I am in the market this fall or winter for a zero turn mower. I will be mowing 4.5 to 5 acres. I have been looking at them for a few weeks and reading a lot but want to hear what everyone has to say about them since much of what I read seems very biased. I am going to buy a 54 or 60" cut and I am leaning towards a Gravely or Bad Boy. The info I need is why do you or do you not like a particular brand model. What options are a must and Kawasaki or Kohler motors and why? Thanks for any input to help me buy the best possible mower for my money.

I bought a Spartan a couple of weeks ago and I love it. It's a beast with a 61 in cut and a 32 horse Kawasaki engine. I believe it would chop down a stump if you could get the front wheels over the top of it.





I can tell you what not to buy and that's a Husqavarna. I had one of those for the last 6 years and it's the biggest POS I have ever owned. I put about 20 mandrels on it over 6 years. I've replace pulleys, clutches, wire harnesses, safety switches, steering brackets, and rebuilt the deck at least 3 times. The friggin thing broke every time you cranked it. I hated that thing with a passion and nearly spent as much time fixing it as I did cutting grass with it.

I'm happy with the John Deere Z930, but I haven't tried any of them others.
I have looked at the Bad Boy mowers and their decks look to be super tough.
I'm a green man, myself. The warranty, service, durability and resale value of the John Deere equipment is top of the pie.

X2 on the 930 grandad has one and a big Kubota diesel and I prefer the JD of those 2

Get one with HydroGear ZT2800 transmissions, or a variant, such as a ZT3100 or larger. The number gets larger with the width of cut. Before buying mine, I researched this pretty deeply. It came down to Scag and Hustler, with Kawasaki engines. I've now bought 4 Hustler Fastrak SuperDuty's with 54" cuts and have had zero issues. One is my personal mower, one is for work, and the other two were for co-workers. I went ?hustler because, at that time, the dealer was closer and had a good reputation. There are several good mowers out there. A good dealer should be a significant factor in your decision.

Everybody has their own opinions on zero turns. Me, I use a Kubota for my lawn care business. It has been great and it has been used quite a bit. If I were you Id automatically weed out the ones that don't offer a Kawasaki engine. They are proven to be some of the best mower engines on the market. If your going to be mowing that 4.5 to 5 acres from here on out, Id make the investment on a Kubota 60" Diesel. I have a friend that I help cut grass with when he gets behind. He has one and it has over 1000 hrs on it. It still cranks and runs just like the day he bought it and there isn't an amount of grass hardly that will bog it down.

The hustler is a good mower. My dad used one until he got in bad health.
Now me and my brother cut their yard for them. But dad loved the hustler mower. I can't think of anything bad about them.

Our church has a 60" Kubota diesel (zd21, I think?) that I use when I cut grass up there.....that thing is a hoss. We have a huge lot in front of and behind the church and it'll knock it out in no time.

I use exmark but wouldn’t hesitate to have a scab or toro. Get a commercial mower. The difference is worth the money.

Never tried a spartan but they do look awesome!

I can speak from experience that a Hustler with a Kawasaki engine is a great mower.

I’ve had a Kubota ZD221 with a 54” deck for 7 years with zero issues other than normal maintenance. I keep around 4 to 4.5 acres cut.

I personally have a Hustler with the Kawasaki engine. We have a Kubota Diesel and a Bad Dog at work. Hustler and Kubota are cutting machines, not so much on the Bad Dog. I am probably going to personally buy another zero turn this winter also and I am either getting the Hustler Super Z, Hustler Fasttrak, or a Gravely. I tell you, BC has me thinking about a Spartan now.

We use exmark when I mowed commercially we went from john deer to exmark when john deere went away from the 700 series and started to phase in the 800 series mowers and the 800 was a pile of garbage. We went to exmark lazer "x" and "e" series and bought one john deere 925 or 930 new because it was cheap but it used oil since it had 18hrs on it john deere wouldn't put a new motor on it for me under warranty since it was technically still running fine. All my mowers have Kawasaki engines even the John deere. I hated the john deere it rode like a squared tire wagon and the cut wasnt as nice or efficient as the exmarks. My dad bought it from me still running it adding oil to it every other week I think it's got around 300hrs on it now. I've been debating selling my x series 60 lazer z and buying a 54" since I'm just mowing my yards now and it's only around 3 acres

Yep, made that mistake when I bought my house two years ago. Biggest piece of crap to take up garage space.

I have a Hustler with a Honda engine.Going on 7 years old and all I've done to it is blades,tires,and one drive belt...

It wasn't a zero turn, but I bought a Kubota diesel mower in 1998. We mowed 2.5-5 acres with it every cutting until last fall. Sold it to my nephew and he still cuts with it.

Oil changes, belts, and batteries, plus one solenoid switch to fool the starter.

Tractor style? I bet that thing is a tank.

I'm in the market too this winter to replace my 50" Dixie Chopper with the 27hp Generac. I'm looking at either the 60 or 72" Kubota ZD1211 with the Diesel engine. More than likely go with the 72" deck for both quicker mow times and higher blade tip speeds, and I want the diesel for more torque and hope to make it last and be my last mower purchase ever.

I see you are in North Alabama. Go by Maynard's Equipment east of Huntsville on 72. They are one of the largest Hustler dealers in the US. Cash talks there. I bought a Raptor SDX with Kawasaki engine from them last year. I'm very pleased with it.