I have the 600Z 48". Highly recommend. I got the Briggs engine and added optional armrests.

 

Bump. Stopped off at the Exmark dealer yesterday after work. They only had the 52" Pioneer S in stock. He said he'd let that one go for $6036, which is less than $200 more than the 48" quote I got from the other Exmark dealer.

I didn't get to test them out because it was after work and close to closing time, but I did get to set on it and get a feel for it. It was definitely a big machine. Felt every bit as big as the Lazer E-series sitting next to it. I know the 52" is overkill for my needs, but so is the machine and it will hold value better.

The Ferris dealer is about 30 minutes away whereas the Exmark dealer is about 10 minutes from my house. The Ferris dealer has been less than helpful over the phone or email simply telling me "you should just come in".

If I go with the Exmark, what are my chances of having them throw in some accessories? I know that is already a decent price, just hoping to get some more incentive to pay the extra over the Ferris.

 

Went out today and drove both around, and also a Ferris IS700Z with the 52" deck. Going to go with the IS700Z 52".

Dealer is having a killer sale this week so I'll get it for $5699 with the Briggs engine. After taxes and fees it should work to be about $6100 out the door.

The Exmark was listed at $6036 and the dealer wouldn't eat the financing fee at that cost, so between the financing fees and taxes (in town dealer so city sales tax also) it would be almost $6900 out the door. While I think the machine is pretty solidly built, as a homeowner, I could not justify that much of a price difference. I'll post pictures and my in depth comparison after I get it home.

 

Good info Jason. How do you like the Ferris suspension? I'm in the market myself, trying to decide between a Ferris/Scag/Dixie.... My yard is pretty rough. Thinking about waiting till summer to see if prices drop a little bit once the buying cools off.

 

I actually was skeptical at first because I thought it would be too stiff to really make a difference, but I was really wowed by it. It soaked up the bumps of the dealers gravel drive and grassy areas even at full speed, which was really fast. I, too, have a bumpy yard and an area with quite a few tree roots that jar me around on my old Exmark Quest so I hope that it will be much smoother. Unfortunately I go out of town next week and we are looking to have a wet weekend so I don't think I'll get to test it out much before I leave on my own lawn.

When I have a bit more time later I'll breakdown the comparisons between all three mowers.

 

Ok. Full analysis

This morning I went out to the Ferris dealer. In person they were much friendlier and actually very informative. I told him I was deciding between the Exmark and the Ferris and he had not a bad word to say about Exmark at all except that they're pricing their machines out of the market and on their residential line they're using chinese manufacturing for the "Exmark" branded engines. Fair enough.

So, as for the mowers themselves.

IS600Z 48" - Dealer said that they sold a lot of these and they actually had their own "deluxe version" for $300 more than base price of $5399 and included the newer nicer IS700Z seat on it because the 600Z seat felt cheap. He said most people preferred it that way. It was a good ride and felt great, but since they were running a special on the IS700Z for $5699 which is the same for the "deluxe" IS600Z, there was no reason not to get the 700.

IS700Z 52" - This thing amazed me on the ride. Soaked up the bumps great. I noticed though that even with the 27hp B&S Commercial engine, I noticed a slight bog when ramping up to full speed. I'm sure it's a non-issue as that would never happen during normal use, but still, noticeable. I liked the lift up floor pan to access equipment and the seat folded over to access hydros and lever adjustments. Price was great as mentioned previously.

Pioneer S - As an Exmark owner, I really tried to convince myself it was worth the extra cost. Overall, impressions were that it was a solidly built machine. I could see things that made me feel it was better constructed, like the pulleys and idlers on the deck looked nicer. The spindles looked beefier. The ROPS was far nicer. It did have the Kohler ZT720 and had no issues with bogging, but it did have ZT3100 hydros and only went to 8mph. I liked the brake better as well as the deck height adjustment. It did not have a flip up floor pan, but it did have tool-less spindle cover removal, which the Ferris did not. I'm certain the cut quality would probably be better with the Ultracut deck as well, but I don't think the iCD will be bad. It had a nice lever actuated catch on the seat to lift it. By the way, the seat wasn't nearly as cushy on the Exmark. That leads me to the ride... It was smoother than my Quest, but not near as smooth as the Ferris. I thought I wouldn't care about the 8mph over the 10, but I actually noticed a big difference. Also, the Ferris has a fuel gauge, the Pioneer did not, although the hour meter was much more modern...

The Exmark dealer was nice, but they made me feel like me asking for incentives was trying to rake them over the coals and they basically said that was as low as they could go. I wanted to stay local, but I couldn't justify the extra cost.

The Ferris dealer not only waived their cost to finance, they gave me a price lower than I've seen quoted anywhere, made the process painless and after I was done they said "Now go get your Ferris hat, T-shirt and if you think your wife wants one, get her one too" and also a water bottle. Cannot beat that service. They're not so far that service would be an issue. Also picked up a hitch kit for $40. I thought that was cheap.

Once I get a chance to put it through it's paces, I'll update.

Raining like hell here now so I'll get better pictures when the sun comes out.

 

Better pictures.

 

How are you liking your new Ferris?

 

Thats a nice looking mower. Good to hear that you have a good dealer like that around you. Striping pictures are now mandatory from you. Good luck with the new mower.

 

Hard to find time to mow with all this rain.

 

I drove the 700z last friday, however it didnt "wow" me. Something seemed awkward about the controls. I also wonder if i needed to tighten the "shocks" up. It almost seemed too loose.

 

The dampers on the sticks are a lot tighter than the others I drove. That takes a bit to get used to. Kind of makes it a bit more forgiving than other mowers I've tried as it takes more effort to make it jerk around.

Also, the shocks are adjustable. I left mine as loose as they come because I only weigh about 160. Mine feels very tight for control.

Any solid frame machine will feel tighter because you won't have any give when maneuvering. I traded off that feeling as my lawn isn't super smooth so I'd rather have a soft ride over extremely tight controls.

The Exmark Pioneer was a very nice machine and had it had just a bit more MPH I might've bought it over the Ferris. It was very touchy though and the ride was rough.

 

I got another 100 lbs on you and the guy said they were on the loosest setting. So that might help if I tighten them up a good bit. I might go spend some more time with it.

What else did you test out? I have 4 acres so having something that can move at a good pace and mow decent will be important for me.

 

The three I detailed were the only ones I actually tested for purchasing, but I also use my parents JD 717 frequently, my buddy let me drive his Gravely ZT HD, which I didn't care for at all, and one of my other friends went out and got a Grasshopper 329 which I got to drive for a bit as well. All of them rode rougher than the Ferris. All of them have sticks that are looser feeling than the Ferris as well.

That 329 is also a 72" model so it's massive in comparison to my 52" Ferris.

 

Update! Currently have 7.4 hours on the mower now, though that's strictly mowing time, I'll get to that later.

1. Did the first oil change at 5.6 hours. Painless process aside from the fact that the oil filter was on way too tight. I already have my next oil change stuff for the end of the year when I'm going to switch it over to synthetic.
2. The Marbain blades are excellent. I nicked the crap out of my Exmark blades all the time. I've yet to see a single nick on these and they still have a decent edge. I did get a second set ready to swap out in the next few hours of cutting time.
3. I clean the deck after every cut. It does accumulate a little that I cleaned thoroughly last night.
4. I haven't been as impressed with the striping ability as my Exmark did better, but I've since pitched the deck a tiny bit and it helped. As I was doing a thorough clean last night, I noticed the striping kit was on the highest setting, so I dropped it to the lowest. Since I cut tall (3.5" minimum) that should help out.
5. I purchased an aftermarket tachometer/hour meter to add to it. It'll be nice to see the RPMs to ensure the mower is at peak power and I also wanted a separate hour meter to make sure I log all hours on the motor, not just when the blades are turning. I use it to tow quite a bit (sprayer, trailer, etc.) so I'm certain I have a couple of hours not logged on the meter currently.
6. I've noticed it doesn't have much angle without scraping the back. The hitch doesn't help, but even without, I can't get through a part of my ditch without scraping. I just trim it now, but it was a little annoying at first.

Most of my mowing time so far as been with a soggy lawn as we had tons of rain in May. Now that it's drying out, I'll have time to test it in normal conditions.

 

End of the year update.

Still mowing. Still love this mower. Not a single issue, granted I only have like 30 hours on it now. Been changing blades out every 8 hours or so, that seems to keep a fantastic cut. I noticed in spring that it left a few stragglers, not bad, but I could tell. As the year wore on, those went away.

I'll be switching over to synthetic oil for the year end. I also have stuff to change out the hydro fluid, but I'm torn on whether I need to or not since it still has such low hours. At the rate I'm going, I'll still have less than 75 hours by the end of next year.

I've used it to tow my spiked drop spreader to lime my lawn this year and I've used it to tow both my utility trailer and broadcast spreader. This machine never feels like it's having difficulty at all, even with hundreds of pounds of wood in the trailer.

I also decided that I need a bagger. I got a quote on a Ferris Fast Vac at $2500, but I just can't justify that cost since I'm not going to be using it to make money. I went ahead and ordered a 5.8 Cu. Ft. Catchrite grass catcher for it. Hopefully it will be here in a week or two to test out. Sure, I'll have to dump it frequently, but for the month or two per year I'll actually use it, it'll be fine.

 

I started reading this thread saying, "I hope he gets the Ferris", which I see you did. How does the deck handle weedy grass? I've read/heard that the iCD deck is akin to the Scag Velocity. Thoughts and/or observations?

 

95% of my mowing is done on my own lawn, which doesn't have very many weeds as I keep it treated.

I have mowed my in laws lawn a few times, which does have quite a bit of weeds. As long as the weeds are standing, it'll cut them just fine. If they fan out along the ground, it struggles to lift them to cut. I found myself double cutting to make it look cleaner.

I've really had good luck with the cut on most of the cuts I've done. Even in thick wet spring growth, I've not once had an issue with clumping. In the drier summer months it chops it so fine and sends it so far that you can't even see clippings left anywhere.

Keep in mind that I've only used the OEM high lift blades.

 

Thanks for the input and prompt reply. I've tossed around the idea of buying a Ferris. I demoed a bunch at GIE this year....nice machines.

 

I run scags, nothing else. However I have a customer that has a 48" Pioneer. Sometimes I cut their acreage when he go's outa town and I'm not impressed with the pioneers cut quality at all.. I have heard great things about Ferris dispersal system.. keep in mind I say this and my dealer sponsors Scag & exmark.. if it was me I'd get the Ferris.

 

I run scags, nothing else. However I have a customer that has a 48" Pioneer. Sometimes I cut their acreage when he go's outa town and I'm not impressed with the pioneers cut quality at all.. I have heard great things about Ferris dispersal system.. keep in mind I say this and my dealer sponsors Scag & exmark..

Keep in mind, there are two Pioneers (E and S series). The E has a different Ultracut deck (4" deep) versus the S which has a 5" deep deck. I've never cut with either, so I can't comment on the difference, just throwing that out there. Also, I believe the new Exmark Radius is replacing the Pioneer series.

The Ferris iCD, at least from my research, has baffling closer to Exmark's and a discharge closer to Scag.

The discharge opening on the Exmark I checked out was much smaller than that of the Ferris. I don't have any Scag dealers in town to visit.