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So, in August, I’m moving to a house where there is a decent, but not too steep slope on parts of the yard. It’s on 5 acres, and I have about an acre of grass to mow.

The sellers are offering to sell me their Encore Fuzion 48” Deck Zero Turn Mower: https://sleequipment.com/encore-fuzion-48-deck-zero-turn-mower-18-hp-kawasaki.html

They say it is 3 years old and has 50-70 hours of use. I have seen it, and it looked to be in good condition.

They are offering to sell it for $1,900. They retail for $4,900 new. The cheapest ZT mower I can find, for example, at Home Depot is about $2,900.

My only concern is that, for example, all of the zero-turn mowers on the Home Depot website have between 22 and 24 HP. The one for sale has 18 HP.

Would you take the used one for $1,900 of buy something new?

Many thanks in advance for your advice.

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I'd say that's a steal!

Welded steel deck, Kawasaki engine!

You will love it.

Mike


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We have a Grasshopper mid deck mower my wife uses, and likes.

Don't forget dealer support.


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That’s a much better mower than the junk at Lowes or Home Depot. The Kawasaki engine is bulletproof. I’d jump on it if there were no problems. A heavier mower will sit on that slope better than a light, cheap one.

*full disclosure*
I am not familiar with that particular brand of mower, but it appears to be well built.

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I've got a John Deere 445 with the Kawasaki engine and it has over 2000 hours with no issues. I'd say the engine on the zero turn you're looking at will last a long time. 5 acres is allot to mow though and a wider deck would save some time.

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It’s on 5 acres, and I have about an acre of grass to mow., Is what the OP posted.

Not familiar with that brand, but Kawasaki gas engines are pretty damn good. If it's a well made mower, go for it?

Have a 61" deck Ferris ZT that's probably 14 years old, 900+ hours. All new belts last year, just replaced all three deck spindles this spring. 24 HP Kawa twin on it. Mows 7 to 10 acres on a regular basis. Filled the front tires w/foam years ago, no more flats.


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18HP is plenty to mow an acre.
Kawasaki will run 2-3 thousand hours
Says 3 year warranty, may be some left ?
At $1900, I would definitely buy it .

It's already there, one less thing to do.
(Encore just moved back from China a few years back. IIRC?)

Congrats on the new house !


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about an acre of grass to mow.


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I think I would jump on the used one. 70 hours is nothing, its a great price.....less than half of new, and its a better built machine than what you are going to get at the big box stores. You say you only have one acre out of the five to mow and if you ask me a 48 inch ZT is plenty for that.

You can't hardly buy a POS MTD lawn tractor for $1900 anymore. I was at Homey Depot the other day and they had a Troy Bilt pony for 1600ish.

Last edited by RJY66; 07/15/21.

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At that price, I'd take it.


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Wish I had a Kawasaki on the 25hp John Deere I have. The Briggs schitt the bed on a valve at 150hrs. Took a thousand bucks to get it out of the shop.

The cheap JD tractor I had before that was one of the low-end L-series and ran like a top for about 10 years before it finally just wore out.


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I wouldn't worry too much about the advertised HP numbers. Lots of engine makers use the same borexstroke with different carbs and tune for different HP ratings. Sometimes slightly less HP and better torque work better anyway.

$1900, I'd jump on it.

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Buy a Ferris.


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https://worldlawn.com/mowers/


This is who owns them.

I bet they cut a lot of grass in Nebraska!

Ought to be good mowers


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Take it, and if you are worried I had 17hp on a 52" deck no problems. After using it for years I found out the carb was only designed to open part way and by changing parts went to 21 hp. did not make a lot of difference for normal mowing.

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Originally Posted by OSU_Sig
Buy a Ferris.
Yup they are really well built and are comfortable to operate.


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Really depends if you want to drink beer while you mow. I had a zero turn at my old house, mowed -5-6 acres. At my new place I bought a lawn tractor and only now 1 acre. Couldn't drink a beer while mowing on the zero turn. I can get two in during my acre now.


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Buy it. All of them have gotten pricey. My bad boy is a2012 and has the Kawasaki engine. Still runs great. 23 hp,50” cut. I gave 3600.00 for it in 2012, I think the new model is 4600.00

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figure you will pay 1500-ish for a home depot mtd mower that has a schitty deck, schitty front axle, plastic hood and plastic starter gear among other low-end components. i don't know anything about those mowers but if it has a kawi engine and a good deck, i would think at 1900 its worth a shot. even if it blows up in 4-5 years you will still be ahead. do some research and see if there are known problems with those and what to look out for. and a decent self propelled push mower will do an acre pretty easy if you are in at all decent shape. i've done 2+ quite a few times with my honda when my mtd made mower was down. good exercise if you have the knees for it.


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Thanks guys for the helpful comments. I think I'll get it. It's too good of a deal, even if there are better mowers. Even the cheapest 42" ones I could find were a grand more.

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