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Best Entry Level Commerical Mower

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Discussion starter · #21 ·
At this point, I am tempted to put all the options in a hat, and randomly pick an option.

I found another Scag/Gravely dealer and he went in-depth on why he thinks Scag is best choice. Schocking :).

He noted that Gravely struggles with wet grass due to the deck design.

I asked his thoughts on BadBoy and he said yes, they do put very thick steel in places that you can see, but that they cut corners in other areas. Like the spindles, belts, connection points, etc. He asked how can they undercut every other brand by thousands of dollars when they have to pay the engine and transmission makers the same price as everyone else? I know BadBoy delivers mowers directly to retailers, so maybe some savings there, but it did make me wonder.

Below is the final grid I created comparing three levels of mowers with pricing (including tax). The price range from the cheapest option to the most expensive is about 5K. BB Maverick HD-$8,755 to Hustler X-one-$13,676.

What would be your choices in the three categories and overall?

Image
 
#26 ·
Giantshark18 said:
Do you think the 2K upcharge to go from the Kohler Command Pro EFI to Vanguard is worth it?
Click to expand...
  • I was told by my brother's friend who is an Exmark dealer: go with Kawasaki over Kohler.
  • I was told by my dealer's sale guy who I trust when asking Kawasaki vs Kohler: get the Kawasaki.
  • I bought a ZSpray LTS in '24 (I wanted a Steelgreen but no support locally) and it has a Kohler. Complete POS, and known starter problems on ZSpray LTS user group. Never again will I buy anything with a Kohler. ZSpray/Exmark has finally in '25 replaced that Kohler turd with a Vanguard. Wish I had the Vanguard.
I would prefer a Kawasaki engine, BUT I would absolutely pick the Vanguard over the Kohler. You are getting 10 more HP which should be a good thing for your conditions. (y)

Note: seems like Kawasaki vs Kohler is kinda like a Ford vs Chevy matchup. You have guys on both sides...
 
#30 ·
I’ll be the person on here to say dealer support is incredibly overrated.
How are you supposed to know what the dealer support is, until you actually need it? I have never had a dealer tell me that they are a bad service dealer when shopping for mowers, quite the opposite actually. But when I have needed to use the dealer that I actually bought from, it was a horrible headache. I can get parts faster and cheaper than the dealer. Only thing I have issues with is big stuff. But the dealer seems useless there as well.
I took my mower to the dealer this spring because it just decided to die on me before my first mow week. Would crank no problem, but no fire. I tried all the simple things, but engines are not really my thing.
they told me it would be 1 week to return it. Cool.
5 weeks later to the day, I was finally able to pick up the mower. It took them 3 weeks to even look at it, then it needed a new wire harness.
 
Discussion starter · #31 ·
Since I have never purchased a Zero Turn, I also am struggling with what seems to be the #1 bit of advice. Which is, "find a good dealer. I can't go by reviews as many places will have five-star reviews praising the service right next to another saying the place took 5 months to fix a warranty covered issue. I also want to go with a mower that will need services less instead of focusing on how easy it is to get service.
 
#32 ·
Giantshark18 said:
Since I have never purchased a Zero Turn, I also am struggling with what seems to be the #1 bit of advice. Which is, "find a good dealer. I can't go by reviews as many places will have five-star reviews praising the service right next to another saying the place took 5 months to fix a warranty covered issue. I also want to go with a mower that will need services less instead of focusing on how easy it is to get service.
Click to expand...
Whether it needs service or not will be a crap shoot. Some machines seem to always have issues, others will never see a dealer again after purchase.
I’d be buying the best machine, over the best dealer.
 
#33 ·
True story. My brother had a lot of problems with the Bad Boy diesel when he first got it and the local dealer was no help because my brother bought it at another dealer that gave him $1500 off the MSRP. So he had to take it 60 miles one way for service. The problem ended up being a plastic disc floating around in the fuel tank where they used a hole saw for the fuel lines and the cut out disc remained in the tank! Anyway, my Scag hasn't had any problems since I got it in 2005. Not saying all Scags have zero problems but it is what it is. If I was you I would ask someone in the lawn care business why they are using (fill in the brand) and if there is another brand they believe to be better. I have friends that love their Exmarks. Others love John Deere. But they may be able to shed some light on dealers during the conversation.
 
#34 ·
Giantshark18 said:
My property is not actual lawn, but 7 acres of dense forest where 2.5 acres were converted to grass areas about 15 years ago before I moved to the area. So the area to mow is bumpy with thick native grasses. I also have a hilly area with slopes around 15 degrees.

The combination road frontage is also hilly and rough. With this all the case, I think I need something more robust then entry level zero turn residential mowers.
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Giantshark18 said:
My struggle is I am not mowing a nice fescue or bluegrass, but instead native grasses/weeds. So I care more about what can get though heavy wet grass and stay reliable versus an options that gives a pristine cut. Last month my area had 13 inches of rain and we average around 70+ inches a year, so wet grass is more the norm than the exception.
Click to expand...
Buy a Scag with Velocity+ deck - it is designed for adverse mowing conditions.
 
#35 ·
Giantshark18 said:
Since I have never purchased a Zero Turn, I also am struggling with what seems to be the #1 bit of advice. Which is, "find a good dealer. I can't go by reviews as many places will have five-star reviews praising the service right next to another saying the place took 5 months to fix a warranty covered issue. I also want to go with a mower that will need services less instead of focusing on how easy it is to get service.
Click to expand...
You're not using this commercially, so hopefully you really won't need service. It's unlikely a commercial mower not used commercially will experience breakdowns.

Can you change oil/filter (probably once a year for your usage), change hydro oil once a year, change spark plugs (maybe once a year), lube some zerk fittings (maybe monthly), sharpen blades (maybe monthly)? If so, don't fret about dealer support...
 
#36 ·
Depending on how much you want to spend determines what to buy. The MavericK HD is considered a commercial mower. It Has a suspension seat, T3400 Hydra Gear transmissions, 7 gauge deck, can be ordered with a kawasaki FX730V engine, has ROPS, and it has up to 60" deck. You should be able to buy this model if you are a veteran for about $8,153.34. Now you might ask how do I know this, because I just purchased one. I have about 5 acres that I cut. Now before anyone goes off on Bad Boy. I looked at Gravely, Scagg, Stihl, Toro,Wright, and few others who name I do not recall. I guest they did not make much of impression. The Gravely ZT HD is not a bad unit for about $7,000 which I started to buy. A friend of my has that unit and loves it except for the non-suspension seat. In the Gravely you do not get suspension seat, the deck is 10 gauge, no ROPS, and it has Kawasaki engine FR730V which is an ok engine. Gravely does have a 4 year warranty but be sure to read the find print. I should also mention when I asked about the spindles on the Gravely I was told they have 2 bearing and the Bad Boy has 4 bearing per spindle. Two on top and two on the bottom. Bad Boy is 2 year warranty. Warranty's are important but not a deal breaker for me. What would be a deal breaker is not having dealer near by who serves both Bad Boy and Kawasaki engine.
Now all of this being said if want in my opinion the best of the best is the Bad Boy Rogue which is an absolute beast but it around $12,500. It is built like a tank starting with a 3 gauge deck and a 38 hp engine, and 72" deck. Go to Badboy.com and you can price out the different unit's and read about veteran discount and so forth.You have a lot consider. In my opinion there is no right or wrong answer it is what want and need.
 
Discussion starter · #37 ·
JustRay said:
Depending on how much you want to spend determines what to buy. The MavericK HD is considered a commercial mower. It Has a suspension seat, T3400 Hydra Gear transmissions, 7 gauge deck, can be ordered with a kawasaki FX730V engine, has ROPS, and it has up to 60" deck. You should be able to buy this model if you are a veteran for about $8,153.34. Now you might ask how do I know this, because I just purchased one. I have about 5 acres that I cut. Now before anyone goes off on Bad Boy. I looked at Gravely, Scagg, Stihl, Toro,Wright, and few others who name I do not recall. I guest they did not make much of impression. The Gravely ZT HD is not a bad unit for about $7,000 which I started to buy. A friend of my has that unit and loves it except for the non-suspension seat. In the Gravely you do not get suspension seat, the deck is 10 gauge, no ROPS, and it has Kawasaki engine FR730V which is an ok engine. Gravely does have a 4 year warranty but be sure to read the find print. I should also mention when I asked about the spindles on the Gravely I was told they have 2 bearing and the Bad Boy has 4 bearing per spindle. Two on top and two on the bottom. Bad Boy is 2 year warranty. Warranty's are important but not a deal breaker for me. What would be a deal breaker is not having dealer near by who serves both Bad Boy and Kawasaki engine.
Now all of this being said if want in my opinion the best of the best is the Bad Boy Rogue which is an absolute beast but it around $12,500. It is built like a tank starting with a 3 gauge deck and a 38 hp engine, and 72" deck. Go to Badboy.com and you can price out the different unit's and read about veteran discount and so forth.You have a lot consider. In my opinion there is no right or wrong answer it is what want and need.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info. I ended up going with a scag Vride XL with Kawasaki FX1000V. Loving it so far.
 
#38 ·
It sounds like your application is more so rough-cutting than fine finish mowing?

Sounds like the ground where the cutting needs to happen is rough and bumpy?

I'm with you... I like a the rigid feel to a mower. But that only lasts until I have mowed long enough for my back to start hurting. So what you want for rough ground is every bit of flex, rock and suspension that you can get. It's easier on you and the machine.

Badboy or Ferris models with suspension and a suspension seat Or Hustler with the flex options and suspension seat. I think Toro/Exmark, Scag and Hustler all also offer models with a suspended operator platform that lets you catch a break but the mower does not.

If you are the type that will have to take it to a dealer for most problems you might have, dealer support and manufacturer support are very important. If you are not one of those people it doesn't matter at all so long as you have a parts source.

I'm not much of a brand loyalist and can't really tell you what to buy these days because when I last bought mid mount zero turns, EVERYTHING with a transaxle drive system was considered a homeowner machine. These days almost everything but the tip top offerings are transaxle drive systems.

As far as Bad Boy is concerned, people can say what they want. But Bad Boy is cheaper because they have a different marketing scheme and a different target market, and they capitalize on that. Commercial cutters in general do not like to accept the fact that not only the majority of mowers, but also the majority of all out commercial mowers are bought by other consumers besides commercial cutters.

Sure there are Bad Boy dealers out there that can and will support commercial cutters with on the spot parts and service. But that is because that is the independent dealer's business model. It's not because Bad Boy is investing tons of money building out that type of network. They focus on making and selling mowers at a competitive price point. And they focus on building mowers with features that will appeal to homeowners, estates, farmers, ranchers, municipalities, and commercial cutters alike. They are targeting the whole market, and they don't care if you buy it from Rural King or Tractor Supply or the go-cart/scooter/mower place or a lousy or top end equipment dealer.

There are things I like about them and things I don't. But I am not going to sit here and say if you compare any one of their mowers with other brand mowers at a similar price point that there is anything chincy in comparison or any corners cut.
 
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