Landscapers Supply Walk behinds

[Lee Homan]

I just received Landscapers Supply spring catalog and was checking out their line of walk behinds. Does anybody know if these machines are any good? They seem to be much cheaper than some of the name brands.

[mowerconsultant]

units are made by a company called black rock manufacturing, i believe there is a ownership connection between landscapers supply and black rock.<br>anyways these machines are pure garbage.<br>i would not buy one if it was the last machine out there.

[Retro67]

Looks like garbage to me, too. Their ZTR looks more bulky and less engineered than other inferior commercial brands. <p>Although it is built of heavy gauge steel, there0 is more to consider. Arlington Power Equipment in Arlington Heights IL has Ferris, Scag and Bobcat all available in the same price range.<p>Contrary to popular belief, you can get the machines serviced by any dealer, not just the one you bought from. I have yet to have a dealer tell me they wouldn't service my equipment because it was bought elsewhere. If you tell them beforehand that you are buying a mower from someone else and ask if they will service it for you, of course they are going to make it sound as if you will suffer consequences because you didn't buy from them. However, if you keep quiet and just take the mower there for service, watch what happens. <p>&lt;p&gt;John

[thelawnguy]

You really cant go wrong for the price, especially if you are going to give the mower to a crew of DPs to beat the crap out of them. Myself, I wouldnt use one, but if I was going to start another crew for second-rate lawns these would be my choice.<p>They are very similar to the bottom line exmark, bunton and ransomes. Theres a Landscaper Supply store a few miles from home so Ive had a chance to check em out a few times.<p>Bill

[Evan528]

because my ztr is my main mower used, i woulgd get one of them if i wanted a new walkbehind.... you can get a 48 with a 14 hp kawi for only 2,000..... how bad can a belt driven walkbehind with a pearless transmission and a kawasaki engine be? belt driven walk behinds are pretty basic machines so there isnt too much to go wrong...the only disadvantage i can think of is the quality of cut and maybe poor quality bearings?.....for me since i hardly use a walkbehind exept for steep hills and gated yards id consider one...but then again if i use it that rarly maybe a name brand used mower would be more ideal!

[lawrence stone]

New fixed deck toro/eXmarks with 14hp kaw<br>are available for only $2250. <p> I prefer t-bar steering so I would not<br>even consider any pistol grip machine.<br>

[Richard Martin]

I recently looked at a lot of beltdrive mowers. The Landscaper was one of them. One of the problems with the The Landscaper mower was getting warranty work done. They do offer local warranty service but it is an option that you pay for. Someone else here compared the quality of The Landscaper to Exmark beltdrives. Some of the features that the Exmark has that are probably absent from The Landscaper are: 9 spline drive coupler (The Landscaper uses the standard 30 spline), &quot;no tools&quot; brake adjustments, included factory warranty service, adjustable handlebars, adjustable axle, no-grease spindles, more grease fittings on the remainder of the machine, sealent filled caster tires, thicker steel frame, parts overnight or they're free (assuming you would need to buy a part)and extensive deck baffling (sp). I would be more inclined to compare The Landscaper to a Gravely or MTD Pro mower. You get what you pay for. Oh yeah, I bought the Exmark.

[Evan528]

i own two gravely mowers. i have a gravely out front 60inch rider...its crap! cuts horrible all the time even in dry grass and there is always something breaking...ive had it for 4 years and ive had enough its for sale and i now use a toro z master. my other gravly is a 36ich walkbehind. there mchine cuts great all thre time even in wet grass and never clumps. ive had it for almost 5 years and it has never had one thing wrong with it. i dont understand gravely...how can they make one mower so crapppy and another so great?

[grasskutter]

The Landscaper,mopeds and fat girls all have one thing in common, fun to play with, but don&quot;t let your friends see you with them.<br>P.S. I own two of them, I had them for backups, but now they go out everyday as front runners, never break down either(14 kawis and pearless transmissions make this possible). <p>----------<br>grasskutter@cs.com<br>

[Lazer]

That brings up an interesting point. Since most downtime on our units are engine related, if you get a good engine you'll have a decent shot at having a reliable machine.<p>I'm not going to buy a Landscaper and frankly don't think their walkbehinds are that low of a price, but:<p>If you bought a 1997 Landscaper w/ Kawasaki and a 1997 Exmark/Scag/Bobcat/Toro, etc. with a V-Twin Kohler, the Landscaper would have less downtime.

[osc]

Lee:<p>Last year I purchased 2 walk behinds that were private label jobbies made by Black Rock Mfg.. The short of it is that I could not suggest you buy one. Actually, the biggest problem I had was with the Kaw 17's, oddly enough. This company does not stand behind their work. They will help you with nothing. <br>Both motors were replaced under warranty but they were in the shop all of last year. My biggest complaint is on the hydro speed lever, the design is so bad the triggers actually get stuck and won't let you come out of a turn etc.. We had to grease them every hour (you'd have to see it to know what I'm talking about). The tension springs on the triggers were too stiff and anyone who used these mowers tired quickly.<br>The sad thing is that Black Rock almost had a good mower. These 61's cut beautifully and throw the grass a mile. The deck is pretty good. Tension release on the hydro belt is great for easy starting. Rubber hose on oil plug is great when changing oil, much cleaner. The motor problems really did not belong to to them, that was Kaw. The linkage for engaging blades is pure junk. All pivot points had to be hammered apart, grinded and greased just so you could engage blades. This was brand new. After we changed several things, they aren't too bad. <br>One Good thing I must say is that these machines are the fastest I have ever seen on ground speed. They smoke our turf tiger, flat out dangerous.<p>OSC

[Lee Homan]

Hey guys, I've been out all day doing the church thing mowing the yard and maintenance on equipment so I haven't been able to check replies until now (8:00 pm central). I appreciate the feedback. Landscapers compares their walk behinds to scags in their catalog just wondering if anybody knows how they stack up. Also, do they make improvements on these machines from year to year? Just wondering if this years model would be any better than previous years? As far as their ZTR, first thing that came to my mind was Dixie Chopper they look alot a like, any connection?

[Evan528]

thats exactly what i thought when i first saw the ztrs! they look like orange dixie choppers. tthe design looks exact. i wander if they really are similar? i take back what isaid earlier about bying a landscaper mower after reading so many negative posts! i would be better of bying a used bobcat or exmark walkbehind.

[Evan528]

I just received the new 2000 landscape supply catalogue yesterday. they have raised the price of most of there commercial mowers about 200 bucks from last year. are they crazy? now they are only a couple hundred less than a name brand mower like exmrk/toro, bobcat or bubton. they must have had good sales this past year to be able to do this. i wouldnt touch one of there walkbehinds for the price they are now.... there no such bargin anymore! by the way.... all there prices in the catalogue have skyrocketed to outragious prices for copy cat machinery! before they had no name equipment at very, very low prices so i actually thoought about buying from them. now i cant amagine theyll have to many sales!

[robertconlogue]

I have a landscaper model 36 inch , manufactured by black rock and have used it for 5 years heavily with no complaints !! Good purchase for the money if you ask me.