We run Scag, Exmark, Wright and Ventrac.... Just purchased 2x new Wrights this season. Here's my worthless .02c.

• In perfect conditions Exmark hands down, worst cut in damp conditions.
• Scag best overall cut w/ Velocity II deck. Definitely a good cut in early morning dew.
• Wright.... Have to tweak it to make it good on cool season turf. They sell a "northern baffle kit", why they don't put this on machines that are being sold where guys have cool season turf is beyond me, I know why, it's an upsell... Change over to Scag blades or put a G6 gator on the discharge and it's a good all around deck, after the fact.
• Ventrac.... just a whole other thing, which isn't related to the question but a Ventrac cut with G6 gators.... Wow...

 

Out of curiosity, what do you use ventracs for, and how does it work for your business compared to typical zero turns or standers?

 

Both brand make fantastic machines, and will leave a good cut, but the scag will leave longer clippings.

 

Everyone says that, but I have yet to see that, and I have cut some seriously long, thick grass this spring. Clippings are no different than my JD and I can't really see any difference from all the Exmarks I cut around each week either, even in longer conditions, and I do look.

 

Thanks guys. Does the wright handle that much better than the scags? I want to make sure I understand the pros of the wright. It definitely seems faster based on published specs. Also, there seem to be a lot of used V Rides for sale, which worries me.

 

Just something to consider, the wright zk has been on the market for 10+ years, with minor updates here and there, while the vride xl has only been out for a few months. I love scag and i know they make great products, but the vride xl still needs time to be a proven machine for me.
The vride xls have been selling lile hotcakes though, i havent heard many issues on facebook yet.

 

It’s a great point. Do you consider the the VRide 2 as proven or would you avoid it and just stick with the wright?

 

I have used 7 different scag vride 2s, mostly 52s and one 48. 4 have the kohler efi, 2 have the carbed kawi, and one has the efi kawi.

the newest one has 80 hours on it right now(I work part time for the town parks and rec we got it this year) most of them range 200-850 hours, and one has just over 2,000 hours on it.

the kohler EFIs seem to lose their RPMS by about 100 RPM every 200 hours, and it needs constant adjustment.

the hydraulics in the oldest one are still very responsive and strong compared to the newer ones, maybe only 1-2 mph slower at most. The tiger eye system still works, blades engage strong, and overall the machine is in good shape. The kohler smokes and drinks oil though. Its got a couple hundred hours left in it at best.

the only thing that doesnt seem to wear well is the operator pad. The oldest one is split open where your knees hit, and the ones close to 1,000 hours are getting more and more creased.

Overall, the vride 2 is a great machine, i think the carbed kawi is the best option to pair with it but ive heard good things about the new 38.5 hp kawi.
Besides the operator pad, everything scag themselves designed on the machine seems built to last. So id say its a proven machine. Cuts good, its the most hill stable stander ive used, and its fairly easy to work on.

 

TC which blades are you using?

I have been sold on the Oregon blades Ridin’ listed. They seem as good or better when sharp. However I only have one set of those and several oem sets. So now when I swap the Oregon blades, it’s for a set of oem blades I still have that are in decent shape (that’s what I did this AM). When I sharpen again, I’ll throw the Oregons back on. They take an edge nicely!

 

I have an assortment this year…

on my scag advantage walk behind, im running oregon medium lifters. Last year i ran the super high lifts on it.

on my wright stander, i believe it has sunbelt XHT blades on it, as thats what came up when i searched up the number on the blades.

on my toro timemaster, im trying out the ballard high rise blades.

I think the oregon super high lifts striped a bit better than the medium lifts, at least on the scag, but they took ALOT more power to run and kicked up alot of dust.

The XHT blades that came on the stander cut beautifully, also seems like they hold their edge a little better than the Oregon blades on the scag.

the ballard high rise blades ive been liking pretty well, they dont suck nearly as much power from the small motor as i thought they might, and they have a much, much better vacuum than the oem atomic blades did. I do not see any striping difference though, the toro has always striped pretty good.
The blades already need to be sharpened though, and they have maybe 5 hours on them.

i think the metal used in the oregon and xht blades is better quality than ballards.

 

On the vrides my town runs, they use rotarys medium lift blades. They cut good but I think the oregon blades are made out of better metal.

 

So nothing really to make a direct comparison between the vrides/wrights. The advantage deck probably isn’t apples to apples there. I was hoping you ran some of the same blades and both standers.

If I were in the market today, not sure if I’d just assume a Scag was the best deal. It seems I got mine before all of the quality control issues started to surface so I guess I got lucky. But if buying today I’d be extra cautious I think.

If there is a blade choice that puts the Scag and Wright mowers even that would be great. I’d love to see the damp cut with the Northern baffle add-on in place just for comparison ya know?

 

As you know, I am one of the guys that had some QC issues with my Scag, but I wouldn't let that deter me to be honest. Sure, we are hearing quite a few complaints, but Scag has always been a good company and I'm sure they'll get it sorted as quickly as they can, plus, we always hear all the bad crap in posts, so it always seems to be more widespread than is probably really is.

To be honest, a dealer, including the one I went through, should be responsible for checking all this out ( not to excuse Scag's QC at all) and correcting things before they leave the dealership, but as with most everything anymore it is pass the buck and/or do no more than you have to to make the sale and let the end user worry about things.

 

I wish there was a way to make my hydro levers move more easily. No longer have back or knee pain since moving away from the ztrs. But my hands and wrists are feeling a little arthritic these days. Could be the increased work perhaps….. idk.

interested to hear about your 9000

 

When I bought my VRide 2 kastbyear..I questioned myself on how my arthritic hands would handle it. No issues at all so far.

 

Hi All - sorry for the multiple posts but y’all have convinced be to ditch the bad boy rogue idea and be more open minded about standers. I have narrowed it down to the following, which all have 61” decks and FX1000 EFIs other than the wright which has the vanguard 40

Scag - SCZII-61V-38FX-EFI
Scag - SVRXL-61V-38FX-EFI
Scag - SVRII-61V-38FX-EFI
Wright - WSZK61S61G83B

Based on reading posts on here, people seem to like the controls and speed of the Wright but they don’t think the cut quality of the wright deck is nearly as good as the Scags, especially in wet conditions. I am looking for great cut quality and speed, cutting once a week and not double cutting. I am based in Illinois and have 2 acres of flat land with 10 trees or so to mow around. I also have 3 smaller grass areas that I have to jump curbs to get to.

Any thoughts from folks that have worked with all of them as to which way to go?

thanks!

Or.......you can move up to the new and superior Deere standers with the 7 Iron decks.

 

The deere standers havent even been out for 6 months… too early to tell how reliable they are. and its a completely new design at that.
At least with the vride xl, its based off an existing tried and true machine, which gives a bit more security even though it hasnt been on the market for long either.

id also rather do business with a company that supports RTR

 

Hi All - sorry for the multiple posts but y’all have convinced be to ditch the bad boy rogue idea and be more open minded about standers. I have narrowed it down to the following, which all have 61” decks and FX1000 EFIs other than the wright which has the vanguard 40

Scag - SCZII-61V-38FX-EFI
Scag - SVRXL-61V-38FX-EFI
Scag - SVRII-61V-38FX-EFI
Wright - WSZK61S61G83B

Based on reading posts on here, people seem to like the controls and speed of the Wright but they don’t think the cut quality of the wright deck is nearly as good as the Scags, especially in wet conditions. I am looking for great cut quality and speed, cutting once a week and not double cutting. I am based in Illinois and have 2 acres of flat land with 10 trees or so to mow around. I also have 3 smaller grass areas that I have to jump curbs to get to.

Any thoughts from folks that have worked with all of them as to which way to go?

thanks!

I currently own a 61" vride XL w/ 40hp briggs. Ive been verry vocal about my experience in the thread I started about the vride XL coming out. I just try to share things, to help other and so they know what to look out for. Ive had some quality control issues with my mower, but absolutely no performance issues what so ever. We all preach not buying the first year of any new model or revision as we are the testers or guinea pigs for the mower, but there is nobody complaining about the performance of this mower. You could say that scag knocked it out of the park with the improved performance for the people who wanted some changes to the Vride II. The scag facebook pages tell a similar story of people sharing QC issues, but you never read about anyone complaining about the performance. Usually when a company changes something, the performance is lacking or has flaws and it takes them a few years to dial it in. The Vride II platform is very good and the XL platform is for the guys looking for a little extra.

Im very happy with my XL. The Velocity deck was the reason for me trying a scag and im very happy with the performance of it. Im one of the guys who wanted a little more or little extra than what the standard vride II offered. The stronger hydro's was a big selling point for me and they make this bigger mower feel very agile. In terms of speed, its not slow at all and you need to be realistic as to the fact that your not gonna be mowing at top speed anyways(unless you bought a ferris z3x lol). Some people might say this mower is slow in reverse, but my mower is plenty fast in reverse. Coming from a ferris stand on, it took me a little bit to get use to the drive handles, but now im comfortable enough to use one hand to operate them. These hydros are smooth and not as touchy as my old Vride 1. Every time i mow with my XL, I always say to myself that this is a nice machine.

Before i decided on going the Scag route, I was looking at the Ferris and Wright equivalents. Im still a current ferris owner and even though I love the mower, I wanted to try something new as people rave about scag and wright. I did a bunch of resesrch on the wright ZK and it seems like a great mower. I was a little hestant to give wright a try as my fellow northeast guys saying it didn't cut as good in our grass, even with the different baffle. Another big deterent for me was that I didnt have a local wright dealer anymore.

If your only mowing your property, you probably dont need the XL and the vride II would serve you just fine. Scag is a good company and has been around for a while. Yes they are having some
QC issues, but so are some of the other companies. Since this site has less traffic than the facebook groups, we dont hear about it on here. Even with the issues I had, it didnt stop me from buying another XL 2 weeks ago for my municipality job. Scag already started making some changes to this mower, which is a great, because it shows they are being proactive in making this mower be more refined.

 

Thanks for the info. What stuff on the Vride got fixed with the XL?

 

Bigger hydros and 2 gas tanks off the top of my head.

 

Wright ZK owner here.

When I was testing standers at the GIE/Equip show, I thought I really didn't like the Wright's 4-bar controls. I bought a used ZK (I have a Wright dealer near my house) and have actually really grown to like the 4-bar controls. I don't drive the machine by gripping/squeezing the controls. In reality, the balls of my hands simply rest on top of the control levers, and I simply slightly press forward. Very little gripping done by my fingers. I'm not sure how easy that would be on a Scag or similar's 2-bar controls.

The AeroCore deck is interesting to me. Scag's V+ deck is probably much more versatile. I have one problem account that's forced me to unbolt the front baffle from my Wright AeroCore's deck, so that taller weeds and clover will feed into the deck better, for better rough-condition cutting. I think it lost some fine-cut performance, but not a ton.

The rest of the machine has been great. Oddly enough, the deck is easier to life/lower than a Scag's, even with the weight of the engine & pumps. Outside of a little better deck performance, I couldn't really ask for more.

 

So how would you get that new Hustler stander that Nick has in a 60" deck, cut great in Wisconsin? I'd be interested in that machine if the right combination was already figured out.

 

Husler Standers use the VX deck, right? It's described as their "vacuum" deck, meaning more tightly baffled like an Exmark.

What was his issue with it? I'm not familiar with Wisconsin's grass...

 

AFAIK, Nick is liking his Hustler SP and VX deck quite well. I have posted the pics of the VX deck several times and you can see it is a near dead ringer for the UC. Closer than any other deck made so far that has copied it in one way or another. Thee VX deck has a larger opening at the chute though. If I were buying a Hustler, this would be the deck I would opt for if given the choice.

 

i could be wrong, but i believe bunton was the first brand to create a tightly baffled deck like that back in the 80s.
I remember looking under an old, old 52” bunton that had a baffle like that, it also had that tab supposedly helps discharge, on each of the blades, instead of now just one on the discharge side of most mowers.
Then i believe ransomes and exmark picked up on a similar design in the 90s, then scag came out with the advantage deck in early 2000, which also has that same baffle.

wright and ferris seem to have the same design as well.

 

Just buy one and run it as is. There's a guy I watch on YT that has a 60 X one with the VX deck. he doesn't use it in a lot of his videos due to the nature of his channel, but the times I have watched him use it on tall yards etc it did fine. He has the FX850 efi in his. (29 HP)

 

That could be quite true. However, I didn't claim Exmark was first. Just that they have the tightly baffled deck in today's market. I don't know if the patent is still in effect or not, but it was when they sued Ferris a decade back or so, and that version of the ICD didn't look near as much like a UC as this VX deck does, yet no suit yet and it's been out for two or three seasons now.

 

I'd get the Wright.

Seems like LOTs of quality control problems for Scag lately. Here are three recent examples:

https://www.lawnsite.com/threads/scag-30-mower-buyers-remorse.518090/page-7?post_id=7189507#post-7189507

https://www.lawnsite.com/threads/need-clarification-scag-tiger-cat-2-or-hustler-x1-one.518715/page-4?post_id=7189184#post-7189184

https://www.lawnsite.com/threads/who-makes-the-best-plus-size-stander.518693/

 

A coupla' things to think about regarding mower decks, cut quality, etc...

1- Does it even matter? I find myself being fanatical about cut quality. But do the customers even care? Seriously, do they care if the cut quality isn't carpet-smooth? Probably not...
2- What kind of cutting conditions are you realistically going to be cutting in? Cut in everything, come hell-or-high-water...?
3- What type of grasses are you cutting?
3b- I have one account that is a perpetual problem. Lots of tall clover & weeds, combined with lots of bare clay soil. Trying to optimize for this account may bring compromises to others, so be realistic as to what you're actually going to be cutting...

Everyone praises Scag's V+ deck for wet condition cutting, and discharging. But have other folk tried other variables for better wet cutting performance? Tried mowing at reduced throttle? Makes a BIG difference on my Exmark deck in wet conditions. Wright's AeroCore deck gives you lots of variables too - multiple 1/4" thick washers to raise/lower blades in the deck chambers, a couple different baffles to swap, or remove altogether, etc...

So it shouldn't be just an automatic "Scag rules, everyone else sucks!" conclusion regarding decks.

 

Point #1 is the most important imho and was a factor and making the leap away from the scag. I do get a complaint from a customer who used to not complain but i'm managing them best I can, complaint has only been once. All else considered I get no complaints, but sure as sh#t get done waaaaaay faster with the bigger faster hustler super sf. This is a wonderful thing as it allows me to hop in my skid steer and really increase hourly income!

 

Was the complaint about going too fast?

One of my new guys started saying that this season.

 

Not specifically but I told this client, a good long time client, that I was going to be in a rush to make my sons' little league game which I think primed him for some fussing. The machine does leave more uncut grass than the scag so there's that.

 

That's funny lol!

We were trying to bang two more out last night in a thunderstorm/tornado watch. I cut faster than I ever have and the last guy we cut was thrilled we were able to finish. Only bad thing was, I ducked under a branch, hit a bump way faster than usual, and took a shot to my chin off one of the stationary bars! It was like my old middle school days of fighting at recess all the time!! My wife thinks I'll have a nice bruise and I told her I was gonna blame it on her!

 

That's funny lol!

We were trying to bang two more out last night in a thunderstorm/tornado watch. I cut faster than I ever have and the last guy we cut was thrilled we were able to finish. Only bad thing was, I ducked under a branch, hit a bump way faster than usual, and took a shot to my chin off one of the stationary bars! It was like my old middle school days of fighting at recess all the time!! My wife thinks I'll have a nice bruise and I told her I was gonna blame it on her!

You really remember how unforgiving these machines are when you strike the ol noggin on it or anything your passing under whilst on it!

 

I still get a branch to the noggin now and again. But what never has happened a second time is getting my fingers pinched between those bars and a thicker branch I'm going under.

 

I own both a 60" 7 Iron and a 61" V+, so I get to directly compare them. They both cut very well in all conditions, but I have to say, the edge goes to the Scag overall. It stripes better and spreads clippings better, especially when cutting in the wet, though the JD is no slouch there.

Both have fixed position blades (meaning no spacer/washers to adjust). However, I have ran Scag blades under my JD because I can and that does raise the blade plane a little bit, so I can see that difference too. They do well under the JD, but the OEM blades for the 7 Iron are awfully hard to beat for all cutting. Thee JD's blades are a full inch below the front baffle save for two very small, short areas where the front baffle drops down 1/2" at the far left side blade and directly in front of the center blade for a few inches in length. The blades are much closer to the baffle so no blowout and very little grass on top of the deck or me, yet by being low like that they cut cleanly in taller grass and do quite well in buckhorn plantain and dandelions stalks etc

The hydros on my JD are smoother/easier to operate and control input with but the Scag's are stronger feeling and definitely faster.

They ride about the same and all I have for suspension on my JD are pneumatic tires front and AT101's rear an a suspension seat insert kit, which only gives about an inch and a half of travel. The seat is much softer and for me is more comfortable on the JD, though the "deluxe" seat like mine isn't made anymore.

I am not going to buy anymore new JD equipment now that they are all woke and pushing that crap, but that aside, if I were buying a new machine and were choosing between the two, I would go with the Scag with the options available on both right now. This may change though when JD starts using the EFI engines much more this fall and there's more choices, but even then, I would go with Scag for a couple other reasons

If JD would change their machines to twin tanks to help even out weight distribution, and get rid of the straight left caster arm and use one like most other manu's do on the left side, they'd have just about the best machine you could buy. Unfortunately they don't right now and it's to their detriment.

 

If JD would change their machines to twin tanks to help even out weight distribution, and get rid of the straight left caster arm and use one like most other manu's do on the left side, they'd have just about the best machine you could buy. Unfortunately they don't right now and it's to their detriment.

I thought the funky left-side caster wheel, was so you could poke the mower a little tighter into a corner, for better trimming. My Exmark Lazer X-series is like that. The deck overhanging the left side a bit, plus the inward-set caster, means that it gets into corners very well.

 

It is close, but there would still be room. However, that wouldn't explain why they made the left arm shorter. It is shorter to help with inside corner trimming.

 

How does the xl compare to your ferris? I am in a similar boat, coming from a z3x, and can't decide between the scag xl, wright zk, or the new jd stander. I love the z3x mower itself, but the reviews of the new decks have me leery of getting a new one.

 

As a Wright owner, let me give a slight caution regarding the Wright's deck. It's not terrible, but it's pretty easily the worst part of the machine. What I mean by that, is that the deck is OK, and the rest of the machine is incredible.

Wright's Aerocore deck is pretty good, but I see A LOT of chatter on the Facebook groups, about cut quality issues. I've actually been pretty happy with mine, but it's taken a lot of experimenting to get there.

I had some challenges with accounts where there were really tall stalks of clover, buckhorn weed, and fast-growing fescues. What's worked the best for me, hands down, has been switching to Oregon high-lift blades, unbolting the front baffle, and reducing RPM to about 3/4 throttle. I could go into detail about each of them, but I'll spare it for now.



That said, Wright's Aerocore deck is VERY tunable. You have the standard baffle. The "northern baffle" which closes the deck up to mimic an Exmark's tight-vacuum deck. Or you can unbolt and remove the baffles altogether, to "open up" and mimic Scag's V+ deck. (To an extent of course...)

You can also adjust the number of washers under the spindle, to raise/lower the blades in the deck, for more vacuum, or more clearance/capacity.

Then of course, blade changes. You can remove 1 spacer and run doubles, without changing the blade's height. I'm not a fan of doubles, but it can be done. (Dual G5 mulching blades in the fall is something else, let me tell you...)



I'm still a big fan of the Wright ZK, and wouldn't hesitate to buy another one. Just be aware that you might have to tinker with the deck, or your RPM, or blades choices, etc, to get the absolute best cut from it. Scag's Velocity+ deck seems like it's the "Easy Button" in terms of cut quality.