kawasaki engine mower advice please

[whitearrow]

good evening fellas. i have since my last post on mowers decided to take advantage of either kubota,deere,or cub cadet's no interest for 12-60 months depending on manufacturer. i have the requirement of a 20-22hp kawasaki or genuine kubota engine,hydrostatic transmission,48" cut. also, i will add the reason i'm stepping up in price from the $1,500 big box store mowers is i figured the higher end mowers would have more robust transmissions and other components then the cheaper models. i am mowing 2 acres of nothing but hills and fairly thick mixed grass. that is why i need the more robust better built machine. so, what would y'all recommend for my application? also, no zero turn recommendations please as i have some seriously steep hills and ditches that i would be afraid the the lil front wheels on a zero turn would get stuck in.
thanks,
whitearrow

 

[123Saab]

kubota diesel would be my choice, What models have you looked at?

 

[whitearrow]

i've kinda checked out the deere x300 series is about all so far. i just wanted y'alls opinions first to kinda decrease my leg work. diesel is out due to $4.00 a gallon and higher fuel. oh i almost forgot to give y'all a expense cap. i'm looking at maybe 4k tops.
thanks,
whitearrow

 

[Donald]

I would go for a Kubota or JD before a Cub Cadet. What price are you looking to spend? I agree with the previous poster about a diesel, but that will not be cheap. I use to cut a couple of acres with a Kubota small farm tractor and a 60" Case finish mower. One thing that is hard to judge at a dealer is how well the mower sprays out the cut grass, especially if its wet. My Case finish mower would blast out the grass very evenly under any conditions.

 

[01rangerxl]

My sister has a newer Kubota and likes it, but it's a B-series tractor, so it's probably larger than what you are looking at.

Honestly, if you're going to drop serious money on a mower I wouldn't even mess with a Cub Cadet anymore. I'd probably get a Kubota, but a dealership Deere would be great as well.

 

[Cujet]

My local Deere dealership stocks just about everything I could ever need. I torture my little GT-235 garden tractor. It has a Kawasaki V-Twin, a tough torque reasonably heavy duty transaxle and is tough enough for my uses.

I am incredibly glad I purchased a JD tractor and not one of the other brands. The local dealership is a key reason, but not the only one. There are JD forums, and a world of knowledge on JD tractors.

10 years now, nothing but self inflicted damage! No breakdowns, no failures, no problems.

I've driven this thing into the canal, with my homemade front end loader. I've rolled it on it's side in the swale, during really wet and muddy mowing. I've hit stumps, jammed the hood under fallen trees, smashed the seat, and so on. Heck, this thing cleaned up after 3 major hurricanes, pulling trees out to the road, carrying loads way to big for it. I even towed my broken truck with it! I've used it to move a few derelict cars.

And, with the local dealer's support, it still looks new!

 

[Rob_Roy]

Try out a zero turn, I think you will find it handles your terrain just fine. I mow ditches and slopes with a Z950A with no trouble at all.

 

[Pop_Rivit]

My 757 with a 25HP Kawasaki engine has almost 1700 hours and runs without an issue. The first thousand hours were commercial service, then I purchased it and have put the balance of the hours on it.

I finally gave up my 325 (single cylinder 17HP Kawasaki) when it had well over 1000 hours on it, and I wasn't gentle on it. It pulled 1700# trailer around the property a lot while we were building, I tilled a huge amount of property with it, I mowed several acres every week (much of which should have been bush hogged) and I consistently pushed it to it's limits.

I have had outstanding service from every Kawasaki engine that I've owned.

Originally Posted By: Rob_Roy
Try out a zero turn, I think you will find it handles your terrain just fine. I mow ditches and slopes with a Z950A with no trouble at all.


Agreed. I mow several acres a week, much of which is very hilly, with my 757 and never have an issue. My 757 is more stable on the hills than my 325 was.

Deere dealers will allow you to try several different models on your property before you purchase-don't hesitate to ask for a demo of different sized units to see which one works the best for you.

 

[01rangerxl]

Originally Posted By: Rob_Roy
Try out a zero turn, I think you will find it handles your terrain just fine. I mow ditches and slopes with a Z950A with no trouble at all.


X2. A z-turn might surpsise you. I have a walk behind, but it uses the same dual Hydro Gear setup as many ride on z-turns and it handles hills no problem. It eats up hills that look like they would tip a mower over.

 

[ProStreetCamaro]

A GOOD zero turn will run circles around a tractor. My lawn is 2 acres and I can mow, trim and blow off in an hour to 1hr 15min. Takes me about 45min to an hour to cut it.



Me cutting my lawn with our Gravely 160Z. One of these days I am going to clean up the fence line. Bought the house last febuary and between work, my fathers health issues and my wifes kidney failure I just havent bothered. I killed all the weeds and stuff but need to cut the [censored] down and throw it back in the woods.

http://youtu.be/gXsUU6O7kAc?hd=1

http://youtu.be/kwhHW18NxHM?hd=1

 

[Boss302fan]

I have a Toro zero turn with the Kawasaki 22 HP motor and it runs great... I have also used JD tractors for years with Kawasaki engines and never had any issues.

 

[JTK]

Originally Posted By: whitearrow
... i have the requirement of a 20-22hp kawasaki or genuine kubota engine,hydrostatic transmission,48" cut.


You're requirements are going to be tough to meet for $4K max.

A new Kubota is out. AFAIK, Kubota doesn't make gas engines anymore, they use Kohler Command V-twins in their less expensive riders.

I don't think you can even touch a new Cub Cadet 2K series for $4K these days. That would be your lease expensive machine with an excellent, well proven shaft drive transaxle that holds 6qts of oil and has a spin-on filter for the trans.

Joel

 

[FowVay]

My local John Deere dealership is horrible. They don't stock a single item I've needed in the past two years. I end up either driving to the next town or mail-ordering.

The mower has been great but it hasn't been cheap. All of the plastic has had to be replaced and the seat, to include the metal frame, has been replaced.

The engine, a Kawasaki 15 hp liquid cooled V-twin, has been fantastic. The hydrostatic transmission has been great and the mower deck has held up very well.

Because of the poor service from my local dealer, I won't buy Deere again.

 

[Rob_Roy]

What model Deere do you have?

 

[Throckmorton]

Originally Posted By: whitearrow
good evening fellas. i have since my last post on mowers decided to take advantage of either kubota,deere,or cub cadet's no interest for 12-60 months depending on manufacturer. i have the requirement of a 20-22hp kawasaki or genuine kubota engine,hydrostatic transmission,48" cut. also, i will add the reason i'm stepping up in price from the $1,500 big box store mowers is i figured the higher end mowers would have more robust transmissions and other components then the cheaper models. i am mowing 2 acres of nothing but hills and fairly thick mixed grass. that is why i need the more robust better built machine. so, what would y'all recommend for my application? also, no zero turn recommendations please as i have some seriously steep hills and ditches that i would be afraid the the lil front wheels on a zero turn would get stuck in.
thanks,
whitearrow
I know a lot of people look down on the mowers sold in big box stores, but I think you might find a mower like this to your liking:

Troy-Bilt XP 22-HP V-Twin Dual Hydrostatic 42" Zero-Turn Radius Lawn Mower

 

[JTK]

A JD X300, with a 48" deck is ~$3400. A very comfortable, well built machine, but if you're mowing nothing but hills, that Tufftorq K46 is going to overheat. The small wheels/tires on the X300's won't offer much traction/stability for hills either. You'd want an X500 at a minimum, now you're talking $5800 starting price.

A Kubota GR series would be great, but I shudder to think of the price.

Like I suggested, if you want an extremely robust drivetrain, a new Cub GT 2000 will foot the bill for right around $4K with a 42 or 44" deck. You order the decks separately with them now (like the old days). Build quality and fit/finish isn't like a Deere or a Kubota, but a comparable JD or Kubota would be 2x the price or more.

This is a shaft driven machine, with two belts. One on the deck and one that drives the deck (PTO belt).

I guess long story short, like I've suggested in your other posts, you're not going to get Kawasaki AND and a heavy-duty drive-train for $4K.

 

[mrsilv04]

A Cub Cadet is nothing like it was 20 or 30 years now.

Who owns the Cub Cadet name now? MTD? Electrolux?

 

[01rangerxl]

MTD. I think the large Cub Cadet tractors are made by Yanmar.

 

[JTK]

Originally Posted By: mrsilv04
A Cub Cadet is nothing like it was 20 or 30 years now.

Who owns the Cub Cadet name now? MTD? Electrolux?


Nor should it be. The little IH built Cubs were the cost of a small car. Nobody would buy them today given you can get a compact diesel 4x4 with a loader for the same price.

The machine pictured above, or any 2 or 3K series Cub are very decent for the price. They're nothing like the ones you see at a big box store.

Joel

 

[yeehaw1960]

The last time I ordered a throttle cable for a Cub Cadet weed whacker, I had to get it through the MTD site. I also ordered a lower flexible drive shaft for the same 4 cycle whacker. Got it from Sears. It broke again after three weeks. Oh Cub Cadet...say it ain't so! The owner dropped it off in my garage in disgust...I had only charged him for the parts and shipping. Gave it to some kid for a model boat project. Bet that screamed across the water before it sank.