5 new features for 2011
ZTR mowers have been a staple of landscapers for decades. The latest mowers continue to turn on a dime and make close cuts, but they refuse to stop there. Available in January, these mowers’ new features, models and technologies keep ZTRs in landscapers’ starting lineups. “They’ve become faster, and both larger and smaller, cheaper, more ergonomic and more fuel efficient,” says Ruthanne Stucky, Grasshopper’s marketing director.
Four-wheel drive
Dixie Chopper’s Dominator is the first ever four-wheel-drive ZTR mower. A front-end mechanism activates the mower’s front casters, allowing the mower to operate on four, full-size wheels with four-wheel motors when the casters are raised. Landscapers can safely climb inclines and work on hillsides with this mower, says Art Evans, who created the four-wheel-drive mower. “This machine is going to shift the advantage back to the commercial cutter who invests in state-of-the-art equipment,” Evans predicts.
Industrial grade
Hustler’s Next Generation Super Z uses industrial grade components, extending the hydraulic life of the mower, says Adam Mullet, director of marketing at Hustler. The industry standard ZTR mower operates at 64 percent of its hydraulic capacity, whereas the new Super Z operates at 16 percent, Mullet says. Operating at a lower capacity gives the mower a longer hydraulic life. “We felt the guys making a living at landscaping wanted a piece of equipment they could rely on day after day, year after year,”
Mullet says, “and that’s what we gave them.”
Steering wheel
Cub Cadet’s Z-Force S uses a steering wheel, instead of lap bars. The mower uses a technology where a four-wheel steering system controls both the front wheels and the independently controlled back wheels, giving the operator better control and stability, says Allen Baird, product manager at Cub Cadet Commercial.
Fuel Tank
Bob-Cat’s 2011 ZTR mower line clears the air with a newly designed non-permeable tank that eliminates vapor seepage and offers vapor space at the cap. The tank keeps the cap dry on tilts and slopes, without losing fuel capacity. Bob-Cat was the first commercial mower line to go 2011 engine CARB compliant in December 2009, the company says.
PRICE
With a recovering economy, companies such as Grasshopper, with its Model 226V, and Husqvarna, with its P-ZT line, created mowers to meet landscapers’ needs and budgets. Husqvarna’s mower line uses the same design as a previous model but does not include some of the ergonomic features found in its higher-end mowers. “There is no economy in buying cheap equipment,” Stucky says. “But when a landscaper receives a good value for the price paid for a mower, both he and the manufacturer come out ahead.”
