If you have been shopping for a commercial lawn mower, new or used, you have probably found there are at least 20-30 brands to investigate. It is important to shop carefully and thoroughly because prices of commercial mowers can be more than your car is worth.
If you have not read the How to Make Big Money Mowing Small Lawns book, I recommend doing so before you go lawn mower shopping. Don’t get ripped off.
I did a considerable number of online searches for the following phrases: “most popular”+”commercial lawn mower brands”, “commercial lawn mower brands”, “commercial lawn mowers”, “commercial mowers”+most popular, and “commercial mowers”.
When online searching did not give me all the information I wanted I went to my trusty phone book and looked up lawn care and lawn mowers. This search narrowed the number of mower brands in the running to 13. I am going to hazard a guess that if you can purchase a brand locally it is a more widely used brand than if you cannot buy it locally.
The phone book did not satisfy my curiosity completely either, so I put a note pad in the car and started writing down the brands of commercial mowers I saw while driving around the city. When I saw a brand more than once, I put a tick mark next to the brand name so I could easily keep count.
Between the online searches, the Yellow Pages, and keeping count whenever I saw a commercial lawn mower out on a job, the most popular brands of mowers seem to be:
- Scag – manufactured by Scag Power Equipment, includes the very popular Turf Tiger, Tiger Cub, Saber Tooth Tiger and Wildcat models
- John Deere – manufactured by Deere and Company, includes the Z-Trak models
- EverRide – manufactured by Ariens Corporation (Auburn Operations), includes the Warrior, Hornet, YJ, Wasp HP, Scorpion FX, and Scorpion models
- Toro – manufactured by The Toro Company, includes the Z-Master models
- Exmark – manufactured by Exmark Manufacturing Company, Inc., includes the LazerZ models
- Ferris – manufactured by Ferris Industries, includes the IS models and they highlight their suspension as superior to other brands
- Cub Cadet – manufactured by Cub Cadet, includes the Z-Force, Enforcer and RZT models
- Hustler – manufactured by Excel Hustler, includes the Super Mini Z, Fastrak, and Super Z models
- Ariens – manufactured by Ariens Corporation and includes the ZOOM models, smaller than most commercial mowers and priced between $360 and $800 new
I took Grasshopper, Gravely, Echo and Reel out of the list. They are commercial mowers but they are targeted to types of mowing most small lawn care business owners do not do. Grasshopper and Gravely are made for really big mowing jobs like those for a city or county or keeping up Golf courses. Echo is more for brushcutting and would compete with the DR brand. Reel is for turf manicuring and these machines are used after the mowing to height is finished.
- Grasshopper – manufactured by Moridge Manufacturing, models just have numbers, there are a large number of models and cut widths, and prices range from $6,000 to $19,000 new
- Gravely – manufactured by Auburn Consolidated Industries Inc., owned by Ariens Corporation, include the ZT and XTZ models and are priced between $3200 and $18,000 new
- Echo – manufactured by Allpower Industries Pty Ltd. of Australia, targeted at the brushcutting market
- Reel – manufactured by Locke Turf Corporation, includes the CL models and are finishing mowers targeted at Golf courses, and baseball, football and soccer fields for manicuring turf
Other commercial brands I know of but are not available locally and I did not see around are:
- Simplicity
- Husqvarna
- Walker
- Encore
- Yazoo
- Jacobsen
- Wheel Horse
- World
- Snapper commercial
- Murray commercial
- Lawn Boy commercial
- Troy-Bilt commercial
- Craftsman commercial (you can order one from Sears but they do not have any in the store here)
I also excluded the various mower attachments for John Deere and Kubota tractors. Those are available but are targeted more to farming equipment than lawn care businesses.
Are you in the market for a commercial mower? How is your search going? What brands are you considering? Are you planning to buy new or used? Please leave your responses in the comments. Thanks!
Oh, and don’t forget to get your copy of How to Make Big Money Mowing Small Lawns.
November 3rd, 2008 at 9:11 pm
You really need to do a lot more research. You really don’t have a clue what you are talking about. If you are looking for a commercial mower talk to a real commercial cutter.
November 8th, 2008 at 12:28 am
Jean,
I’m just starting out and I’m still schlepping my residential push mower around with me. I’m not buying anything until I have the cash, so I don’t have a lot of experience yet. I am learning quickly why you don’t want to use a push mower.
I do talk to professional cutters, but they are usually small, one-man businesses and they only own one commercial-grade mower. I called Scag’s mowers the most popular make because those are the ones my friends own and the ones I see the most in my area. It may not be a generally true statement. All I can go on is my own experience and my own discussions with the people I meet here that mow for a living.
I can also only put so much into a blog post. If you want a lot more information on each mower, I could write a post for each model of each make that I have researched. Is that more what you had in mind?
If you have different opinions, please feel free to write your thoughts here, but a general comment about “I don’t have a clue” just doesn’t help me improve this blog. What exactly do you believe I don’t have a clue about? Do I not have some facts right? What?
December 18th, 2008 at 6:37 am
My vote
Comerical – Ferris
Home Use – Murray
January 8th, 2009 at 2:21 am
I found a good site that reviews and recommend lawn mowers. They have a lot of good insight. http://www.bestratedlawnmowers.com
January 9th, 2009 at 3:31 am
Hank, thanks for the link. I’ll check it out.
January 12th, 2009 at 12:37 pm
You’re doing the right things. There are plenty of good commercial mowers out there…Scag is the best in my opinion, although Hustler is a very good machine, depending on what kind of yards you are cutting. Another thing to consider is your dealer. What is your down time if you break down? Does he put commercial cutters first? Does he carry plenty of parts or will he have to order whatever you need? Ask around. Commercial guys will not hesitate to tell you what you need to know to find a good dealer in your area. And stay away from the big box stores. Buy from a dealer.
January 22nd, 2009 at 8:37 am
I am going thru much the same issues trying to pick out a zero turn mower for heavy estate mowing. There is a really good website if you haven’t found it: lawncafe.com. Very well represented with commercial lawncare guys and willing to give advice to homeowners. The advice I see over and over is that the dealer is as important as the brand. Pick any of the good mowers and find the good dealer locally. I suggest going first with what the commercial guys in YOUR area use and learning why and which dealer they frequent. Probably they pick the mower as much for the local dealer as anything else. Good luck.
February 9th, 2009 at 10:14 pm
I think writing about all of them would be great! there is a site that lets consumers rate there mowers called http://www.compacttractorreview.com/
there isnt much there though. Alot of these mowers you have listed including grasshopper and gravely are all good and cut almost the same. a big deal when buying a mower is dealer support and how far away they are. in my case i live 5 houses or half mile away from a exmark dealer. it would be stupid for me to go somewear else his support is fantastic, will lend out a demo while yours is being fixed. so if he sold any brand i would still use him no matter how it was rated. im in the north eastern new york we have ferris gravely scag kubota johndeere toro and exmark all with in a 15 mile radius of eachother they are all big dealers with good support, i cant say a bad thing about any company, or brand or how much better any of them are. I can tell you that alot to do with the cut is the person taking care of the blades and the deck, and the operator of the mower if he has experience will make any lawn look better than the next guy who doesnt have the know how. my mom has been doing our 3 acre fully landscaped yard for 17 years now, it looks better than the biggest lco arround who does the doctors across the street and he has 3 brands of the best you described above ferris dixiechopper and deere, experience means alot.
May 13th, 2009 at 5:17 pm
Our hybrid remote control lawn mowers have slope mowing capabilities of up to 70 degrees. The rubber track drive combined with its ultra low c.o.g. allows these mowers to “stick” to the hills. Let your men make you money instead of wasting time using a weed eater as a lawn mower!
We also offer residential units perfect for elderly and/or disabled.
August 3rd, 2009 at 2:54 pm
You guys should really check out http://www.wingfieldag.com. They have the best prices and can get practically any part you need. They didn’t have some of my parts on their site, but I called them and they got it for me. They are very nice too!
September 3rd, 2009 at 3:04 pm
A nice first attempt. You did not include Bunton lawn mowers or the Wright Stander lawn mowers. I am looking for a commercial grade lawn mower, myself. When I pull up next to a lawn maintenance company, I will look in their trailer to see which brand of equipment they use. The Bunton and the Wright are very common brands in my part of the USA. Great Dane is another brand. Many of the brands on your list are really not used by the professionals in my part of thye country. I see Wright and Bunton very frequently. Just calling a lawn mower “commercial” does not make it so. You must analyze and evaluate the quality and construction of the unit.
September 6th, 2009 at 9:07 pm
SCAG is the most popular mower around my neck of the woods, and we have remote control mowers for steep hills and ditches instead of the traditional method of a bunch of men with weed eaters, now one man does what used to take 6. But Scag is very popular around here for wide open areas, I have even seen ball field guys using Scag,,,and they were haulin’ tail!!
March 18th, 2010 at 2:13 pm
I stumbled on your story and thought it was to be very news worthy. I aprrecitated your story and I look forward to reading more from your site in the future. How can I know when there is more stories that are posted here on your blog?
April 16th, 2010 at 11:59 am
I just bought a small horse farm although I don’t know why not going to do the horse thing. I have around 10 acres of pasture and lawn to mow.
It has a lot of fenced in pastures thousands of feet of fence. I am trying to decide between a 72″ Deere 997 yanmar diesel and a 61″ scag with a Kawasaki 26 hp. Both are about 2 years old dealer maintained the dear has 175 hours and the scag has 625 hours. The scag was used commercially but looks new. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Check maintenance records and have a compression test done. If the mower has been well maintained, compression will be good and you’ll get a lot of good service out of it. Get maintenance records in writing with receipts to back them up.
You also need to weigh the cost of diesel v gasoline fuel. Diesel from petroleum oil is usually more expensive and burns dirtier, unless you can make your own biodiesel or get it made for you cheaply. Used restaurant frying oil is the best source of nearly free biodiesel. You can make it in your garage or barn pretty easily with filtered used cooking oil, a plastic stirring tank, a pH meter and sodium hydroxide. It will smell like what was cooked in it when you burn it, so be sure it comes from a source that you can stand the smell of.
Diesel engine maintenance may cost more, unless there are a lot of similar model/brand mowers locally to provide parts and choice of service providers.
April 25th, 2010 at 6:30 am
Every few years, every mower on the market will have to have some replacement parts. You could be the most pricey and standard brand, but the fact ruins that eventually they will malfunction since of use. Lawn mower parts are generally in required in two instances. One of them life simple use of the machine, the additional is the result of hurt.
May 7th, 2010 at 7:29 am
I think your list is fine. The fact is depending on where you go, “the best” seems to change. I’ve owned a few of the brands listed above and I too fell for opinions when making purchases. Out of eight brands Ive owned in your top list, Exmark is by far the best Ive had. I now have five lazer z’s in a couple configurations. Tons of people will yell about Dixie Chopper as well but the only thing I can say about that is they make good brush cutters. Finish cut mowers are about the deck, I have yet to see one match that of Exmark! Ferris comes close.
phishy,
Scag wins that battle hands down in my OPINION. I have never had any luck with Deere for reliability reasons and I surely would not trust a used one at all. Good Luck !
May 15th, 2010 at 6:23 am
need belt assy. dia. forr tass force mower…anybody help me
If the company can’t help you, try eBay and Amazon.
May 31st, 2010 at 9:14 am
Sorry, not very good at blogging. Any way my scag came with a full factory warranty looks almost new and has the most comfortable seat I have ever had on any mower or tractor. It runs great has all the power I need and am happy with my purchase. My lawn and pastures had not been maintained at all for almost 3 years and within less than 2 months is starting to look like a golf course already. This thing cuts knee high grass if you need it to and does an awesome job. Glad I found your site and bought a scag. Driving this thing makes me feel like Tim Allen, uhr, uhr, uhr!!!
June 22nd, 2010 at 5:39 am
Believe it or not choosing the appropriate lawn mower can make your life a great deal simpler and cut your lawn chores at least in half, no pun intended. Really the sort of lawn mower you select will all depend on your lawn and the amount of jobs that you want to do to that lawn.
August 8th, 2010 at 11:04 pm
alright, if you are looking for a good mower, get a toro. very great design with the amazingly simple personal pace rear drive system that isnt impossible to roll backwards. i have a 4 year old 6.5hp tecumseh one that still has lots of power and is going strong, especially for all its been through:
buried in three feet of snow
hit a bunch of branches
tropical storm
stored on incline for long period of time
sat in a flood
o, and did i mention it still runs GREAT!!
my grandfather has the same mower and has never had a problem with it
THIS IS A NEARLY INVINCIBLE MOWER if your looking for great quality
GET A TORO!!
November 18th, 2010 at 10:52 pm
Buy lawnmowers, lawn tractors and garden equipment Direct from Mountfield Lawnmowers for next day delivery.
December 21st, 2010 at 3:59 pm
I can see your level
February 27th, 2011 at 12:03 am
One thing all commercial mowers have in common is they all love “Mower Bait” If you have been in the lawn business, you know that is most often Sprinkler Heads. I’m the lawn care professional that invented the Sprinkler Buddy. It custom fits to rotors and spray heads, preventing grass from growing between the guard and sprinkler head. Keeping them visible to miss with the mower tires, etc… See demo video @ http://www.sprinklerbuddy.com
As far as what the best commercial mower is, “Most guys will tell you whatever it is They Have at the time” I love my Hustler’s for Now! It was Ex-Mart. Before that Scag’s Happy Shopping!
May 5th, 2011 at 1:03 am
Allen makes a professional grade hand mower that hovers and makes mowing steep hills and slopes (stream and pond edging) a piece of cake!
This mower could be the answer for many professionals who are looking for the right answer for difficult terrain that can’t be handled by regular mowers with wheels. I found some pros don’t know anything about this mower. Check it out, it may be just the answer you are looking for (http://hubpages.com/hub/hovermower)
October 20th, 2011 at 1:38 am
Good list! Now, some people are having a hard time deciding which of them they must purchase.
Michael
December 17th, 2011 at 11:37 pm
Hi, do not give up, you will be ok.
December 21st, 2011 at 5:33 am
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January 7th, 2012 at 10:46 am
I think you’re on track with your analysis. I was in the excavating business for over 40 years and each and every piece of equipment has it’s own specific features. The key is finding the piece that will be most universal for a small company who doesn’t have millions to play around with.
I stuck with Cat and John Deere for reliability, parts, and service when needed although I’m very mechanically enclined and did 95% of my own repairs.
I might make one suggestion and that being many of these homeowner models are manufactured by one company………MTD and quality has become an issue for many! Personally, I would stick with a commercial (not industrial) model that has a local dealer for parts and service and also QUALITY within the machine…………….like drive shafts vs belts, industrial engines vs basic run of the mill homeowner series, pumps………they come from many manufactures, some good some junk! Also, operators comfort…………the seat and controls, you’re going to live on the machine if you have payments!!!
I think from my perspective and investigation, SCAGG has the optimum machine…………but that’s just my personal opinion. I’ve heard that Hustler and Swisher also build a decent machine but again, Scagg has drive shaft vs Hustler and Swisher using belts!
I guess what I’m getting at is the machine needs to be universal for both small and large jobs, local dealer for parts and servive if required, optimal comfort for the live-on operator, and last but not least, a unit that fits your wallet!