Oh wow. Don’t want to do that!
The salesman did mention that maintenance on the Kawi is critical. His opinion was that the Kohler, while not as torquey, was more forgiving of lackluster maintenance.
Any idea what the issue was with yours?
Buying House on 1.1 Acres. Need Zero-Turn Lawnmower and Weedeater/Blower Recommendations.
- Thread starter john_pifer
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The salesman did mention that maintenance on the Kawi is critical. His opinion was that the Kohler, while not as torquey, was more forgiving of lackluster maintenance.
Any idea what the issue was with yours?
I run a 2018 Gravely ZT HD-52. Hydros are ZT-3100 (entry level commercial). I have over 200 hours on it, and have only done oil changes (engine, and hydros) valve adjust, air filter, and sharpen blades. A solid machine. My son runs a 2020 ZT HD-60, and he is just as pleased as I am. I have a straight shaft Echo string trimmer (25 cc I think), and the blower is a Hitachi/Tanaka. I think it was $125. Good choice John. Let there be mow!
Back in the day, Kawasaki recommended 10W-30 for all temps in the FR series motors. Then two years after I bought mine they upped the recommendation to 10W-40 for all temps. Then another couple years passed and they bumped it up to 20W-50 for above freezing temps. Because I was doing all my own maintenance, I had no idea about the updated guidance so I was running it on 10W-30 for the first 100 hours or so but then bumped it to 10W-40 when I started noticing oil consumption. Oil was always synthetic and changed every 15-25 hours.
By the time I was at the 250 hour mark, the engine started burning about half a quart every 5-8 hours or so; I just use it to haul logs around now so it’s no biggie. Now I’m at 300 and it is not a happy motor. Fairly certain that if they had originally recommended 20W-50, it would still be in good shape.
Go thick with these motors.
I see this frequently, especially on newer zero turns run by commercial mowing companies. The dealer was right about maintenance, meaning oil level. Many of the newer Kawasaki engines burn a bit of oil, even when brand new. It's critical to keep the oil level full, not so much to run 20w50 oil, even though 20w50 or 15w40 will burn off less. With a Kohler, you can run it a bit low and it will probably survive, not the case with the Kawasaki. Some of the commercial mowers I've seen with blown up engines it's obvious the engine was run all day on low oil, since the company just has their workers jump on the mowers and run all day without checking it.
If it was my machine, I'd run a good 15w40 HDEO and just check the level before you mow. Only if you notice significant consumption would I bump up to a 20w50.
M1, 15W-50 might be a great choice for that engine. As many of us know, air cooled engines can have significant oil requirements due to high oil temperatures.
That’s actually what I’d planned on running.
Simplifies things because the hydrostatic transaxles take M1 15W-50 also.
One oil for everything.
Kawasaki FR651V V-Twin
Brother has 50in , and its been great, and gets a ton of use. .....they have now cheaped out and put non service drives in them. Im thinking of getting one of the steering wheel ones, they still have decent drives.
Same engine on my toro, so far its been great. No oil use with mine. But only 200 hours on it.
I recently found my fr-651v running at only 3200rpm ( no load) or so. Engine is rated for 3600. Several members here suspected it was to keep the blade speeds in federal guidelines.
I did a little mod ( drilled an upper hole) to the governor linkage to get it up to 3580rpm no load-blades off, It cuts way better.
I did a little mod ( drilled an upper hole) to the governor linkage to get it up to 3580rpm no load-blades off, It cuts way better.
Interesting!
I’ll be interested to see what mine runs at (can’t pick it up from dealer until we move to the new house).
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Congrats! My father in law has a similar Gravely unit. Looks like a great machine.
I'd "echo" the previous recommendations (haha) ... I run a SRM210and 230 that are about 25 and 18 years old respectively. Also an echo CS300 that is a similar age. Just carb/fuel line work once for them in all this time. Can't say enough good things about the Echo brand!
I'd "echo" the previous recommendations (haha) ... I run a SRM210and 230 that are about 25 and 18 years old respectively. Also an echo CS300 that is a similar age. Just carb/fuel line work once for them in all this time. Can't say enough good things about the Echo brand!
When I worked at a golf course 35 yrs ago we used a Hustler only around trees in the rough. I love zero turn mowers because guys don't want them too much anymore and many garden tractors are out there used, at fair prices.
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Nice mower you got. I don’t think I could ever own a zero turn though it seems boring compared to one with a steering wheel lol. I gotta have my John Deere ones too but Gravely and Scag and all of them are nice.
For weed eaters and blowers there are only three brands to consider in my opinion and in order Stihl, Echo, Husqvarna. I bought a Stihl FS56RC straight shaft trimmer this summer and it was the best purchase for me. Very powerful and it’s low end commercial and high end residential but it feels very much like a commercial one. Most powerful thing I’ve used. It blows my neighbors Husqvarna out of the water but I still like Husqvarna. And we have owned many Echo trimmers with problem free experience except the fuel lines rotting in short periods of times but I think that was due to using canned fuel but I don’t have a way to prove that. We had originally settled for a Milwaukee string trimmer as we couldn’t find but two gas ones at the big box stores. That thing was absolutely crap especially with the provided battery. Returned after first use as the head messed up and wouldn’t bump anymore. I threatened to back over it with the car the first few minutes. I love Milwaukee stuff but they haven’t gotten the bugs worked out of the battery stuff yet and that goes for any manufacture cause I’ve used my neighbors and family members stuff too and wanted to throw it lol. Plus who wants something that they can’t work on? Certainly not me that’s part of why I like gas stuff because you have to change filters and do maintenance and whatever else. We got the Stihl at Rural King it comes with a great warranty and they were doing a thing if you buy a can of their fuel you get an extra year on your warranty. I took advantage of that but don’t think I will need to use the warranty as it’s built like a tank. The first time I used it I fell in love with it and wanted to weed eat. I can’t remember the model numbers for the Echo ones we have had but they were pretty good except the fuel lines. I will look tomorrow in the daylight as we don’t throw them out we just put them in a pile under the carport lol. If I remember correctly they are SRM210. Brands we don’t care for are MTD never had good luck with them same goes for Bolens. Troy Bilt is ok for riding mowers but that’s about it probably made by MTD. We like Toro for push mowers as long as they have a Briggs and Stratton engine the Kohler one we had was bad. Just don’t run over a board with them they won’t work after that LOL. We also found a Honda sitting on the curb that we really like it’s an expensive mower too only 3 years old my neighbor who can’t mow anymore threw it out. We used it once and really like it except my dad still says not to buy one haha.
No matter what you decide though definitely let us know. Hope you found my recommendations and experience helpful.
For weed eaters and blowers there are only three brands to consider in my opinion and in order Stihl, Echo, Husqvarna. I bought a Stihl FS56RC straight shaft trimmer this summer and it was the best purchase for me. Very powerful and it’s low end commercial and high end residential but it feels very much like a commercial one. Most powerful thing I’ve used. It blows my neighbors Husqvarna out of the water but I still like Husqvarna. And we have owned many Echo trimmers with problem free experience except the fuel lines rotting in short periods of times but I think that was due to using canned fuel but I don’t have a way to prove that. We had originally settled for a Milwaukee string trimmer as we couldn’t find but two gas ones at the big box stores. That thing was absolutely crap especially with the provided battery. Returned after first use as the head messed up and wouldn’t bump anymore. I threatened to back over it with the car the first few minutes. I love Milwaukee stuff but they haven’t gotten the bugs worked out of the battery stuff yet and that goes for any manufacture cause I’ve used my neighbors and family members stuff too and wanted to throw it lol. Plus who wants something that they can’t work on? Certainly not me that’s part of why I like gas stuff because you have to change filters and do maintenance and whatever else. We got the Stihl at Rural King it comes with a great warranty and they were doing a thing if you buy a can of their fuel you get an extra year on your warranty. I took advantage of that but don’t think I will need to use the warranty as it’s built like a tank. The first time I used it I fell in love with it and wanted to weed eat. I can’t remember the model numbers for the Echo ones we have had but they were pretty good except the fuel lines. I will look tomorrow in the daylight as we don’t throw them out we just put them in a pile under the carport lol. If I remember correctly they are SRM210. Brands we don’t care for are MTD never had good luck with them same goes for Bolens. Troy Bilt is ok for riding mowers but that’s about it probably made by MTD. We like Toro for push mowers as long as they have a Briggs and Stratton engine the Kohler one we had was bad. Just don’t run over a board with them they won’t work after that LOL. We also found a Honda sitting on the curb that we really like it’s an expensive mower too only 3 years old my neighbor who can’t mow anymore threw it out. We used it once and really like it except my dad still says not to buy one haha.
No matter what you decide though definitely let us know. Hope you found my recommendations and experience helpful.
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mower=whatever
weeder\blower= makita electric or ECHO gas
anything else is BS get the above or suffer the issues
weeder\blower= makita electric or ECHO gas
anything else is BS get the above or suffer the issues
Agreed, buy a quality trimmer and blower like Stihl or Echo.Go to an OPE store. Buy once , cry once. A trimmer get a 2 stroke Husky or Sthil or some commercial model. With the choice of a zero turn you don't need a super duper commercial duty but look at mowers that you change the hydrostat oil etc with relative ease. A bagging attachment is a possible good thing to have if there are trees to pick up the leaves in Fall. A push mower will probably be used for getting the edges and tight spots , something above the bottom of the line usually a midrange Honda engine will work well.. An acre is a huge area to mow. How many hours are you willing to spend on the mower during the cutting season. It is not that hard to make a bigger gate. Since this is BITOG the most important question ,,,, what oil are you planning on using? Jumping up a few steps from the big box level of equipment costs a bit more but over the equipments life will be a bargain.
I think the OP is probably squared away by now
Indeed…
I went with EGO for both trimmer and blower and have really liked them so far.
Both are very, very powerful and have been a joy to use.
I really like that automatic line advance and power line winding on the trimmer.
We’ll see how long the tools…and the batteries…last. I am storing the batteries in the house instead of the detached garage in hopes that avoiding extreme temperatures will extend the life.
Ego Power+ Powerload with LineIQ Trimmer
Ego Power+ 765CFM blower (LB7654-2)
If you get that blower, I recommend the LB7654-2 kit that comes with 2x5.0Ah batteries and the rapid charger. That blower will drain a battery pretty quickly if you keep it on high and turbo.
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