[pondman300]

Question posed to all you service guys out there. 1st of all hello and hope business and life is well for all. Now my question, we have just started the past two years doing service were as we were strictly before a design company. I purchased riding mowers instead of 0turn I figured they all cut and the prices for the tractors were alot lower they all have bagging systems and are preety fast. Our accounts are all resendital and I've heard that the 0 turns have alot of problems with spindles someone talk to me please with some advice.

[Bill Schwab]

Pondman:

Where to start....First I would ask you what brand of ZTR is supposed to have spindle problems, and what brand are you specifically looking at?

ZTR vs tractor? What size yard are we talking here? If you got straight runs with lots of space, a tractor can just about do what a ZTR does. If it's all tight turns , you could outwork a tractor 2-1 with a ZTR.

Lets go back to the spindle issue for a second. Lets assume spindles do go out more on a ZTR. If the machine works twice as fast as a tractor, and, replacing a spindle only looses a couple hours, you are still money in the bank to use a ZTR. I'm not saying for a minute that breaking down is OK, just a fact of life with machinery. Eventually, it all breaks, needs maintenance, and you have to budget and plan for it. Would it not be the wise thing to do to use a ZTR if you could complete 30-50% or even 100% more work in a day?

[pondman300]

Thats true all points I'm taking into account thanks for responding to the thread good info.

[Nebraska]

ZTR by far for residential.

Spindles.... we use Hustler ZTR and they have a grease zerk. According to the manual serviced 1x per year.

With our walk behinds which are Exmark they have no grease zerk and we've replaced one spindle in four years.

Spindles of course wear out...$200-$300 bucks at the most. Which in the one case is $75 per year.

The answer to your question is yes......labor obviously by far is the largest expense with maintenance.

[Pelican]

I haven't had a spindle go down in any of my machines in 8 years time. You don't mention how big the lawns you are servicing are, a hydrostatic walk behind will mow circles around a lawn tractor in small to medium sized lawns, and a ZTR will just plain kick its butt on large lawns. I don't use the ZTR on smaller lawns, with all the turning and the heavy weight of the machine, the turf just gets too twisted up. Like I said, a hydro walk behind will make almost as good time as the ZTR and not damage the lawn near as much.

[Dale Wiley]

Again we have the "perfect machine " debate.

It does not exist. If your doing a variety of maintenance work, you will need ... guess what ??? a variety of machine types!!

We have an Exmark Lazer HP. When we were running it hard, 20 hours a week we ate at least one spindle a year. Pretty high blade speeds on those machines. We also found out that "after market" spindle's were just as good and usually cost 70% less than dealer items

We also have an Exmark 36 Hydro. Works great. Works where the Lazer does not.

You can always use the time trial thing. I did it all the time when I worked for Toro. Marked off an equal amount of area for my machine and the one we were competing against.

Last one done had to buy the beers. I never,never, bought.

[Mark Oomkes]

I think your question has pretty well been answered. A larger walk behind will even beat a Z in a yard with a lot of obstacles, the only place it won't is on wide open, straight shots. So that is an option as well.

We run Exmarks, Z's and walk behinds. Great cut, would like some better life out of spindles, but like Bill said, you're going to get at least twice as much work done as a tractor with a much better quality of cut.

The UltraVacs are awesome, we have 2 that we use on quite a few of our jobs. I know that grass is supposed to be mulched, but with as much trash as people throw out their windows now days, vacuuming is about the only option for us to leave the lawns looking decent. It's either that or spend a bunch more time picking up shredded cigarette butts, papers, etc.

Really ticks me off that nobody gives a rat's rear end about what they do with their trash anymore.

[cutntrim]

Riding tractors are fine for homeowners. Not for lawn professionals. There are many reasons why they're alot cheaper to buy than commercial ZTRs.

ZTRs are fantastic machines for wide open flat spaces and even work well on smaller lots as long as they're not hilly, or filled with obstacles.

WBs are IMO as close as it gets to the perfect machine for residential cutting in most applications. They can shoot/bag/mulch, handle hills and obstacles, fit through small gates (i.e. 36"), take up less trailer room and can even be run up a drop tailgate ramp into the back of a pickup, and are less expensive than riders to purchase and usually to maintain.

Having said that, I have (2) trailers for maintenance and each one is equipped with a ZTR, WB, and 21" LawnBoy, because like Dale said, every yard is different.

I'll anticipate your next question, "What brand of ZTR/WB would you recommend?"

My extensive experience is with Ransomes and Toro, and I have had limited experience with Exmark and Walker. I have owned multiple machines (ZTR and WB) manufactured by Ransomes and found them to be solid and dependable, and those are the two most important qualities in a mower for my purposes. I also have quality dealer support in my home city for them and that's also of paramount importance.

[rootygolf]

Hey guys new here so i wont say much but my experience so far is there is no ztr like a walker it cut my time in half and gives a maincured look to all my lawns.

[Will Sharp]

they still make a commercial tractor to mow lawns??

we use husky ztrs great machine 500 to 700 hours per season, i agree with the wb being the fastest and best cut in small areas 5000 to 7000 sq feet.

[jackt]

I don't know why everyone says ztr's are more expensive. I have a 485 Deere that I paid more for than any of my zero turns. I have a Dixie Chopper ztr and several Deere ztr and walk behinds. The Chopper will cut circles around anything else I have ever had. It does the work of 2-3 John Deeres.