Spartan Zero Turn Mowers

Irun

Irun

A vicious cycle of doing, undoing, and re-doing!
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Not familiar but I'll be paying attention as I'm going to need either a ztr or a 4w steer at the place we're moving into in 2 weeks.
 
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Not sure what brand it is but i got to ride a cool one last summer. My mower ( 20 year old craftsman) was down with a flat and the grass was getting a bit high for the first mow of the season, especially out by the septic patch.

I'd just made a beer run, come home to see my neighbor's (a disabled vet) dad(also a vet) loading his mower that looked like it was crossed with a seadoo back on a trailer. I crack a 24 ouncer as I step out the truck and holler at him "hey dude, that a mower or the starship Enterprise!"

He promptly backs it off the trailer and rides over " you wanna drive it? go do your lawn!"

"I shouldn't "

"oh but your really should"

"It got cup holders?"

"It's got 5"

"Let's rip"

And rip I did, at like 20 mph with a 60" deck on coilovers, damn near doing donuts at the end of every pass.

I said thanks for letting me hit the high spots. Then he told me how much it cost, and I almost spit my beer out.
 
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freedom_in_4low said:
Not familiar but I'll be paying attention as I'm going to need either a ztr or a 4w steer at the place we're moving into in 2 weeks.
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I've been looking at numerous brands and the Spartan mower quality and design is second to none. The local dealer I bought my small Massey Ferguson tractor from has the RZ-C for $4500, with a 23HP Kawasaki engine. I've seen nothing else close in price, when you compare the quality. However, since Toro bought Spartan, I'm wondering about the longevity of the company. :unsure:
 
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Bigmac said:
Not sure what brand it is but i got to ride a cool one last summer. My mower ( 20 year old craftsman) was down with a flat and the grass was getting a bit high for the first mow of the season, especially out by the septic patch.

I'd just made a beer run, come home to see my neighbor's (a disabled vet) dad(also a vet) loading his mower that looked like it was crossed with a seadoo back on a trailer. I crack a 24 ouncer as I step out the truck and holler at him "hey dude, that a mower or the starship Enterprise!"

He promptly backs it off the trailer and rides over " you wanna drive it? go do your lawn!"

"I shouldn't "

"oh but your really should"

"It got cup holders?"

"It's got 5"

"Let's rip"

And rip I did, at like 20 mph with a 60" deck on coilovers, damn near doing donuts at the end of every pass.

I said thanks for letting me hit the high spots. Then he told me how much it cost, and I almost spit my beer out.
Click to expand...

The prices for some of these mowers is North of $10K. That's way more than I'd want to spend to cut my grass! o_O
 
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I've worked on small engines as a side business/hobby for about 16 years now.

Those Spartan mowers look decent, I haven't seen any of them around here, but your questions about parts availability are justified. The engines/hydro units are usually fine since they are likely used in other machines, but things like deck parts might become harder to find depending on how long Toro plans on keeping Spartan a separate company. Exmark is owned by Toro, and parts availability is great, I have a 1998 Exmark I can still easily find parts for. Exmark is also considered to be Toro's own commercial line of products though.

If I were looking for a new commercial grade mower I was going to keep long-term, I would only consider one of the popular brands that are widely used by commercial lawn care companies. The deck quality is MUCH better, they use better engines, have better warranties, and better parts availability over the long term. My grandfather has a 1999 model Scag zero-turn that he uses to mow 10 acres. I've been able to easily find small chassis-specific parts for it that have worn out over the 2000+ hours of use it has seen.

I'd consider:
-Exmark or the Toro commercial line
-Scag
-Ferris
-Bobcat (the green mowers, not the skid steer company)
-Kubota
-Gravely

You want a mower with a fabricated steel deck, serviceable hydro drive units, and a Kawasaki or Honda engine. They are expensive, yes, but it will be the last machine you have to buy.
 
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Irun said:
The prices for some of these mowers is North of $10K. That's way more than I'd want to spend to cut my grass! o_O
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They are extremely expensive, but many of the brands I listed above can be found used for a fraction of the price and still provide many years of service.
 
Irun said:
Even if it's being used commercially, that's crazy. Those extra cup holders were expensive! ;)
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pretty sure It was this one.


They do have a side hustle and the dad is now like a GS 15 after like a 25 year military career so i guess he can afford it....
 
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A buddy of mine got one about half way through the season last year, he hasn't had any problems and it cuts good looking grass. I have a John Deere commercial zero turn I got 18 years ago, it has cut approximately 2 acres every week plus chopping leaves at the end of grass season since I've had it ( no commercial use) I've replaced the PTO clutch and rebuilt the hydro pump since I've had it.
 
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My neighbor Lady likes the Walker ZT mowers. Her oldest one is 31 years old. It has a catch bin that is manually operated.
She just bought a new Walker w/all the bells and whistles. It has a hydraulic catch bin, hyd. deck lift and LED flood lights.
Her Mom says it will be easier for me to work on... thanks Mom.

I've got a Honda pusher for the front and a 52" Cub Cadet rider for the back acre.

And I hate grass.
 
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After looking at a bunch of options, ended up with a 54" Spartan RZ with a 23 HP Kawasaki. The build quality is outstanding and the price was the best I could find. Plus, it's a local dealer that I've had a very good experience with on other purchases.

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I originally set out thinking I wanted a ztr because of how many trees I have to mow around but kept coming across situations where that wouldn't really work... Pushing a box blade, pulling a rake or a small trailer loaded with oak firewood up a hill, etc. I need some weight up front.



After hearing my dad talk about the 4 wheel steering on his John Deere X734 I started looking for those. The x700 series is way outside what I wanted to spend but the lower tiered x300 series is available with 4ws and can be found used quite affordably.

Grabbed this 2012 with 270 hours on it this week. Guy put new belt and blades on it, changed the oil and is just generally amazingly clean for it's age so it appears to be quite well taken care of. Not a speck of rust even on the deck.

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Now because every project carries other projects with it, now I need to build a small pole barn so I can get this out of the garage which already had too much stuff in it before this.
 
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freedom_in_4low said:
I originally set out thinking I wanted a ztr because of how many trees I have to mow around but kept coming across situations where that wouldn't really work... Pushing a box blade, pulling a rake or a small trailer loaded with oak firewood up a hill, etc. I need some weight up front.



After hearing my dad talk about the 4 wheel steering on his John Deere X734 I started looking for those. The x700 series is way outside what I wanted to spend but the lower tiered x300 series is available with 4ws and can be found used quite affordably.

Grabbed this 2012 with 270 hours on it this week. Guy put new belt and blades on it, changed the oil and is just generally amazingly clean for it's age so it appears to be quite well taken care of. Not a speck of rust even on the deck.

View attachment 415608

View attachment 415609

Now because every project carries other projects with it, now I need to build a small pole barn so I can get this out of the garage which already had too much stuff in it before this.
Click to expand...
that thing is badass. IIRC there was a thread on here about lawnmower wheeling trips across canada or something. Drop the deck off this bad larry and your in professional lawn mower crawling territory hanging with the best of em...
 
freedom_in_4low said:
I originally set out thinking I wanted a ztr because of how many trees I have to mow around but kept coming across situations where that wouldn't really work... Pushing a box blade, pulling a rake or a small trailer loaded with oak firewood up a hill, etc. I need some weight up front.



After hearing my dad talk about the 4 wheel steering on his John Deere X734 I started looking for those. The x700 series is way outside what I wanted to spend but the lower tiered x300 series is available with 4ws and can be found used quite affordably.

Grabbed this 2012 with 270 hours on it this week. Guy put new belt and blades on it, changed the oil and is just generally amazingly clean for it's age so it appears to be quite well taken care of. Not a speck of rust even on the deck.

View attachment 415608

View attachment 415609

Now because every project carries other projects with it, now I need to build a small pole barn so I can get this out of the garage which already had too much stuff in it before this.
Click to expand...

I didn't even know 4ws existed on small mowers. Very cool!
 
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Irun said:
I didn't even know 4ws existed on small mowers. Very cool!
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I was surprised too. My dad bought his X734 used for like $6300 and it's about the same physical size but weighs about 300 pounds more, has a 3 point hitch and an optional rear PTO. Mine was $1750.

With the 4ws it'll cut around about an 18" circle. Not quite zero but it'll cut out the multiple passes or push mower work around the trees.
 
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I upgraded to a ZT stander a couple years ago. Best mower I’ve ever used. I don’t have a large yard, living in town, but I do have UG sprinkling. I mow 2x a week, so being able to do it in about 20 minutes is really nice. The ZT gets me close enough to everything I only need to run the trimmer about twice a month, which is good because I hate running the trimmer.
 
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freedom_in_4low said:
I was surprised too. My dad bought his X734 used for like $6300 and it's about the same physical size but weighs about 300 pounds more, has a 3 point hitch and an optional rear PTO. Mine was $1750.

With the 4ws it'll cut around about an 18" circle. Not quite zero but it'll cut out the multiple passes or push mower work around the trees.
Click to expand...

I've had an X534 for at least 7 years. Have had yards as big as an acre and as small as .2 acres but the 54" deck has made quick work of all of it.

Maybe not what I'd want for a golf course but most my neighbors tell me they want it.
 
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