Over the past 61 years we've had Simplicity and Gravely tractors and Cub Cadet zero turn mowers along with Toro push mowers. This past fall I bought a Ferris FW15 to deal with the steep hills and tight quarters on the family owned properties I mow. One of the properties is impossible to mow with a ride on machine of any type... I looked at pretty much every 21"-36" commercial mower available and the features, build quality and robustness of the Ferris sold me... The wide tires, hydro static drive and caster wheels make is very easy to maneuver with excellent traction on the steep hills, congested areas, and soft areas.
Not that popular in my area, but I’m a fan. Ordering a new one 52”tomorrow and just bought the 36” z1 3 weeks ago. Comfortable, stable and good cut quality.
I've been in business 35 years and never seen a mower that wouldn't scalp in certain situations. Walker claimed they wouldn't scalp when they first came out but they will. I've owned ferris in the past but the cut quality wasn't that good. They cut like a gravely and didn't leave a smooth cut. They may have changed over the years. I bought one when they first came out. I've owned about every commercial mower out there . I've ran exmark for years but switched to john deere 2 years ago . They seem to do better than anything I've had. They leave a good clean cut and don't leave any scraglers like other mowers I've used.
Haven’t scalped either my Z3Xs no more than twice. Cut quality depends on types of blades and adjustment of the deck. I dialed mine in to where they cut better or just as good as scag and exmark
i'm a JD guy too, the dealer network is great and I can always find parts. I do have a smaller Ferris as well (FW15) but I'm waiting on parts all the time and the cut is meh
I’m a 1 man band, w/some scattered part time help. Lol!! This is actually a side job? I’ve got 3 sit down mowers. I’m a Bad Boy fan, but agree that the Ferris has the best ride! I have, a Ferris IS3100, 72” 32hp Van, a Bad Boy Outlaw XP, 72” 36hp Van, & a Spartan SRT Pro, 54” 26hp BS. Each have their pros & cons. I mow everything between small city lawns to a couple small country cemeteries, & 4, 3-4acre yards, a small town contract. About 38 customers. The Bad Boy is my fav of the batch, also had it the longest. The Ferris & Spartan LOVE sharpe blades! The discharge on the Bad Boy throws the grass a greatest distance. It also cuts the sparse/thinly grasses better. I added a very aggressive rear treads to both big mowers. That greatly improved the off camber handling of the Ferris. I’d still by another! & actually interested n a stander. On my rough mowing conditions @ 13mph, some type of suspension is a MUST!! I enjoyed your outlook on the Ferris’. & I can’t argue 1 bit.
I have not been a Ferris owner until a few weeks ago. I picked up a IS3000Z 61". I will tell you right now it is the best mower I have used hands down and it is an early 2000's mower. I also have a hustler fasktrak, and toro proline walk behind which are both great mowers as well. I see people complain about the cut quality on Ferris mowers, and maybe there are certain models where the cut quality is lacking, but the cut quality on mine is every bit as good as my toro proline and the toro's are known for their cut quality. The one thing I don't think people realize with Ferris like you said is the build quality is so much better than any other mower out there. All the components are way more heavy duty. The deck and frame are far thicker and more substantial than all the competitors. The ride quality is just light years ahead of any other brand because of their suspensions. I thought my hustler and Toro were built well, that was until I picked up the Ferris and now they seem flimsy in comparison. I have come to determine that people who knock Ferris obviously haven't owned one before or unfortunately got one that had issues or a bad dealer because quality control now is not good anywhere no matter what brand you get and unfortunately there are some really bad dealers out there now.
Purchased wright stander since the first year they where introduced. Recently switched to toro grandstands very comfortable platform and cut quality is awesome
im really the only person that runs ferris in my area. ICD is phenomenal in wet conditions compared to my old exmarks, scags, and toros. hell even the 36 inch non ICD deck is pretty good in wet conditions compared to the competition
500 hours on my Ferris 2200. Love this mower! Awesome ride and cuts fast. Definitely a money maker compared to my Hustler Super S. The 500 hour oil changes should be an industry standard. However, it has needed a new lower seal, PTO switch, and middle Spindle bearing (which I think is because my zerk fitting is defective). It has 15 grease points, which is kind of annoying.. and half way through the day it is dirty and squeaking again.. Now I'm fighting a slow leak in one tire. Looking at those Tweels! Shops keep trying to talk me out of buying them.. saying they slide and cut the turf on incline and it's cheaper to replace a valve stem for $10, but I just want to reduce idle maintenance time when I could be out there cutting grass. I'd be curious to know your thoughts on the tweels and if you would buy them again.
My boss SWEARS and will vie by exmark we have one Ferris Z3X 72” that I convinced him to buy because I hate sitting and I absolutely love it we do commercial so the smallest mower we have is a exmark 60” and the biggest mowers we have are all 72” besides our super 88 stander and super 104” from hustler we got those just because if you don’t spend it you lose it
I am a solo operator who's owned a Ferris 52" Z2 for 4 years. Prior to that, I'd also spent about 20-30 hours cutting both lawn and pasture on a buddy's farm using his 72" ex-mark sit on mower (a beast) but wasn't that concerned about the cut quality at the time. Regarding the Z2, I have been disappointed with the cut quality since there seem to be too many stragglers and it doesn't 'stripe'. The only 'stripe' I see after cutting are the tire tracks. When I see the striping on other lawns in the neighborhoods where I cut, I think my customer's cut lawns appear shabby in comparison. I tried replacing the OEM blades with a gator-style blade (ie, Ballard Ripper) and a shorter sail Oregon brand OEM replacement blade. I also regularly clean and sharpen my blades but see no results that meet my expectation or satisfaction. What blades do you use on your Ferris machines?
I am using x blades I am using ether a couple high lift blades or I do a high lift and gator blade. When I was using single blades I used high lift and mulch blades just depended on the time of year.
@@thelawncarelegend1167 Thanks. Ironically, I just put my X blades on the Z2 yesterday before I read your reply. I will be using a brand new medium lift blade along with the Ballard Ripper blade I've been using this summer. We'll see how that goes.
@@BB-ig2ft Thanks for your question. Yes, I routinely check the tire pressure prior to loading the Z2 on my trailer as one tire is usually loses a few lbs every few days. I've also adjusted the deck earlier in the season to return it to spec since it was slightly out.
How does the 72" stand on do when its wet. Like morning dew mowing or after it rained. Wanting to pull the trigger on one but this is my only hold up. Everyone raves about scag as they cut so good when the grass is wet in regards to cut quality and clumping. I already owned a v2 52" and love everything about the ferris standons.
Bent spindle shaft is usually due to you hitting something hydro fan could have broke off due to debris not being cleaned out. That stuff can happen with any other mower
So you have about 5 mowers there... You should be making enough money to not use a lil Storage Facility. No estilo operation needs that. You are killing yourself
Next year I will have a guy or two to run them. You have to have the equipment before you have the man power. I know a couple guys who run three or two crews that rent a shop out or store equipment in storage. I am saving up for land in the near future. But everybody has to start some where.
I built all of these, ive worked there for 20 years. I make the metal parts
Over the past 61 years we've had Simplicity and Gravely tractors and Cub Cadet zero turn mowers along with Toro push mowers. This past fall I bought a Ferris FW15 to deal with the steep hills and tight quarters on the family owned properties I mow. One of the properties is impossible to mow with a ride on machine of any type... I looked at pretty much every 21"-36" commercial mower available and the features, build quality and robustness of the Ferris sold me... The wide tires, hydro static drive and caster wheels make is very easy to maneuver with excellent traction on the steep hills, congested areas, and soft areas.
Was ex-mark Lazer guy...switched to a ZX3... my back problems went away...3 years with ferris no problems
Not that popular in my area, but I’m a fan. Ordering a new one 52”tomorrow and just bought the 36” z1 3 weeks ago. Comfortable, stable and good cut quality.
I've been in business 35 years and never seen a mower that wouldn't scalp in certain situations. Walker claimed they wouldn't scalp when they first came out but they will. I've owned ferris in the past but the cut quality wasn't that good. They cut like a gravely and didn't leave a smooth cut. They may have changed over the years. I bought one when they first came out. I've owned about every commercial mower out there . I've ran exmark for years but switched to john deere 2 years ago . They seem to do better than anything I've had. They leave a good clean cut and don't leave any scraglers like other mowers I've used.
Haven’t scalped either my Z3Xs no more than twice.
Cut quality depends on types of blades and adjustment of the deck. I dialed mine in to where they cut better or just as good as scag and exmark
Well cut emerald, zenith ,zeon, myers tiff tough tiff way or southern blue grass by north ga turf they leave amazing stripes and thats @2 inch bud
i'm a JD guy too, the dealer network is great and I can always find parts. I do have a smaller Ferris as well (FW15) but I'm waiting on parts all the time and the cut is meh
I’m a 1 man band, w/some scattered part time help. Lol!! This is actually a side job? I’ve got 3 sit down mowers. I’m a Bad Boy fan, but agree that the Ferris has the best ride! I have, a Ferris IS3100, 72” 32hp Van, a Bad Boy Outlaw XP, 72” 36hp Van, & a Spartan SRT Pro, 54” 26hp BS. Each have their pros & cons. I mow everything between small city lawns to a couple small country cemeteries, & 4, 3-4acre yards, a small town contract. About 38 customers. The Bad Boy is my fav of the batch, also had it the longest. The Ferris & Spartan LOVE sharpe blades! The discharge on the Bad Boy throws the grass a greatest distance. It also cuts the sparse/thinly grasses better. I added a very
aggressive rear treads to both big mowers. That greatly improved the off camber handling of the Ferris. I’d still by another! & actually interested n a stander. On my rough mowing conditions @ 13mph, some type of suspension is a MUST!! I enjoyed your outlook on the Ferris’. & I can’t argue 1 bit.
That’s an awesome set up!
I have not been a Ferris owner until a few weeks ago. I picked up a IS3000Z 61". I will tell you right now it is the best mower I have used hands down and it is an early 2000's mower. I also have a hustler fasktrak, and toro proline walk behind which are both great mowers as well. I see people complain about the cut quality on Ferris mowers, and maybe there are certain models where the cut quality is lacking, but the cut quality on mine is every bit as good as my toro proline and the toro's are known for their cut quality. The one thing I don't think people realize with Ferris like you said is the build quality is so much better than any other mower out there. All the components are way more heavy duty. The deck and frame are far thicker and more substantial than all the competitors. The ride quality is just light years ahead of any other brand because of their suspensions. I thought my hustler and Toro were built well, that was until I picked up the Ferris and now they seem flimsy in comparison. I have come to determine that people who knock Ferris obviously haven't owned one before or unfortunately got one that had issues or a bad dealer because quality control now is not good anywhere no matter what brand you get and unfortunately there are some really bad dealers out there now.
Purchased wright stander since the first year they where introduced. Recently switched to toro grandstands very comfortable platform and cut quality is awesome
Nice toro makes some good mowers
I run honda everything. Never has let me down yet. Wonderful motors.
im really the only person that runs ferris in my area. ICD is phenomenal in wet conditions compared to my old exmarks, scags, and toros. hell even the 36 inch non ICD deck is pretty good in wet conditions compared to the competition
I know right I been able to switch a couple people over to Ferris and they have not regretted it
500 hours on my Ferris 2200. Love this mower! Awesome ride and cuts fast. Definitely a money maker compared to my Hustler Super S. The 500 hour oil changes should be an industry standard. However, it has needed a new lower seal, PTO switch, and middle Spindle bearing (which I think is because my zerk fitting is defective). It has 15 grease points, which is kind of annoying.. and half way through the day it is dirty and squeaking again.. Now I'm fighting a slow leak in one tire. Looking at those Tweels! Shops keep trying to talk me out of buying them.. saying they slide and cut the turf on incline and it's cheaper to replace a valve stem for $10, but I just want to reduce idle maintenance time when I could be out there cutting grass. I'd be curious to know your thoughts on the tweels and if you would buy them again.
The tweels are great and have good grip.
Only down side is if there is clover they get pretty slick.
Friend of mine got 2 ferris stand on mower. No complaints cuts and ride good.
Awsome
Ferris has the best suspension,and comfortable ride
Ferris and Simplicity own both of them. My favorite also
My boss SWEARS and will vie by exmark we have one Ferris Z3X 72” that I convinced him to buy because I hate sitting and I absolutely love it we do commercial so the smallest mower we have is a exmark 60” and the biggest mowers we have are all 72” besides our super 88 stander and super 104” from hustler we got those just because if you don’t spend it you lose it
Sounds like you got a Awesome line up of machines
Years ago I was at my local dealer and there was a sample of the frame tubing that is used by Ferris and it is heavy duty.
They are for sure heavy duty
Love my ISX 2200 w/ Vanguard Oil Guard
I am a solo operator who's owned a Ferris 52" Z2 for 4 years. Prior to that, I'd also spent about 20-30 hours cutting both lawn and pasture on a buddy's farm using his 72" ex-mark sit on mower (a beast) but wasn't that concerned about the cut quality at the time. Regarding the Z2, I have been disappointed with the cut quality since there seem to be too many stragglers and it doesn't 'stripe'. The only 'stripe' I see after cutting are the tire tracks. When I see the striping on other lawns in the neighborhoods where I cut, I think my customer's cut lawns appear shabby in comparison. I tried replacing the OEM blades with a gator-style blade (ie, Ballard Ripper) and a shorter sail Oregon brand OEM replacement blade. I also regularly clean and sharpen my blades but see no results that meet my expectation or satisfaction. What blades do you use on your Ferris machines?
I am using x blades I am using ether a couple high lift blades or I do a high lift and gator blade. When I was using single blades I used high lift and mulch blades just depended on the time of year.
Have you checked your tire pressure? Checked the deck level?
@@thelawncarelegend1167 Thanks. Ironically, I just put my X blades on the Z2 yesterday before I read your reply. I will be using a brand new medium lift blade along with the Ballard Ripper blade I've been using this summer. We'll see how that goes.
@@BB-ig2ft Thanks for your question. Yes, I routinely check the tire pressure prior to loading the Z2 on my trailer as one tire is usually loses a few lbs every few days. I've also adjusted the deck earlier in the season to return it to spec since it was slightly out.
@@peterprobst6307 buy a stripe kit 👌
Love my fw45 52"
How does the 72" stand on do when its wet. Like morning dew mowing or after it rained. Wanting to pull the trigger on one but this is my only hold up. Everyone raves about scag as they cut so good when the grass is wet in regards to cut quality and clumping. I already owned a v2 52" and love everything about the ferris standons.
It does fine with wet leafs or grass
How do like the 48
What brand/type of blades do you use on your machines? Curious. I'm getting the 48 in later today.
I use gator mulching blades and high lift blades with Ballards X blade adaptors.
Where did you get the how hitch for the mower? I gave a Z2 but on 500 hours.
Team exmark here but Ferris is awesome for stand on exmark needs too work on there standers
Ya they do there latest one they just copied a right stander and put there deck on it.
I have a Ferris Z1 36 in stand on and need a tow hitch. I see in the video u have 1 on a couple of urs, curious where u got them?
I got the 2 inch recover hitches from Ballard.com they are from detach I believe
Thank u
Agreed
how does the z1 with chute blocker mulch? does it do a fine job and give a sweet cut?
Chute blocker works good if it is a lot of grass it will leave clumps as it try’s to push grass out of the flap
cut quality? how does it compare to exmark , etc
Cuts just as good as a ex mark in my opinion
Doesn’t turn on but it’s okay I’ll just push 😂
I’m only messing ! We all have opinions just have to respect ! Great video by the way keep it up !
100 hours on my 2200 bent spindle shaft and hydro fan broke off
1000 hours on deere 930m nothing it's a tank
Bent spindle shaft is usually due to you hitting something hydro fan could have broke off due to debris not being cleaned out. That stuff can happen with any other mower
@@thelawncarelegend1167 right been babying my ferris compared to the deere
@@shanepipkin4041 I don’t man maybe you just had a fluke mower. I take care of my equipment but I’m not easy on them I run them pretty hard.
100hrs on my 2200. No issues.
guess you never used a grasshopper
I know a guy who does and swears by them I like there products I just like Ferris better
Toro
Toro Commercial diesel.
I’ve never driven Ferris or SCAG, but I’ve always been a Ferris guy.
you ran anything else
Yes I ran scag and exmark they don’t compare
You didn't watch video
You swear by them because you bought them l 😆
A lot of them too.
I wouldn’t buy more of a product I wouldn’t swear buy.
@@thelawncarelegend1167 must be true since you have a fleet
@@E.L.C. Yes sir you know it!
So you have about 5 mowers there... You should be making enough money to not use a lil Storage Facility. No estilo operation needs that. You are killing yourself
Next year I will have a guy or two to run them. You have to have the equipment before you have the man power. I know a couple guys who run three or two crews that rent a shop out or store equipment in storage. I am saving up for land in the near future. But everybody has to start some where.