Dumping Scag, bought an Exmark

[MIDSOUTH]

I have a piece of junk turf tiger, I used to talk it up on here but it is really a piece of crap, Had more motor troubles that it is worth(25 kohler), several problems with the mower itself including one of those right wheel pumps. It will not even climb a hill now for some reason. It only has 400hrs on it too. I have several friends that have them and theirs are toublesome too. Bought a 27hp Kawi lazer with a 60" deck on today, will pick it up friday with the ultravac on it. I will fix and keep the junk tiger for now, but will probably sell it and then get another exmark if they prove to be the mower of choice.:blob3:

[Wood Lawn Man]

Midsouth, with only 400 hours, your turf tiger is still under warranty right? The 25 horse kohler has definitely proved to be a troublesome engine, and that's probably what is causing your loss of power on hills now. (coils/SAM module i'm guessing) As for the right wheel motor, the average life of those is around 1000 hours, and I believe that Exmark uses the same manufacturer. I'm sure that your frustrations with your Scag are valid, but with a little dealer support and some patience, your "junk tiger" will be worth more to your crews then if you would try and sell it.

[HOMER]

Tell the truth now.....................did the advantage deck actually cut bahai that good or did it miss some like all the other mowers on the market!

I talked to the Scag dealer the other day and asked about the wheel motors.................he said he has only replaced 3 and the fix was real simple and down time was maybe a 1/2 day. He told me that the deck was the best on the market for bahai. I've never seen one in action under real world conditions.

[Evan528]

I tried a friends new turf tiger tonight! It had a 27hp kawasaki with a 61inch deck. I was pretty impressed by this machine. Extremly comfortable seat...... very solid..... fast acceleration and power to spare. I didnt get to cut very high grass so i cant tell how i like the quality of cut. Overal...... very nice machine in my opinion!

[Stonewall]

Homer,

I don't know how the Advantage deck compares to others in bahia. Never did a side by side comparision. I do know that it is much better than the standard deck I had at first.

[HOMER]

I'm going to try doubles one more time. We've had so much rain lately that the crap is hoppin' all over the place. Tired of having to run back over it to pick up a few strays.

My 48" Scag is terrible. Have the standard deck on it and it flat won't cut it without missing 25%.


Choppers are much better but still tend to miss some of it. Maybe I'm expecting too much. I know people with Lazers and their machines miss some too so there really isn't anything else to do but hit it again............and again.:angry:

[Stonewall]

Homer,

I had the same problem on my 48" Scag walkbehind. It wouldn't cut bahia for anything.

[MIDSOUTH]

It is 11 months old. So yes it is still under warranty, but with only 400 hrs it should give not near the problems that it has. I am going to keep it istead of getting rid of it. I will use my exmark myself and the help gets to ride the scag from now own though!!
Homer, it does cut bahia great, but it does leave a stringer or two once in a blue moon. It will still probably be the machine of choice on the bahia lots, but I am hoping the exmark will perform equally on bahia. I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of the exmark. I checked on the 27hp turf tiger also but with the problems I have had with the other one I would not buy another scag (right now at least). I have heard to many good things about exmark on here and from the other cutters in town, I have also been told they will cut bahia well. I demoed the ferris IS3000 and IS4000 and I will not give my opinion on them on here. except i will say I would never buy one of those machines, it also left more bahia stringers than any machine I demoed, the IS3000 had 50hrs on the demo machine and it dropped the spindle bearings on the left spindle on the third yard I was cutting, the exmark seat is smoother ride than the ferris so called suspension, and it is not supposed to scalp-HA!,and it is supposed to handle hills well, it was more prone to slide than my scag. I would have liked to try a hustler and a chopper but no one sells them around here.

[HOMER]

You answered my question.................and a few more I had!

[LAWNGODFATHER]

good choice in mowers

and as far as the wheel motors i have more than a 1000hrs on my Lazers

I had the same exact problems with a Ransome Bobcat
3 engines 2 pto clutches 5 wheel moters 6 pumps a couple of spindles(most my fault) and various other parts later I finaly pawned that POS on someone else

but he has no problems with it yet 460 hrs but keep hitting things and blowing out spindles

but i think the time you bought your mower Kohler had lemons coming out get with you dealer and insist on a new engine

have fun on new mower LGF

[rdh]

looks like alot of the guys from last year around here traded orange for red i have noticed a dealer done the same .

[awm]

if i had 400 hrs on a machine ,i usually have decided its good cause ive learned the machine.your situation an stateement about the scag z is based on real time on the machine.
dont sound so good to me,for scag.

[crazygator]

I demo'd the Hustler z. WOW! It was a 23hp kaw 60" and had alot of power. Cut was good and the ride was plush, due to suspension seat. Where I demo'd they have a good size hill, so up and down I go trying to bog it down, but surprised me by chugging along. I will demo a chopper soon too and will let ya know what I find. If you can demo a hustler please do so, it may grab you like it did to me. If the chopper is all I hear about on lawnsite, then I may have a hard decision between it and the Hustler. Later.......

[EJK2352]

My Exmark dealer brought in Scag's last year. He couldn't sell
them even at $1000 less than a comparable Exmark. He quit
selling Scag, but is still fixing them. He gets quite a few w/ hydro
problems and cracked frames. ED

[SLS]

A new Laser with a 27 HP Kawi.......YEAH! :D

I bought a new Laser 60" with the 23 Kawi back in April. Hit 200 hrs today and everything is still purring along nicely.....no problems at all.......a 27 would be nice for those 'tall' days with 'doubles' though..........I'm sure its got a little more "oomph". :D

Congrats on the 'switch' to Exmark....your not the only one out there with 'Skag Blues' (I have a friend POURING $$$ into two of them right now) and if my experience so far is any indication you should be well pleased with your new purchase.

PEACE!

[ProMo]

i bought a scag 10 years ago and the motor flew apart at 1000 hrs no longer under warranty spindles were replaced 3x frame cracked etc etc been dc ever since and have 1500 hrs on dixie orig spindles all ive replaced is 1 chain link and belts and blades and blades and blades wears the lift off they spin so fast on bahia i sharpen blades at about a 25 deg angle razor sharp and dixie still cuts first pass did a 6 acre field and only counted 3 seed heads that werent cut going full speed

[John Gamba]

YOU WILL LOVE IT. Welcome To the world Of exmark.
Johnny G.

[LAWNGODFATHER]

This thread is from close to a year ago John.

[blairbuc]

two guys mentioned the Kohler-25. There was a head issue, I believe. this problem was fixed some time in 2000 or early 2001. I bought my Hustler last july and the Kohler people were able to give me a serial number to verify I had the updated Kohler. As far as torgue between the Kaw23 and Kolher 25 and the hill climbs, the two were very close. Doing long runs in too tall grass I gave the Kohler the edge. Also, Kaw. has a strange order in the manual. At 350 hours they want the heads pulled and ports cleaned. Might be an old Leaded Gas rule of yester-year but the 350 hour head pull was in the book last year. I will admit, most guys buy Kaw, but I went Kohler. What other Kohler problems have you guys had with the 25. The Kohler people seemed reasonable and did not hide anything, it seemed.

[SLIMDAWG1]

MANY OF YOU GUYS ARE COMPLAINING ABOUT MOWER PROBLEMS WITH SCAGS AND EXMARKS,I HAVE AN OLD ASS WALKER WITH A 16HP KOHLER. BEEN RUNNING FOR YEARS.NO HYDRO,CLUTCH,OR ENGINE TROUBLE.MANY HOURS ON THIS MACHINE.WOULD HATE TO GIVE IT UP. 42IN DECK IS GREAT FOR MANY APPLICATIONS,EXCEPT IT TAKES LONGER FOR WIDE AREA MOWING. THAT LITTLE 16 KEEPS ON HUMPING,AND MANY OF YOU MIGHT TRY USING SYNTHETIC OIL IN YOUR ENGINE.WORKS GREAT FOR ME.PRAY THAT IT KEEPS ON WALKIN.

[Bushman]

Lets hear it for those old Walkers, mine keep running like new!
In 16 years only once has one quit me on the job without a field expediate repair. (20hp Timing gear) still original pumps and drives with no whinning. I have used mobile one as the hydro oil since new. My new(est) walker has over 5000 hrs on it.
I use mobile one in ALL my equipment and trucks. Last spring I replaced my first engine on the 18 year old (16hp) she is always used very hard daily and is still my best cutting mower for groomed smaller lawns. (almost reel like.)
I would like to switch to mobile one oil filters (if available) for my 20 and 25 kohlers does anyone use them or know the part numbers?
Could the mobile one filters be a substitute for the EXmark hydro filter the dealer wants 28.00 for theirs.

Thanks for your advice

[John Gamba]

Thank's Lgf
It's Been A Long Day.

[blairbuc]

BUSHMAN Amsoil sells filters (5 micron like Mobil 1 filters) . Be careful on sizing, I called tec for a 25 Kohler and got a number. I then looked on their web site and got a different size.

[Pelican]

I had a SSZ 9Super Z) Skag that gave me similar problems. Yes, it was warranteed, but that meant transporting the machine to and from the dealer's, two days down time, running to a friend to borrow his machine, praying his machine didn't break while I was using it, yadda, yadda, yadda. Who needs it?

I sold it with 800 hours and about 20 repair visits (not to mention the repairs I made myself) and bought a Kubota. I've had it for two weeks and 50 hours of use. So far, so good. See my review under Kubota ZD28F

[MJ LANDSCAPING]

:blob3: :blob3: YOU ARE SMART PERSON. GET RIDE OF THAT SCAG AND CONGRATS ON YOUR EXMARK. I ONLY RUN EXMARK. BEFORE I OWNED MY OWN BUSINESS MY BOSS ONLY RAN BOBCAT & SCAG. THE SCAGS ARE TO HEAVY AND SLOPPY CUTS. BOBCATS ARE A GOOD MACHINE, BUT THEN CAN EXMARK. THERE LAZER IS GREAT. I BOUGHT MY FIRST LAZER IN 1996 AND ITS STILL RUNNING 2300 HOURS LATER. I BOUGHT A EFI 60" LAZER AND THAT MACHINE IS GREAT. SO I BOUGHT TWO MORE. THIS YEAR I TOOK A CHANCE AND WENT WITH THE DIESEL 60". LET ME TELL YOU THAT MACHINE IS THE NEXT BEST STEP UP FROM MY EFI'S. I LOVE THE EXMARK LINE AND I HOPE THEY KEE UP THE GOOD WORK, BECAUSE THE HAVE A GREAT MACHINE. I ALSO RUN EXMARK METRO HP 36" AND A TURF TRACER 60" 1 LAZER 60" 25HP, 3 LAZER EFI 60" AND 1 LAZER XP DIESEL 60"