Walker vs Exmark

[johnnyjay]

Walker vs ExMark

I am planning on buying a new rider mower this spring. I am getting all the information I can between two mowers, Walker and ExMark. I have received replys from some Walker users already. To get more information I am asking the entire forum. I am located South of Atlanta, GA. Most residential yards are Bermuda Sod in Front and Fescue in the back yard. Also, leaves are left during Winter and dealt with in Spring Clean up.

I want to buy the mower that will make me the most money in return. I am a solo operator and therefore want to cut out as much weeding and trimming as possible.

What are your opinions on the right size mower, collection bagger size, engine size that will be most productive for aveage ½ acre yards. Most yards are not the upscale class. I have the Exmark 36” Metro HP WB with mulching kit. Last summer I mulched only. I am keeping this machine to sweat the small stuff.

Considerations are:
Walker 42” GHS 10 Bu Hopper vs Exmark 44” Lazer Z HP with UltraVac Commercial Collection System 8 bushels.
Walker 48” GHS 10 Bu Hopper vs Exmark 48” or 52 “ Lazer Z HP with Ultra Vac Commercial Collection System 8 bushels.
With the Walker, would you recommend purchasing an optional mulcher or side discharge deck or deflector to blow out the back of the hopper.

Thanks for all opinions.

Johnny Jones
jonesjjjr@mindspring.com
Tel (770) 389-4531

[BUSHMASTER]

Walker or exmark......Two diffent units all together both would be nice.....i live below you in columbus and walker and exmarks have the brands going right know do a search on both mowers thier are a lot of threads....Ihave a walker and a DC. love them both but the walker would come first then the mid mount.if you have a lot of small to meduim resis..get as wide as you can fit on the yards...get a ghs&
mulch deck.get the kubota gas or deisel....leave the side discharge for your mid mount when you get it...

[Edited by BUSHMASTER on 02-10-2001 at 12:05 AM]

[65hoss]

I looked at both, and chose the exmark 52" HP with ultra vac. I have taken a lawn from a walker guy already. The homeowner loved the cut mine did over the walker. As I get bigger and have more leaf jobs and clean ups I may find a used walker for the collection system. The ultra vac works great, but if you were going to bag 100% of the time you would probably want the walker. I will only be using the ultra vac for leaves. The mulch kit will be going on for the summer.

[mdb landscaping]

since you already have a walk behind to fit in the small spots, id consider going to a 52 inch or even a 60 inch mower. i just purchased my first exmark 60 inch rider, and most of the people i questioned about size told me if you have the walk behind for the small spots go big as possible

[Fantasy Lawns]

the Walker is going to be slower than the Exmark rider but will fit on more smaller or tight areas and is not so big looking to scare customers .....the rider will kick butt of larger areas with a 60' deck

but if you need to get the one which is more able to adapt it's the Walker

I have both .... had the Walkers for years before getting the larger rider last spring ....which does the work of 2 Walkers on larger acre lots ....so you have be real on your needs & get what you'll use the most

one last thing is that the Walker is more high maintence and finding a local mech may be hard

[Edited by theleven on 02-10-2001 at 05:16 PM]

[Tony Weston]

If you want to be able to be the best in the market and allow no one else to compete with you (except another Exmark operator) you had better choose Exmark. The cut and durability is everything you can expect it to be! I run twelve Exmarks and my crew cuts 190 accounts with the average one being three man hours. We average around 750 hours per year on each unit. I have used many, many kinds of other mowers including Walker and I wouldn't even consider anything else.
Take it from someone who knows!
Tony Weston

[Mowman]

You said you work alone,correct? If you want to cut down on using a 21" trim mower you should get the Walker. Walker with the deck out front you can get it in where the Exmark Mid-Mount WILL NOT GO. Last year I was where you are now. I tried the Lazer HP Mid-Mount and could not trim as close with it as you can with the Walker. YES, I bought the Walker with a sidedischarge deck. It work fine. With a set of Gators on they make DUST of leaves. HA!!!!! no bagging. Try out both then make your decision.
Good Luck,
Mowman

[Vibe Ray]

The only thing that I know of that the Walkers have over the Lazer's is a better bagging system. Am I right, guys???

[tlcgrounds]

Let me ask you this. Bermuda yards don't usually have a lot of trees or obstacles right. Then the lazer is what you want.You won't need the out front deck because their is little need to get underneath things. Besides when you are talking about trimming time you really are talking about seconds instead of minutes. I fly through Bermuda lawns with ease. How short and how often do you mow thses lawns. Do golf coarses "bag" their bermuda fairways. I put 60"s on my bermudas and under heavy growth I mow once and then lower the deck 1/4 and cross cut. Can't tell, neither can our clients and they have had thier lawns bagged for years.
The time it takes with a walker to mow and catch, empty the baggers and then dump the truck you could mow each lawn three times with a lazer. I know that some customers will insist on bagging but the bottom line is getting the job done faster. Trimming is the least thing I take into cosideration when mowing. Your going to have to trimm around things anyways. So what if your trimming time is cut in half. So what if it takes 5 minutes instead of 7 Who cares!!! Mowing time is the most important because it takes the longest.

[landscaper3]

Our company runs Walker mowers, three to be exact, ranging from a 2001 26 EFI to 2 25hp with 9.5 bushel baggers, tilt up decks, light kits, tail locks, speed up kits and more. We run the heck out of these machines and fall cleanups are awsome with Wakers. Walkers give as good if not one of the best cuts out there (we run Toro, Exmark and Walker-Sold the Exmarks and went back to Toro.) These are some of the most durable machines out there they even work in our winter snowblowing 20 below zero and 12" of snow. Walker also is more compact and the mower is part of the bagging system not like the others that are added on the machines and have the BIG GOMMY intake hose and a seperate motor to run (Why do they need another motor to run that MMMMM!) As owner of all three look to what your company's needs are if speed is a factor go with the Toro or Exmark, if a manicured look and spring and fall cleanups and snow removal is you preferance Walker is the way to go. (but being in Georgia you wont have much need for the snow blower LOL!!!

[dlandscaping]

brian c
there arent motors on the collection system for the exmark mowers. they have the spindle driven ultravac and other companies such as ferris hustler and scag have them and toro will have it next year just to let u know.
if your properties are tight i would go with the walker. there are just so many properties a 60 or 52 inch z wouldnt work well on and the walker would work better and vice versa when you get the big acre properties. since you have small less than an acre properties i think that is what you said?? i would go with the walker and it will make your life easier. both machines i have heard great things about too bad there is no walker dealer near me.

[walker-talker]

I think that you are just going to have to determine your needs, considering your present accounts and accounts to come. I own a Walker and glad that I do. Most all my accounts have tight fitting areas so the Walker works well. In the spring Bermuda grass needs to be scalped. Last spring I used my Walker for the first time to do this......it did a totally awesome job. When it came to starting mowing I purchased gator blades and a deflector. This works ok, but I am going to purchase a used 42" or 52" mulching deck (if I can ever find one....been looking on the internet for 3 months....someone please help me...lol). The problem with mulching your grass and discharging it out the back is that it leaves a big mess on driveways. Also, if the grass is tall, you will have to double mow it. If you do purchase the Walker I would get the 48" GHS and a mulching deck. As far as the Exmark goes, I have never used one and never seen one, but from what I have read it is a pretty decent machine. Use this website and do the research. I wish I would of found this website the day it came up.
Long live America and lawnsite.com
Matt

[lawnboy82]

TLC. I wish to disagree about what you say in regards to trimming. I think that trimming is a vital part of a mowing job, and therefore takes some time to do properly. Also, when you say that it takes more time to cut than to trim. I wish to disagree there too. I have had in the past several properties where cutting takes 2 guys with walk behinds 2 hrs, and it takes 2 guys with trimmers 2 hrs. Now that property can have the cutting done much faster if there was a rider accessable to me. Another property was the same thing; 2 1/2 hrs to cut / 2 1/2 hrs to trim. The cutting time can be reduced if there is a larger mower being used. Trimming time can't be done much faster. So the next time you go look at a job and you don't consider that there is 2 1/2 man hrs of trimming, or 4 man hrs of trimming, please inform us so that we know you lost money, and were wrong.

[Cleve]

Hello neighbor,
I'm just a little north of you and my Walker came from a dealer in your area (Parkway) in 1994. I have the Walker 42" GHS with the Kubota diesel. We use this mower along with a couple of Honda 21" units and a Toro 36" WB.
Regards the "high maint" quote, I disagree. About the biggest expense for me has been the cost of the main PTO belt on occasion. Otherwise I had to have a pulley bracket welded back in place a couple years ago. I lube it on a regular basis and keep the blades sharp. Got to be the best leaf collector around in the fall. The 42" leaves a great finish on all the lawns. Most are fescue but there are a couple with zoysia or St. Auguastine as well. I don't try to go at high speed on any lawn so I have a hard time understanding these guys that have to go at high speed all the time. Of course everything we do is less than 15k sq.ft. anyway. On a few the small mowers don't even have to be unloaded.
I do suggest you get the low profile tires along wth either the Kubota diesel or gas engine.
Cleve.

[CLC]

Well all I can say is I have a walker and I Love it. I looked at both and I liked walker's size but If I were you I would got to your dealers and ask to demo each and then u can go on your own lawns and see what you like!

[RMDoyon]

Walker and eXmark are very very differnt machines.

I own a Walker with a bunch of goodies as well as an eXmark TTHP wb.

The Walker cuts beautifully DEPENDING on the deck/condition combination.
The eXmark with MicroMulch cuts beautifully regardless of conditions and leaves a perfect stripe thanks to the Proslide.

However, the Walker's versatility allows me to do so many other things that it will always have a place on my trailer. The MillCreek aerator paid for iself in the first week I used it.

If I were you I'd keep the 36 wb and buy the Walker 26EFI w/48"GHS and 52 SD deck w/mulch kit, although I would consider the 42 mulcher as well but not without a demo or a testimonial from another LCO (the 52" is a marginal mulcher).

I too am solo and am thinking about trading in my TTHP 48" for a 36" and a 52". These two plus the Walker will make me nearly invincible.

Roger

[cantoo]

We're like alot of the other guys here, we bought the Walker first and then bought a mid mount for speed. Best of both worlds in my opinion.

[Currier]

My first Walker was ancient 14 + years old when I bought it used, but it did an awesome job and allowed for some serious growth in my business. In the 3 years that I ran it I had very few problems. Walkers are not high maintenance. They are super simple to work on and very simple in design (just a really good simple design). They aren't as fast as lots of machines, each deck cost 1200.00+, each member on here has their favorites. Looks like you get to jump in, buy yourself a machine, and decide which is your favorite:)

[65hoss]

Man, did we pull back an old thread or what?

By now he must have decided on a mower.

[Bill Davis]

If I had the money i would definetly go with the 42" Walker with the 20 hp engine. It is real nice because it has plenty of power and it does the best job of picking up leaves that i have seen. The 42"is also a great size because it can fit into most back yards. The only ones you might have trouble with are the chain link fences but those gates can easily be removed if needed. :blob4:

[walker-talker]

What are you doing pulling up this old thread.......lol

I just realized that....haha

[dlandscaping]

i didnt notice the dates till after i sent the reply it was my mistake

[Rodney Johns]

I think everyone covered the differences. The one thing not addressed is resale. Compare the resale on the two mowers and Walker will win hands down. Mowers all have there function. That is up to the individual to decide how they are going to use the machine. I hear so many times MY WALKER HAS LASTED 10 YRS. That is true. Not only will they last forever but when and if you do replace one you have something left to sell.