are these 0 turn mowers pretty good?

[rustyduck]

http://wisesales.com/ariens_915157.html

 

[eMGunslinger]

Looks a little to cheap for a 0-turn. Most important thing on them is the steering components and the motor if it has a Briggs/Kohler or better cant be that bad. Pretty much all universal

 

[Barney88PDC]

It has a stamped deck. I would look else where.

The Hustler mowers are some of the best bang for the buck IMO. I almost bought one myself.

 

[Quickdraw22]

It has a stamped deck. I would look else where.

The Hustler mowers are some of the best bang for the buck IMO. I almost bought one myself.

We've got a Dixon with a stamped deck. If you're just using this around the home, it will do fine. It sure is nice having to sharpen only one blade compared to 3 on our last mower......

 

[drumz2129]

What size area are you going to be mowing with it? I assume you are looking at it for personal residential use. It uses a light duty hydro gear EZT, which is at least a name brand hydro unit. It does not list which series Briggs engine it uses, so I would be leery of that. Stamped 12ga deck is a little weak and thin, but will be ok if kept clean and not beat on too hard. It is a 2K ZTR, so I wouldn't expect the world from it. If you can spend a little more, look at the residential grade hustlers, gravely, and scag units. I bought a new exmark lazer Z last year and can tell you that you definitely get what you pay for with ZTRs.

 

[Praesul Presul]

Scags, ExMarks, Dixie - if wanting commerical durablity.

Hustlers are pretty good around the home as both my dad and brother have one and have had good luck out of them.

 

[crazy white boy]

Mower

Kubota all the way shaft drive deck and wheels the cutting deck is just like a bush hog with the gear box and shaft drive. 2 years old and love it..

 

[sonanth]

My dad has a Troybuilt one. We both like it. I didn't check any of those links, so I don't know how big you are wanting to go.

 

[yamatitan]

Kubota all the way shaft drive deck and wheels the cutting deck is just like a bush hog with the gear box and shaft drive. 2 years old and love it..

This but your talking 5 times the price hes looking at.

 

[sksshooter]

ive got a gravely which is built by ariens. the one i have is 3yrs old now and has been pretty good so far. it is a little heavier duty than the one pictured. mine has a welded deck and a little heavier deck adjustments and has the kholer engine. i mow 2 acres with it and my yard is pretty bumpy and alot of trees. i have had to change the bearings in both front wheels but thats about the only thing that has worn out. i have right at 120 hrs on it. i have messed up a few things like a stick got shoved between the deck and mower frame and ate up the plastic fan blades that are on the pulleys for the rear drive. i also hit the mailbox when i first got it and broke the blade engagement knob off and it was changed under warrenty with no ?'s asked. all in all ive been pretty happy with it.

like i said though mine was a little heavier. it has the welded deck, i think the frame is heavier, the deck lift parts are heavier, it came with the front bumper, headlights, and high back seat with arm rest.

 

[Leadfoot]

If you've never owned a zero-turn mower, I highly recommend it, however, once you do, you'll NEVER want to go back to an old "lawn tractor" style mower.

 

[edman87k5]

I bought a 50" ariens from wise sales last year, couldnt be happier. I highly douibt you will be able to beat their price. The ariens stamped deck is as thick as many welded decks and is double layered, it is a far cry from most stamped decks( at least the larhger ones are, not positive on a 34").
If you want to spend more money, there are better options out there, but for the price, I dont think anything can touch the value of the ariens. I did a lot of looking and research before deciding on mine. I also really like the foot control deck lift instead of hand operated.
I personally would go a little bigger and no brigs if you have enough yard to justify it.
To the above poster with the kubota- wait until you get about 1000 hours and have to start changing those shafts, then get back to me. We have had 2 kubotas at almost $10k each(and they had stamped decks that cost $1800 to replace) and I would take 1 of my ariens over them. There is a place for those moweres, commercial ztrs and such, but the guy looking at a $2k mower is probably not in the market for them.

 

[yamatitan]

lol I know people running kubotas commercially that have never touched the shafts with over 20,000 hours on them. I even know of one that has never even had a oil changed and are still chugging without missing a beat. These are all diesel models no experience with the gas models or if their are even diff in the drive-train department.

 

[deadidunn]

I have a 50" cub cadet. It has performed great, this summer will be 5 yrs I've had it. Only problems I've had was the fuel pump last summer, and the battery will require charging or jumping off on occasion, which started 2 yrs ago. I've also had to change the belt, but thats normal. I mow between 2 and 3 acres with it bi-weekly, sometimes more with my fiancees yard and my families property. It has a stamped deck, but I try to not let stuff build up under and sit. It has the 22hp Kawasaki motor, new ones now all have Kohler I think. I highly recommend Cub Cadet.
My dad has a Bush Hog brand ZTR and my uncle just got a Hustler. No problems reported from them either.

 

[CEHollier]

It has a stamped deck. I would look else where.

The Hustler mowers are some of the best bang for the buck IMO. I almost bought one myself.

^^^^THIS^^^^ I have a Hustler. Bang for the buck it's a good buy.
the Aries specs look cheap.

 

[edman87k5]

A lot of it is opinion. We had 2 g1800 (I think) kubotas, both were great until around 1000 hours and then started requiring lots of $$ to keep going. Both had to have the deck replaced around 1k hours due to rot thru, bot had injector pump problems around the same time, etc. Maybe we got 2 bad ones in a row, but for the price, I expected more.
As for the cub cadet. I have 3 friends with the 50" ztr cadet and 1 highly priases it, 1 had some issues and said it is about average, the 3rd had more time at the repair shop than at home and had to borrow a mower more than half the time.
I have only had my ariens less than a year, it could turn to be a PITA, but so far I like it.
I cut 3 acres with a $1k murray for 5 years before it started needing regular repairs.

ANy way you do it is better than paying someone else to do it for you.