Who does 4 wheel suspension best? What are all the manufacturers that have it? thanks
Who has the best suspension?
4 seasons lawn&land
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Who does 4 wheel suspension best? What are all the manufacturers that have it? thanks
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That's sort of true...
Ferris and Bad Boy are the only mowers with 4 wheel suspension. Dixie Chopper and Hustler have suspension options on their front casters and both offer suspension seats. Ferris and Bad Boy both offer suspension seats as well.
The Ferris unit has coil over shock suspension, which folks say rides real well, but it's also expensive to replace.
The Hustlers are having issues with their Flex Forks wearing out fast, but they're not terribly expensive to replace ($350 maybe?), and they also have their Flex Seat, which is a Michigan seat like Ferris and Bad Boy offer, but the Flex Seat has a different base that allows the chair to rock more or less like a rocking chair. Supposedly the ride is very good.
The Dixie Chopper suspension is kinda similar to Hustler's I believe, but their suspension seat doesn't have the same function as Hustler's Flex seat.
The Bad Boy suspension is really cool because it uses rubber blocks to absorb the shock, kinda like a semi truck suspension. It virtually never wears out and is cheap to replace if you ever need to (we've never heard of anyone wearing the suspension out before though <I'm a dealer>). Bad Boy has rear suspension that actually has a bit of travel, and again uses rubber blocks to reduce shock. Additionally, the Michigan suspension seat is mounted on a flip up seat platform which rests large springs that further reduce shock from bumps.
Dixie, Hustler, and Bad Boy IMO are the best choices for suspension because theirs is strong enough to ride well up to 15mph, something no Ferris can do. I'm a big fan of the Bad Boy mowers myself, but then I'm a dealer too. I guess I'm a little biased. :laugh:
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Retail for flex forks is $199.00 and retail for the flex seat is $299.00, my Super Z has both.
The Bad Boy Lightening I ran for 30 hrs. on the same property I run the Super Z rode very well at 14 mph with the four wheel torsion rubber suspension and the suspension seat with coil springs mounted under the base.
I tell the exact truth and do not bleed any color but blood red, the Super Z rides better at 15 mph than the Bad Boy does at 14 and with a better cut. The big difference is price, you will have to spend an extra $500.00 + tax to get the better ride from a Hustler and it is not worth the difference to most people. I would own a Bad Boy Lightening and think it is probably the most mower on the market for the money.
I have been talking with them about going ahead and mounting the deck foot assist standard instead of an option and everyone I have talked with at Bad Boy agrees. I told them the expensive part (electric deck lift) was mounted standard and everyone needs the foot assist for sudden quick lift of the deck in certain situations. I think they have the foot assist standard in the works at this time.
The Bad Boy's deck design and big block engines with cut through about anything with very little rpm drop. The deck really moves grass out in a hurry and this keeps it from pulling on the hp as much.
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Agreed on the foot assist. We just got our spring order in and we got the foot assist on nearly every mower we got in. Turns out, you can't get the foot assist on the ZT, which is a mistake as they just upgraded them to ZT2800 transaxles and basically made the ZT a full commercial mower. I seriously hope they make a foot assist for the ZT. With the diesel, we'll have to mount the front weight on the front to get it out from under the floorboard. The foot assist should be at the very least optional on the diesels, but I agree, it should be standard. I don't care if they up the price $300 to add this feature, it's worth it! But knowing Bad Boy, it will be $150 or less. Those guys are amazing about keeping cost down.
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Did you make your Bad Boy order to include the foot assist from the factory?
I just talked with Bad Boy and they said when the foot assist was ordered and installed coming down the assembly line it was only $130.00 extra, then the dealer just installed the foot petal. That is a great buy and would be foolish for someone not to order them, I use mine a great deal and can't imagine not having it in place.
Bad Boy has installed the expensive parts with the electric lift, all other manufactures would charge a good bit more money for that option and the foot assist would be standard.
Bad Boy told me they expected all their mowers to be equipped from the factory next year with foot assist standard. I said that is great and exactly what I told Wes last year Bad Boy should do for their customers. I think Bad Boy listens to input from customers and potential customers very well.
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Ferris cant do what? Ride as smooth or go that fast? What is the fastest one?
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Ferris can't go 15 mph. The bigger models go 12. Mine goes 10. The smallest one, IS500Z, goes 8, but the 1500 and 500 only have rear independent suspension. The front axle pivots.
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Just to clarify for the original poster---Ferris drive systems only allow for a max speed of 12 mph. So going 15mph is out of the question based on the pump and wheel motor combination---nothing to do with the suspension itself. Ferris suspension is unproven at 15mph until they up their speeds but I the design is the only one that allows for significant suspension travel without scalping.
We demoed two of their machines (A 2000 series gasser and a 28hp cat diesel) and both felt a little clumsy but the ride was good with no scalping. One thing I especially liked about them was the fact that you can approach a hill at an angle and when the caster wheel starts to go up the incline the deck raises with it on the same side so there's no need to raise it manually to avoid gouging the turf. It wasn't enough to sell me on the machines (we bought another scag) but it is one of those things you miss when it's gone.
The worst thing for me was the fact that the front casters stuck out farther past the leading edge of the deck which (I have to admit) was a factor in my decision not to purchase.
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scag doesnt offer any suspension right?
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Interesting. Sounds like you use the foot assist quite a bit. With Bad Boy, you get the convenience of an electronic deck lift, but they have a foot assist that works in conjunction with the deck lift so you have that insurance against scalping without sacrificing the super cool toggle operated deck lift.
That anti-scalp roller is placed poorly. I have no idea why they would place it there. If it was a swivel roller, that would be one thing, but still...
Something else about Bad Boy's suspension is that it uses a trailing arm design, rather than a pivoting front axle. Each front caster features an independent pivoting joint on each side, effectively allowing the caster to flex on each side. That's why there is a rubber block on both sides. You have side to side flexation, and also front to back, so it flexes more in all directions, whereas the Ferris just goes straight up and down like a car. So the Bad Boy suspension is actually mower versatile than the Ferris design. Don't get me wrong, the Ferris design is nice, but I don't think it compares with Bad Boy's suspension.
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The electric deck lift is a great feature. I would love to have it on any machine.
Not sure I follow you about the anti-scalp roller. I think badboy uses swivel rollers just like ferris does on the 3100's and up.
I see what you're talking about with the side to side movement of the front casters but I'm not sure that would add any versatility to the machine---can you or anyone else with experience explain how this feature is put to use.
What I keep getting hung up on is the deck to ground relationship during suspension flex. What I mean by this is when the suspension is put to use---in the front, for example---the front castor stays pressed against the ground while the frame of the mower is allowed to move down closer to the ground to lessen impact and maintain a smoother ride. When this happens the mower deck also moves closer to the ground (with either the hustler or the badboy suspension) making the cut lower at this point of the lawn than on the rest of the lawn. With the ferris suspension the frame of the machine moves closer to the wheel/ground and the deck---which is tied into the front suspension---raises up proportionally, keeping the mower deck at the same height in relation to the ground. This allows for greater suspension travel without sacrificing height of cut (scalping). I would assume hustler, badboy, and others limit suspension travel to maybe an inch or so but it still seems like enough to have a noticeable effect on a lawn that isn't reasonably smooth. I see how it can take some of the bumps out of an open field while mowing at high speed, but it seems like these systems are not necessarily an upgrade to ferris' suspension. Definitely keep in mind that a great suspension system was not enough to sell me on ferris---there are other, more important aspects to commercial mowers---but it really doesn't look like anyone but ferris has a legitimate suspension and it's probably because they have their design patented, limiting what the other manufacturers can do to provide a smoother ride. I think I would suspend the entire operators platform to try to compete with the ride while maintaining height of cut consistency---taking the suspension seat to the next level.
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how many people cut at 15mph? around here you'd fall off the mower going that fast with all the bumps in the ground.
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We have a couple where it would be possible. The speed would also be nice for transport in some of our groupings of lawns. We maintain a nursery and have a grouping of residentials in a neighborhood just down the street---I have my guys park the truck and trailer in the neighborhood and ride the mowers out to the nursery (1500-2000ft maybe) and a little extra speed would be nice.
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I cut at 15 mph a big part of the time because I am in large flat areas. I had one friend that was in the hospital and I cut his grass for about 6 weeks. I used his Bobcat that had a top speed of 9 mph and it took 1 1/4 hrs. to cut his grass. I am not accustomed to cutting that slow and it almost drove me crazy. From then on I drove my Super Z 3 miles to his house, cut his grass in 25 mins. and drove back home, that is the difference speed makes.
Dragging around on a slow mower kills me after being use to cutting the high amount of grass I can cut in an hour.
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who makes super Z, btw, I bought the Ferrris is 2000
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Congratulations and good luck with it. Let us know how it does for you this season.
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HUSTLER MOWERS
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