Pulled the trigger/ New Exmark 30 for me...

[rbljack]

Originally Posted by Jason Rose

It is in fact a single speed transmission. No neutral, no gear selector and nothing in the owners manual that says otherwise. It relies on belt slip to adjust speed, just like the personal pace residential version.

The cable can be adjusted on the handle, and I've not been able to play in the lawn with it yet, but id think the cable could be backed off just enough to limit the top speed when the bail is fully squeezed against the handle.
Posted via Mobile Device

I assure you, its not a single speed. The speed is variable by adjusting how far up you pull the lower bail, and is done with fingertip control. According to the tech support at exmark, they are not slipping the belt to change speed, but its not a hydro either. I dont have any other specifics, but what i wil do is call the dealership tomorrow and find out more. The service dept mechanic went to a school on this particular mower recently, so maybe i can pick his brain for abit more on the specifics. I gotta get to work (my other job), but more info to come. ill try and keep this post going, by providing updates on this mower as I use it. That way others can reference it as time goes by. If others are using this mower, feel free to post your comments on it here as well. We can turn this into an exmark 30 blog, and try to help others with how well this new design performs over the course of time (which is the true test) time will tell...later.

[b121774]

It's a 'wet clutch'? Don't know anything about them. Used in motorcycles alot I guess. Similar to how an automatic tran.s works.

[Valk]

Originally Posted by Kevin R

Finally someone who has right!

The twin blades help this as well, not needing the horsepower you may think it needs.

All's that motor is doing is turning blades, no hydro's, pumps or blowers, that stuff robs horsepower. Yes you may have a bigger motor in the Ferris 32 but I bet the same power down at the blade as the 30"

Splitting hairs here... The V-twin on a Ferris 32 Hydrocut (KAW FS 541V / 15hp) is 603cc compared to a single 179cc on the commercial Toro/ExMark. The amount of available torque is what overcomes mowing issues such as tall &/or wet grass and leaves. Yes, the Ferris weighs twice as much, but power-wise, it would be a beast comparatively.

I think it is best stated as many of you have put it. These 30s are replacing a 21 in a bigger and more productive way. There was a real need for a mower to fill this void. Am glad they beefed them up and are calling them commercial...and of course, the jury is out until next Winter.

[lawnboy dan]

wet clutch? bull-its a one speed that sllips the belt.

[sildoc]

Received our Toro Turfmaster this morning. After it was put together we decided to test it out. Grass is growing now but very slow so picked my front yard which hadn't been mowed in 3 months to test it out on. Average height was between 2.5-4 inches. Used the mulch plug. Was very wet since it rained all day today. First impressions was what the heck is up with the controls. Switching from exmark to the Toro was a huge surprise in controls, but once I get used to them I am sure will be fine. feel of mower is good, will take some getting used to, and with the bag on I am sure would balance better. Cut quality is far better then the exmark 26 we have been using. Speed, is ok needs to be a bit faster, but will work on that.
I will post more tomorrow when I have a whole day on it, going to try mulching since we usually bag to see if we can get away with not bagging our clippings.
I bought this site unseen so when I get a chance to check out the Exmark, we might end up going that way for control reason.

[johnaandp]

Originally Posted by joemower

John- The 32'' would stay on the trailer because of several reasons. First and foremost they are just more cumbersome to use in the small areas compared to the 21". Our guys seemed to have to fight the machines and it just simply wore them out quicker. Secondly the larger and heavier machine seem to damage the turf in smaller areas and on hills. Thirdly the 21" mowers always mulched and and bagged better than the 32". Overall the productivity was better for us when we used a quality 21" mower in small area situations. Save the room on your trailer for a 48" WB or bigger. I've just found that a WB is only truly productive when you can use a 48" or bigger. I know there are fans of 32" & 36" WB out there and I'm not knocking them, but for us our sweet spot for a WB is a 48" or 52". Although we have gotten away from the traditional WB's all together and now use the Toro Grandstands. Just remember when your making your decision that heavier and bigger is not always better. Chose what will be the most productive for the majority of your situations. Any decent quality of machine will last if properly operated and taken care of. We would traditionally get 6 years or more out of our Toro 21" Commercial push mowers. The same would go for our larger WB's. It would be our hope to replace a 21" push with the a 30" push instead of adding a 32" WB and still needing a 21".

Thanks for the info Joe. Noticed today while working that if I had a 32 wb, I will still need a 21. I am going to pick up a turfmaster next week.
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[rbljack]

Ok, here is what i can tell you so far. Today I pulled the exmark off the trailer and put it through an intial mowing using the bag. First yard was simply a dormant st augustine that they wanted level, and leaves picked up. So on went the bagger, and a quick adjusment of the wheels. Back adjustment is great, and heavy duty. front adjustment....is ok, but I wish it set up similar to the back.

It takes a little more effort to make the turn arounds, but not much more than a honda hrc. If you are used to the weight of a honda hrc, this is comparable, but your turning in a bigger arc if that makes sense. Using the high lift blade, the bag filled up completely with no clogging in the chute. I definlly noticed an increase in speed/efficiency.

On the second yard, i was asked to lower the mower down low and mow his dormant bermuda even though i really didnt want to do that yet. I went ahead and lowered the mower to its lowest setting and ran it at 1.5. Bagged the lawn and I did hit an area of heavy weeds (neighbors lawn), so I made a pass through some 8 inch high green wet weeds that were pretty thick. This did clog the chute, but i kind of expected that. I also noticed the engine bogged a bit on this. It wasnt a good test though, so more time will tell how well it will handle taller wet grass. The bagging function works well....BUT here is one thing i noticed:

When you are moving along a fenceline or along a house, it doesnt suck in the leaves along the edge of the house as well as my honda does. The honda will literallly pull them under like a vacuum. But the exmark performed well on this dry dormant grass so far.

For you trim mower folks, here is something to think about. I usually make 3 runs around the edge of a yard with my 21 to get enough space to make my turns at each end and then begin my stripes. With the 30, it covered more ground and i only had to make 2 passes around before I could start making my back and forth passed. This could be helpful for you ZTR guys who need a trim mower. Its a bit heavy to move around in tight areas though, but can be done. Keep in mind the ground is completely dry and hard here in West Texas at the moment, so thats a factor too.

Thats it for todays mowing with the exmark. I have timed the second yard numerous occasions to see how many minutes it takes to mow that yard (and bag). Each time its averaged about 40 minutes using the honda hrc 21. Today it was mowed in 30 minutes using the exmark 30 (bagged), so thats a plus! i realize there are a hundred other factors to consider, but Im just trying to put my findings on this mower up as I get some use on it. That way others can make informed decisions. And rest assured if I start having problems with this mower, or start to hate something about it, i will post those as well. So far so good. enjoy....

[joed]

Originally Posted by joemower

Joed- There are a many of reasons I like the Exmark 21" over the Toro 21". First I like the simplicity of the bails. The smaller less obtrusive bails on the Exmark are so much more user friendly. I also really like the height adjusters and wheels better on the Exmark. The height adjuster on the Toros always bent up and wore out quickly. If they didn't they were tough to move or even seized up in the body casting prohibiting you from replacing them. Over all the Exmark's mower deck is a cleaner and more sturdy design than the Toro. They both cut fairly equal but I must admit that the Toro might mulch slightly better but not enough to make a difference. The Exmark just feels better balanced and has a tougher but more simplistic functional design. The Honda GX engine on the Exmark doesn't hurt either. I really hope this is true for the 30" also. From what I can see thus far I think it will. One more thing to take into consideration is your dealer support. We have better dealer support with our Exmark dealer than with our Toro dealer.

Thanks for the review. Much appreciated. Do you find any difference in the transmissions on the two? I get a leftover 2012 Toro 21" commercial mower with the kawasaki engine (22197) or a leftover 2011 exmark 21 X series commercial unit for $1139 Canadian. Same price on both...not sure of which to use. Also looked at the cheaper toro commercial 21" with the honda gsv engine but the speed on that is listed at 3.1 mph vs 4.2 mph on the other two.

[locallawncare.ca]

Thanks for the info everyone. Keep it coming.

[Cedar Lawn Care]

I have owned the Exmark 30 for a couple weeks but the snow has been out so I have not touched it. This evening I blew all the wet leaves I could find from last fall around my yard onto the grass. I blew them an inch or two thick. I ran them over with the mulch plug in and the engine almost killed going 1/2 mile/hour. I had to stop and let the engine gain it's power back so it didn't die. I realize I was mowing wet leaves, but this really makes me nervous that there could be some serious engine power problems. Everything else about the mower I really like.