Zero turn experiences?

[MParr]

How old is your 260 ZT? I heard carbs are harder to adjust high idle setting these days w/o getting a different jet size.

Not a problem. There are adjustment screws on the carburetor. The biggest problem was pulling the rear sheet metal off of the mower. Consult service manual for Kohler ZT740.

 

[nomas]

One of the talking points of a Zero Turn is no reverse lock out. I took care of that problem so I can go from forward to reverse with pedal only. I can switch forward to reverse instantly. My x350 also has a shorter turning radius.

Shorter than what ? Not a ZTR that's for sure .

 

[The_Eric]

Rotate the fuel hose clamp. If you have enough fuel line, move the line and secure it with a zip tie.
The color of the hydrostatic fluid is normal.
You are asking too much from the engine. You are taking too much off in one pass.
There is a foam prefilter available for your engine.
I hope that you are not using Gator blades.
Go get you some Rotary #6083 mower blades and 3 each 1/4” blade spacers. Put the spacers between the blades and the spindles. Side discharge your clippings.

What is the purpose of the 1/4" blade spacer?

 

[SHOZ]

What is the purpose of the 1/4" blade spacer?

Some sit too high. My JD Z320m takes special gator type ones which are not as tall as the regulars ones. JD sells the Predator brand as their part. I got some and am not too happy with them. They were terribly out of balance for one. They don't create as much vacuum as the regular JD mulching blades. The Gator blade types are meant to keep the clippings in suspension for further chopping as it whirls around.

 

[MParr]

What is the purpose of the 1/4" blade spacer?

To make up for the offset Gravely/Ariens blades.

 

[thastinger]

The new mower got it's first good workout. I went on vacation for a week and the subsequent week was nothing but periodic thunderstorms, so 2+ weeks had elapsed before things dried out and I was able to mow.

Main takeaway:

The machine is not invincible. In the tall stuff, deck clogging / cut quality was the limiting factor. Had to reduce speed greatly much like my old riding mowers. The beauty is I didn't have to change cut height or make two passes. As long as you listened to the deck and went at an appropriate speed, it did a good job. The grass clippings come out smaller/finer than any mower I've used, so hopefully my lapse in mowing doesn't cause any dead areas from being covered in mats of cut grass. Engine never sounded strained but you could tell it was working harder than previous mows where grass was super dry and not nearly as tall.

Couple things that concern me. The fuel filter is in a very poor location, literally sandwiched in between the seat frame and engine block. The metal hose clamp (at engine side) has begun digging into the aluminum fin on the engine. Undecided whether I want to call the dealer and have them fix it or just reroute the line myself.

Engine smoked (oil burning) WAY too much on a couple instances. The first one, I had stopped mid-mow to attend to my smoker (cooking dinner). I put the engine at idle and was away from the machine longer than planned. It idled for 5-10 minutes, then I shut it off. When I went back to start it another 10 minutes later, it billowed smoke for a good 30 seconds or so, reminded me of doing MMO piston soaks overnight back in the day on my old Saturn. Doesn't seem right for a new engine and very embarassing; I'm sure ever neighbor around me was wondering where all the smoke was coming from. The second time was just shutting the machine down after mowing, I let it idle perhaps a minute before shutting down. I came back an hour later or so to blow grass off it before storing, and the next startup it also blew clouds of smoke, though not nearly as bad as the other time. If it continues to do this, I'm curious if this is something worth pursuing with the dealer while engine/mower are under warranty.

Last observation is that the fluid in the transmission expansion tanks is noticeably darker than when the machine was new. Machine sits at 10.4 hours right now, I think changing the hydrostatic oil at 20 or so hours might be warranted, if for no other reason than to get break in metals out.

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Guessing that you'll find that 24Hp on a 60" deck is very underpowered, even worse when combined with those hills.

 

[Doc8404]

Guessing that you'll find that 24Hp on a 60" deck is very underpowered, even worse when combined with those hills.

Depends on gearing, including belt pulleys.

 

[thastinger]

Depends on gearing, including belt pulleys.

Guess that could be true as he has the same hydrogear drives as my Ferris but 2 MPH less top speed, so maybe the Ariens is geared lower.

 

[The_Eric]

To make up for the offset Gravely/Ariens blades.

So if I'm understanding this right, the stock blades drop down from their attachment point? Sort of like this - _______-----_______?

 

[MParr]

So if I'm understanding this right, the stock blades drop down from their attachment point? Sort of like this - _______-----_______?

Yes

 

[tiger862]

Shorter than what ? Not a ZTR that's for sure .

Shorter turning radius than most riders. Zero Turn mowers aren't my favorite.

 

[92saturnsl2]

I think you are asking alot out of that machine cutting that heavy and tall grass needs a brush mower.

Dang, if a $7K machine can't do that once a year, I want my older riders back. There was at least a summer or two where two week intervals were the norm and they didn't miss a beat-- obviously you had to go slow and often repeat passes in super dense stuff. But never got any weird behavior or smoking out of them.

The FR series Kawasakis are residential engines. The FS and FX are a bit more suited to commercial duty. The FX engines have the heavy duty air cleaner setup.

Since it is a new engine, it still may need to break in. The FR should still have a foam pre-cleaner around the paper air filter from the factory.

I knew that going in. From what I could gather, the FR lacks the foam pre-filter (already fixed that), has a plastic cooling shroud instead of metal, lord only knows what metal internal bits they changed to make it cheaper. If I had a do-over, I would have gone B&S or Kohler, but that's certainly a premature judgement at 10 hours.

I took it out on Sunday, just to further mulch (and displace) the mats of cut grass in the back yard. Had no issues with it smoking and it ran good the whole time. The fact that it's very quiet is its only redeeming quality I see compared to Kohler Command V-Twins I've had on previous mowers. Still going to keep a close eye on oil consumption.

Rotate the fuel hose clamp. If you have enough fuel line, move the line and secure it with a zip tie.
The color of the hydrostatic fluid is normal.
You are asking too much from the engine. You are taking too much off in one pass.
There is a foam prefilter available for your engine.
I hope that you are not using Gator blades.
Go get you some Rotary #6083 mower blades and 3 each 1/4” blade spacers. Put the spacers between the blades and the spindles. Side discharge your clippings.

I rotated the clamp, but the hose is still tight to the block/fins. I'll have to re-route the fuel line, it's in a very tight place and not enough extra hose for proper clearance.

Again, engine didn't sound strained, I believe the deck is the limiting factor. If you attempted to go too fast, you'd hear that deck noise where the discharge isn't flowing fast enough (or getting clogged) and that's the cue to slow down further. I've put my old riders through a lot worse, I was as careful as I could be until I know what this one can do.

The fact that the grass was this tall was a fluke. I've stuck with weekly mows so far, but combine vacation with weather and it threw that out the window. If nothing else, if there's any merit to the "run it as hard" engine break-in approach, I've certainly checked that box.

 

[Foreman04]

My 2000-era Craftsman "garden tractor" is getting long in the tooth and I am getting tired of spending 4+ hours mowing my 2 acres. What has been your experience going from an old school riding mower to a zero turn? Does it save a lot of time? A good friend put it to me this way: a new mower might cost a lot, but what is your time worth? The older I get, the more that's starting to sink in. I'd be looking for something $5K or less, but would be really interested in something with EFI if it even exists in that price range.

If you think about it, there is a reason every landscaper and lawn service uses a ZTR. Time is money. I bought a Scagg 20 years ago and I’ve only changed the oil, kept up with the grease maintenance service and replaced the belt. Probably the most dependable piece of equipment I own.

 

[wpod]

Bigger engine faster cutting

 

[MParr]

Dang, if a $7K machine can't do that once a year, I want my older riders back. There was at least a summer or two where two week intervals were the norm and they didn't miss a beat-- obviously you had to go slow and often repeat passes in super dense stuff. But never got any weird behavior or smoking out of them.


I knew that going in. From what I could gather, the FR lacks the foam pre-filter (already fixed that), has a plastic cooling shroud instead of metal, lord only knows what metal internal bits they changed to make it cheaper. If I had a do-over, I would have gone B&S or Kohler, but that's certainly a premature judgement at 10 hours.

I took it out on Sunday, just to further mulch (and displace) the mats of cut grass in the back yard. Had no issues with it smoking and it ran good the whole time. The fact that it's very quiet is its only redeeming quality I see compared to Kohler Command V-Twins I've had on previous mowers. Still going to keep a close eye on oil consumption.

I rotated the clamp, but the hose is still tight to the block/fins. I'll have to re-route the fuel line, it's in a very tight place and not enough extra hose for proper clearance.

Again, engine didn't sound strained, I believe the deck is the limiting factor. If you attempted to go too fast, you'd hear that deck noise where the discharge isn't flowing fast enough (or getting clogged) and that's the cue to slow down further. I've put my old riders through a lot worse, I was as careful as I could be until I know what this one can do.

The fact that the grass was this tall was a fluke. I've stuck with weekly mows so far, but combine vacation with weather and it threw that out the window. If nothing else, if there's any merit to the "run it as hard" engine break-in approach, I've certainly checked that box.

Go buy you some fuel line that’s a little longer and replace the existing piece. Zip tie it down.
The Ariens/Gravely OEM blades are more of standard lift. Get you some Rotary #6083 blades and 1/4” blade spacers and modify as I stated above. This setup will process the grass clippings much better than the OEM blades. If the grass gets that high again, make two passes. Make the first pass on a higher setting and the second pass on your desired height.
Your Ariens deck is similar to my Gravely Pro Turn 260. I fiddled with the setup for a while before I got it to cut to my satisfaction. I run the rear of my deck 1/8” higher than the front.