Hey Razor, was there any noticeable difference in the way the 2 mowers handled? Did one feel "smoother" than the other? How about control lever locations, like one over the other?
Thanks, Stan

 

Thanks for the comparison. Like I said before, I wished I had a Gravely dealer close by to compare. The dealer I buy Scag from had Gravely, but dropped them because of difficulty getting parts in a timely manner.
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How high are you cutting the Bahia? It looks to be 3.5" to 4".

 

Hey Razor, was there any noticeable difference in the way the 2 mowers handled? Did one feel "smoother" than the other? How about control lever locations, like one over the other?
Thanks, Stan

They handled close to the same. The Scags control levers might have been a little easier to move.

The Pro Ride rode better, with the suspension seat and pivoting front axle.

The Wildcat scalped in places that the Pro ride or Lastec didn't scalp. I guess it was the solid front end.

The Wildcat with it's smaller pumps and wheel motors, felt a little more manueverable around planters, obstacles etc, but not as manueverable or accurate as my Lastec.

I like the larger control levers on the Pro Ride better and the foot pan is larger and flat, which I like better. The Deck height dial adjust is alot easier and quicker to use than the Peg style that the Scag has.

The deck on the ProRide took alot less effort to raise with the foot petal than the Scag. I don't know if the Wildcat's pedal springs...etc can be adjusted or not.

The Pro ride seems to have a little more control on the forward downward entry on a ditch bank, but neither are near as good as the Lastec on the ditch banks.

It may have been just me not used to the Scag, but I thought that the Wildcat was easier to slide a rear tire when slwoing down or starting a turn than the Pro ride. The Lastec stops and turns better than both of the others.

I like the Pro Ride better but I think that the Wildcat is well built.

I would like to try the Cheetah sometime, or the Turf Tiger.

 

How high are you cutting the Bahia? It looks to be 3.5" to 4".

I was cutting that at 3.25". The pics on the left were of the Wildcat and on the right side was the Pro ride cut pics.

 

I was cutting that at 3.25". The pics on the left were of the Wildcat and on the right side was the Pro ride cut pics.

Both of them look a little rough. Try some different blades. I cut Bahia too and I'd freak out if they came out that rough. Mine look like a carpet.

 

Both of them look a little rough. Try some different blades. I cut Bahia too and I'd freak out if they came out that rough. Mine look like a carpet.

I'll have to look at the pics when I get home on the laptop. Hard to tell on phone pics.
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They handled close to the same. The Scags control levers might have been a little easier to move.

The Pro Ride rode better, with the suspension seat and pivoting front axle.

The Wildcat scalped in places that the Pro ride or Lastec didn't scalp. I guess it was the solid front end.

The Wildcat with it's smaller pumps and wheel motors, felt a little more manueverable around planters, obstacles etc, but not as manueverable or accurate as my Lastec.

I like the larger control levers on the Pro Ride better and the foot pan is larger and flat, which I like better. The Deck height dial adjust is alot easier and quicker to use than the Peg style that the Scag has.

The deck on the ProRide took alot less effort to raise with the foot petal than the Scag. I don't know if the Wildcat's pedal springs...etc can be adjusted or not.

The Pro ride seems to have a little more control on the forward downward entry on a ditch bank, but neither are near as good as the Lastec on the ditch banks.

It may have been just me not used to the Scag, but I thought that the Wildcat was easier to slide a rear tire when slwoing down or starting a turn than the Pro ride. The Lastec stops and turns better than both of the others.

I like the Pro Ride better but I think that the Wildcat is well built.

I would like to try the Cheetah sometime, or the Turf Tiger.

Thanks for taking the time and effort to share your experience with us, I appreciate it!
Stan

 

That does'nt look anything like the fescues i'm used to mowing...

 

Both of them look a little rough. Try some different blades. I cut Bahia too and I'd freak out if they came out that rough. Mine look like a carpet.

This particular property was the driest of the ones I cut. That's why I took the pics on this one. We are and have been in what is called an" exceptional drought", which is the worst stage of a drought. The others looked better.

The Pro Ride has no trouble with normal moisture bahia. there were a few normal green spots on this place but most of it was that dull green color right before it starts turning brown.

I'm thinking that you guys have had alot more rain than we have in the last two months.

 

This particular property was the driest of the ones I cut. That's why I took the pics on this one. We are and have been in what is called an" exceptional drought", which is the worst stage of a drought. The others looked better.

The Pro Ride has no trouble with normal moisture bahia. there were a few normal green spots on this place but most of it was that dull green color right before it starts turning brown.

I'm thinking that you guys have had alot more rain than we have in the last two months.

We were very dry up until last week. I can see the pics now, it does look rough like Richard said. Do you have access to some G6 blades? If you do maybe you can try mowing with both machines with G6 blades.

 

Maybe someone can help me here but does that pro-ride have an X-Factor deck? Doesn't look like one to me, and does not appear to have the X-Factor label like my Pro-turn did. Didn't Gravely buy the Pro-Ride design from Everide or something a while back?

 

Ariens bought Auburn consolidated Industries, which was the company that built the EverRide brand and also owned Great Dane. The Gravely Pro Ride series is the same as the EverRide Warrior was, with maybe a few updates.

 

Ariens bought Auburn consolidated Industries, which was the company that built the EverRide brand and also owned Great Dane. The Gravely Pro Ride series is the same as the EverRide Warrior was, with maybe a few updates.

Ok thanks for the info. Hope you got some the rain that came through Arkansas today, I drove through a flood trying to get to Little Rock. We got around 2.5" today.

 

This particular property was the driest of the ones I cut. That's why I took the pics on this one. We are and have been in what is called an" exceptional drought", which is the worst stage of a drought. The others looked better.

The Pro Ride has no trouble with normal moisture bahia. there were a few normal green spots on this place but most of it was that dull green color right before it starts turning brown.

I'm thinking that you guys have had alot more rain than we have in the last two months.

Yes it is very dry here in Arkansas, my county has been under a burn ban for months. Bahia is sure hard to cut when it's this dry.

 

We were very dry up until last week. I can see the pics now, it does look rough like Richard said. Do you have access to some G6 blades? If you do maybe you can try mowing with both machines with G6 blades.

we haven't had any measurable rain in a while until Last night and today. I think we got close to 1.5 inches altogether. We have a pretty fair chance again overnight.

I don't own the Scag, I just had it for that weekend. They don't have the g6 or g5 blades for the Pro ride yet but I have a set for my Lastec and they work pretty good but not quite as good as the Oregon Super High lifts on the dry bahia.

About the lot that the pics were taken on, The grass went brown in Late June after being cut pretty low (requested by owner). We finally got some good rain one week in mid July and the Bahia came back pretty good. So the next time I cut it at about 3" it cut very smooth.

After that week that it rained July, we haven't had any rain and had alot of days with the temp over 100 degrees, so the grass had about stopped growing and was mostly dry and fairly thin. In my experience, that is the hardest kind to cut clean.

If you enlarge the pics, you can see that it is not very thick. Anyway, I know how they normally look when cut with the Pro Ride. They have that carpet type cut Richard was talking about.

I'll try to get some pics the next time I cut some of them.

 

I would expect the Velocity Plus deck to chop the stalks up a bit more because it is a flat deck design, and while I know that it is considered an open deck design, the stalks still get recirculated more in a flat deck, open cutting chamber area type deck, before they can make it out the door than they do in a tunnel style deck. Since you're gravely has a tunnel style deck, the stalks get cut and sent down the tunnel without much (if any) recirculation and out in larger sized pieces when cutting the really long/tall stuff.

I believe that is the same reason that you saw the clippings building up more in front of the deck when using your Gravely on your friends overgrown lawn than you did with the Scag like you mentioned in your other thread. There is simply so many clippings to deal with in long grass like that, that only so much can make it down the tunnel as you move along, and the rest starts building up in front of the deck in the direction you are traveling.

Overall, and considering the conditions, I thought the cuts in both threads looked pretty good.

 

I would expect the Velocity Plus deck to chop the stalks up a bit more because it is a flat deck design, and while I know that it is considered an open deck design, the stalks still get recirculated more in a flat deck, open cutting chamber area type deck, before they can make it out the door than they do in a tunnel style deck. Since you're gravely has a tunnel style deck, the stalks get cut and sent down the tunnel without much (if any) recirculation and out in larger sized pieces when cutting the really long/tall stuff.

I believe that is the same reason that you saw the clippings building up more in front of the deck when using your Gravely on your friends overgrown lawn than you did with the Scag like you mentioned in your other thread. There is simply so many clippings to deal with in long grass like that, that only so much can make it down the tunnel as you move along, and the rest starts building up in front of the deck in the direction you are traveling.

Overall, and considering the conditions, I thought the cuts in both threads looked pretty good.

RG,

If you go back and reread my original post in the other thread, you'll see that it was the Scag that was getting the buildup in front of the deck, not the Gravely. I was suprised that the Scag did that. I think that because the first cut clippings were so long and thick that they were catching on the front center deck wheel and bracket setup.

The velocity plus deck did not discharge the first or second cut clippings any better than the Gravely Pro Ride did, and it left more uncut or partially cut grass. But I've already said that I didn't consider that how a mower will cut an overgrown yard to be the criteria for determining the most important features of a mowers performance.

 

RG,

If you go back and reread my original post in the other thread, you'll see that it was the Scag that was getting the buildup in front of the deck, not the Gravely. I was suprised that the Scag did that. I think that because the first cut clippings were so long and thick that they were catching on the front center deck wheel and bracket setup.

The velocity plus deck did not discharge the first or second cut clippings any better than the Gravely Pro Ride did, and it left more uncut or partially cut grass. But I've already said that I didn't consider that how a mower will cut an overgrown yard to be the criteria for determining the most important features of a mowers performance.

Yep, my bad. I totally read that thread/post wrong it looks like. :hammerhead:

It may be the fact that the Scag has the 3 gauge wheels all together in a group like it does, that is causing the buildup and pushing along of the long clippings in that tall stuff. I see your Gravely has quite a bit of room for air flow and any clippings to move back under the deck between the center gauge wheels.