I just received delivery of my brand new Toro Z Master 4000 HDX Pro XL with the Turboforce 72 inch deck and 35 HP Kawasaki engine. Here are my first impressions and tests of the BEAST of a ZTR
Sam, I have been anticipating seeing your new mower. To my surprise, it's a Toro Z Master. Excellent choice! I have an older Z Master 23hp 60-inch deck. Recently, a Sheetz convenience store opened in my town of Marysville, OH. They offer alcohol-free gasoline. I've been using it in my Toro, and I can not believe the difference it makes in the way my Toro runs. I have two other Toro Grounds Masters with three-cylinder diesel engines. The deck is 72 inches and out front of the mower. I've been mowing six acres of grass since 1974 and started with a 12hp 36-inch deck. It took days, not hours, to cut. Over the years, I have been upgrading mowers, and the Toro's are a lifesaver-great video as all your others.
Thank you so much! You seem to be an expert with all that mower experience. Diesel would be very nice but also pricey. I've been looking for ethanol free gas. I didn't realize Sheetz sold it. I'll check locally. Thanks for the tip 😁👍
Good morning Sam, congratulations! The Toro is a beauty and looks like it is just the ticket. I think you are going to have fun while saving time. Thanks for a great review and demo. Enjoy your weekend, Ben
Congratulations on your new mower Sam. That should give you good service for a long time. It's nice to do in depth research and get the exact machine you want. I'm glad that you were able to score a deal on it too.
Excellent! I have a Gravely 260 Z I bought in 2010 and with just regular maintenance it's still going strong. 26 hp water cooled Kawasaki, 60" 7 gauge manual deck. A couple of things you touched on. Even though the spindles are maintenance free, you can regardless of what anyone tells you, grease the bearings and there are a bunch of videos on here showing how to. I'm not sure the process for putting your pumps in neutral to move, but they have made that really simple over the years and say not to drag the mower. I have to crack two bolts lose to move mine and it is a pain. If I get mine stuck I just pick up the back end with my TYM and move it. I have a bank just like where you got stuck, about 600 feet and I mow it horizontal. It is that steep for sure and I know your Toro will do it. Ive had the right front tire come up a few times but was never scared. It is almost impossible to turn one of these over, especially with a 6' deck! I have looked at the Toros and if I had to buy a new ZTR tomorrow I would get one. You brought up something else so I am going to go where I probably shouldn't. lol Tell me to mind my business if you want to. You talked about having different equipment. I have watched you pretty much since you started at your old house. Here goes. I think you need a bigger tractor. lol There, I said it. I am not pimping anything, but my TYM T 264 is a 24.8 hp Kukje and size wise it is almost as big as my neighbors 35 hp Deere. I have picked up and moved without pucker a walnut trunk probably 24"x 12' That's a little over 1600 lbs. I paid 4 grand less with a 7 year warranty than a 1025 Deere I ALMOST bought. $16,000 with aengine Kukje is made by Cummins since 1959 all mechanical and no electronics, once it starts it stays running. Anyway now that I am done not pimping a brand...lol I've never said anything because you have every implement for your Kubota and it would be a hell of an expense I guess I do love that Toro! Keep em coming and I'll keep watching!
Thank you so much! So much excellent information in this comment. I was actually deciding between a bigger tractor that would handle a bigger mowing deck and a zero turn. The ZTR was the right choice for now. It does the best job for its intended use. Better than ANY tractor in my humble opinion. More importantly, when I do get a bigger piece of equipment, I don't even have to consider mowing. The Toro has that covered. Thanks again for all that info and for being a loyal viewer. 😁👍
Before I retired the company I worked for bought a toro 72" for me to use. I mowed 70 acres a week. I got to run it four years before retirement. I'll give it 👍👍. Never any major problems. I'm sure yours can only be better by now. Best of luck with the new toy.👍👍🍺🍺
I bought the Z Master 4000 HD 52" with the Kawasaki FX801V this past summer. I can mow and string trim 2 acres in about 1.5-2 hrs by recollection. Fantastic machine.
Congratulations on your new time saver! Maybe next time you mow, cap the fuel off before and after you mow, along with making note of your mow time. That may give you an idea of the hourly fuel consumption of that 35 hp engine. Thanks for sharing Sam!
That's a great idea!!! I just downloaded the John Deere app that tracks your speed and time. I'll definitely measure the fuel consumption too. Thank you very much! 😁👍
Nice video. I’m looking at buying a 4000 as well. Looks like the hitch would’ve come in handy for a pull pin. I wonder if you wouldn’t have gotten stuck if you had the voodoo tires on it and maybe mowed lengthwise instead of that time consuming back n forth. Great video none the less.
Thank you! There's always that what if factor after you get stuck, lol. The 4000 has tie down points on either side of the rear and front which help for towing as well. Great mower over all and I'm still loving it. I'll use the bx to smooth things out so it is less likely to get stuck again 😁👍
I appreciate the honest review. Give that engine about 100 hours to be broken in well.That is well known to be about how long it actually takes these commercial engines to be fully broken in. Power will come up a bit. You may not notice it as much as if you tried it new and then at 100 hours back to back, but it will improve. It's to0 bad they don't offer the FX1000 EFI on it. That engine is 38.5 HP and does extremely good on fuel use. I have it on a 60" ZTR, and it does about the same as my FX850 on the same sized mower. You are smart to use you legs etc to feel the ground conditions. Way too many guys think since they have commercial mower they have to go full sticks. That's simply pride and not the correct way to do things. Feeling the terrain and mowing according to it and current grass conditions is correct. Raise that rubber discharge flap and let the clippings fly farther and spread better. I'm sure you figured it out by either looking while you were stuck in the ditch or when editing the video, but the Toro only got stuck due to the muffler guard catching the ground and removing weight off the drive tires.
Thank you so much for all of that information! Great to know the engine will improve, wow! It's already a beast 💪 I actually can't wait for mowing season 🤠👍
When mowing taller grass i always blow the clippings out in a square pattern. That way i don't have to mow over the clippings again. Helps to not bogg the mower down. I have a 72" Scag Cheetah btw.
Great and informative video. One thing I would recommend is not washing the mower. Blow it off with your blower like you did and then if you need to, wipe it down with a damp cloth.
Great looking mower , and it’s giving ya a smooth and clean cut fer sure. I have a question about the deck height on your property. I wasn’t sure if you mentioned that you mow your acreage on the highest setting , so that’s what I wanted to clarify . So some years ago I use to work for a lawnmower company and they had a property that was 244 acres over here in San Antonio. We mowed every day except for the weekends and the customer would only allow us to mow the grass with the mowers on the highest setting . I was surprised because most places don’t care and so many lawnmower companies always mow to short , especially over here in San Antonio, where our summers can be brutally dry and with intense heat well over 100 degrees. Their grass was very healthy, I enjoyed mowing that property. Well , that’s my dos pfennigs for today and PROBST!
Thank you! I am loving that new mower 👌 I always mow pretty high in the summer. Usually 4". I only cut it shorter right before winter so the grass doesn't lay over from the snow. You probably don't have that issue in San Antonio 🤠👍
Howdy Sam, very, very sweet machine! I did notice a problem with it immediately. You had it delivered to your property and not mine, lol. It looked like you were having a blast cutting. Very impressive and an absolute time saver. I was wondering but don't recommend, do you think you could have cut the ditch on an angle or from the top down instead of the bottom up. Anyway, enjoy that beast!
Thank you! I am VERY happy with it so far, and maybe I can talk them into a 2 for 1 deal for you? Lol!! They do recommend mowing slopes like you described, but they also don't recommend mowing steeper than 15°... we both know it will handle more than that. As I get more familiar with it, I may get the courage to try something like that. 😁👍
Hey Sam, have you tried the My ride platforms on the 4000 series mowers? Ive heard some people agree with you that they felt disconnected from the mower while some people thought it was perfectly fine. Toro recently did a press release where they announced this mower with myride suspension for 2024.
I sat on a My Ride seat at our local county fair, and it was very comfortable and seemed like I was floating. While I'm sure the My Ride is excellent for absorbing shock, I definitely felt that disconnect you mentioned. 😁👍
Beautiful machine, Sam! Didn't realize how extensive your estate is. 37 HP is quite a powerhouse! Just love the maneuvability of a zero turn. How many blades on that massive deck?
Thank you! I hope I didn't say it wrong. It has 35 hp but yes, it is very powerful 💪 The handling is on another level. It has 3 blades. I also wondered if it had more. 😁👍
Yeah I just picked up one job 8 acres. I currently have a 52” toro. It’s about 15 years old and it’s now nickle and dime to keep it running. Looking at this mower just not sure
@kendramckenna7312 After one season, I am very impressed with the power and speed. It is still very comfortable. My only complaint is the battery. I have to trickle charge it when not in use or it dies. I may get a better battery someday.
Nice mower but needs a chute blocker, you’ll thank me later. Still can’t believe they are not at least a factory option if not standard on every mower.
Thank you! I've been mulling over the chute blocker idea. There are only a few areas where it would be useful on my property. As long as I'm heading the right direction, the clippings go where they're supposed to. We'll see 😁👍
Here's a video where I mowed the whole property: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE--UaOAV_38P8.html It used 4 gallons of gas and only took 1 hour and 45 minutes
That's a great machine too, but the Deeres were much more expensive. Same as the Kubota options. I just couldn't beat the value of the Toro. Can't wait to mow again this coming season 🤠👍
Yes! I normally do that but for the first review, I wanted to run it as "recommended" in the manual. It really shot them far even with the shield down. I was surprised 😁👍
Definitely. I normally flip it up, but for this video, I mowed the way the manufacturer "recommended". It still shoots the clippings very far, but I'll put it up for normal use 😁👍
Check this video out: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE--UaOAV_38P8.html I ended up using about 4 gallons of gas and it took me 1 hour and 40 mins, if I remember correctly. The cost was almost exactly the same as using my BX but it took almost 3 hours less time 🤠👍
