Warranty??????????

[Andrew's Lawn Maintenance]

Exmark, I am very dissatisfied with the baging systems you have for the exmark lazer z hp's Ultra Vac! Good idea, and works very well, but the quality is terible!!! I love my mower and it has only 180hrs on it, but the ultra vac is crap!!!

Here are the things that are wrong with it:
1. The bearings are warn out in the fan
2. The bags on the back are warn out and are falling off the metal bracket
3. The inside of the vaccum is warn out (Fan)
4. The shoot on the side of the vaccum has a 1/8 inch hole on it

I had to have my machanic weld a peice of steel on the inside of the vaccum to keep it from wearing a hole through the side of the shoot. (that is working). I told my dealer and they said that they would replace the shoot, but not the bags. They also told me that I need to put on a mid sail blade on the side of the bager, to keep the dust from going into the vaccum. I said to them, why didn't you tell me this in the first place, and better yet, why do the mowers come with high lifts on them when they knew I was going to be baging. I would like an answer and would like to see something done about this. Another dealer, said that they would try to see what they could do for me, and I didn't even purchase it from them!!! My hope is that you can replace the vaccum and the bags, so I won't need to when the warranty is up!!! We all need to remember these two words in life, CUSTOMER SERVICE!!!

[eXmark]

Andrew's Lawn Maintenance,

I'm sorry that you are experiencing issues w/ your UltraVac. For the most part, this product has been very solid. Therefore, it's intriguing that you are having a flurry of problems. If you have a dealer in the area that is willing to help you, I would contact them. Simply because you didn't purchase it from them doesn't mean they can't/won't work on it. They are still an Exmark dealer! Let me know what you find out, and we'll go from there.

Thanks,
Casey

[Andrew's Lawn Maintenance]

I am just alittle confused why you say that they are "very solid." I disagree because you test your mowing equiptment on lush grass on a feild in Washington state somewhere! You really need to test them in the harsh environments like in the New England area. I would like to get it replaced and will work with the dealer on doing so! I don't want it just "FIXED", because it will never work the same! Plus there are to many issues with it and with fall here it will take way to long for it to get fixed.

P.S. I love your mowers, and will purchase only exmark, but I most likely will look into another bagging system, if you won't help me!!!

[eXmark]

Andrew,

I hope that everything works out w/ you and your dealer. The only problem I have heard is in sandy conditions the unit tends to wear out quicker than in normal operating conditions. Do you have sandy conditions? If so, I would recommend cutting at a higher height and using a flat blade. The flat blade shouldn't lift up as much sand as the higher fin blades.

As for the "field in Washington state" comment. I'm totally perplexed as to where you heard this. The UltraVac was tested all over the country.

Casey

[HenryB]

I am just alittle confused why you say that they are "very solid." I disagree because you test your mowing equiptment on lush grass on a feild in Washington state somewhere! You really need to test them in the harsh environments like in the New England area. I would like to get it replaced and will work with the dealer on doing so! I don't want it just "FIXED", because it will never work the same! Plus there are to many issues with it and with fall here it will take way to long for it to get fixed.

P.S. I love your mowers, and will purchase only exmark, but I most likely will look into another bagging system, if you won't help me!!!

I've used every vac-system out there. Exmark is my favorite hands down. If you're not happy with the Ultra-Vac I doubt you'll like the other systems.

[lasher66]

I second that! I tryed many after market vacs (hasty vac,bluebird) and my ultravac is supreme. When I bought my HP 2 yrs ago, I was mad that I didnt make the switch a long time ago. I had a few months that it was really dry and all I did was suck up dust and I dont seem to have any probs with the vac. The only thing I didnt like is how much I was breathing in my lungs. I did remember reading in the manual when I bought the machine, that if you are in dusty areas, you should put a lower lift blade on the mower.

Jason

[Andrew's Lawn Maintenance]

Yea, I like the way it works, but are you having any problems with the bearings and the impeler wearing out?

[lasher66]

Not so far. Everything seems to be running fine after almost 800 hrs.


Jason

[tallimeca]

first off, i can say every ultra vac that goes out my door has been bulletproof. Aside from drive belts wearing out.

I would agree that this is the best bagging system out there and you would hate everything else.

As far as the bags in the back wearing out, i've never seen a guys get less then 2-3 seasons out of those bags.

As far as the bearings, i could have sworn exmark does have a service bulletin on bearing failure on those and there are new updated bearings.

As far as the metal housing and the fan wearing out, i've never seen that. Even on bags that are 8 years old. I'm guessing you must have alot of real dusty/sandy yards. Not much you can do about that. Just like the blowers in the walkers. They wear down. 180 hours though........not sure how you'd have that much wear so fast?

Because of such odd issues, based of the thousands of these they sell, you can't help but wonder what is going on with this bag. I would love to see some good pictures of all these failures. Customer service is one thing but like I said, there's a bazilillion of these out there and i've never heard of one having all these problems like this. 180 hours? Does the Hour meter work? Are you operating the machine yourself? Not making any accusations but this is an interesting situation.

[kc2006]

I'm wondering if something is up with the quality of these units because I'm seeing alot more wear in the unit I just bought then the other unit I have from last year.

Last years unit has almost 200 hours on it and everything seems good, the new unit has under 20 hours on it and the bags are starting to get holes in them up where the metal bar is, the hopper lid seems thinner, I can bend it with my hand easier and it's taking on many cuts from brushing up against stuff, heck the paint seems cheaper too, the pulley is rusting on the new one where the old one still looks new.

Whats up with that?

[Stillwater]

I'm wondering if something is up with the quality of these units because I'm seeing alot more wear in the unit I just bought then the other unit I have from last year.

Last years unit has almost 200 hours on it and everything seems good, the new unit has under 20 hours on it and the bags are starting to get holes in them up where the metal bar is, the hopper lid seems thinner, I can bend it with my hand easier and it's taking on many cuts from brushing up against stuff, heck the paint seems cheaper too, the pulley is rusting on the new one where the old one still looks new.

Whats up with that?

20 hours and you are burning through your bags?..... if this is true..... you need to be at your dealer showing him these 20 hour holes

[kc2006]

Yea I plan on going at the end of the year, I'm way too busy to be messing around with this stuff. Dissapointed in my equipment again.

I think theres around 50 hours on the bags now (haven't been out hardly at all this month because of weather) and theres a huge hole in the one and the holes at the tops of the bags are getting bigger. I doubt the dealer or exmark will do anything about it and call it a wear item, so I'll just end up buying extras from j. thomas, they're like 40 bucks for cheapies I think.

[eXmark]

kc2006,

Are the holes due to wear or are they due to rips? Seems strange to have bags wearing out after 50 hours without something tearing them. Also, are you bagging grass only? Some guys think that the bags should hold up to a large amount of debris, and even try to clean up parking lots!

KC

[kc2006]

The holes are all from wear, you can see they're kinda white or grey around the holes from rubbing the hopper lid.

The one hole is a rip, and I think its from the square tubes that stick out between each bag. I sent an email to exmark last year suggesting they make caps for these because I felt they'd cause issues like this.

You guys leave the square tubes open and sticking out so the bags snag them when your trying to put them in or remove them. I'm about to take a body hammer and pound the sharp corners (that have cut my hangs too) in.

And I only bag grass and leaves. I'm pretty picky about my equipment, I don't even run over sticks.

[Tadams]

I've got a full size lazer so I can't relate to the HP but I've got about 600 hours on my UV and it has been great. The only complaint that I could have is that they fill up too fast (Way too many leaves- not a problem the UV). I use it for leaves, grass, fields, and anything else that I think it will pick up. There is only one hole in one of the bags and I put it in there with another mowers front wheel.

[Stillwater]

The holes are all from wear, you can see they're kinda white or grey around the holes from rubbing the hopper lid.

The one hole is a rip, and I think its from the square tubes that stick out between each bag. I sent an email to exmark last year suggesting they make caps for these because I felt they'd cause issues like this.

You guys leave the square tubes open and sticking out so the bags snag them when your trying to put them in or remove them. I'm about to take a body hammer and pound the sharp corners (that have cut my hangs too) in.

And I only bag grass and leaves. I'm pretty picky about my equipment, I don't even run over sticks.

you must have a different setup because I don't know what tubes you are referring to. their is nothing present on my UV that can snag bags and cut hands

[eXmark]

kc2006,

You're probably aware that your issue isn't something that can be solved via Lawnsite. I would urge you to first talk to your local dealer about the problem, and then if you aren't satisfied, call our Service Department. I do apologize for your inconvenience, and hope we can solve the problem.

KC