Hustler or Ferris

[Stephen B]

Whilst we have had little rain since November last year, there is now some movement from brown/yellow to green grass.
My trusty Australian Greenfield ride-on mower of 11 years is on its last legs.

Those of you who have approx 5 acres to mow and have a John Dere, Ferris or Hustler Zero Turn Mower; what have been your experiences, and with which model?

These are the main US built zero turn mowers imported to Australia.

Sadly there are no grey mowers with green controls!!

 

[Tim Morris]

I have a JD 757 and mow about three acres. We've had it for about a year and a half absolutely no complaints.  I have a cousin who was a small engine mechanic at the local JD dealership. He said to watch the top end on the 700 series and be sure to have them adjusted about every two years (home owner use) and steer clear of the 900's as they have had lots of problems with the engines on those units. Hope this helps.

 

[awdriven]

I've heard a lot of good things about the Hustler line. Being that you are on Australia, I think you'd want to make sure the brand had a good service and parts infrastructure in place there. Even a great product needs parts and service occasionally.

 

[semenza]

Is Grasshopper available in Australia?

Seth

 

[Kev]

Is Grasshopper available in Australia?

Seth

They're about, but I don't think they're common (you're talking the 700 I assume?)

 

[Kev]

Whilst we have had little rain since November last year, there is now some movement from brown/yellow to green grass.
My trusty Australian Greenfield ride-on mower of 11 years is on its last legs.

Those of you who have approx 5 acres to mow and have a John Dere, Ferris or Hustler Zero Turn Mower; what have been your experiences, and with which model?

These are the main US built zero turn mowers imported to Australia.

Sadly there are no grey mowers with green controls!!

Have you looked at the Cox?

 

[Stephen B]

Is Grasshopper available in Australia?

Seth

They're about, but I don't think they're common (you're talking the 700 I assume?)

Thanks Seth and Kev, Tim and AWDriven

Grasshopper do not have, to my knowledge, the number of distributors that Hustler, Ferris and JD have;certainly in my area.
I have one Ferris, 2 Hustler, and one JD within 50 mins.

Re Cox, like the Greenfield a great Australian ride on. However their deck sizes of around 34" do not compare with the 48 and 54 inch decks of the zero turns I am considering. (Nth American readers will no doubt note that we often refer to mower deck sizes in inches in a metric country!!. 'Imperial ism' at work via your manufacturers.)

I am also looking at larger decks because I need to reduce my mowing hours following removal of a stage 2b Melanoma last November.

 

[Kev]

Is Grasshopper available in Australia?

Seth

They're about, but I don't think they're common (you're talking the 700 I assume?)

Thanks Seth and Kev, Tim and AWDriven

Grasshopper do not have, to my knowledge, the number of distributors that Hustler, Ferris and JD have;certainly in my area.

I have one Ferris, 2 Hustler, and one JD within 50 mins. Re Cox, like the Greenfield a great Australian ride on. However their deck sizes of around 34" do not compare with the 48 and 54 inch decks of the zero turns I am considering. (Nth American readers will no doubt note that we often refer to mower deck sizes in inches in a metric country!!. 'Imperial ism' at work via your manufacturers.)

I am also looking at larger decks because I need to reduce my mowing hours following removal of a stage 2b Melanoma last November.

I'd be looking at lights on the mower and cutting at night (or at least out of the big sun).

 

[Stephen B]

"I'd be looking at lights on the mower and cutting at night (or at least out of the big sun)."

Thanks Kev,

Have you ever seen Lawrence of Arabia on a mower!

 

[Tinker]

I've heard a lot of good things about the Hustler line. Being that you are on Australia, I think you'd want to make sure the brand had a good service and parts infrastructure in place there. Even a great product needs parts and service occasionally.

A BIG, Great Big Ditto on that.
Tinker

 

[Tinker]

As far as the three choices you have asked about, the Hustler has probably best specs for heavy duty work.  It is definitely a commercial machine.  The John Deere, around Connecticut, just a short swim from your field, [poke] has the largest distributorship.  The Ferris has some interesting features such as a deck that will follow an undulating slope better than the other machines.  I don't see them very much and i have not looked them over as closely as the JD and the Hustler.  The JD's cover a wider range of quality from homeowner to heavy commercial (not as heavy as the Hustler tho) My feeling on the JD mowers is that over the past several years, they have been aiming at the homeowners market.  Their heavy equipment is still among the very best, but I'm not so sure their mowers are as strong as they need to be for heavy commercial work.  you know what your needs are.  Perhaps you don't need the very strongest mower out there. 

Do you cut your field on a regular basis while still short?  Or do you wait until you can't see over the top of the grass?  Is the grass you are cutting real coarse?  Or is it a fine or thin grass.  These answers might also influence your direction of purchase.  But in the long run, the most important factor to consider is still SERVICE. 
Tinker

 

[semenza]

Is Grasshopper available in Australia?

Seth

They're about, but I don't think they're common (you're talking the 700 I assume?)

Thanks Seth and Kev, Tim and AWDriven

Grasshopper do not have, to my knowledge, the number of distributors that Hustler, Ferris and JD have;certainly in my area.
I have one Ferris, 2 Hustler, and one JD within 50 mins.

Re Cox, like the Greenfield a great Australian ride on. However their deck sizes of around 34" do not compare with the 48 and 54 inch decks of the zero turns I am considering. (Nth American readers will no doubt note that we often refer to mower deck sizes in inches in a metric country!!. 'Imperial ism' at work via your manufacturers.)

I am also looking at larger decks because I need to reduce my mowing hours following removal of a stage 2b Melanoma last November.

Kev,  Yes the 700 or 900 series front mount zero turn, with liquid cooled engines.

Stephen,  If you're looking to reduce mowing time , why not 60" or 72" decks?    Narrow spots ?  Transport?

Seth

 

[Tinker]

Once you start going to decks wider than 48 or 54 inch, you want to think great horse power. Also bigger wheels.
I have had several Z-Turn mowers.  The ones with smaller tires tend to do less scruffing of Zero turns. 
for field mowing, the sod roots are generally deeper and less subject to such tire damage.

Seth's thought to get water cooled is a good one.  My first three or four Z's were air cooled and had tendency to over heat under dusty conditions. With the water cooled, be sure to keep the radiator clean every day.  My mowers have a screen over the radiator that can be removed and the dust tapped out.  I do that daily.

The first two Z's were all belt and chain drives.  You can be glad they don't make those any more in any brand (I don't think so anyhow)
Tinker

 

[semenza]

Once you start going to decks wider than 48 or 54 inch, you want to think great horse power. Also bigger wheels.
I have had several Z-Turn mowers.  The ones with smaller tires tend to do less scruffing of Zero turns. 
for field mowing, the sod roots are generally deeper and less subject to such tire damage.

Seth's thought to get water cooled is a good one.  My first three or four Z's were air cooled and had tendency to over heat under dusty conditions. With the water cooled, be sure to keep the radiator clean every day.  My mowers have a screen over the radiator that can be removed and the dust tapped out.  I do that daily.

The first two Z's were all belt and chain drives.  You can be glad they don't make those any more in any brand (I don't think so anyhow)
Tinker

Yeah, first one I had used a  hydro motor/pump to power a chain drive system. It wasn't too bad but having the hydros (one for each wheel) directly driving is just awesome !!!  Yup, nothing like HP and torque that holds.  Mine is 61" deck , 25 HP (gas) , 3 cyl. liquid cooled Kubota engine.  It'll knock 2" - 3"  off damp medium weight grass at about a 7-8 mph mowing speed without a hick up. if the grass is lighter 9- 10mph , heavier 6 - 7. Those are what I would call get it cut speeds. But with a clean deck and sharp blades the cut still comes out quite nice even at those speeds. Travel speed is 10.5 .  I have even cut a few grown up areas of two foot grass, albeit at slow speed but it processes it just fine.

    When I was buying the mower they let me test out a 72" deck also. No problem powering it but that knocked about 1 or 2 mph off the speed. So it would have been a trade off in width for speed.  I would have wanted more like 28 - 32 HP for the 72" unless I was only cutting light grass.

Just a note on the style of the machine ie; Mid or front mount. I have used both and even though the mid mounts are shorter in overall length I found that the front mount actually got around better especially when dealing with trees and obstacles.  The mid mounts are certainly the most popular , at least in my area, though for some reason.

Seth

 

[Tinker]

Mine is 61" w/29hp water cooled.  I have a couple of fields i mow regularly about once pr month.  with all of the rain we have been having this spring, i mowed both last week a week late and one of them was 2.5 feet tall in one area.  I go thru the field going arod and around and at mowing height of 5-1/2".  any higher and it leaves a lot of bent flat grass.  At 5-1/2" it comes out rough.  I then go over the entire field a gain going back and forth as I would a fine lawn.  That trip I mow at 4-1/2" and it comes out smooth and not too bad for clippings.  Some of the worst spots i might hit a third time this time of year.  The mower moves along pretty fast.  fast enough that i do bounce around quite a lot.

I had one front mount with 54" deck, but it is almost impossible to mow across a hillside.  it is a lot better than the mid mounts for trimming around beds and trees.  I will say, either type is a bit dangerous in some situations on hillsides.  The mid mounts are dangerous going down a hill frontwards.  If they start to slide, forget it.  They won't stop.  The front mounts handle going down a hill frontwards, but if the hill is steep, they only way to get back up is to back up.  If it turns around on you, you might as well get off and take a walk.  Go get the camera and take a pic of the disaster.

A few years ago, i had just taken my vac pac off of my Skag mid mount.  i had not taken the extra weight off of the front that was there to keep stability to the mower on hillsides with the weight of full buckets on the back.  I was mowing across a terraced section. At the end, there was a turn down the hill alonside of a stone wall.  i had made that turn hundreds of times.  A piece of cake?

As I made the turn, the mower started to slide towards the stone wall.  there was a car beside the wall.  the wall was slightly higher than the front of the car.  As I started to slide, i yanked back on the levers to go into reverse.  i actually left two very clear tracks as I continued to slide towards the edge of the wall.  i finally ralized I was not going to stop so i tried guiding parallel to the top of the wall.

A couple of minutes laer, i was knocking on the door of the owner's house and asking, "Is the owner of the grey Honda inside?"

The owner was summoned.  As he approached me, still inside of the house, he asked, "Can i help you?"

I'm not sure.  Do you own that Honda out by the wall.

Well yes.

Well, I thought you might like to know that somebody just parked a lawnmower on top of it.

Are you kidding me?

No.  why don't you come out and look.  That car looks like a real handy spot for parking lawnmowers.

I was fortunate the guy had a sense of humor.  He actually laughed when I told him I had insurance.
_________________

Another time, i was loading a mid mount on my truck.  The ramps were a little steeper than they had been the year before.  i had just put a new dump body on the chassis that was four inches higher than before.  I had no problem backing off the truck, but when i went to reload, the mower tipped up and the first thing I knew, I was looking at a 550 lb mower coming straigtht at me with me flat on my back.  The adrenaline kicked in and i managed to get my feet and hands into the air.  I actually tossed that mower about three feet off to the side.  When I got to my feet, I could not move the machine.  I had to go to another job and bring a couple of my other crew to help me get the mower back on its wheels.  I, nor the mower, were any the worse for wear.  I never again have loaded a rider by driving frontwards up a ramp.  In fact, i have, since that episode, loaded my riders only onto my trailer.
Tinker

 

[Stephen B]

Thanks Again Seth.

You guessed correctly, the larger machines will not fit through some tree groves I have. Another factor is cost. The 48 and 54 inch Hustler and Ferris Models are between 9 and 14 thousand Australian dollars. Over 64 inch, or water cooled diesel we jump over $20,000. I could by a Toyota Corolla with that.

Re power, the Ferris 48 inch has suspension which would be nice but only 18hp, compared to Hustler fast track super duty with about 24hp. Both are hydro drive.

You have reminded me that there is a Kubota dealer 30 mins away so will have a look.

Tickler

Some enjoyable tales, made me laugh  too.
The main environmental hazards I have are red belly black and copperhead snakes in late spring when they are emerging from their winter sleep and looking for mates. The old Greenfield has run over five in past eleven years, not a proud record but never deliberately as I like snakes. And they are a protected species.  On several occasions I have seen the snake in time, stopped mowing and admired them as they slide away. Usually when you hit them you do not know they are there, the vibration of the blades makes them raise their head. You do not know about it until you come around on the next circuit. However the last one I backed over and the whole body, in pieces, came out the shoot. Made me think it must have been raised to strike! Both these snakes are highly venomous, the copperhead one of the deadliest in the world. But fortunately they are timid, and most people who are bitten have asked for it through their own stupidity.

 

[semenza]

Thanks Again Seth.

You guessed correctly, the larger machines will not fit through some tree groves I have. Another factor is cost. The 48 and 54 inch Hustler and Ferris Models are between 9 and 14 thousand Australian dollars. Over 64 inch, or water cooled diesel we jump over $20,000. I could by a Toyota Corolla with that.

Re power, the Ferris 48 inch has suspension which would be nice but only 18hp, compared to Hustler fast track super duty with about 24hp. Both are hydro drive.

You have reminded me that there is a Kubota dealer 30 mins away so will have a look.

Tickler

Some enjoyable tales, made me laugh  too.
The main environmental hazards I have are red belly black and copperhead snakes in late spring when they are emerging from their winter sleep and looking for mates. The old Greenfield has run over five in past eleven years, not a proud record but never deliberately as I like snakes. And they are a protected species.  On several occasions I have seen the snake in time, stopped mowing and admired them as they slide away. Usually when you hit them you do not know they are there, the vibration of the blades makes them raise their head. You do not know about it until you come around on the next circuit. However the last one I backed over and the whole body, in pieces, came out the shoot. Made me think it must have been raised to strike! Both these snakes are highly venomous, the copperhead one of the deadliest in the world. But fortunately they are timid, and most people who are bitten have asked for it through their own stupidity.

  I don't know much about them but my dealer who is trust worthy and a Ferris dealer mentioned something that was not so great about the Ferris suspension. It was several years ago and I don't remember what it was. It may have been changed by now too. In any case that might be something to look into before you buy just to be on the safe side.

Seth

 

[Tinker]

>>> I don't know much about them but my dealer who is trust worthy and a Ferris dealer mentioned something that was not so great about the Ferris suspension. It was several years ago and I don't remember what it was. It may have been changed by now too. In any case that might be something to look into before you buy just to be on the safe side.

 

[WoodSam]

If you want to really reduce your mowing time I have a suggestion. I have a John Deere Wide Area Turbo 1600 that has three hydraulic  run mower decks and covers just under 11 feet in one pass. It does a great job and I mow about 12 acres with it in just over 2 hours on a weekly basis from April thru October. The unit is 6 years old and I have had no problems.

 

[leakyroof]

If you want to really reduce your mowing time I have a suggestion. I have a John Deere Wide Area Turbo 1600 that has three hydraulic  run mower decks and covers just under 11 feet in one pass. It does a great job and I mow about 12 acres with it in just over 2 hours on a weekly basis from April thru October. The unit is 6 years old and I have had no problems.

  You may have a problem with that suggestion WoodSam, as the OP has said he has some tree groves that need a slimmer machine to sneak through, so he can't go too big with his mower choice.  [unsure]