Guy I know has a Toro Z Master commercial mower he wants to trade for an AK.  I have a saiga converted AK I never shoot I'd trade him for it.  

I have no idea if it's worth it or not.  The mower starts pretty well but stumbles and hesitates.  Sounds like a carb issue but I'm not sure.

The other thing I'm worried about is the control levers are really small and placed sort of oddly.  I think I can extend them if I needed to.



the motor I think I can get running,  and worst case could probably have rebuilt,  and I think i can build new levers that are a little longer and easier to use,  but I just don't know if this is worth putting any work in.  


I have a pretty large back yard,  about .75 acre and I stupidly planted a boatload of trees back there. We hand mow it now but my kid is working more and more and won't be mowing forever.  I'll eventually get a zero turn but I don't know if I'd be better off buying a less hammered consumer grade mower,  or buying this one and effectively restoring it.


I'm also sorta worried about the hydro drive pumps.  I started and drove it around and it turns and drives well. It's got a bit of a whine when I drive or turn it,  but most of the mowers on youtube have the same very slight whine when in drive mode.

Any advice?


mower


under the seat. Both Hydro pumps are under here


has a ton of hours




Notice how small the levers are, they sit right between your legs and appear designed to be used with one hand


control lever mechanism right under the seat that the levers are attached to

Well no clue what the AK/SKS is worth yet I would tell him to make it run reliable first and you got a trade. If just a carb that is easy to replace if something else you would be out of money.

That mower has a ton of hours on it. Your Saiga may be worth $700+ depending on the conversion components. The Saiga will go up in value in the near future. The mower not so much.

probably about 600 bucks.  The cheapest I can find ANY toro zero turn is about 2K.  He's clueless on motors and stuff, he got the mower from his Brother in Law who used it in a commercial business and gave it to him when he bought new ones last fall.   The ak is worth about 600'ish

bump for day crew, hopefully someone knows how hard toros are to repair if needs be...

can you fight tyranny with a zero turn?

Well it does have a handy point to mount a couple weapons to the roll bar bases,  and if you had a full tank of gas, your blades were sharp and a couple good AR's mounted on the roll bar, you'd be quite a force.....

That is toros answer to Walker mowers.  They aren't the most common machine and I'm pretty sure they are out of production.  I'm unsure about getting parts.  The control stick setup on machines like that are designed for precision control in tight areas, unlike regular mid-mount z's.

Personally id stick with the AK they aren't exactly importing them anymore.

If it has 9000+ hours that motor is done

I got a used cub cadet with a 52" deck with 100 hrs for $800

Dont.... those zeros and money pits with high hours... mine the right pump is getting weak... $1600 to fix.

thanks for the input,  FWIW while doing research I found a couple videos on youtube showing rebuilding of Toro or other Hydro drive pumps,  it looks like cake.  Simple tools and not too many parts.  Looks like a couple seals, a bearing and a thrust plate are about all the goes out.  

here's an exmark one,  most of them are the same in the exmark family.
Rebuilding Hydro motor

I got a really awesome water dish for your dog, would you trade for that? Don't get rid of your AK!!!!

Does it make mowing a huge lawn with trees fricking everywhere faster and easier?! Then maybe...

While i am not intimately familiar with that unit, they are not hard to fix at all. By the hydro pumps that are on there it is around 15 years old or older. They have the cast iron end plate on them is how I know. They went to aluminum on the Hydro Gear and Parker pumps about 15 years ago. Some whine from those pumps is not out of the ordinary. judging by the pics it looks to be in relatively good shape. Maintenance though is the key.



If i am reading that hour meter right is says 518.8, that is not a lot. That is 1 year of commercial use here in FL. Commercial mowers I deal with hit 3000 regularly in their life.



I don't trade or sell my guns, but if I was paying cash for it $500-$750 wouldn't be bad. I am concerned about hose and other rubber component failures due to it's age, though.

That would be a tempting deal. I prefer walk behind mowers with sulky's, but I police litter for my clients so they tend to "let it go" and let me pick it up, causing me to get off the machine quite a bit.



I worry that he got it from his brother, who runs a landscape business. If I were to buy new machines, I would still keep my current ones as a backup/second crew, unless they caused so many problems that they actually cost me money. Then I would give them away

I can't read the hour meter clearly.  Is that 518 hours, 6518 hours, 8518 hours, or 9518 hours?  518 hours is nothing for a commercial mower but run away if its 6,000+ hours.  6,000+ hours means a money pit.  The engine will be worn out, the hydros will likely be whining and slipping, and it will nickel and dime you elsewhere.

Some hydro whine is normal.  Its hard to know what is normal whine and what is too much whine if you haven't used them before.  Get the mower and hydros up to operating temp and see if the drive power degrades any.  Worn out hydro pumps and transmissions will show more symptoms when the fluid is warm and thinner.  If you can, drive it up and down a steep hill and see if you can detect any hydro slippage when everything is up to operating temps.

If the mower is 518 hours and the hydros pass the test, you need to realistically value your AK and see if its worth more or less than the mower.  I'm guessing the mower will be worth more (again, if its only 518 hours).

Again, run away if it has 6,000+ hours.  6,000+ hours means you will be out an AK and will still have to dump endless money into the mower.

I also have the option of just buying it outright. I don't need to trade an AK, he's just looking for one,  and asked for that in trade.

he was originally asking 1000 for the mower, or a trade for an AK.  I was just thinking AK since mine is worth less than 1000, or I could just buy an AK for 600'ish and use that.


I could also just offer him cash,  

I can't tell what that hour meter is reading either.  I was assuming it was high since his Bro-in-law used it in a business for a while.  I have to look closer at it....

Aside from the buttload of trees (which can be removed in a pinch) I have about .75 acres. I got a new Cub Cadet 42" mower this year. It works great. I'd like to have a zero turn but they cost too much. Just go get a cheap riding mower and call it a day. Fewer worries, IMO.





But if you buy that Toro, run a bunch of gas through it with SeaFoam or some other fuel line cleaner.  Could very well clear your stumble.

I would wait till next year because then you will be able to buy couple of of brand new ones for the value of an AK.

touche'.  that's a strategy. Buy 2-3 AK's now,  wait a year, trade for new mower.

Unless we hold the line and no new bans,  then I have more AK's that I never shoot anymore cause the ammo is spendy.

Z master is a nice LITTLE mower.  Easy to fix.  Just a basic 25-30 HP Kohler Command v-twin (air or water cooled), belts, safety switches and hydro motors.

I would get the Kohler engine tune up kit for $40, flush hydro and change filter. check deck bearings, grease all zerks., You're GTG...


However, not worth the trade.