Review: Dixie Chopper Extreme MowSCREAM!

this post is entirely based upon opinion and observation of myself, employees, and the friend that was demoing the machine.

yes, thats right, i am re-naming this dixie chopper the Extreme MowSCREAM because thats all i wanted to do while using it.

the machine itself was a 60" 30hp Generac w/ silver deck unit and the "low profile" tires. a friend and fellow LCO was using it as a demo while his other chopper was in the shop(24 honda w/ 60").

aside from the seat pad, the comfort of machine was awful. the re-designed handles are waaay to far away and i found myself reaching for them all while having to "hold" my arms up. the controls are extemely touchy and take some getting use to although they are very smooth and easy push/pull. the combination of short armrests and the distance of the handles from the seat led to fatigued arms. im 6'1" w/ long arms and i couldnt get my elbows to rest on the arms of the chair.

i figured w/ the new low pro tires it would hold hills much better than previous years. in short, i was DEAD wrong. myself and anyone else that used the machine were sliding all over the place on hillsides and felt very unstable in general. the center of gravity on these machines needs to be lowerd almost a foot it seems when compared to others. side hilling capability was damn near impossible w/out some severe turf damage. we had to bring in the '02 and newer Turf Tigers to finish the hills that were impossible to traverse on the chopper.

the engine was very loud and ran quite rough for only having 8hrs on it. it also smoked upon startup wether it was cold or warm. it also was not very fuel efficient compared to comparable sized engines.

the ground speed is very good even though its the same as the other choppers i have been on and only a clocked 1mph faster than my personal '03 Turf Tiger w/ 29 DFI Kaw and 16cc hydro pumps.

the attempt to get over a curb resulted in a stuck chopper. the deck can not be raised high enough to get over even an average sized curb. it took 2 people to muscle the machine off of the curb and once again had to bring the Tigers in to take care of that part of the property. the deck would also bounce around from side to side in uneven terrain and leave an undesirable appearance on the turf.

the front casters would not stop wobbling on pavement no matter what tire pressure. we even tried running them completely flat and they still did it. on the lawn, they were fine and this would only be a problem in large paved areas from one point to another(to the trailer/truck, or anothe part of prop).
the cut of the machine on flat smooth ground was very good and it striped decent as well. we found the amount of clumping in wet grass to be excessive as well as the amount of under deck "caking". this left us cleaning the deck out every 30min or so, something we are not used to. also, the deck height according to the gauge did not match that of our measurement from blade tip to level ground. speaking of deck height, if it raised farther than 5" it would be possible to clear curbs better as our longer wheelbased Turf Tigers have no problems even w/ the deck only 1.25" higher.

the price of the machine was outrageous. $9200 for this particular unit and its very surprising. we paid $8800 for a machine w/ 1 less hp, fuel injection, liquid cooling, 1" larger deck, and in our eyes, much greater capabilities.

the shortness of the machine i loved. for going up and down hills that end in a ditch line, it was nice not worrying about the rear of the machine digging into the ground. this short wheelbase also became a plus on the trailer. we had much more room to spare w/ this machine on the trailer when compared to our Tigers.

by the end of the day, the parking brake cable was broken although we suspected it to be to tight from the factory.

the worst news of the day was when an employee managed to stand this machine up on its rear "bumper" while trying to scale a hill we usually cut w/ the Tigers. he was almost to the top when the front end raised up and kept going until the rear bumper stopped it by digging into the ground 6+ inches. the front casters were pointing skyward and the user got off the machine by rolling backawards out of the seat. his feet landed square on the ground if that tells you how tipped the machine was.


overall, we were not impresed w/ this particular dixie chopper whatsover. by "we" i mean myself, staff, and fellow LCO/current chopper owner.

i have my flame suit on and am prepared for backlash, lol, as this isnt the first post in regards to dixie chopper(s). the only thing that makes this one(post) different is i had other peoples opinion including that of a current chopper owner. we are all in agreement w/ what was said here.

EDIT: i didnt proofread so bare w/ me on the spelling, puctuation and grammar.