the overwhelming positive reviews it got. I also bought the MX version of this mower because it has several upgrades over the SS version which includes welded deck, more HP (23), a Kawasaki engine and high back seat w/armrests because both the wife and I have back issues. Also I believe that Toro parts are much easier to get ahold of and I have a good dealer. Really sorry to hear about your Ariens because when these mowers work they are sweet.

[wbsettle]

Enjoy it now while you can but, be very cautious about zero turn mowers, they are SUPER expensive to have repaired. I still have ( don't use it anymore) a
Ariens 1742 zero turn mower that I wish I had never bought! The hydo unit,
that is the forward/reverse, steering unit went out on it. The dealer told me that it would be over $850.00 to repair one side of the hydro and he didn't know without tearing it down if the other side needed repairing as well. Here is the bad part, I would try and repair it myself, but there is no available info,
diagrams, parts lists or anything that the public can get to work on them
for the DIY'er.....they are 110% dealer/ distributor only!...a completely closed
circuit network. I can't see putting a pile of money into it,when that is already over half the value of the mower. For this very reason, I tell everyone that I know, how bad a deal this is and it would be the same for them too!

Eez, you probably have Hydro-Gear transmissions. With the model numbers of the trannies, you should be able to find parts and service manuals online. 5-6 years ago, I too found the service info was virtually non-existent, but in the last couple that seems to have changed. If they are H-G units, there should be stickers on the trannies themselves with model and serial numbers, and possibly a duplicate was placed in the paperwork package...at least they were with my Gravely (Gravely/Ariens are/were the same company). You likely have either EZT or IZT transmissions. Probably the EZT, which is considered a non-serviceable unit, but I've still seen parts manuals for them online. Hydro-Gear

A quick search shows that M&D also carries service manuals and parts for Hydro-Gear. At least one version of the EZT goes for $535...still pricey, but much better than the $850 you were quoted.

Sorry to hear you had bad luck with yours. My Gravely ZT1534 is starting it's 8th season without issue (knock on wood) using EZT trannies.

-Brent

[eezlock]

zero turn mower gloat

Brent and Sweet Willie.....thanks for the replies about my Ariens zero turn
mower. Before I decide to strip off the engine and some other good things and send the deck and frame to the scrap pile I may see if I can get it fixed elsewhere....thanks again.

[capncarl]

It gave me the willies when I first saw the commercial ztr's migrating over to the hydrogear transaxles with the reputation that their residental counterparts were creating. Early reports say that there was a 15% savings by using transaxles over hydraulic pumps and hydraulic wheel motors, and their main sales pitch was fewer leaking hoses. Bull, a properly mfg'd hose seldom leaks and when it does the cost is pittance compared to the replacement of a transaxle. Now the drive units for ztr's come as a simple to install unit that saves the mfg bundles on assembly time, so they could care less about reliability. Money in the bank for them. My 6 year old Gravely 52z is hydraulic drive, weighs 961 lbs, 7ga deck with 1/4" reinforcing at the spindles, and is built like a tank. With a 10 mph cutting speed it will shake your guts out, so I set the throttle at 1/2 to 3/4 speed which reduces the 3.5acre cut time from 90 minutes to 120 minutes. My kidneys thank me. Anyone buying a ztr would be well advised to upgrade to the suspension seat. I believe that a 5 year old refurbished commercial ztr selling for $3500 would be a much better purchase for a homeowner over a new shiny $2500 ztr of the same size.
capncarl