Demo results-Scag, Ferris, Everride, Husqvarna, JD, Exmark

Well, we put six machines through the paces yesterday and I thought I'd share my opinions.

All were 60-61inch cut
Scag Turf Tiger---27hp Kohler
Ferris IS3000---27hp Kohler
Husqvarna XP6127---27hp Kohler
Everride Warrior---25hp Kawi
John Deer F687---23hp Kohler
Exmark Lazer---26hp Kohler EFI


No unit really performed poorly, these were all well designed pieces of equipment and each one had its good points, which I will try to list below.

 

Cant wait! I want to see what you thought about the Ferris. What prices did you get?

 

In the cut quality category---we ran each mower through 4in and 5-6in grass at about 10 mph (except JD---top speed was 8.5) and the best to worst results were...

Scag/Exmark/Husky---Pretty much equal

JD---as good as the top three but we were unable to test at 10mph

Ferris/Everride---not quite at the level of the others for cutting clean at 10mph---The Everride seems geared toward cutting tall/thick grass and has an extra tall discharge chute. The clippings discharged from this mower were a little longer than those discharged from the others.


Keep in mind that this is Pa and the grass we were cutting is still dormant

All mowers dispersed cut grass evenly while cutting thick 5inch+ grass down to 3inches or so.

The striping was good (given conditions) on all mowers.

 

Top speeds...

Everride---12mph
Husqvarna---10.5mph
Scag---10mph
Ferris---10mph
Exmark---10 mph
JD---8.5mph

 

I run a Gravely ZTR , just curious why you did not try this brand? I would be very interested in hearing from a test such as the one you held. I sure like mine.

 

Control feel. These are not listed in any order---just noting the different feel of the hydros on each.

Exmark/Husqvarna---very quick and responsive, jerky at first but nice once you get used to it.

Everride---Quick and responsive but smoother than the first two. (overall the nicest to operate in my opinion)

Scag---less responsive and very smooth

Ferris---smooth forward and very responsive in reverse.

JD---nice and smooth, different than the others since it is a front mount mower.

 

Deere Mower,
We put the demo together on a whim and did not know of a gravely dealer in this area---I wish I could've run a 260 with the hydraulic deck lift though. The exmark and John Deere actually were not demo pieces---they were owned by Joshua Tree Lawn Care/and Green Spaces of Pa, respectively.

 

Test em again in may and let us know.

 

The hydro pumps were all made by Hydro-Gear(I think) and were all 10cc pumps except the Scag which ran 16cc pumps, and the Everride which I think ran 21cc pumps.

All had auxilliary oil coolers except the ferris which ran dual fans directly over the pumps (the Ferris rep said this was better than the others)

Deck drive was a shaft drive to Scag, Ferris, and JD decks
Direct belt to Husky and Everride
Mule drive belt to Exmark

Spindles were sealed, non-greasable on exmark and ferris
Greasable from the side on scag
Greasable from the top on JD and Husky
I don't remember seeing grease fitting on the Everride but I can't remember for sure.

 

Hey next time someone has a test like this let me know i would like to get a Lastec mower entered in the test. email me swhite@lastec.com