Hi all,
If you are looking for a lawn mower that will increase your productivity without beating the heck out of you in the process, please consider the Ferris 5000 diesel. I am caretaker of an estate with 8 acres of mowed lawn. I was using a John Deer F932 front mower with a
72" deck which was ok but it was fatiguing to ride on the bumpy lawn. It took me up to 8 hours to mow the lawn since there are many trees and bushes here and there to work around.I decided to bite the bullet and pay $14k for a slightly used Ferris
5000 with a 31 hp CAT diesel and a track vac. What a huge difference! Now I can mow the lawn in just over 4 hours using about 6 gallons of diesel and the independent suspension allows me to go around 8-9 mph even over bumps. It does tend to tear up the turf if the ground is moist and I turn too hard but I reduced this by being more careful.The trac-vac is the dual trash can type mounted on a 360 degree wheel base to handle the maneuverability of the zero turn mower. I have to empty it way too much though and it clogs often so I am sorry I bought it. Also, there are not that many attachments and no standard PTO for the Ferris. Overall i thought I'd just say that if you are looking for this type of mower, the Ferris 5000 is excellent!
Dennis