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Hustler, Bad Boy, Toro, or ?

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Dishiki

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
I am interested in buying a 42 inch ZTR. I have about an acre of grass, and I do have a few hills. I want to keep it in the 2500-3500 range.

I like the Hustler's but the dealer is 29 miles away so not sure I want to drive there every time to get it fixed. There are Bad Boy, Toro, and Ariens dealers all within 5 miles.

I was really looking at the Hustler. Is it that much better than a Toro? The Bad Boy looks nice but the local dealer has the 21 B&S engine. The Toro has a 20hp Kawasaki and is 500 cheaper. Then there is the Ariens, which has three blades.

I am going to be mulching 95% of the time so I want to take that into consideration as well.
 
#2 ·
I asked the dealer the same question about the Toro (I'm assuming Timecutter). He said the Hustler was definitely worth the price difference. I ended up going with a 48" Hustler Sport with Honda engine. If I were in your shoes I would go with a Hustler or Badboy for that price range. The Hustler dealer may be further away but you may have to go there far less.
 
#3 ·
mprowland said:
I asked the dealer the same question about the Toro (I'm assuming Timecutter). He said the Hustler was definitely worth the price difference. I ended up going with a 48" Hustler Sport with Honda engine. If I were in your shoes I would go with a Hustler or Badboy for that price range. The Hustler dealer may be further away but you may have to go there far less.
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I am a Hustler dealer but not a badboy or toro dealer. All in all the Badboy and Hustler will have a stronger frame and deck, but on the Badboy the weakest link is the briggs engine making the kawasaki on the toro sound like the best buy for me. Not sure what engine you have for the Hustler option but if it has a kawasaki or honda I would go that route.
 
#5 ·
29 miles is not that far and I don't think it will have to be fixed all that often even if ever! The Hustler Sport 42" is a solid mower and there are many happy owners that have purchased them in the past couple of seasons! That mower has a few engine options, you can get the Kawasaki Honda or Briggs engines and if it were me, I would go with the Kawasaki, but IMO, I don't think you can go wrong with any of them!

The Bad Boy MZ is equally as nice and has the Kawasaki and Briggs engine options! Both solid mowers and both have the EZT transmission. For your one acre, these are two good picks and both great companies and these would be my 2 choices along with the Bob Cat Fastcat RZ. The rest will have to be up to you to test ride and see which one feels right!
 
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Discussion starter · #6 ·
Thanks for the replies. Talked to another dealer that switched from Hustler to Big Dog. Apparently both are made by Excel. The Big Dog have 17.5 hp B&S or an 18 hp Kawasaki. That seems underpowered compared to both the Toro and the Hustler. Does anyone have any experiences with those? The Hustler that I was looking at had the Kawasaki engine.
 
#7 ·
Dishiki said:
Thanks for the replies. Talked to another dealer that switched from Hustler to Big Dog. Apparently both are made by Excel. The Big Dog have 17.5 hp B&S or an 18 hp Kawasaki. That seems underpowered compared to both the Toro and the Hustler. Does anyone have any experiences with those? The Hustler that I was looking at had the Kawasaki engine.
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I looked at bigdog and apples to apples they cost the same but hustler had better warranty support. So I went with Hustler, But in the sport model the only difference mechanically that I know of is the engine.
 
#8 ·
Dishiki said:
Thanks for the replies. Talked to another dealer that switched from Hustler to Big Dog. Apparently both are made by Excel. The Big Dog have 17.5 hp B&S or an 18 hp Kawasaki. That seems underpowered compared to both the Toro and the Hustler. Does anyone have any experiences with those? The Hustler that I was looking at had the Kawasaki engine.
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Seems underpowered, but it is not! I owned a Hustler Mini Fastrak with a single cylinder 17hp Kohler and it had plenty of power. I now have a 42" Hustler Super Duty with a 19hp Kawasaki and it feels about the same as the 17Hp Kohler. Plenty of power! These machines are smaller, there for the smaller engines. Big Dog would be a mower worth looking at, they are a division of Hustler, so I am sure they are a good machine. They have been mentioned on here a few times, but I have yet to see any members so far that has bought one? In the Homeowner forum that it! You could be the first!!! And if you do go with the Big Dog, I am sure others would love some feedback on it!! I would imagine you were looking at the C142? Very similar to the Sport! Did you get a price with both engines? I am curious to hear what they are priced at! The Kawasaki would be the way to go and 18hp would be plenty for that little hot rod!
 
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Discussion starter · #9 ·
Yes got them both priced. The big dog is more expensive than the hustler which is surprising since it seems to be the same machine.

Hustler 42 with 18 hp Kawasaki. 3,166. 29 miles away.
Big Dog 42 with 18 hp Kawasaki 3,400. 5 miles away

Mulching kit on both are 99. Gonna go look at big dog and if I like am going to see if they can match the Hustler price.
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#10 ·
Dishiki said:
Yes got them both priced. The big dog is more expensive than the hustler which is surprising since it seems to be the same machine.

Hustler 42 with 18 hp Kawasaki. 3,166. 29 miles away.
Big Dog 42 with 18 hp Kawasaki 3,400. 5 miles away

Mulching kit on both are 99. Gonna go look at big dog and if I like am going to see if they can match the Hustler price.
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That is a great price on the Hustler!! If you can match that price on the BD, you are doing pretty good! I do find it surprising! Are these both 2011's? Not that it is a big deal, but could explain the price difference.

Just curious if you test rode these machines yet? Make sure you are comfortable on them!
 
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Discussion starter · #11 ·
Capemay Eagle said:
That is a great price on the Hustler!! If you can match that price on the BD, you are doing pretty good! I do find it surprising! Are these both 2011's? Not that it is a big deal, but could explain the price difference.

Just curious if you test rode these machines yet? Make sure you are comfortable on them!
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So I went to go ride the Hustler. It was about 45 minutes drive. Great ride. Great machine. It was 3166 plus 99 for mulcher. They also had a Gravel ZT 42 with 22 hp Kawasaki. Drove that and loved it also. Didn't notice much difference in the ride.

I ended up opting for the Gravely. The 22 vs the 18 was a factor. I know hustler's deck is welded and the gravely is stamped but I'm only doing my lawn. I guess price was the deciding factor. Got out the door with mulcher for 2700, 500 cheaper than the hustler. Gonna pick it up on Saturday after they get the mulching blades and put it on.

Dealer was great. Said if I get home and I don't like it, I can switch out for the Hustler. Will report back once I make my first cut.
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#12 ·
Dishiki said:
I ended up opting for the Gravely.
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Well congrats and welcome to ZTR ownership! The Gravely ZT's have been popular this year! I like them. I have always wanted to demo a Gravely, but there has been zero dealers in 100 miles! Nearest was out of state in Delaware. I think recently there have been a few that have popped up, but still pretty far away.

As far as the deck, the stamped deck will serve you well, you see lawn tractors 12 years old with the stamped decks still in good shape. You opted for HP vs a fabricated deck and I probably would to! Get some seat time in and let us know how you like your machine. If you would like to, why don't you snap a few pictures and place them in the Homeowner picture page and give us a little info on the machine! This helps the next guy that comes along interested in your machine. I will include the link! Happy Mowing!

Link
http://www.lawnsite.com/showthread.php?t=322595
 
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Capemay Eagle
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