Ferris Mowers, worth the cost?

[Mr.Glock]

I enjoy mowing and keeping a place looking sharp. And most of our places had an acre or two jjst around the homes we built.

I have bought new zero turns usually every 10 years. I usually get 10 years or so out of them and then use the motors for other projects. I bought a new Hustker Fast Trak 48” 6 years back for $5k it has 130 hours on it, did not use it a lot at our last home. This past winter the wife found my Gravley Zero Turn 54” cut with 9 hours on it at a garage sale for $1500. I bought it for the bigger cut and it has bigger tires and smoother for cutting the front yard that is about an acre. And it was such a smoking ****ing deal to pass up!

I agree they have gotten pricey and some are stupidly outrageous priced!

I was surprised to find out that same model hustler I bought during Trump era is now $2300 higher!!

But good used ones can be found if a guy does some hunting and takes his time.

This place I recently bought has several old barns on it, I made this one to be my lawn equipment barn, it keeps the smelly mowers and tools out of my nice shop.

 

[Ryan500L]

I enjoy mowing and keeping a place looking sharp. And most of our places had an acre or two jjst around the homes we built.

I have bought new zero turns usually every 10 years. I usually get 10 years or so out of them and then use the motors for other projects. I bought a new Hustker Fast Trak 48” 6 years back for $5k it has 130 hours on it, did not use it a lot at our last home. This past winter the wife found my Gravley Zero Turn 54” cut with 9 hours on it at a garage sale for $1500. I bought it for the bigger cut and it has bigger tires and smoother for cutting the front yard that is about an acre. And it was such a smoking ****ing deal to pass up!

I agree they have gotten pricey and some are stupidly outrageous priced!

I was surprised to find out that same model hustler I bought during Trump era is now $2300 higher!!

But good used ones can be found if a guy does some hunting and takes his time.

This place I recently bought has several old barns on it, I made this one to be my lawn equipment barn, it keeps the smelly mowers and tools out of my nice shop.

View attachment 505117

If had the money there would be a brand new Grasshopper diesel with the foldable deck in my barn right now. Would probably last me 30 years or til my mowing days are over. My current one is 28 years old and still going like new, spent some money fixing things but nothing major.

 

[dennishoddy]

I have to get them. I am going to buy one, if it works then will get another for the other one.

Keep us in the loop for those suspension seats if you would. My Bad Boy has some rudimentary springs under the seat for about an inch of travel. The 2010 model seat is starting to show some signs of wear and will need a replacement one of these days.

 

[WoodsCraft]

If I had a landscaping or lawn mowing business I'd probably buy something like that but for residential use its stupidity to pay 32k for a mower when you could do it for much less. I mow over 1 acre with a push mower because I want to not because I have to. Its good exercise but I have owned riding mowers in the past and if I decide to get another one in the future I'd try to be a good quality one but 32K that's just insane .

 

[C_Hallbert]

In Oklahoma, I kept the cleared 1 1/2 acres area around our home mowed with a Bolens-Iseki 16hp 4x4 Diesel Garden Tractor with a 48” Finishing Mower on the back. It was still working when I left the place for Alabama in 2020. One of our sons lives on our place and as of last situation report, he still hasn’t got it workiing. Dahhhh….!.

I have a 26hp Kubota Diesel ZD1211-3-60 (60”Deck) Zero Turn Commercial Mower here in Alabama. It cost less than $20K and I financed it through Kubota 0% Interest 60 months including an excellent mechanical/loss/theft protection warranty. Its fuel consumption is extremely efficient and it has a hydraulic crushed seat and hydraulic deck lift. I keep about (6), or so, acres mowed which includes two access roads (one over a large pond dam that semi-trucks can and have crossed before and (2) or (3) tenths of a mile on the county road, and a another shaded area around the other side of our pond that my wife likes mowed. There are other great mowers out there including Gravely; John-Deere ($45K on up), CAT, etc.; but our Kubota Dealership in Dothan has treated me better than any kind of dealership with which I’ve ever dealt. It’s hot down here during the Summer, but Oklahoma summers conditioned be real well for it. I’ve mowed over five hours in 96*F without quoting incurring criticism from my family and friends. LOL. The way I see it is: If I die out there on that thing because of the heat, I’ll drive it up to the Pearly Gates and ask St. Peter if they need the place mowed? It’ll be plain to see that I’ve already spent my time in hell…..

 

[Oklahomabassin]

I know a guy that enjoys his ZT mower enough that he often times mows the yards on both sides of him. It is red zero turn.

 

[retrieverman]

I'm not in the market, was just curious if anyone had any Ferris experience and if they were worth the extra cost. I've ran a couple of grasshoppers over the years, wasn't much of a fan.

All I’ve ever used is a couple Hustlers and a Scag, and both cut the grass just fine.

 

[retrieverman]

A Hustler zero turn was included when I bought my house up there, and though I’d like to have one at my house here in TX, I’m just going to keep using the 2001 Kubota L3010 and 6’ finish mower.

 

[Mr.Glock]

Here is the Gravely the Wife found at a Garage Sale $1500 9hrs on it.

Never owned a Gravely, it mows nice. I have owned Grasshoppers, Hustlers, one Country Clipper, one Scag, one Cub Cadet and this Gravely. They all gave me great service and I wore them out, except a Country Clipper. If memory serves they were either Kohler and Kawasaki engines in them.

The Country Clipper was a single Joy stick on the right to operate it, I hated it and kept it one summer only. Even though I have operated and owned several joystick Dozers, it was just a pain in the ass on a mower! But they are really popular and Mfg’d up north in Iowa. It did have a cool flip up deck, pull a pin and back up walla that deck would stand straight up for service work. But I despised that joy stick .

I had a “one year hit wonder” Cub Cadet, it was mower that got some of their engineers fired. Photo below.

It was called a ZT50. The previous years and after this one of these 38” mowers had 15 to 18 Hp engines in them. This one “one year only” had a 27HP liquid cooled Kawasaki engine in it for a 38” deck. It was a hell of a mowing machine. Looked like a big bumble bee when I got it. But I stripped off all the body eventually. I went to get a belt for it and the Dealer told me all about it, that the engineers thought to try the liquid cooled bigger engine and the cost was causing negative profits and they built just so many. I was wondering why such a small mower had a 27HP Liquid cooled engine in it. I wore out the deck and other major parts on it, and a friend still uses the engine in a big water pump on a trailer, still runs like a champ. I bought it at an auction.

Notice the controls and location of them it was the only draw back. It sucked to kinda have to hunch over, but again it was one mowing mother****er!

 

[chuter]

I made a sun shade for my Ferris a few years ago out of scrap metal, had to buy the sun shade material. Did it without drilling any holes in the original frame.
I get the most shade when the sun is directly overhead, actually makes a big difference.