Bobcat or Lazer

[Grassman]

I've used bobcat walkbehinds for years and impressed with their durability and reliability. I'm looking to purchase a midmount Z this spring and have narrowed it down to either the Bobcat or the Exmark, Bobcat has 61" deck and Lazer has 60", both are 23hp Kawasaki's. What are the pros and cons of each unit? Thanks, Russ

[Charles]

Put exmark lazer in the search section you might be able to write a book on it after that. Bobcat has been discussed many times too

[JML]

i haven't got to use an exmark yet, really aren't popular around here. I own a 52 bobcat ztr, and i love it. 2 years old and thank god, no problems yet..

[little green guy]

whats a lazer and who's exmark?????? Well, i realy don't care because I'm buying one of those big red fuel injected things before spring.

I do know what a bobcat is though, the demo we had got sent back to the dealer in a box.

[Grassman]

Same engines, same spindles, what about the hydros? Are they made by the same manufacturer? Is the steering linkage or deck suspension better on one than the other? Is the speed different? I demoed both on our dormant St. Augestine grass and didn't see a difference. The search engine has ALOTT about the Z but not much about the Bobcat. Maybe I should have been more specific. How about some real comparisions from those of you that don't just see RED!

[SMB]

There isn't much info. on Bob-Cat. We have one (a ZT219 with a 48" deck) and are happy with it. I can't make much of a comparison because this is our first Z. We like ours-especially with double blades. It has a very thick deck and a good frame. I ran over a brick sidewalk with it and chopped a brick BIG TIME and can't even find a dent in the deck. Here's their website, http://www.ttcsp.com


[Edited by SMB on 12-16-2000 at 03:01 AM]

[Lawnworks]

Why buy a Bobcat? You cannot go wrong with an Exmark. I demoed one, and it was great. Of course, it was second best to my Chopper, but it one of the best in the industry. I hear exmark parts and service is awesome. You cannot go wrong with exmark.

[John DiMartino]

Why buy a Bobcat?It is built like a tank and around here its about 1K cheaper than the similarly equipped Exmark,thats reason enough for me.The bobcat has an excellent reputation for durability.

[lawrence stone]

Excuse me the 62" Toro with a 23hp kohler is the best ride.

You want the toro spindles with high quaility bearings.

That 2" makes a difference in 8 hours.

[bdemir]

Best ride meaning comfort and ride quality?

[Grassman]

Thanks SMB and John. The Bobcat is about $1300 cheaper than the Exmark down here. I looked at both again today and am buying the Bobcat. Thanks also Larry, but I've seen your Z and one can't compete down here with 5 speeds, belts, and a sulky. LOL and have a great holiday. Russ

[lawrence stone]

Originally posted by Grassman
Thanks SMB and John. The Bobcat is about $1300 cheaper than the Exmark down here. I looked at both again today and am buying the Bobcat. Thanks also Larry, but I've seen your Z and one can't compete down here with 5 speeds, belts, and a sulky. LOL and have a great holiday. Russ

I was refering to a Toro 200 series aka eXmark Z with a toro groundsmaster mowing deck.

[Mr.Ziffel]

Lawrence, I was with you right up to the part about the 62" Toro Groundmaster deck. I haven't seen this configuration offered in one of their catalogs, would this be a special order item that your dealer would have to put together? Or are you using the term Groundmaster interchangeably with the SFS deck?

There are so many names and marketing terms floating around these days which decsribe the same item I'm having trouble keeping up with all of them. Thanks for clearing this up.
Will

[Evan528]

i think he means the super flow deck. He has called it the groundsmaster deck in the past.

[ljmey]

Grassman.....
I haved used a Bobcat ZT 222 now for 4 yrs. now. It has a 22 hp kohler running a 61" deck. The only trouble I have had with it is the electric clutch went out a year and a half ago. I now have 1935 hrs. on the machine. I have several accounts that are big and have hilly and rolling grounds, and the ZT does a great job for me. I have used Hustler, Scagg, and the Bobcat front line, but they do not come close to the preformance I get from my ZT. It was the best investment I ever made. You can not go wrong with the ZT. I have no complaints. Good cutting.

[Tony]

Grassman
I sell Exmark, Toro, and Bobcat, and Exmark and TORO have a better support team behind the dealer for parts and service. I'm not kicking Bobcat in any way but those guys don't know what they intend to do with the line. They are owned by Textron which also owns Bunton,Jacobsen, and Cushman. I've spoken to their guys in marketing about the problems but I haven't received a good answer. Buy a Toro or Exmark.

[Keith]

I really considered a Bobcat for a while. I had owned Bobcat walks and loved them. They were a different company then. One thing that changed my mind was talking to another commercial cutter who had a deck cracked on a 1 1/2 years old Bobcat Z. He was a solo operator who didn't really abuse his stuff. Two dealers had tried to get authorization to fix it but he had no word on it yet. That had been going on 6 months. I notice he now has a Toro :)

The second thing that made me reconsider was that dealers, in this area who had Bobcat were getting rid of them and only a few new dealers were taking them. This has been going on for a while even prior to Textron.

Third was after talking to a new dealer, he stated that he would talk to a district rep about increasing the wheel motor warranty to put them on level with other mowers. The district rep said they could do this if it meant a sale. No big deal, but what confusion do you think would arise if it were needed? An ammendment to a factory warranty wasn't the answer I was looking for.

Toro and Exmark have taken the upper hand from the Bobcat of old.

[Greenkeepers]

I've run both of them and we own exmark. In my opinion, the cut of the exmark is better and exmark is a more comfortable and easy to use. The bobcat has a higher center of gravity and didn't feel as stable on hills as the exmark. Controls of the exmark were more responsive and not as sloppy. Then the exmark dealer was much better.....