Bad Boy ZTR

[Billy Fussell]

Has anyone had any experience, good or bad, with Bad Boy ZTR's? I have been looking at them and kinda like the looks of them.

Billy

[Rodney51Cub]

Which Bad Boy are you looking at ? How much do you have to mow, how many hills, and is it residential or do you do commercial mowing ? I ask this because sometimes people buy to small a mower for what they mow or get to big of one they can't manuver every where. The Bad Bay MZ is a good mower for small yards. They are 42" and 48" cut. You can get a Briggs or a Kawasaki motor. They have sealed hydraulic drives. They ride kind of rough because of the smaller tires. The ZT is the next step up. They are 50" and 60" cuts. Has either a Briggs, Kohler, or Kawasaki engine. Hydraulic drives are serviceable with filters. A better ride than the MZ and can do what they call a seat up grade to a supension style seat which helps the ride alot. The CZT is a basically a ZT with bigger rear tires and bigger hydraulic drives. The Outlaw and variations come with a 54", 61" and 72" cuts. Motors and horsepowers vary with model. I do not care for the stock seat on the Outlaw, the arm rests are not that well made. Other than that, it is a good mower and runs faster than I need to go. The diesel models are about the same as the Outlaw XP just with a diesel motor. You can get different seats and tires with each mower, depending on what you are mowing. If mowing residential, my choice would be a ZT with a Kolher engine 60" cut and supension seat. I work at a Bad Boy / Snapper / Simplicity dealership as a mechanic. Do not own a Bad Boy yet but will buy a ZT when I wear out the mowers I have.

Rodney

[Mr E]

Don't have a BadBoy, but do have a Scag ZTR. Grass cutting machine, but a rough ride.

[redfin]

The folks in this area that I have talked to love them. Reasonably priced compared to others. Appear to be better built than the home center models. Just an added note. The owner of a nearby tractor sales and service buisiness sells many brands of ZTR mowers such as Scagg , Exmark , Hustler , Grasshopper and another one I cant recall. He cuts his acreage with a Grasshopper.

[Jackman]

No Bad Boyz's but I do have three Exmark ZTR's, Exmark makes a darn good mower!

[Billy Fussell]

Thanks for the feedback. I cut about 6 acres, mostly pretty flat and no trees. I do have a few steep slopes. I was looking at a 60" CZ mower at Tractor Supply, and liked the looks of it. I prefer the Kawasaki engine over the Kholer. I will Google the CZT and look at the specs. I like the idea of servicable hydrolic drives.

[Jackman]

Kawasaki engines suck been there done that ,,,,,,, problem limited parts supply compared to Kohler and reoccurring issues head gaskets, water leaks and exhausts that rust through too quickly....


Kohler tried and true and every dealer around has parts when ya need them. I am on my third and last Kawasaki going back to Kohler.


Z mowers are tricky on slopes but with experience you'll get the hang of it and climb and cross most inclines, Z's are also slick on wet grass but like the slopes you get the hang of it...

[Jackman]

Six acres on a Z mower probably about 2 hours cut time + or - 15 minutes...

[Billy Fussell]

Thanks for the additional info. All opinions are welcome.

[John *.?-!.* cub owner]

If you have a Simplicity or Ferris dealer in your area you may want to look into them. The commercial ones are very well built. Like most ZTRs though they are not designed to let the grass get 7 or 8 inches high then take it down to 2 inches. They are designed to only take a couple inches off. All ZTRs are intended to kep a yard looking like a golf course, not take it form a grown up field to a golf course. One thing I like about the Simplicity and Ferris is that the commercial modles have independent suspension, makes it a lot easier on an old back. They are not cheap though.

[VinceD]

Billy, we also mow about 6 acres. We use a Dixie Chopper and love it. Started with a smaller one for "trimming" and traded up to a 60". I cut with a 72" finish mower and Annie runs the Dixie Chopper. She cuts circles around me. I consider it extremly well built and would highly recommend the brand.

[JackF]

John Stated:

Like most ZTRs though they are not designed to let the grass get 7 or 8 inches high then take it down to 2 inches. They are designed to only take a couple inches off.

That’s correct. I have a commercial grass cutter and it seemed every time I got time to cut the grass it always was to tall for the mower to cut correctly. When the grass wasn’t cut when it should had been I always had skipped spots, lumps of grass that had to be raked up and an expensive belt that was slipping unnoticed driving the mower blades.

The fuel cost for cutting grass what I had to cut was getting ridiculous so I moved that part of my property to hay fields. Now it gets cut two times a year.

My commercial grass cutter is being rented to a commercial grass cutter and I’m using something that cuts the grass over 6” tall.