EAST TEXAS HOG DOGGERS FORUM

Anyone have any experience with John Deere zero turns? How do they stack up to Scag/Dixie Chopper/ExMark?

We have a scag out here at the ranch. Now we have rented a jd and the exmark. While they are decent machines that will do fine for most lawns the scag is by far the strongest built. These are the only 3 I have used though.

My and parents have two Scags and a ferris my grandpa say the ferris is smoother riding but will never cut grass as good or handle the beatings the scag can

Not steal the thread but I was looking at a hustler or gravely. Anybody got one of those?

Yea i was looking at a Hustler as well as the other three, any input on all brands is welcome!

Yea I've been trying to research hustler, gravely, Dixie chopper, scag couple others. DC, scag, and hustler have 0% finance offers right now if you qualify.

we have had both a john deere and a hustler the hustler will out work and has had less repairs by far we bought them at the same time one for the farm and one for the rental property the john deer origanally was for the farm but wasnt holding up so we switched them and haveing better luck now

Slim, this is my experience with zero turns. You asked about John Deere. You can go to Lowes and get a John Deere zero turn for about
$3000. It will do great for the regular home owner. You can go to a John Deere dealer and also get a zero turn for $10,000. The same with
Skagg. Skagg started making home owner models but if you want their top of the line Turf Tiger your looking about $11,000. My dad has a
Skagg Turf Tiger that is about 12 years old. That thing is a fricking tank. My brother has a John Deere he paid $8000. for about 6 years ago and has never had an issue with it. They both keep up about 20 acres.    Myself, I have a small lawn business on the side. All together I cut about 4 acres every week. I purchased a Cub Z Force a few summers ago for about $4000. No issues with it. I feel I am
pushing it to it's limits, but no issues in 3 summers. Now this aint the Cub Cadet you see at Tractor Supply and other big box stores, this
is a Z-Force from a Cub dealer. I guess what I'm trying to say is, each manufacture has a complete line starting at the low end and going all the way up to their top of the line machines.

the john deere one i used was really smooth and the handles werent stiff like the other brands i have used it was a good mower just not commercial grade

I'm looking for something that will cut around 9 acres.  

My father in law has a gravely its bad a**.  

I have the Gravely 260z its a cutting machine. I have used a scag and my personal preference is the gravely.

Scag Turf Tiger

get a turf tiger, i love the one on the farm we have bout 25+ acres

Yes sir scag grand parents cut right at 12 acres with theres

The commercial dixie chopper I have is pretty bad to the bone, haven't had any problems with it in 5 years.

X2 on the dixie chopper i had a yard service with my dad a couple years ago and i loved that mower it was the real big one bout a 62 inch cut with a 25 hp kooler motor it was fast and smooth and handled great. the only thing i didn't like was the turf tires were to slick if the grass was wet or even a heavy dew it would stay stuck. best mower iv used other than that.

We have a dixiechopper excalibur 74 inch cut here at the ranch and its a beast! it has the big swamp tires on the back and its about 5 years old and going strong. Ive mowed over a piece of 2 7/8 oilfield pipd laying in the grass and it chewed it up and spat it out like a used coke can. We also just got a new 64 gravely for the fancy areas close to the houses and it is nice but seems really boxy to manouver compared to the ol' dixie chop.

I do property management here in Fla, the family business maintains around 350 homes and a few bigger property 1 acres parcels through 5 acres. We use dixie choppers, classics , and excalibers. They flat out will cut anything and cut well. The Ex marks dont hold up to thick, high grass that ive noticed. A buddy of mine had an exmark and sold it within a month. As far as a quality cut exmark and scag leave a nicer, manicured lawn. My uncle has one who does the same work as me and hes had his for 12 years. They are hard to beat (Dixie Choppers) , they are also easy to maintain. They also are Fast lol. Have a good one and God Bless

Make me another vote for the Dixie chopper. It's the only zero turn I've used though so I'm no expert

They all use the same hydraulic pump motors ;). but the newer ones have a new design that are smoother and quieter. Encore is decent too. Ya'll keep buying them commercial mowers. ;D

Scag by far here, got mine for 5 years now, not an issue so far. Cut about 10 acres turf tiger gas motor. Smooth and clean cut.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Commercial  Kubota diesel are the best hands down scags can not hang

If you have clover in the winter, DO NOT buy a gravely....unless you have time to mow it twice or more each time you are mowing.

http://images.craigslist.org/5Gc5H15P43G33m33Iac65455d548f89471d6a.jpg
Look at the puppy. Ya'll want to talk commercial thats the deifination there lol I dont how many acres id have to mow to justify gettin that machine but that has to be my dream mower lol

My neighbor has a big lawn business and owns probably 10 eXmarks. She put 11,000 hours on one with no major breaksowns.

I mow about 2 acres and bought a Cub Cadet they called "the tank". Had lots of trouble out of it and some major problems at just over 400 hours. I traded it in on an eXmark and love that machine. The ride alone was worth the trade.

Do not buy anything with a stamped deck because it is not the real deal. Also do not buy anything that does not have some service in your area. Expecially if you live around sweet gum trees. The sweet gum balls will manage to knock the belt off of any mower.

The people that do yards for a living in east Texas use eXmarks by a wide margin over any other brand.

I'm sure no expert on zero turn mowers,....I HATE mowing, pure and simply hate it. However, I will tell you this, we have a John Deere at the fire dept. that rides like a steel tired wagon,....pitiful how rough this thing is. Just thought I'd throw that in for you.

I have used a couple Bushhogs and thought they were pretty stout... Havent used alot of others to compare against.

dixie choppers are good