New Lawn Mower

[Down2Earth]

I have about 2 acres to mow with 200 or so trees to mow around. I'm looking at getttin a JD F725 or a Toro Zmaster. Both used. The F725 has 600 hours and the toro has 1300 hours. The price dif. between the two is around $1500. Any info on either machine is appreciated.

[LwnmwnMan2]

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I have about 2 acres to mow with 200 or so trees to mow around. I'm looking at getttin a JD F725 or a Toro Zmaster. Both used. The F725 has 600 hours and the toro has 1300 hours. The price dif. between the two is around $1500. Any info on either machine is appreciated.

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How much for either machine?? Where are you located, and which shop are you closer to?? The Toro or John Deere??

Are the deck and engines the same size?? I need specifics and I can tell you which way to go.

Also, 200 trees on 2 acres??? Do you live in a tree house??

[Down2Earth]

Sorry I should have made it a little more clear. I looked up both mowers the Toro is a 04' 52 inch or 54. I don't know the details on the motor on either machine. I looked the prices up from a buddy at a dealer (doesn't sell mowers though) on what they were worth and the dif was around 1500 to 2000 (I'm hoping being it's the fall of the year I might get a deal). Both machines are at an upcoming auction. I seen the pictures of the machines but that is it. One might end up being in terrible condition and then the choice will be easy. But all things looking good then I'm looking for some who have used them or problems to look for when I'm checking them out. One person told me they liked their JD F725. But the parts on JD's are out rageous. His example. He needed a new starter thought it was going to be around $50....nope over $400. Maybe the toro's parts are just as expensive I don't know. Maybe the toro has a lot more things that go wrong so it's a wash in the end anyway. Maybe they never break down. i just don't know. What are some things i should look for i.e. maybe the JD has weak bearings and spindles in their decks or the decks they put one the F725. Or the hydros in the toros are terrible. That's the type of info i'm looking for. Is a machine with 1300 hours on it's last leg? Or at around 1500 hours I can look at replacing this, this, and this. I'm sure the toro has either a B&s motor or the Kohler in the 17 to 20 range. If I guess right the F725 has a 20 horse Kawi.

P.S Both dealers are close. And no I don't live in a tree house. I also don't care about how nice the stripes are in my lawn. the trees are all only 2 years old from planting bare root. I own 5 acres the mowing 2 acrs is just a guess.

Thanks, D2E

[LwnmwnMan2]

The Toro will be easier to find parts for online, if you are going to do work yourself, blades and belts quite a bit cheaper than going to a dealer.

The F725 will probably be easier to mow around those trees, IF they're planted far enough apart to get the larger mower inbetween them.

The 725 will also give you a smoother ride, with the longer wheel base.

As far as whether stuff is still solid, one can only tell by looking / touching the machine.

If you're going to check and see if the spindles have alot of play in them, remember to remove the deck belt first, then you should be able to see if they 'wobble' too much.

As far as the hydros, if you step on the pedal on the 725, or push the levers forward on the ZMaster, and they feel real real mushy, like there's no response right away, that COULD be a problem, or just the machine. If you hear a bunch of "grinding" or "clicking", then that's bad.

I would suggest trying to locate the fill for the hydro system. There should be a dipstick there so you can check the level of the fluid. Pull that out and wipe it off with a clean paper towel, see if there's any metal shavings.

Usually though, people will have a tendency to change all the fluids before they sell, so that doesn't always work.

Lastly, it looks like looking at different websites, that the 725 will go for roughly $6,000 retail. Without knowing the exact model Toro, I'd say that's worth around $3,500 retail, going off of a Toro ZTR, 19 hp engine, 52" deck.

[Down2Earth]

Wow! I was at the auction today. They started biiding on the ZTR mowers first. Not one sold. The auctioneers where bidding them selves. Then I decided on trying to buy a JD 455, 445, X475, 345, 425AWS, 445. Besides the X475 all of them were stored outside and had cracked seats. Other then the looks being bad everything I started and mowed with seemed to be mechanically fine. The X475 sold for $5000. None of the others sold. The auctioneers started the bidding on the 345 at $3000. It was funny watching them make people think someone else was bidding. I guess they didn't want to sell anything very bad. Too bad because I would have probably owned one for around $2000. The 455 had a deisel also. All the mowers came from belle plain equip. so I'm sure they had a reserve. Guess I'll have to keep looking.