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:

1. Scag – manufactured by Scag Power Equipment, includes the very popular Turf Tiger, Tiger Cub, Saber Tooth Tiger and Wildcat models
2. John Deere – manufactured by Deere and Company, includes the Z-Trak models
3. EverRide – manufactured by Ariens Corporation (Auburn Operations), includes the Warrior, Hornet, YJ, Wasp HP, Scorpion FX, and Scorpion models
4. Toro – manufactured by The Toro Company, includes the Z-Master models
5. Exmark – manufactured by Exmark Manufacturing Company, Inc., includes the LazerZ models
6. Ferris – manufactured by Ferris Industries, includes the IS models and they highlight their suspension as superior to other brands
7. Cub Cadet – manufactured by Cub Cadet, includes the Z-Force, Enforcer and RZT models
8. Hustler – manufactured by Excel Hustler, includes the Super Mini Z, Fastrak, and Super Z models
9. 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.

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