Here you have an unusual specimen. It's a well-maintained Scag Turf Tiger zero-turn mower that nobody even disconnected the hour meter from in order to lie to you about the hours. It has 2,250 hours, which is a lot. That is why it is at a price that you are only half clenched up about. Imagine you were me and had to buy one of those new ones at $13,999! You pay for the best mowing machines ever designed. Believe me, I have had about everything. Turf Tiger is where it is at and, for the hours, I don't think you will find a better one than this. I even hand washed it so you could see how clean it is. This was not a fun job. These things are basically all nooks and crannies and washing them is an exercise in banging your knuckles against random steel projections for 3 hours. Your welcome.

The exact model is STT61A-23KA and it has an SN of 7720236. I got this one during the off season in 2003. It has been solely owner operated (read: treated well) by me since then in my commercial mowing business. It was my main mower for the first few years of its life and has been a backup to several others since then. I have fed it only synthetic oil both for the engine and hydros, I don't through the rain, and never have I stored it outside. The engine, as you can see from the pics, is a 23HP liquid cooled Kawasaki FD671D. The engine has never been rebuilt and is running well. These liquid cooled Kawasakis have an excellent reputation for longevity and I have cared very well for this one. I am including with the mower its full maintenance records because, yes, I am that fastidious about my machines. Nobody maintains their stuff better than me. The original manuals, warranty cards, and even the showroom hangtag are included as well. In addition, I will throw in some maintenance parts such as spark plugs, air filters, and the like. Finally, you will get the original discharge chute as well as the operator controlled one in the pics. If your wondering what happened to the original seat, I actually used it for a desk chair for all that time. It is not looking so good so I included the one in the pics as it is in much better shape. I replace all the seats on all my new mowers immediately with milsco suspension ones so most really never get much use. The one that came on this mower was a bit of an exception to that. I am sitting on the tatters of it writing this right now.

As for shipping, if you have a rig, you can pick it up. Otherwise, I will deliver it, after payment, for no charge within the greater Columbus Ohio area. If you are further out, I can deliver to the rest of Ohio for 70 cents a mile (one way) for each mile more than 25 miles from my location in Worthington, Ohio. View attachment 348379 View attachment 348380 View attachment 348381 View attachment 348382 View attachment 348383 View attachment 348384

Pretty darn nice...and I like that home made chute blocker.Thumbs Up

 

Thanks, I have these chutes fabricated by a local metal working shop. The design is a based on one I bought probably 7 or 8 years ago off e-bay that was offered by a mower retailer and looked like it was designed and made by a local shop. They seem to have since stopped selling these as I can't find them anymore. I changed the design to move the handle back toward the operator for easier use and so that it does not interfere with my trash can location. I believe that the design is the best there is by virtue of simplicity and efficacy. I have done versions of it for scag advantage decks, velocity plus decks, and even for an exmark ultracut. If anybody has interest I can send you the file of the plans (I am sure I at least have a legible velocity plus plan set) and you can have one fabricated at your local shop.

 

This is the chute design on my newest TTII (not the mower being sold here) it shows the relative position of the chute and the trash can. Also, I nicely painted the newest one instead of just leaving it primer gray like in the past so it is shiny.

 

This is the chute design on my newest TTII (not the mower being sold here) it shows the relative position of the chute and the trash can. Also, I nicely painted the newest one instead of just leaving it primer gray like in the past so it is shiny.

View attachment 348414

Post picture of your debris can.....

 

For a trash can I use any flat topped (domed ones suck up on the highway and the trash flies out) stainless steel can with a plastic inner can. I attach them to the spindle cover using a single 1/4" carriage bolt through the bottom of just the outer can. I usually reinforce a little around where the bolt goes through the bottom of the can with those steel mending strips you get at the hardware store.

The key is that you need a lid to keep the trash inside and a can of the style that has a plastic inner can so that you can easily empty the garbage while leaving the can attached. I'm a little amazed that nobody sells their mower with one of these on it as it is so common for mowing guys to have a trash can of some type.

If you look at the discharge side spindle cover on the mower I'm selling you can actually see the hole in the cover for the trash can mounting bolt as well as the wear on the paint from the circular can that was on it. I actually just moved that can to the new machine.

 

Here you have an unusual specimen. It's a well-maintained Scag Turf Tiger zero-turn mower that nobody even disconnected the hour meter from in order to lie to you about the hours. It has 2,250 hours, which is a lot. That is why it is at a price that you are only half clenched up about. Imagine you were me and had to buy one of those new ones at $13,999! You pay for the best mowing machines ever designed. Believe me, I have had about everything. Turf Tiger is where it is at and, for the hours, I don't think you will find a better one than this. I even hand washed it so you could see how clean it is. This was not a fun job. These things are basically all nooks and crannies and washing them is an exercise in banging your knuckles against random steel projections for 3 hours. Your welcome.

The exact model is STT61A-23KA and it has an SN of 7720236. I got this one during the off season in 2003. It has been solely owner operated (read: treated well) by me since then in my commercial mowing business. It was my main mower for the first few years of its life and has been a backup to several others since then. I have fed it only synthetic oil both for the engine and hydros, I don't through the rain, and never have I stored it outside. The engine, as you can see from the pics, is a 23HP liquid cooled Kawasaki FD671D. The engine has never been rebuilt and is running well. These liquid cooled Kawasakis have an excellent reputation for longevity and I have cared very well for this one. I am including with the mower its full maintenance records because, yes, I am that fastidious about my machines. Nobody maintains their stuff better than me. The original manuals, warranty cards, and even the showroom hangtag are included as well. In addition, I will throw in some maintenance parts such as spark plugs, air filters, and the like. Finally, you will get the original discharge chute as well as the operator controlled one in the pics. If your wondering what happened to the original seat, I actually used it for a desk chair for all that time. It is not looking so good so I included the one in the pics as it is in much better shape. I replace all the seats on all my new mowers immediately with milsco suspension ones so most really never get much use. The one that came on this mower was a bit of an exception to that. I am sitting on the tatters of it writing this right now.

As for shipping, if you have a rig, you can pick it up. Otherwise, I will deliver it, after payment, for no charge within the greater Columbus Ohio area. If you are further out, I can deliver to the rest of Ohio for 70 cents a mile (one way) for each mile more than 25 miles from my location in Worthington, Ohio. View attachment 348379 View attachment 348380 View attachment 348381 View attachment 348382 View attachment 348383 View attachment 348384

Let me start off by saying your mower looks pristine for a 14 yr old rig that has obviously been used (2250 hrs) as well as taken care of. I know I'm probably asking this in the wrong spot but since this is the type of machine I'm talking about I'll post it here anyway. That being said I'll get to the point.

I'm just a HO in Mid MO looking to buy a mower and am having trouble deciding which way to jump. One hand. I refuse to pay 10 grand or even $5000 to do what I can pay the neighbor to do for $20. On the other hand my wife and I both enjoy mowing and will continue to do so. I know we only need a residential mower bc as long as we don't let it get out of control, the 50" swisher ztr we have works fine but slow (3 hrs 1 cut). Being on a beer budget with champagne taste though makes a commercial mower look awfully desirable, and even resi's aren't being given away. SO long story short should a guy that won't put over 100 hrs a year on a mower be afraid to pick up a higher hour 1500+ high quality mower (I've got my heart set on a scag tt or tc) or would he be better off to just get a new resi and figure it will be better that what he has now, and new to boot.

 

Can you work on em? If yes then get a used one. I sold two tiger cubs for around $2500 and both had 2000 hrs.

 

Thanks, I do work hard to keep my equiptment in very good condition.

As for your situation, I have a few comments and opinions. First, if you can get your neightbore to cut a lawn that you spend 3 hours on with a residential (~5mph) ZTR) mower on for $20 you should hit that up every week. That is at least a $70 a cut yard.

As for a residential grade riding mower, really, nobody should buy one of these things. They cut terribley (low blade tip speed and poor deck design,) don't hold much value, and have very short lifespans with a high breakdown rate. There are just too many corners cut in the design and manufacture of these things especially when the complexities of a hydraulic mower are taken into account. Riding mowers are not just an engine bolted to a blade. There is a lot to fail and it simply does. Often, they only go a few hundred hours before the troubles start. I would say they are designed for 30 hours a year use but they are really not designed with any particular lifespan in mind. They are designed to be as shiny and inexpensive as possible on the showroom floor. Simply put, most owners of lawns large enough to use a riding mower should buy some grade of commercial machine whether that be an entry level walkie, a mid tier ZTR such as a Scag Patriot or Exmark Radius, or a full top tier machine such as a Turf Tiger.

As for a used mower, I expect that my Turf Tiger will probably sell to the owner of a large residential property. Many such people recognize to rational of buying a high hour top tier machine. The rational is that you get full quality and speed of cut with a low up front cost and the fairly low hours per year of residential use means that repairs can be expected to be infrequent since the components are very durable and designed for much more continuous and rigorous use. You also get very high value retention since the machine has already passed the time of sharp depreciation when it was of highest interest to commercial cutters for whom breakdowns and therefore downtime, can be deadly as they pile up lost revenue and unhappy customers at a rate of at least $500 a day.

If you don't want your neighbor to do your lawn for that spectacularly good deal you should find some sort of commercial grade rig to cut with. If you are not handy you may want to spring for a midgrade $6k or so for a Patriot or Radius. You will probably not have to do any repairs on either of these in 15 years of use. If you are a little more handy and don't mind pulling parts off and replacing them look for the cleanest older commercial rig you can find. Keep in mind that it is a common practice to disconnect hour meters on commercial machines. Looks mean more than numbers when it comes to the shape a machine is in. Also, some folks really beat the hell out of stuff or store it outside so take a look at any machine you are interested in. Make sure the blades all line up tip to tip (no bent deck) and that you don't have any broken welds (ramming into curbs at top speed.) An older machine will probably mean you have to replace a hydro pump, fuel pump, idler pulley, belt, etc every year or two but you machine will hold it's value well and cut spectacularly. It will also look big and badass.

As for the Swisher, I have never heard of them. The website looks like they are trying to look commercial with very high prices and welded frames and decks. The engines, and hydros are not commercial grade, the wheels are very small (rough ride,) and the deck is way too shallow for a good looking cut though. It also looks like their past product line is totally different than their current so perhaps they are a brand name that does not manufacture and has switched OEM's. In short, they look like residential machines though the latest iteration appears to be charging commercial prices.

Good luck.

 

Thanks for the help guys, it just seemed like a no brainer to me to find a used top tier machine but in searching through a lot of the threads on here, no one really mentions doing that. As well as the fact that from what I had heard/read the life is generally around 2500 hrs even for the top commercial rigs so if a guy gets one around $3k and turns around and has to put a new motor or hydros on one I'm right there at the cost of an new Maverick, Patriot, or Radius as you said. So was just curious what to expect repair wise on the higher hr machines. Are hydro pumps just throw away pieces or can you rebuild them? Not scared of working on them just don't have any experience with mowers, thought most of the repairs were more swapping parts not rebuilding stuff. Also didn't really know where to look for them as most dealers seem to rather sell a new machine, not many used mower lots sitting around here lol.

 

The "life" of a machine is relative to what components it starts with, how it is run and maintained, and what you are willing to replace. 2,500 hours is more than most air cooled engines will do, significantly less than a liquid cooled engine, and only half of what to expect from a diesel. As for pumps, it would be rare for them to go 2,500, most have been replaced at least once by then. The machine I have listed had a new pump at 700 hours and one at 1,400. Wheel motors last longer, I am not even sure how long as I have never had one go out.

As for hydro's, I typically replace rather than rebuild them. I actually first take them to my hydro guy who analyzes them for $40 to determine if I must remove and rebuild the wheel motor, another $40, (if fragments got in the high pressure line.)

Most parts on the mower are simple replaces. At higher hours you will start to need to replace things like idler pullies, fuel pumps, and such. Belts and tires will have already been replaced many times before this so their state will vary from machine to machine. Scag has greasable spindles so I expect they will continue to run. I have never had one go out.

"Life" is really best understood as mean cost per year to operate. The cost does go up with age. Eventually, even caster wheel bearings and linkages in the floating deck will need to be replaced. I do no commercial mowers who have run their machines to 4,500 hours. I have considered doing this a number of times. Perhaps I should have this time as this machine is looking like it might not sell until next spring meaning I have to store it over the winter.

 

As winter is fast approaching I am dropping the price to $3,750. I believe this to be a little below the market value but I do not want to have to store this machine over the winter as it would kick my wifes car out of the garage. As such I am putting this fire sale price on it. In the event that it does not sell during what little is left of fall and I have to store it over the winter I will sell it in the spring starting at a price of $4,250.