Any experience?

Obviously the outdoor answer with twice the price would be Ferris with full suspension.

Other than that I have no experience with either JD or Kubota so I have nothing else to contribute.

I have a JD. Like it. No experience with the Kubota.

On the Kubota be aware some of the lower tier have a solid rollover bar. So you cannot fold it down when around trees. I am not sure if they have changed that recently.

I was using a JD but happened to drop in on an estate sale of a fellow who had passed and got a heck of a deal on a 800 series Ferris. I have a bad back and oh my goodness how smooth the Ferris was compared to my JD. I have no first hand knowledge on Kubota but did like my JD.

Which models?

Yep. Need to know models. I think a lot of people get confused because they compare homeowner grade product lines to commercial grade lines. John Deere is not John Deere.

You're right about that. Those John Deere mowers at Home Depot don't look well built at all. I'm pretty sure all of the Kubota mowers are of high quality. I own two Kubota tractors, a Kubota skid steer and a Kubota UTV, but I think if I had to buy another zero turn mower I'd get another Scag.

I have the 72" Kubota diesel zero turn.

Expensive but worth it if you have a lot of mowing to do.

I have a Kubota ZTR, it's a solid machine with a great warranty and the dealer is 15 minutes away in the event something happens.

My buddy has a JD ZTR and loves his machine.

Pretty sure you can flip a coin and not lose no matter if you call heads or tails.

We own a Kubota 54" Commercial Zero Turn. Twice as expensive as what you would find for a comparable Zero Turn from Home Depot or Lowe's. It's the bomb.

My sons have a Scagg zero turn at their lake place and I get to use it when I mow up there, it is a great machine and cuts grass like a boss - this is a commercial grade mower that takes care of our two lots with no issues.

For my yard at home, I have a used (6 years) JD zero turn that I got from a friend that moved into a cookie cutter neighborhood with virtually no yard- he got it from a local JD store, not a big box model, and it does a great job cutting our regular size home/office yard.

The Scagg cost about twice what the JD did new but as I said, it is an actual commercial grade mower where the JD is "just" a JD -

ToddyHill said:

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We own a Kubota 54" Commercial Zero Turn. Twice as expensive as what you would find for a comparable Zero Turn from Home Depot or Lowe's. It's the bomb.

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I wanted the 54" in a bad way, but the door to my storage shed/barn would not allow that wide of a deck to fit, so I had to settle for the 48" The 54" probably would reduce my time mowing by about a third.

I had a Kubota tractor for the pasture and a JD lawn tractor for the lawn. I sold the lawn tractor and wanted to go to a zero turn. At that time, all of the Kubota zero turns were commercial grade only. I was ready to go Kubota for the zero turn until my wife snapped me back into reality with a "$7500 for a lawn mower!" I ended up buying a JD Z425. I've been happy with it. The only issue is that I have struggled with both the JD lawn tractor and the JD zero turn, getting a level cut. They tell me that tire inflation must be consistent and a pound or so off with one tire can cause the uneven cut. I know I didn't exactly address your question but think you'd be happy with either.

Hustler. EOT.

Those diesel Kubotas are the bomb but they can leave more\bigger ruts due to the engine weight, especially in wetter areas. That wouldn't deter me from owning one though.

Muzzleblast said:

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I have the 72" Kubota diesel zero turn.

Expensive but worth it if you have a lot of mowing to do.

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Which Model? How much do you regularly mow ?

First things first, every single brand has its fanboys. They are all gonna say that their mower is the best.

Now that that's out of the way...I sold JD stuff for a while, and got the opportunity to test pretty much every brand in the industry. Looking at just those two brands will severely limit you. I honestly don't know that either of those are the "best" mowers out there.

It'd be a lot easier to recommend a mower or a brand if we knew what you needed to cut/wanted to spend. Deere's lineup has mowers from $2000-$20000+. There're all the same color green on the outside, but there are plenty of mowers in their lineup that I wouldn't want at all. Same goes for Kubota.

aftershock said:

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First things first, every single brand has its fanboys. They are all gonna say that their mower is the best.

Now that that's out of the way...I sold JD stuff for a while, and got the opportunity to test pretty much every brand in the industry. Looking at just those two brands will severely limit you. I honestly don't know that either of those are the "best" mowers out there.

It'd be a lot easier to recommend a mower or a brand if we knew what you needed to cut/wanted to spend. Deere's lineup has mowers from $2000-$20000+. There're all the same color green on the outside, but there are plenty of mowers in their lineup that I wouldn't want at all. Same goes for Kubota.

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In! Im building a house on a 1.2 acre lot in bryan. Probably will get either zoysia or bermuda grass. I have a 6 ft door opening in my storage closet. Looking for something in the 3000-4000. 42-54 in cutting width. Ive heard kawasaki engines are the way to go, something with that.

I was looking at getting the ariens ikon xd 52. What would you suggest?

I can't say anything about Kubota as I've never used one. On the JD side of things, I think it is well worth the money to step up to their commercial grade z track mowers. Just no comparison in the quality between those and the residential models. I mow in just about every ground condition you can think of and the JD rolls right through it.

In that price range the Ariens is pretty solid. FIL just got one, and I've had the chance to use it and it seems as solid as anything else I've tried in that price range.

I would definitely recommend a Kawasaki.

I would also recommend going to a dealer vs a big box store. More likely to find a deal. More likely to get better service (free tank of gas, delivery etc). More likely to get a machine that's not been sat on and left in the weather 24/7. I also think it's good to get to know the dealer and get comfortable with the dealership.

Bought a JD zero turn mower at the dealer a few years ago on sale. It was 7k or so. It has lasted very well. Takes care of multiple yards, highway ROW and fencelines. Every year or so it needs new or sharpened blades but that's going to be with any mower. You spend the money on these things for the tough metal body so it doesn't fall apart. For what we do, it's worth the money.