Toro 74143 Z Master 2000 Zero Turn Mower 52" - 22 HP Kawasaki Turbo Force

Great starter mower for commercial work. Very durable and dependable. No mechanical problems whatsoever throughout my time of 3 years mowing with the 2000 series.

It's great quality, heavy duty, but for the price, it's missing basic features that every other mower has. I don't see any excuse for not having a wheel on the chute side of the deck. I have an uneven lawn and the edge of the deck digs in and scars the lawn. I have never seen a mower not having at least an anti scalp wheel on each side- somehow I missed this wheel was missing at purchase and I regret it. I contacted the dealer about trading it in , but get no response. The deck lift pedal is hard to push to raise the deck because there is no spring assist and the deck is very heavy (deck is great quality). The spring mounts are on the frame and linkage, but they didn't put it on in the 2000 series for some stupid reason. Even the cheapest mowers I have bought in the past have a spring to assist on the deck. You can order a spring, but it will cost over 60 bucks! It might not bother younger people with strong short legs, but I'm older and tall, my knees aren't what they used to be and my knee is pretty far bent as I push on the lift pedal- so my knee takes the weight. I have to raise the deck quite often over uneven spots, rocks etc. The seat does not fold forward, it is bolted directly to the mower, so there are no springs under the bottom of the seat like on most mowers. The ride is very rough especially with no spring seat spring mount. I bought a $300 suspension seat and that helps some, but I'm looking for an even better seat. No factory trailer hitch available for this model- the 3000 series has it and a lot of cheaper mowers come with it built in. No grease zerks for the front forks, you have to get your own- how mickey mouse is that for a mower that cost well north of $6K. The hydro fluid level is hard to see because the reservoir is mounted down below the seat level to the frame. When the roll bar is up, the spring loaded pins rattle very badly. The gas tank is mounted low under the seat so that gives a lower center of gravity and better stability on hills and uneven terrain, plus it's easy to fill because it puts the filler neck in a nice low spot. It has plenty of power to go through thick tall grass and up hills. You don't get clumps of grass out of the chute in everything except for very very tall thick grass. I was amazed what this mower will go through. It's very heavy and has great traction, but if you hit any kind of wet area or mud, you are done. I have had to pull this mower out several times with my truck. The quality of the cut is ok, but not as good as my Cub Cadet GT2000 50" lawn tractor or my John Deer LA130 48" riding mower. The zero turn seems to cut a lot better on flat ground than slopes and uneven ground. The rear tires on this Toro zero turn have a sharp shoulder on them which is good for traction going across a slope but hard on the lawn. Most all of the weight is on the rear tires and it mashes down the grass and dirt. I can still see the imprints for a week after mowing. The lawn tractors seem to distribute the weight over 4 corners better and not leave impression on the lawn nearly as much. This mower seems very light in the front end and the front wheels will come off the ground over bumps and up slopes. I'm also not crazy about the adjustment for the handles to equalize the speed on each side. You have to loosen two bolts on a plate and then slide the plate and then tighten it back down. Most mower have a single spring loaded screw stop to get the speed on both handles even which is a much better system to adjust on the fly. If you have any questions regarding this mower [email protected]

I'm happy I bought this mower. I was looking a mower with a smaller cut but the 52 inch deck is perfect.