-Neil from Messick's here with the new Kubota Z400 series mowers.
These are a prosumer-oriented mower positioned between the
commercial V700 series and the residential Z400 series.
Take a quick walk around here with me,
we'll show you some of the new features on these new models.
It can really be challenging in order
to find a good zero-turn mower for you.
It can be really daunting to sift through all
the different options that are out on the
market because there are over 40 different
companies that produce zero-turn mowers.
Part of the reason for that is because the mower itself
isn't really radically different from one company
to the next and for the most part they're sourcing
a lot of components from outside manufacturers.
Generally, you find engines from one company
and transmission pumps from another.
All the motor company themselves is actually building is the chassis
and the mower deck that all the pieces are positioned upon.
Generally, what we try to look for a good value in a
mower or places where the company is pulling down
those higher quality components from higher-end models
and placing them into a lower price point machine.
Kubota is definitely doing that here with the Z400,
so you're going to find a better quality engine,
better quality hydraulic pumps.
A lot of components that you typically
would find in a lot of manufacturers,
commercial models in this prosumer model,
these are typically put in the price range between six
and seven thousand dollars for 48 to 60-inch models.
That's a really good value for the type of components that you're getting.
One of those components is obviously,
the engine and typically, in a commercial cutting application,
if guys have opinions about engines more often than
not we find those opinions slanting towards Kawasaki.
Obviously, just like cars and trucks and you name your product,
you can find some people with varying
opinions about every product on the market,
but Kawasaki does seem to get a majority of the mind share when
it comes to commercial mowers for making a good quality engine,
a fuel efficient engine, a reliable engine.
Kawasaki has really always done a good job and across the Z400
series all of these mowers are equipped with Kawasaki engines.
In this case the FS series,
FS series 651 and some larger displacement
options as we go up into larger mode sizes.
One of the very first things that I do when
looking at a zero-turn mower is walk over and
flip up the seat because you know that's where
all the working guts of the machine are at.
In this case here, when you flip it up,
you can't see a whole heck of a lot because of the fuel tank,
but if you look back in the corner right here,
you can see the hydraulic pumps.
In this case, Kubota is using a unified
pump where the pump and the motor are built
together which eliminates a belt and a hose
that can often be found in these systems,
just removing those parts that wear and leak over time.
You'll also notice that there is a fan on top of this hydraulic pump.
A lot of ways that manufacturers will reduce costs in these lower price
point models is by removing the fans and the cooling mechanism from them,
just to save cost.
A machine like this whether you start to plan on longer
operating hours or if you choose a prosumer model,
when we get into entry-level commercial mowing,
these fans will help keep the hydraulic pumps cool over long operating
periods reducing problems and expanding the life of the pump.
As you can see down here underneath the machine,
this uses a hydro-gear 3600 series transmission.
Really well-regarded, very common transmission in commercial mowers.
As I said before, this is also a unified transmission
where the pump and the motor are bolted together.
Older designs typically use hydraulic hoses between those two pieces.
Hoses just by their nature can leak and corrode over time
so it just removes more maintenance items from the machine.
Right down here on the bottom protected by this bar right here is a PTO
clutch so if you do happen to tear the
belt or throw the belt off the mower,
somehow, getting down here to put the belt back on
is very, very easy.
The clutch isn't hidden or obstructed by
paneling or shields or anything like that.
It's very easy to get to and has a nearly dead straight
shot back up to the mower deck so it's a very clean,
dry belt path underneath to prevent belt layer.
From the seat of the machine,
I also have a lot of options for adjustability to make
this machine comfortable for different operators.
Once I close my sticks right here,
for me, they sit at right about the right spot,
but if I was a smaller or larger operator,
I can move these sticks closer or further away from myself by adjusting
these different positions right here for the position of the sticks.
Another nice feature on here is the way
that the mower deck is moved up and down.
A lot of times when you raise and lower mower decks on mowers,
you often have to reach down for a lock.
In this case, Kubota has the lock for the mower deck automatic.
So when I want to raise the deck up,
I simply push the foot pedal down and when I remove my foot,
it locks in place.
When I want to lower it back down,
I push the pedal a second time and it drops right back down.
I don't have any pins to monkey with or levers to pull,
I can just push this right here.
To change the cutting height on my right hand side over here,
I have a positional dial that I can change.
These are not inch markers that are always
relative to the way that the deck is leveled,
but it's very simple to be able to turn this dial and then drop the
deck back down again and by changing the adjustment on that dial,
it will change the stopping point when the deck is lowered.
The parking brake on this machine is also really refined as well.
In order to release the parking brake,
I can just push down on the lever to release it and to set it again,
I can push down on the pedal and then hit the
opposing pedal right here to lock it in place.
This is nice and easy to do and a lot of
other machines that we've had in the past,
you're often reaching down here under the
floor underneath the seat to grab levers.
It's just nice and very simple to be
able to do with your feet from the seat.
Another thing that I like as well is that we have
a 12-volt outlet right down here at the side.
We all know anymore,
we're all out with our cellphones all the time, right?
So if we're out listening to music and that kind of stuff,
you have a convenient place in order to be able to plug your phone in and
storage pockets back here on the side
in order to set it while you're mowing.
Adequately large cup holders,
just a lot of thought at convenience features
that make this nice comfortable motor to own.
That's the Kubota Z400 series.
We here at Messick's literally sell
hundreds of zero-turn mowers every year.
If we can help you out with a machine like this,
give us a call and let us know.
We're available at 800-222-3373 or online at messicks.com.