[Jashley73]

I was going to post in the previous thread on "How much HP for a 60 mower" to close the loop, but I see it was finally locked. (Probably a good thing.)


I finally got to answer my own question. I guess my new answer is 37hp...

I Found a 2020 model, 61" Wright ZK on Facebook. 1,100 hours, fresh service, 37hp Vanguard EFI, with a grass flap. All for the price of...........

---- drumroll please ---

$5,950



It's going to be interesting getting used to this machine. I feel pretty awkward on it, but I hope it lives up to the hype - especially on hillside performance.

 

[Derwood]

So now you have the choice of sitting or standing, right? It will indeed be interesting to see what you choose when you could choose either (and after getting good at the ZK controls). I saw a ZK on the floor at my local shop a little over a week ago when I stopped in to ask about a small oil leak I have on my Scag. I thought it looked really solid.

Make sure you report back after some "stand" time.

 

[Jashley73]

I bought a stander this time, specifically because of one new commercial account with a pretty serious, and bumpy hill. I gained the account last fall, and I had to be extremely careful on my Exmark Lazer-Z with AT101's - which I've been extremely impressed with on hillsides - not to slide down the hill.

Everyone, and I mean everyone, swears that Standers are superior to Z's on hillsides. And a recent poll on the Wright Owners facebook group, said that the ZK's were superior to other Wrights on hillsides. The next day, this one popped up, and I responded to the seller. The next morning (yesterday) I wired him some money for a deposit, and drove 3-1/2 hours one-way to pick it up. And here we are. (I got it cheap enough that if I'm not happy with it, I can sell it, probably for a small profit, and get another Lazer.)

I have one 2-acre commercial account where I think I'll stick with the Lazer. Plenty of space to mow full-sticks there - almost 12mph - and it's almost an hour and a half of seat time. I don't think I'll feel like standing for all of that. And the Lazer having the AT101 tires helps in a particularly wet drainage area there too.

The worst part of this, is that I really don't have room at home for (2) mowers. So either my parents get a free zero-turn for a while, or I do the garage-shuffle a couple times a week. We'll see.

 

[Derwood]

Hopefully other ZK owners will chime in regarding the hills. Your ztr with 101's is probably pretty good on hills, already. The people I know with 101s have a lot of good things to say about their hill holding abilities. I have no idea if the ZK will be better or not, but if it is, that's really saying something. If I had some pretty steep hills on a regular basis, I probably would NOT run my standers on them.

 

[rippinryno]

The ZK will be better than any ZTR with at101's or not. They help hold hills but they aren't miracle tires. I've got them on a ZTR currently and they do well, but they don't replace my 52" stander when it comes to holding hills especially when wet. Standers typically do better than ZTR on hills.

 

[Hark]

We have one ZK in our operation. The ZK will hold a hill really well. But any stander will do better than a zero turn. And the stander is easier to escape from if you start to slide on a hill compared to sitting down.

 

[Derwood]

Standers typically do better than ZTR on hills.

Interesting. I did not know that. My gen 1 52 holds better than my Gen 2 61. My Cheetah held better than both (thinking about the same few areas on all of them). But that is just a very small sample obviously.

 

[rippinryno]

Your cheetah held better than Gen 1 and gen 2 what?

Welcome to the world of standers, holding hills is just one perk.

 

[Derwood]

Your cheetah held better than Gen 1 and gen 2 what?

Welcome to the world of standers, holding hills is just one perk.

vrides

 

[rippinryno]

I cant imagine theyd be that far off from all the other standers but maybe they are. Or maybe your cheetah is just superior to the other ztr on hills. By and large, standers hold hills better than ztr.

 

[Derwood]

Could be me the operator too as I’m relatively new on the standers

 

[Jashley73]

I spent some time talking with a local guy who has 5-6 Wright ZK's, and used to run Turf Tigers.

He said that when he demo'd the V-Rise gen 1, how "dangerous" it seemed pointing downhill. And quickly returned it to the dealer.

I can see a Cheetah performing well on hills. They look like they have a low center of gravity, and a nice wide footprint. I would imagine the main thing they have working against them, is the longer wheelbase to accommodate the length of the Velocity decks. Still probably a good performer though.

 

[SlowMowTurf]

It's going to be interesting getting used to this machine. I feel pretty awkward on it, but I hope it lives up to the hype - especially on hillside performance.

View attachment 537395

I'm an Exmark guy, no Wright dealers near me. Having said "Exmark", pretty sure you'll love the Wright. Wright & Scag beat everyone to market on the stander machine. The Stander is Wright's game.

I have an Exmark Staris and love it, no complaints here. Many others bash the Staris (seems like it loses control on hills at times - I have not experienced this). Exmark discontinued the Staris after 2 years and from all accounts (including Ed Wright on YouTube) pretty much copied a Wright Stander. That says a lot to me.

Give the Wright (or any other Stander) 1 day to 1 week and you'll have mastered driving it.

 

[SlowMowTurf]

Addendum: your Wright will hug hills very well.

 

[Brucey]

You could always get the dual wheel kit (2*10.5" on each side I think), if you can fit thru any gates. Unless that's only on the 72" deck?

 

[Brucey]

Congrats btw not bad pricing at all compared to a new unit.

 

[Jashley73]

Congrats btw not bad pricing at all compared to a new unit.

A new 61” ZK with the Vanguard 37 is $14,5ish per my dealer the other day.

Hard to find a 61” ZK for sale used at all, and if you do, they're near $10k. And Stander X's & the John Deere 661r (Stander X in Green) are $4,500-6k.

So this ZK felt like a steal.

I'm fortunate to be 3 Miles from a Scag, Ferris, Bad Boy, Stihl dealer. And 3 miles the other way, a Wright, Exmark, Hustler, Stihl, Redmax dealer. The crew at both make this an easy choice. I won't be buying anything at the Scag dealer, and everything I can at the Wright/Exmark dealer.

 

[SlowMowTurf]

A new 61” ZK with the Vanguard 37 is $14,5ish per my dealer the other day.

Hard to find a 61” ZK for sale used at all, and if you do, they're near $10k. And Stander X's & the John Deere 661r (Stander X in Green) are $4,500-6k.

So this ZK felt like a steal.

I'm fortunate to be 3 Miles from a Scag, Ferris, Bad Boy, Stihl dealer. And 3 miles the other way, a Wright, Exmark, Hustler, Stihl, Redmax dealer. The crew at both make this an easy choice. I won't be buying anything at the Scag dealer, and everything I can at the Wright/Exmark dealer.

Wow. That's a LOT of options in close proximity.

 

[Jashley73]

Wow. That's a LOT of options in close proximity.

15 minutes away, at two other dealers, you could add Toro, Kubota, Cub Cadet, Dixie Chopper, Bobcat, Husqvarna, Country Clipper, and probably another brand or two that I'm forgetting, in addition to what's already offered close(er) to me. The perks of living "in town."

 

[Jashley73]

So yesterday, I was at a cleanup job with the ZK on the trailer, and thought to myself, "I'mma take this opportunity to try it out a little bit."

First trial, a drainage ditch that's somewhat steep at a weekly account, I may have approached this a little too aggressively, believing the hype that "sTaNdErS dO sO mUcH bEtTeR oN hIlLs BrO!"...

For proper understanding, I approach the ditch as if I were coming from the street toward the ditch, and begin turning right (would be facing the camera) as the nose of the mower starts pointing downhill. This sort of eases the mower into the bank, and as you are turning right, the downward slope becomes a left-leaning slope.

I attack this with my Lazer X-series with AT101's with full confidence, and have seldom ever had an issue here.

This time on the ZK, the left drive tire hit the soft soil, and just sank. I was stuck immediately. I tried moving back & fourth, moving the right/uphill tire to position the mower in different directions, but nothing helped. Even hopping off the platform, and treating the mower as a walk-behind as i pushed on the stationary bar... Nothing helped. Stuck...

It's worth noting, that one big difference between this mower and my Lazer X-series, is that the Wright deck is fairly centered on the frame, and the Lazer's deck is biased A LOT toward the left of the machine. This means the Lazer's left side of the deck overhangs the left drive tire quite a bit, and lets you really stick the trim side of the deck out on a limb so to speak, and lets you keep the drive tire further away from obstacles, or in this case, mud...










Oh, and then the superior ground clearance, useful for climbing curbs...
Again, stuck...