NEW ZTR?

[Greenkeepers]

We have been looking for a ztr lately and think we might have finally chosen one. A new 48" Lazer Z HP with a 18hp Kohler. What do you guys think? We chose 48" for its versatility because most of our accounts are residential. Thanks for any input in advance.

[Mark]

I just purchased a new toro z-master sat. I got the 62 deck and 25 Kohler. I have two walkbehinds 52 decks 80% of my business is residential. Personally i would get a larger deck, youll save time, Id would go with the HP 52,You never know when you might take on bigger jobs.<p>----------<br>Mark's Mowing Service<br>

[bdemir]

48 is good but 52 is not bad either if you ask me. You can do a nice job with a 52 if you pay attention to the scalping and the 48 is great for res accounts but not so good for bigger jobs i would go w?48 if you have a high percentage of res. accounts.

[MOW ED]

Do your customers want it bagged? I have mostly residentials and half are bagged. Just got a brand new Walker 26EFI and can do real well with a 42&quot; deck. It gets me thru small gates into big backyards. The No-Catch deflector for 50 bucks works really well if you dont need to bag. <br>The unit is a bit expensive but its really versatile - I will be getting a 54&quot; side disch for bigger properties and the thing is super for dethatchings and fall leaf cleans. <br>Good Luck.

[southside]

Mow Ed,<br> I just bought a 26hp efi myself.<br>Mine has a 48&quot; deck.It has a lot of power for<br>a 48&quot;,so I gotta wonder if a 26hp with a<br>42&quot; might be overkill.They seem to be a great mower.<p>Karl<br>

[Greenkeepers]

Well we made the decsion for the 48&quot; I don't believe how fast those things are compared to the walk-behind. Looks like more lawns to come. thanks for the input guys.

[lawrence stone]

Actually a 52&quot; walkbehind with a stand on<br>sulky like rocket wheels is just as fast as<br>a 48&quot; ztr without spending 2-3x as much $$$.

[Greenkeepers]

Stone-<p>But the w/b doesn't have a place for a cupholder:) Plus I have a nice cushy seat to plop my ass on all day, instead of killing my back and knees.<p>Mike<br>Greenkeepers

[tazz]

i bought a lazer hp52 inch this year and now i want a 44 inch or possiby a 48 lots of problem with scalping and doesnt mulch well either seems like the 52 is just a little to large for my residental accounts witch is all i do this time i would say go smaller

[bdemir]

Yeah stone,<p>My knees are killing me from the jungle wheels. Im loving my dixie more and more. Now that im ready for some knee surgery exspecially after an all day commercial cut on rough ground. I dont know how you do those fields without at least a sit down sulky.

[columbiaplower]

i think he has a sitdown sulky, dont u stone?

[Prime Seasons]

Greenkeepers:<p>Alot can be said for a bigger (60&quot; or 72&quot;) deck. However, many smaller lawns or areas with tricky slopes will look better with a smaller cut. What is the answer?<p>Suggest: start with a 48&quot; ztr if you have smaller accounts. Start wit a 60&quot; ztr if your accounts are larger. The best of both worlds would see you with at least one of each. <p>Hope this helps . . .<p>gus

[AGG Lawn Maintenance]

Depending on the size of your accounts and if they have fences or not.... If I was going to spend money on a rider I would get a 60&quot; mower. Use 48' mowers for your small stuff. I ZTRs out now can cut on alot of lawns. Way back when I first started ZTRs were too big for most lawns and took up too much space on a trailer. I used to have a Hustler 400 with a hydro back vac. It was good in its time. Good Luck <br>Travis AG&G Lawn Maintenance :)

[lawrence stone]

Bdemir wrote:<p>&gt;My knees are killing me from the jungle wheels. Im loving my dixie more and more. Now that im ready for some knee surgery exspecially after an all day commercial cut on rough ground. I dont know how you do those fields without at least a sit down sulky<p><br>You are not broke in yet. I have been standing since 1994 and I perfer standing to sitting on rough terrain.<p>You will get to the point where you will be able to stand all day w/o pain. Your just soft. It is still faster and easier than walking.<p>BTW I use a standard Toro sit down sulky to mow the athletic fields.

[steven Bousquet]

stone have you timed a rider vs. the stand on walk behind? i have at different sites and found the rider to be 40-100% faster than a walk behind with wheel or a slider. based on production the rider out performs the walk behind . and the cost of my riders is nothing to me my clients pay for the machine they are the ones who need it, not me. i have 60&quot; and 72&quot; exmarks and exmark tthydros, the walkbehind have there place and the riders have there place, but in time test based on sq. ft cut the rider wins. we use real test, measured and timed, not a book or opinions. if paying for a rider is more money than you want to invest i understand but to say they are faster ,i would need to see proof of that.you could be right but i would need to see it. production feet per minute. let me know. thanks

[Greenkeepers]

We also did a test against our 48&quot; Exmark walk-behind. The ZTR cut 50% more grass than the walk-behind. To me that adds up and after cutting 12 yards today by himself my brother cut 1.75 hours off of the time and wasn't even tired when he was done. When money permits I can forsee more ZTR's making there way into our fleet.