John Deere Z-Trax

[GCS LawnService]

I have been shopping around and was wondering if anyone had invested in the new John Deere 757 Z-Trax. I am interested in the new mower and it seems to be very operator friendly. Looking to replace my John Deere M665 and I am definately impressed by the 25 hp Kawasaki.

[longslawn]

We bought one last month. The guys that operate it love it. Seems to have plenty of power. Still waiting on the grass catcher. I use John Deere mowers and have had great service with there products. I looked at and tried out a Exmark. The guys that use the JD felt that it was a stronger mower. So far so good.

[Mowingman]

GCS, Just wondering why you would be replacing the M665 already. They only came out about 3 years ago, as I bought one of the first ones avail. Is it worn out already? I dumped mine last year as it never performed well for me. Too many design flaws in my opinion, and I don't see much improvement in the new ones either.:(

[awm]

mans entitled to his own.

[FrankenScagMachines]

John Deeres are ok if you don't mind the absence of stripes. IMHO, they don't stripe worth a lick and they don't spread the clippings out good with a chute on. Take it off and it might be different, i dunno. I do like the plastic chute though in case you hit something.

[MWS LAWN]

BushHogBoy,

I beg to differ with you. I've been running a F-620 Z-TRAK for 4 seasons now. I have to tell my customers that the paint job is included in the price. The 60 in. deck stripes very good. I demoed a 48 in. w/b exmark last month and the J.D. striped just as well as the exmark. I do keep the plastic chute tied up though.

[Tyner Lawn Service]

I bought a 620 new in '99 and in 2 seasons put over 800 hrs with no problems with a pretty good cut. Mowed 48 residentials a week with it!

[dlandscaping]

bushhogboy,
IMHO, they don't stripe worth a lick and they don't spread the clippings out good with a chute on

No mower will disperse clippings well with the shoot down even Exmarks. The chute keeps the clippings in a line all in the same spot aiding to clumping.

[DLCS]

Bushhogboy,

I just got my new John Deere 757 Z-trak. I think the machine stripes great. Also, I don't leave the chute down when I mow. I haven't seen a mower yet that will not clump or disperse the clippings with chute down. I will post some pics of the stripes mine makes sometime in the near future.

Mike

[FrankenScagMachines]

I didn't mean that all JD's don't stripe, just the M655 with a 54" deck doesn't. I'm sure that some do stripe fine. I'd love to see some stripes made by them. I know that most mowers will clump, but some do not also. I didn't think that the cut quality was overly impressive either. I just didn't like it alot if you're going to do a good job. For just whacking the grass it's ok i guess.

"Different strokes for different folks"