After buying the neighbor's property I ended up with more grass to mow and while my Kubota tractor does pretty well I wanted something faster and more maneuverable. Never had or even driven a ZTR but they seem the obvious choice for a dedicated mower so knowing nothing about them started looking and learning.

I narrowed down what I wanted as one having a 60" deck that can cut at least 5" high, good hydraulic drives, with a carbureted Kawasaki engine. Hustler, Exmark, Gravely and Kubota were the ones I had settled down to when I came across Ferris, a company up in NY state who'd been making ZTR's and is now owned by B&S.

While some of the ground is fairly smooth much is not and those areas gave my back a beating when mowing with the tractor so I was concerned about ride quality, or lack of, with a ZTR and some of Ferris ZTR's utilize a suspension. They seem to be alone with this possibly because of patents I don't know. Anyway I ended up buying a Ferris Z2100 with 61" deck and 25hp Kawasaki engine which fit my requirements.

After a bit of a learning curve and with about 10 hours on it now I'm able to mow a *lot* faster than with my tractor even with it's 72" deck and this thing is a hoot to ride/drive. Hell it's like driving your own carnival ride! And it has plenty of power never bogs down even ion long, thick grass, it just throws it out.

I'm going to try and post an image....









Worked, my first images from Postimage.

What did that set you back, $6000 to $8000?

And just a little bit of advice from a small engine guy, make sure to change the oil early, and Kawasaki engines seem to prefer 15W40 oil. I use nothing else in them.

I paid $8,900 for it.

Thanks for the advice. Engine calls for 15w-50 oil and for hydraulic fluid it specs 20w-50 engine oil which is nice because it's readily available and inexpensive.

The dealer threw in a spare set of mower blades and two oil filters. I have Mobil 1 15w-50 oil on hand and I plan on changing the engine oil and filter this week after the next mowing when it'll have about 18-20 hours.

Everybody I know who owns a Ferris says tbe suspension doesn't do much. One told me the best thing he did was to put a Grammer seat on. His Bad Boy with a Grammer was smoother than his Ferris.

After a few discussions on the forum earlier this year, I also bought a Ferris. It cut my mowing time in half, and as I get better on it I'm shaving off even more.

My yard is far from smooth, and although I won't hit the rough spots at 12 MPH, the suspension does make a difference.

quote:

Originally posted by houndawg:
Everybody I know who owns a Ferris says tbe suspension doesn't do much. One told me the best thing he did was to put a Grammer seat on. His Bad Boy with a Grammer was smoother than his Ferris.

I've heard that said about the Ferris Z700 series but in all honesty the Z2100 is the only Ferris I've ridden

I still feel bumps when riding over rough ground but the suspension takes the edge off them to where they are not a problem for me. It's much smoother riding over the same ground than my Kubota B2650. You can watch the suspension actually working while mowing.

Side by side comparison my Z2100 rides much smoother than my friends Gravely Pro 100 which has a high back suspension seat.

Plus I could always add a suspension seat to the Ferris and have an even smoother ride. In fact I asked about this when buying it and the dealer suggested I use it first with the premium seat that comes on it then decide if I want to buy a suspension seat. He said some don't like the jiggling around on suspension seats plus no one he's sold a 2100/3200 to ever came back for a suspension seat. But if I had a mower with no suspension I know I'd want a sprung seat for it.

Very nice looking mower, the Zero Turns have really evolved since their beginnings.

I too have a Kubota tractor mower, a B2320, and the ride with the lug style tires is really rough. My previous Kubota, a BX 2360 had turf tires , not as jolting.

The suspension seats are not cheap.

quote:

Originally posted by houndawg:
Everybody I know who owns a Ferris says tbe suspension doesn't do much. One told me the best thing he did was to put a Grammer seat on. His Bad Boy with a Grammer was smoother than his Ferris.

I have the IS2100z same as the OP and LOVE it. Except I wanted the Vanguard 28 HP electronic fuel injected engine. No carburetor for me thank you! If the Vanguard 32HP had been out then I would have got that. I have to slow down a bit when bush hogging waist high fescue.

LOL! Yes, the Ferris suspension doesn't do much. But it does what it is designed to do extremely well!
You can actually see the shocks working up and down on the sharper bumps and holes. No It doesn't respond much to small of gradual bumps or ride like a Cadillac, but on my very rough lot it allows me to mow faster I'm convinced. When I see the struts working up and down I know it is reducing the beating the mower and I are taking. When researching mowers I found that most of the people who were dissing the suspension had never actually used it in rough conditions, or at all, and were pushing their favorite brand without it. You can still add a higher end seat for the best of both worlds! The smaller / cheaper Ferris models have some suspension but it's not the same and only on the front so those may not be as good, IDK. Also note that the suspension preload is adjustable, I have mine set to full soft.

Edit to add:
LOL! Guess I just repeated what ridewv said... I had to tend to the grandkids lunch mid post...

The Ferris suspension sold me. I was prepared to buy a Scag or an Xmark until I zipped around on some rough ground on a Ferris.
Our oak trees seem to keep the yard heaved up in a rub board and the Ferris does add a bit of smoothing. No buyer's remorse here. Enjoy your new machine.

Thanks Sportshooter!

I know R4 industrial tires are stiff but my Kubota tractor/mower has turf tires and on our rough areas it's still a bumpy ride. I think part of it is that I'm sitting up so high and when the tractor tilts side to side on bumps and dips it's constantly
tipping me back and forth. Being lower to the ground I don 't get that on the ZTR.

It was a tough choice between a B&S Vanguard or Kawasaki. He had a Z3200 with a Vanguard Big Block carbureted that he really wanted to sell and had a great price on it but I've heard they really gulp the fuel. If it were FI I'd have probably bought that one.

I've got a pal who mows miles of industrial park right of way and he's been using Ferris 2100s for years. Good choice.

quote:

Hell it's like driving your own carnival ride!

Ya, wait 'till you do a negative g push over, inverted. My ZTR mower look's more Millennium Falcon (as in "What a piece of junk") than yours, but it's got it where it counts. So many movie scenes to reenact while mowing the lawn. Have fun.

quote:

Originally posted by doublesharp:
Good choice.

Thanks doublesharp!

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:

Ya, wait 'till you do a negative g push over, inverted.....

LOL maybe when I get a little better I give that a try! I did come close to getting it hung up in mud, the more I went back and forth the deeper it sank. Finally one last full throttle, full speed run, spinning tires throwing mud everywhere, and it got out.

These two videos show the difference between having suspension on the seat versus having it between the frame and wheels.

Seat suspension:



Frame suspension:

Interesting and informative thanks for posting. Really illustrates what I felt between my Ferris and the Gravely.

Looks like one helleva machine!

I hope you have better luck with the KAW engine than my friend did.
He bought a new Hustler with the Kaw engine.
He had some problems with it while he had it.
He sold it and the motor blew. Of course it was out of warranty.

Love the suspension

quote:

Originally posted by Aquabird:
I hope you have better luck with the KAW engine than my friend did...... He had some problems with it while he had it.... He sold it and the motor blew.

Love the suspension

Well I do too Aquabird. I've not had good luck with B&S although I do hear good things about their Vanguard motors. I couple engine repair guys I spoke with like Kawasaki engines a lot and don't care for the newer Kohlers, So who knows?
Like on all my small motors I let them warm up for 60 seconds or longer before moving, check the oil regularly, and always change it ahead of schedule with synthetic. And keep the air filter clean or change it. That's about all I can do.

I always wondered with these Zero Turn Radius mowers. Isn't a turn with zero radius a straight line?

How do you turn?

I've had a Toro zero turn for about five years now and I love that thing. That video did make me laugh though. If I am going to go banging around the woods with a full open throttle, then I will take my side by side which has a great suspension system.

Is that Ferris more comfortable to ride on? Probably, but then at mowing speed speed how much difference is there really? And is that worth the six grand more than what I paid? Who knows? It does look like a nice machine and should serve you well.