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Ferris new redesigned ICD+ deck opinions?

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Black zombie

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
I was about to pull the trigger on a new Ferris isx3300 with the 60” icdeck and 40hp EFI Vanguard.
I was researching the icd deck cut quality compared to the other top brands and found it lacking.
Ferris announced a redesign to the new icd+ deck back in October now available on the larger deck units.
I currently run a new Scag turf tiger 2 with 40hp vanguard and four John Deere z960m with 31hp Kawasaki. The cut quality is tremendous on either of those brands with the John Deere taking the lead slightly due to smaller clippings and the ability to mow backwards when backing up. The velocity deck just leaves a clump mess when backing up. Especially mowing leaves.

I wanted the Ferris due to back issues and pain after mowing all day. I’ve tried to get the Scag to an acceptable level but it is still pretty rough even with front tweels.
I just wanted to see if there was any feedback on the new deck at Ferris becuase I don’t want to pay $19000 and the deck cut quality be sub par and with it being the dead of winter I can’t really demo it properly till spring to see. Thanks in advance
 
#2 ·
A few months back when I was looking at new mowers, I looked at a few Ferris isx2200's with the new 60" deck. The new baffling looks like it may be a nice design for dry grass, but cause a lot more trouble in wet grass than the previous ICD 61" design deck. Enough so, that just based on it's design/looks and my experience over the years, I passed on it. I already have a JD and now a Scag. Hard to beat them in reality.
 
#3 ·
The new design is supposed to leave less stragglers. The spindle layout is a little different, it uses the same blades that were on the previous 61" decks, they just overlap more when cutting. Sold a few this year but have not heard any real world experience with it yet. A Ferris will stripe somewhat if setup correctly, but not as well as others out there.
 
Discussion starter · #4 ·
Ridin' Green said:
A few months back when I was looking at new mowers, I looked at a few Ferris isx2200's with the new 60" deck. The new baffling looks like it may be a nice design for dry grass, but cause a lot more trouble in wet grass than the previous ICD 61" design deck. Enough so, that just based on it's design/looks and my experience over the years, I passed on it. I already have a JD and now a Scag. Hard to beat them in reality.
Click to expand...
I have ordered the Grammer fore and aft suspension kit and I’m going to try and mount that first and see how it goes. Spoke to the tech guy at Grammer and he was very helpful
 
#5 ·
Black zombie said:
I have ordered the Grammer fore and aft suspension kit and I’m going to try and mount that first and see how it goes. Spoke to the tech guy at Grammer and he was very helpful
Click to expand...
On which machine is that going? The TT? I am thinking about adding the suspension seat from a TT to my Cheetah to improve the ride even further. That and maybe adding pneumtaic front tires like I did with my JD which helped the ride of it quite a bit.
 
Discussion starter · #6 ·
Ridin' Green said:
On which machine is that going? The TT? I am thinking about adding the suspension seat from a TT to my Cheetah to improve the ride even further. That and maybe adding pneumtaic front tires like I did with my JD which helped the ride of it quite a bit.
Click to expand...
it’s going on the Scag turf tiger 2 first and it it helps alot I’m going to add them to the John Deere’s. Two of the John Deere’s already have front tweels and the Zglide suspensions on the front forks but they are still really rough due to the shorter frame. Excellent machines though.
 
Discussion starter · #7 ·
Black zombie said:
it’s going on the Scag turf tiger 2 first and it it helps alot I’m going to add them to the John Deere’s. Two of the John Deere’s already have front tweels and the Zglide suspensions on the front forks but they are still really rough due to the shorter frame. Excellent machines though.
Click to expand...
also meant to say the front tweels are really close to the pneumatic front casters but are kinda pricey. Are you still running John Deere too?
 
Discussion starter · #8 ·
Justin Hightower said:
The new design is supposed to leave less stragglers. The spindle layout is a little different, it uses the same blades that were on the previous 61" decks, they just overlap more when cutting. Sold a few this year but have not heard any real world experience with it yet. A Ferris will stripe somewhat if setup correctly, but not as well as others out there.
Click to expand...
Thank you for the feedback. I wonder if the aftermarket stripe rollers that mount to the rear of the deck would help? Maybe those would help with scalping too since there isn’t an anti scalp roller on the back of those.
 
#11 ·
Never had any problems with it until last year, and that was supposedly fixed this year, but I am still having the same problem. I can't say more about it yet, but trust me, once I can, I will LOL Overall, it has been a great machine for the last 11 years. The Cheetah is only a few months old so not a lot of time with it yet.
 
#12 ·
Black zombie said:
it’s going on the Scag turf tiger 2 first and it it helps alot I’m going to add them to the John Deere’s. Two of the John Deere’s already have front tweels and the Zglide suspensions on the front forks but they are still really rough due to the shorter frame. Excellent machines though.
Click to expand...
The longer and heavier the mower, the better they ride, the same as with a boat. Glad you brought that up, it shows you're knowledgeable on how a shorter mower rides rougher when comparing to a longer mower.
 
Discussion starter · #13 ·
Ridin' Green said:
Never had any problems with it until last year, and that was supposedly fixed this year, but I am still having the same problem. I can't say more about it yet, but trust me, once I can, I will LOL Overall, it has been a great machine for the last 11 years. The Cheetah is only a few months old so not a lot of time with it yet.
Click to expand...
You preferred the Cheetah vs the Turf Tiger? Demoed a Cheetah 2 a couple months ago. Very nice machine and I agree about about adding a suspension seat to it as well would really soften it up.
 
#14 ·
Black zombie said:
You preferred the Cheetah vs the Turf Tiger? Demoed a Cheetah 2 a couple months ago. Very nice machine and I agree about about adding a suspension seat to it as well would really soften it up.
Click to expand...
Yeah, like I posted somewhere else on here recently- the Cheetah was a little more than 3K less, and while I love the TT II and always will, the Cheetah is 300 +pounds lighter and its basic overall wheelbase and track are very close to my JD and since they both have the same sized deck, I knew where I could fit the Cheetah without scalping etc without ever having to try it on any place. Less maintenance points too. The TT will always be in my heart though.
 
#15 ·
Black zombie said:
I was about to pull the trigger on a new Ferris isx3300 with the 60” icdeck and 40hp EFI Vanguard.
I was researching the icd deck cut quality compared to the other top brands and found it lacking.
Ferris announced a redesign to the new icd+ deck back in October now available on the larger deck units.
I currently run a new Scag turf tiger 2 with 40hp vanguard and four John Deere z960m with 31hp Kawasaki. The cut quality is tremendous on either of those brands with the John Deere taking the lead slightly due to smaller clippings and the ability to mow backwards when backing up. The velocity deck just leaves a clump mess when backing up. Especially mowing leaves.

I wanted the Ferris due to back issues and pain after mowing all day. I’ve tried to get the Scag to an acceptable level but it is still pretty rough even with front tweels.
I just wanted to see if there was any feedback on the new deck at Ferris becuase I don’t want to pay $19000 and the deck cut quality be sub par and with it being the dead of winter I can’t really demo it properly till spring to see. Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
On the facebook ferris groups, many people have been asking if the new deck is better and there are mixed opinions. Some of the guys who owned both the 61" icd and the new 60" icd, seem to prefer the 61 design. I havent seen anyone say that the new 60" knocked it out of the park. There just isnt enough feedback yet on this deck. I believe ferris moved the middle spindle forward and pulled in the side spindles to help with leaving stragglers. Ferris also made the some changes to its 72" deck, but nobody seems to know any details.

For the past 6 seasons, ive been mowing with a ferris 3200 w/ 61" icd. The ride is phenominal and the cut is good in most of my conditions that I mow in. Wet grass is where the deck lacks, but super hi-lift blades help that immensely. Ive been very happy with this mower and my only complaint is that there isnt enough deck over hang on the trim side. My 37 briggs has been good, aside from the normal starter issues these engine have. Ive seen comments from people with the 40hp briggs, talking about starter issues as well. Its either the starter solenoid or the whole starter that people are replacing or replacing numerous times.

This fall I wanted to buy another stand on to add to my fleet. As much as I like the Ferris product and they are manufactured in my state, i didnt want to give them my money again. I love the ride/comfort of the riders and stand on's, but i want a deck that performs better in the wet which is why I decided to try Scag. Also, the only engine option for the 61/60 is the vanguard and I didnt really want to deal with the potential starter issues down the road.
 
#16 ·
Ridin' Green said:
On which machine is that going? The TT? I am thinking about adding the suspension seat from a TT to my Cheetah to improve the ride even further. That and maybe adding pneumtaic front tires like I did with my JD which helped the ride of it quite a bit.
Click to expand...
A suspension seat on the Cheetah platform suspension will help a lot...adding fore and aft isolator would make for an incredible ride!
 
#17 ·
Black zombie said:
I was about to pull the trigger on a new Ferris isx3300 with the 60” icdeck and 40hp EFI Vanguard.
I was researching the icd deck cut quality compared to the other top brands and found it lacking.
Ferris announced a redesign to the new icd+ deck back in October now available on the larger deck units.
I currently run a new Scag turf tiger 2 with 40hp vanguard and four John Deere z960m with 31hp Kawasaki. The cut quality is tremendous on either of those brands with the John Deere taking the lead slightly due to smaller clippings and the ability to mow backwards when backing up. The velocity deck just leaves a clump mess when backing up. Especially mowing leaves.

I wanted the Ferris due to back issues and pain after mowing all day. I’ve tried to get the Scag to an acceptable level but it is still pretty rough even with front tweels.
I just wanted to see if there was any feedback on the new deck at Ferris becuase I don’t want to pay $19000 and the deck cut quality be sub par and with it being the dead of winter I can’t really demo it properly till spring to see. Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
I don't know if you saw this thread a few months back, but this guy isn't happy with the new deck design-
 
Discussion starter · #18 ·
ktoom said:
On the facebook ferris groups, many people have been asking if the new deck is better and there are mixed opinions. Some of the guys who owned both the 61" icd and the new 60" icd, seem to prefer the 61 design. I havent seen anyone say that the new 60" knocked it out of the park. There just isnt enough feedback yet on this deck. I believe ferris moved the middle spindle forward and pulled in the side spindles to help with leaving stragglers. Ferris also made the some changes to its 72" deck, but nobody seems to know any details.

For the past 6 seasons, ive been mowing with a ferris 3200 w/ 61" icd. The ride is phenominal and the cut is good in most of my conditions that I mow in. Wet grass is where the deck lacks, but super hi-lift blades help that immensely. Ive been very happy with this mower and my only complaint is that there isnt enough deck over hang on the trim side. My 37 briggs has been good, aside from the normal starter issues these engine have. Ive seen comments from people with the 40hp briggs, talking about starter issues as well. Its either the starter solenoid or the whole starter that people are replacing or replacing numerous times.

This fall I wanted to buy another stand on to add to my fleet. As much as I like the Ferris product and they are manufactured in my state, i didnt want to give them my money again. I love the ride/comfort of the riders and stand on's, but i want a deck that performs better in the wet which is why I decided to try Scag. Also, the only engine option for the 61/60 is the vanguard and I didnt really want to deal with the potential starter issues down the road.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the feedback. From reading all the available info on the revised deck I am not going to take a chance on the Ferris. As much as I like the ride we have some very high end accounts and the QOC has to be be there. They delivered my fore and aft isolator from Grammer today so I’ll install that to see how the ride improves.
 
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