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Kawasaki FX1000V Fuel Usage

10K views 13 replies 4 participants last post by  puppypaws 
#1 ·
I checked the fuel consumption on a 72" Super Z with the FX1000V, 35 hp Kawasaki engine this afternoon. The mower emptied a six gallon tank in medium heavy cutting today in 3.5 hrs. mowing time. This calculates to 1.71 gph. We all know this can vary, but is very close to the numbers I've read and heard on this engine. I was concerned it may be somewhat higher pulling a 72" deck.
 
#6 ·
I know this is an older post but I'm curious what your gas usage is now, if you even have the same mower.
I just got a Ferris IS3200 with 72" deck with the 35 HP kawasaki. I've used it once to mow my 5 acres so I don't know what my usage is yet.
You can basically count on 1.8 to 2+ gph, depending on how hard the mower is working. You will find the fuel usage becomes less relative due to the amount of work accomplished with the 72" deck. You will love the power, but it will also cost you more to operate than my choice of engines, which is the Vanguard 37 hp EFI, which also has excellent power but burns 1/2 gph less fuel. Please come back and post your fuel usage number?
 
#7 ·
Ok will do.
I bought the mower used with 160 hours on it so it's already broke in.
I'm estimating I was using around 2 GPH on my first mowing with it but I don't know exactly how much gas it had in it. And my grass was pretty tall because I had to wait a couple weeks to get the mower.
I should be able to get an exact number here in the next week or so.
 
#8 ·
Ok will do.
I bought the mower used with 160 hours on it so it's already broke in.
I'm estimating I was using around 2 GPH on my first mowing with it but I don't know exactly how much gas it had in it. And my grass was pretty tall because I had to wait a couple weeks to get the mower.
I should be able to get an exact number here in the next week or so.
Great!
 
#9 ·
Well I went ahead and mowed again today. I could have waited a few more days but I just got a new mower and needed an excuse to use it lol.
I'm using 2.08 GPH. Probably a little better than that because my son wanted me to drive him around the other day. I'll update again after my next mowing.
I'm mowing 5ish mostly flat acres with very few trees. It takes me just under 2 hours to mow it. I'll probably get faster the more I get used to it.
I too think I would have preferred the Vanguard EFI. This Kawasaki seems like It's using a lot of gas but I think that might be a little misleading to me because it has two 5 gallon fuel tanks vs the one 10 gal tank on my tractor that I was mowing with. The 5 gallon tanks empty quicker.
One problem I am having is that it sometimes doesn't want to start if it's hot. A couple times I've mowed for half an hour or so then shut it off for a few minutes to do something and when I go to start it again it just cranks over. If I wait about 5 minutes or so it will start right up. I'm idling for a few minutes before I turn it off. Maybe I should just turn it off?
 
#13 ·
Well I’ve mowed a few more times and kept track of fuel usage but I’ve been mowing just a hair shy of full throttle. Just enough to hear a change in the engine rpms. I need to get a tachometer to get a better idea of the actual RPMs.
I also used 87 with ethanol on this last tank vs the 91 non ethanol that I have been using.
I was wanting to see if a slightly slower rpm would effect the cut (not that I can tell) and I was curious if running 87 would get worse fuel usage.
Anyway I mowed my flat 5 acres and used 1.78 GPH and 1.85 GPH with 91 octane. I then mowed an overgrown property with 87 and used 1.72 GPH. This surprised me because I was expecting to get the worst fuel usage due to the very tall grass.
It appears that using 87 gets better GPH but without a tachometer its hard to know for certain.
 
#14 ·
Well I've mowed a few more times and kept track of fuel usage but I've been mowing just a hair shy of full throttle. Just enough to hear a change in the engine rpms. I need to get a tachometer to get a better idea of the actual RPMs.
I also used 87 with ethanol on this last tank vs the 91 non ethanol that I have been using.
I was wanting to see if a slightly slower rpm would effect the cut (not that I can tell) and I was curious if running 87 would get worse fuel usage.
Anyway I mowed my flat 5 acres and used 1.78 GPH and 1.85 GPH with 91 octane. I then mowed an overgrown property with 87 and used 1.72 GPH. This surprised me because I was expecting to get the worst fuel usage due to the very tall grass.
It appears that using 87 gets better GPH but without a tachometer its hard to know for certain.
Running lower than recommended rpms will get you better fuel economy. Your components that need cooling (engine and hydraulics) are engineered for no load engine rpms set at 3600. The lowering of mowing rpms is bringing about your better than expected fuel economy, but is not engine and hydraulic healthy in hot weather, you need the cooling fans operating at maximum efficiency when cooling the engine and hydraulics properly.
 
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