Been running scag for 10 years now. Have a 7 mower fleet of Vrides and tiger cats. I am crazy with maintenance on ALL of my equipment. I don’t think even one of my scags is still on original hydros/wheel motors. They range in hours from 229-1400 and everything in between. I’ve always accepted that broken stuff is part of the biz. However my Tiger cat with ONLY 229 hours had a “catastrophic failure” of a hydro that then wiped out a wheel motor. I brought it to the dealer because I in no way expected it to be something like that. I thought perhaps air got in the system and I couldn’t bleed it out. Well that wasn’t the case. My dealer gave me a break on labor and the best cost they could, so they said, on the parts. The mower is out of warranty now but seldom used however at only 229 hours and a loyal scag customer for years I was hoping Scag corporate would step up. My dealer stated than once in awhile they see something like this happen with a hydro pump. I went back and forth on the phone with Scag, agreeing that yes it’s out of warranty so I know it’s my problem, however...this is still rediculous...In fact they doubted my mower even had such low hours. I told them to ask the dealer if it looked like a 200 hour machine or a 2000 hour machine and get back to me. They then suggested the hydro pumps are used in several mowers of different brands so it’s more an issue for the pump manufacturer to which I stated, if these pumps are used in YOUR mowers you should still stand behind it. I followed up and scag reluctantly offered $250 towards my $2000 repair bill. Better yet I have a second scag at the dealer as well that needed a hydro. So now I get to dump another 3 grand into hydro repairs. Last summer I was months out of warranty and another Vride puked a wheel motor, and I did another hydro just a month before that. The dealer even jokes about how I’m always in there replacing these parts. Yea it’s super funny let me tell ya. But I get where they are coming from. I declined Scags $250 offer because to hell with that honestly...some might disagree with me being so sour but I don’t know anyone who would be happy replacing such parts with only a touch over 200 hours on their $10,000 mower. I’m considering offing all my scags and switching to Ferris for this season.
HPSInc
Im with scag soley because ferris dont import their stand ons into my country atm. I only pay attention to stand ons. But ferris look like they make superior stand ons hands down. The z3x looks like it craps all over the vride2. Being ahead with stability, comfort and power. I think the cut quality is almost identical aswell.
so if you have the option to switch to ferris. What are you waiting for. Do it.
so if you have the option to switch to ferris. What are you waiting for. Do it.
I run 5 Gravelys, 3 of them have right about 2000 hrs, the 2 newest have 500 and 200 hrs never replaced a hydro yet. Have had 2 engines replaced under full warranty. Kawi covered both. Other than that just normal wear and tear.
Exmark/Toro was having longevity in their hydro components years ago. Switching to an oil formulated for them specifically pretty much took care of those issues.
Something is amiss to have that many problems. Overheating, etc.
Sorry to you have to endure so much cost out of pocket.
Maybe keep buying them but sell as soon as the warranty expires?
Something is definitely wrong with scags hydros. In my case for sure. Every hydro and wheel motor I’ve had to replace has been a right hydro or right side wheel motor. All of them. Dealer wanted me to replace both hydros on both mowers but I’m not doubling down on repair costs. I’ve lucked out so far replacing the right hydros and getting back in action. For once all my scags will be up and running. During mowing season I can’t go a week without 1 of my zero turns being down. It’s literally insane to me. It’s not like I’m neglecting them or beating them to death. They are all relatively low hour machines that keep crapping out hydros, wheel motors, having electrical problems, bad starters...it seems to never end. Time for a change. I’m over these things. I’m going to pick my scags up from the dealer and sell every last one of them before the season pops off. Fun fact, my dealer offered me $1500 for each of my mowers, less if they need “anything”. I guess I could tell them they can just keep my vride since I owe them $1300 on that mower right now!
I’m a Scag guy and have had my share of hydro problems. Usually north of 1200 hours I’d say. If you do stick with Scag, you have to do the work yourself. Wheel motors are simple to replace. Hydros a little bigger pain.
First I've heard of this from a Scag owner, there must be a component problem sold to Scag from an outside vendor. I must agree, it's a mower carrying Scag's name, therefore they should aid in the failure of any component under the umbrella of their name within a reasonable timeframe, even if failing outside their warranty.
Ferris here. (One's a Snapper Pro but they're the same) Over 1000 on each. I have had a hydro problem but it was such an odd thing Ferris paid for labor and parts even out of warranty.
Sounds like a change is in order. My dads old Walker had 3800hrs on factory hydros when sold. I have an old Great Dane stander thats outlived its hour meter that stopped at 2000 hours and is on factory hydros. I could understand nickle and diming you on small stuff because of bad quality control but theres no reason a hydro goes out before 1500hrs multiple times without it being a design flaw
Switch to toro you'll thank me.
I've ran ferris and scag up until last summer. My ferris has had so many issues it was my first and last mower I will buy from them.
I bought a scag in 2016 and sold it in 2018 because the dealer support was terrible. Bought a used turf tiger in June of last year and it blew the right hydro pump at 1200hrs. The left side went out at 1100
Anyways the toro products are built way better and toro.actually stands behind their products... this is why they have a 5yr/1200hr warranty.
If you compare the warrantys from ferris, scag, and toro it's easy to see that toro believes in their product unlike ferris and scag that have 2yr/500hr warrantys
I have owned 2 scag mowers. A 2005 Tiger Cub and a 2010 Tiger Cat. Never had a problem with hydros on the 2010 and sold it in 2016 with 2500 hrs. My 2005 Cub has over 3500 hrs on it and the only problem I had with the hydro was the top plate seal was leaking. $35.00 for repair kit and did it myself. It seems odd to me that your having these hydro problems. Are you driving them in a way to put unnecessary pressure on them? Anyway good luck with your problem but if you do go to another brand whats to say that you won't have the same hydro problems.
That was the point SCAG corporate was trying to make. My point was they chose that pump to put in their machine. Maybe they are routing lines in a way it’s burning up that pump faster than it should. However the catastrophic failure on my tiger cats pump was definitely just some BS. I’ve never had a left hydro pump fail but the right side is always the pump I replace. Coincidence?? I can’t run belt drives or walk behinds we mow large open areas. All our small stuff we do with 30” toro time masters. I have 10 of those and the hours on some of those are crazy. For a homeowner mower those things are beasts. I no longer have the warm and fuzzies with Scag. And if I upgrade it’s going to be the vride2 which I’ve heard mixed reviews. And they want like 9400 for them. The first time in 10 years I reach out to Scag for anything and they pretty much told me, in a nut shell, “sucks to be you”, here’s $250 and that was only after some real *****ing on my behalf. Real nice after I’ve spent probably 80 grand on scags. I’m a small biz not some king pin company but they still should have stepped up on this one in my opinion. 229 hours and an exploded hydro that wipes out a wheel motor is nonsense. I always replace my own pumps this is the first time I didn’t but the pumps alone are still expensive either way.
If you want to go away from Scag but want the same cut quality, really Deere is your next best option. Toro/Gravely/etc decks are not of the same caliber.
To a small degree you are correct.
That said cut quality really only matters to the lawncare owner.
You cut the grass on Tues looks primo.
By Thursday looks like a shaggy dog anyway.
99% of ppl have no clue if you mowed their yard with an MTD or a Walker bagger.
I've always got more work than I could ever do. We cut they're grass down from 6" to 3.5" every week. Have never had quality complaints.
That said cut quality really only matters to the lawncare owner.
You cut the grass on Tues looks primo.
By Thursday looks like a shaggy dog anyway.
99% of ppl have no clue if you mowed their yard with an MTD or a Walker bagger.
I've always got more work than I could ever do. We cut they're grass down from 6" to 3.5" every week. Have never had quality complaints.
#1 Every mower is mechanical and will have issues.
#2 I bought 5 Scags last year, had 1 VRide II with a bad motor out of the box. Replaced under warranty.
#3 The rest have 200 hours (Windstorm) to over 600 hours, no problems.
#4 These wheel motors and hydro pumps are mostly the same across the board.
If you're having that many problems, I think you need to look at what you're doing with them. Operator error?
So far, my dealer has been fantastic. Everything has been warranted except a baffle for the bagger unit and an air cleaner bracket that was broken by running into something.
I'd shoot myself before going back to belt drive mowers.
#2 I bought 5 Scags last year, had 1 VRide II with a bad motor out of the box. Replaced under warranty.
#3 The rest have 200 hours (Windstorm) to over 600 hours, no problems.
#4 These wheel motors and hydro pumps are mostly the same across the board.
If you're having that many problems, I think you need to look at what you're doing with them. Operator error?
So far, my dealer has been fantastic. Everything has been warranted except a baffle for the bagger unit and an air cleaner bracket that was broken by running into something.
I'd shoot myself before going back to belt drive mowers.
Funny how that works!! I can't just leave those wads all over, either. I have been lucky with my Scags. They've held up well and don't leave too many wads. Spring last season was crazy thick though, and we did a fair amount of double cutting on our treated accounts. The only way to avoid that was to cut more often. Some were good with that, others bucked me a little on that.
If I were having those hydro problems, I would be in trouble!! I can't fix that stuff myself, and my dealer doesn't have a track record for being exceptionally quick with turnaround on fixes like that. Sorry that's happening.
In terms of the Ferris I have heard only good things about their standers. A few years ago I had a 3100 with the ICD (61) and it would throw some clumps in damp grass. Otherwise, I loved my Ferris.
If I were having those hydro problems, I would be in trouble!! I can't fix that stuff myself, and my dealer doesn't have a track record for being exceptionally quick with turnaround on fixes like that. Sorry that's happening.
In terms of the Ferris I have heard only good things about their standers. A few years ago I had a 3100 with the ICD (61) and it would throw some clumps in damp grass. Otherwise, I loved my Ferris.
Only hydro problem I ever had on any of my units was on a 2003 Turf Tiger after I sold it to the new owner. The lever dampers were bad and he would back up and lurch it forward to pop wheelies, and finally broke a wheel motor...
Are there different factories where mowers are put together? I wonder if it’s issues w the actual assembly of the machines. I bought a Bobcat Predator Pro and it had a few issues but they seemed all to be laziness on the assembly line. (A cpl loose wires and fuses which took 3 mechanics to figure out & poorly sealed/ beaded tires). Once I got those 2 little wiring problems solved the machine has run flawless as it should. But w any brand imo For $10-12k we shouldn’t have to worry about a dam thing !!!
Let's start over a bit.
I don't recall the hours as I don't have them anymore, but all my Toros started getting weak hydros on either 1 or both sides at around the 4 year mark. I know we're putting more hours on our mowers now than we did the Toros, so for rough guesstimate at the 1200-1500 hour range. We change hydro oil and filters once a year.
If there was air in the system, it wouldn't have moved. If it was cavitating due to a leak, I could see some potential damage but not a catastrophic failure. We've never had that, just one side gets weaker and weaker. Frequently it was the right side because the trim side is the left so going around trees and obstacles, the right side is in all reality getting used more.
But if it is really true that you have replaced all the pumps and wheel motors in all your mowers in under 1400 hours, you need to look at how your crews are operating them. If this was a huge issue, there would be far more than just one complaint about all these failures. Like they Hurricane blowers.
Don't think or you know for a fact?
If you're going through hydro parts in this short a time, someone is doing something wrong...crazy maintenance or not. Or you're using the wrong oil. Or dirt is getting in the system while checking the levels.
I don't recall the hours as I don't have them anymore, but all my Toros started getting weak hydros on either 1 or both sides at around the 4 year mark. I know we're putting more hours on our mowers now than we did the Toros, so for rough guesstimate at the 1200-1500 hour range. We change hydro oil and filters once a year.
If there was air in the system, it wouldn't have moved. If it was cavitating due to a leak, I could see some potential damage but not a catastrophic failure. We've never had that, just one side gets weaker and weaker. Frequently it was the right side because the trim side is the left so going around trees and obstacles, the right side is in all reality getting used more.
But if it is really true that you have replaced all the pumps and wheel motors in all your mowers in under 1400 hours, you need to look at how your crews are operating them. If this was a huge issue, there would be far more than just one complaint about all these failures. Like they Hurricane blowers.
I have 5 scans, old tiger cub 2400 hrs, old TigerCat 1600 hrs, vride 800 hrs, turf tiger 500 hrs, TigerCat 2 500 hrs. I have never had a single problem except a loose hose clamp...
thinking about your case; do you have hydro fluid and filter changed once a year or every 400 hrs?
we operate in Hawaii,born and raised in MN could the cold storage through winter be it?
mind you that the terrain here is all hills, so we work the system hard, I imagine MN mowing is easier on the drive.
this post is old, let me know what you ended up doing through the 2020 summer
thinking about your case; do you have hydro fluid and filter changed once a year or every 400 hrs?
we operate in Hawaii,born and raised in MN could the cold storage through winter be it?
mind you that the terrain here is all hills, so we work the system hard, I imagine MN mowing is easier on the drive.
this post is old, let me know what you ended up doing through the 2020 summer
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