Did a thread search on a popular commercial lawn care site for Z-Beast, didn't get any matches. Sounds like a lot of very nice features at that price point. Looking at the owners manual they must be the integrated pump/motor drive units at that price, not necessarily a bad thing. I see the hydro drives are made by Peerless.

I'll see if I can find any info on the GXi DEK brand. That may have been around a while, and the Z-Beast stuff is just their product specifically branded for Home Depot.

I doubt I'll go with the Z-Beast because I'd feel nervous about dropping that much money on something I hadn't seen in person. The Ariens at HD, on the other hand, may meet my comfort test.

Chuck

I would worry about the 62" deck. I have been in the service industry for 20 years and NEVER seen a 62" deck. The blades might be hard to come by.

Also Home Depot does not contract service at every store. They just send you to any service center that they know the name of, and Ariens has lost tons of dealers just so they do not have to deal with the messes home depot makes. So check around before you count on service, and DO NOT TRUST A SALESMAN AT HOMEDEPOT call the service center yourself.

I also looked at your Ariens mower think of this a mower is only as good as its weakest link. The Kohler Courage is a consumer engine, I would expect an izt transmission to outlast the engine. Just food for thought, you might want to look for a Honda , kaw or a kohler command for longer life if you can find it.

The Ariens at HD has a Kawasaki engine in it. On line you see the Kohler. I doubt Ill go for the Z-Beast because I won't drop that much money on a machine I can't touch first. The Ariens is still of interest because it does have the Kaw engine and ZT-3100 transaxles which seem to be common in the other name brand mowers. At $4999, for a 60" mower with heavy deck, Kawasaki engine and the right hydraulic motors, it seems worth looking at. OTOH, I just saw an ad by a local dealer for a Bad Boy at $4999. I didn't get all the info, but if it has good specs it might be worth going to see. I bought my tractor from that dealer, and they also sell some of Ariens equipment, though maybe not the mowers.

Thanks for the input.

Chuck

I have a 1996 Grasshopper with an out front 52" deck. I bought it for $3k six years ago and I only replaced the battery since I bought it. The out front deck is great getting under bushes. I put a home made snow plow on it in the winter. Do search "ZTR snow plow"to see it. Look at all the used ZTR commercial mowers in your area. If you find a good one, it will last you a lifetime.

I just purchased the Z-beast 54" mower. This model has the Subaru engine. I did a fair amount of research on the mower and found what you get for the money is far greater than other brands. A comprable machine from a bigger company would be much. much more money. I too was unable to actually see the machine but took a leap of faith just the same. I have seen other DEK equipment and used their big chipper/shredder. Its seems like heavy duty equipment. Heavier than the average homeowner might need.

***"My mower had 40 hours without a leak. Why would it start now?"***
Only reason I can think of for that would be if the oil had been exposed to an abundance of moisture somehow.
High moisture content in contaminated hydro oil cause the unit to be prone to foaming and that can cause the unit to puke oil out the breather or vent.
Foaming oil will also cause a loss of power in a pump/motor combination such as yours.
Might be worthwhile to try changing the oil on the weak and leaky unit before crying foul.

I bought this, by the time it came home after taxes it was around $3800. I'm a home user with 3/4 acre of grass. I had a John deere for nearly 21 years which I spent around $500 for all those years in repairs until the engine blew up after a Valve job. Getting a new engine & having it installed was expensive so i decided to look around for a new better alternative mower. Hopefully this time a Zero turn Mower.

FYI I'm a home owner and it was really going to be tough to sell to my wife that I had spent over 7k on a new zero turn mower [like a scag ,etc] so I bought this unit on august 2011. Being made in the USA was a great incentve to buy too.

As soon as it came out of the box it would not drive starigh [as previously mentioned here]. I spent hours on the phone with the manufacturer trying to get this thing fine tuned so It would drive straight without keeping one handle back. [uneven handle position to keep it staright on level ground]

Before I had 8 hrs on the thing, the hydros specially the left one was leaking what seeamed to me like a lot of hydro fluid. I called the manufacturers help line [919-550-3221 ext 1] company told me that this was "normal" since they had a lot of extra fluid on the Hydros, Before 10 hrs the mower not only was not going straight, I had to park it [for 2 hours minimum] after 15 mins of use so the hydro fluid could cool down and I could drive it staright and put it back in the garage. Hours on the phone with the manufacturer... "try this, try that" nothing worked 100%, it pretty much was trial and error. Unfortunatelly, I travel a lot for my job so I could not spend every weekend working on this thing.

I parked inside for the winter and opened up again for season 2012. I realized the left hyro was shot so I called GXI to see if they could send me a new one. Since I had moved to a new houe and all recipts and stuff where in boxes, I could not provide the receipt [even though I had a credit card charge for the mower]. After 2 dyas of back and forth conversations they decided that since I could not provide the recipt [mower had less than 12 hrs on meter] they decvided they would NOT provide a waranty. I called home depot, they said call the manufacturer for the warranty. I had to buy the Hydro and pay for shipping too ! That set me back around $300. Then finding a repair service that will work on this thing prioved to be imposible. Evn though their website has over 20 places that are withinn 2 hours drive, NOT ONE PLACE new they were in the list of repair center on GXI website , never had they heard of a Z beast, NEVER had they had any training on these machines, NEVER had they signed a contract to be a service center! How I know this, I called everyone within 2 hour drive distance one way that GXI had on their website as a repair place. Now 09/2012, with less thn 17 hrs on the mower of light home owner use. I got the drydros drive belt snap in half. This also broke a metal part that holds the fine tunning of the hydros. Now the belts is $68 at Homedepot and who knows what the other part is. This is not an easy mower to work on. You pretty much need a car lift to raise up and work on it. I though It would be years before I would be having such problems. I could keep you here for a long time explaining what I've been though with this mower in 17 hrs of operation. I'm going to fix it again and if I cant sell for half what I paid for it, I will be donating to my unions charity to see if they can make better use of it. I will be going back to real store and buy a regular riding mower. I'm Done with the Z-beast and the GXI company. I know a lawyer will get on this company sooner or later and get an Et al lawsuit and win millions. Northen Tools also sells this same mower with a diferent name.

Sorry for double post corrected for grammar Thanks
I bought this, by the time it came home after taxes it was around $3800. I'm a home user with 3/4 acre of grass. I had a John Deere for nearly 21 years which I spent around $500 for all those years in repairs until the engine blew up after a Valve job. Getting a new engine & having it installed was expensive so i decided to look around for a new better alternative mower. Hopefully this time a Zero turn Mower.
FYI I'm a home owner and it was really going to be tough to sell to my wife that I had spent over 7k on a new zero turn mower [like a scag ,etc] so I bought this unit on august 2011. Being made in the USA was a great incentive to buy too.

As soon as it came out of the box it would not drive straight [as previously mentioned here]. I spent hours on the phone with the manufacturer trying to get this thing fine tuned so It would drive straight without keeping one handle back. [uneven handle position to keep it straight on level ground]

Before I had 8 hrs on the thing, the hydros specially the left one was leaking what seamed to me like a lot of hydro fluid. I called the manufacturers help line [919-550-3221 ext 1] company told me that this was "normal" since they had a lot of extra fluid on the Hydros, Before 10 hrs the mower not only was not going straight, I had to park it [for 2 hours minimum] after 15 mins of use so the hydro fluid could cool down and I could drive it straight and put it back in the garage. Hours on the phone with the manufacturer... "try this, try that" nothing worked 100%, it pretty much was trial and error. Unfortunately, I travel a lot for my job so I could not spend every weekend working on this thing.

I parked inside for the winter and opened up again for season 2012. I realized the left hyro was shot so I called GXI to see if they could send me a new one. Since I had moved to a new house and all receipts and stuff where in boxes, I could not provide the receipt [even though I had a credit card charge for the mower]. After 2 dyas of back and forth conversations they decided that since I could not provide the receipt [mower had less than 12 hrs on meter] they decided they would NOT provide a warranty. I called home depot, they said call the manufacturer for the warranty. I had to buy the Hydro and pay for shipping too ! That set me back around $300. Then finding a repair service that will work on this thing provided to be impossible. Even though their website has over 20 places that are within 2 hours drive, NOT ONE PLACE new they were in the list of repair center on GXI website , never had they heard of a Z beast, NEVER had they had any training on these machines, NEVER had they signed a contract to be a service center! How I know this, I called everyone within 2 hour drive distance one way that GXI had on their website as a repair place. Now 09/2012, with less thn 17 hrs on the mower of light home owner use. I got the drydros drive belt snap in half. This also broke a metal part that holds the fine tuning of the hydros. Now the belts is $68 at Home depot and who knows what the other part is. This is not an easy mower to work on. You pretty much need a car lift to raise up and work on it. I though It would be years before I would be having such problems. I could keep you here for a long time explaining what I've been though with this mower in 17 hrs of operation. I'm going to fix it again and if I cant sell for half what I paid for it, I will be donating to my unions charity to see if they can make better use of it. I will be going back to real store and buy a regular riding mower. I'm Done with the Z-beast and the GXI company. I know a lawyer will get on this company sooner or later and get an Et al lawsuit and win millions. Northern Tools also sells this same mower with a different name.

Wow, that engine replacement quote must have been really expensive!

My condolences to anyone who has made the HORRIFIC MISTAKE of purchasing a ZBEAST. Mine has about 30 hours, and all 30 have been a nightmare. The electrical system is a mess. Switches are defective, deck suspension is cheap and undependable, pulleys on the drive wheels stripped out (twice, so far), hydrostats leak and can not be adjusted to run straight (mechanic says at least one needs replacing), the manufacturer is unresponsive and mostly unhelpful, and the closest service is three hours away(the mechanic apologizes for the machine every time I bring it back)
I've heard that if you can't say anything nice about something, you should say nothing at all. ALLRIGHT: Thick metal deck and overall structure- Great engine ,but SO WHAT ! It is a piece of garbage. Home Depot should be ashamed to put their brand on any crap like this and steal thousand of $ in the process.

If you are considering purchasing one of these junky machines (there are three different companies offering this machine for sale under different names, last I checked), DON'T. My sympathies to anyone who has.

There is a reason they can sell something with a 7 gauge deck and 31hp for $3,000 to $5,000 less than their competition. Everything on it has to be incredibly cheap.

I was foolish enough to buy one of these pieces of junk ( z-62") from the day it arrived a year and a half ago until today has been nothing short of a nightmare.It only made it 10 feet into my yard before the drive belt broke and then took over a month before the jackasses at GXI would send me the parts to fix it. This spring when I took it out I managed to get a few hours on it before the hydro's spewed oil all over a clients yard and I had to winch it onto my trailer just to get it home. Back on the phone again to GXI for another run around of unanswered calls and emails and only when I threatened legal action to their president did they find a shop that said they would service it. Drove over an hour to bring it to the guy and there it sat for 2 weeks while he waited for them to send the parts...which they never did. Oh it gets better, the Service tech shows me how much GXI wanted to pay him to remove and replace the hydro's...$275.00! Their paperwork said it should only take him a little over 3 hrs to remove, replace and reassemble. Even if he had done this job on this mower before there is no WAY you can disassemble and reassemble this thing in that time frame. So he apologized and said he could not spend a whole day or more on this mower for $275 .AND even if he agreed to that, he will have to wait until next month for them to issue a check because they only send payouts once a month and we were past their "deadline". So after another trip there and back to retrieve this thing here I am with a big orange boat anchor.

So what can you expect if you buy one of these and it breaks...which it will...well..they are going to lie to you and say they have service centers everywhere which they don't and if you ARE lucky enough to find someone who will work on it the poor guy will get screwed because they won't pay him for what the job is worth and he will have to wait for close to 2 months before they will even consider paying him. I just started a new landscaping business last year and didn't have much money to start with so $5000 was hard to come by. Now with only 30 hrs. on it I have a 1,200 lb useless P.O.S. that has cost me thousands of dollars in lost business not to mention the countless hours I have spent on the phone and in my shop trying to fix this thing.
My plan at this point is to sue and I hope the judge will make an example out of " Mr.Gordon" and his band of thieves.
Absolutely disgusting that an American company would screw people this way and I find it equally disgusting that HD would continue to do business with this guy...not like it is a couple of complaints but hundreds! Just read some of the reviews and BBB complaints that have been filed against this company, you'll be shocked.
SOoooo to anyone who is thinking about buying one of these or ANYTHING from GXI DONT!!
You have been warned.

Less than 50 hrs on the Zbeast after changing a hydro & Main belt. Last week another hydro went bad. I'm using in my -1/2 acre yardI called to GXI asking for the price of a new hydro and they quoted me $675 /hydro plus shipping!. Yes, its not a typo, $675+ S&H!! I asked why so expensive since 2 hydros would be close to $1500 and they said they were NOT using the peerless hydros anymore that they had made "their own" and that they were an upgrade from the peerless brand. GSR 22 claimed that they didn't sell peerless hydros anymore for this model for all the problems they had. I'm thinking if I pay $1500 plus instalation [a minimum of $600] I will be close to half of what I paid for the thing new! I asked for technical data on both hydros so I could compare and they didn't have that data!

So I decided to call peerless. Today 09/11/2014 I talked to a couple of people at peerless, at first they didn't want to sell to me they said I had to go through GXI. When I said GXI isnt selling your hydros anymore they switched me to the quality and warranty manager rep at Peerless,

She told me that the peerless model H2100-007D was NOT authorized by peerless to be used in the model Zbeast I have [54ZB commercial mower] !!!!!!! It's not a peerless hydro problem, its the GXI lack or coordination with peerless that has caused all these problems!

Problems with the hydros are caused because the machine is too big, too heavy for the hydros they were shipped. I'm wondering if the gentleman who posted here before did file a suit against GXI for selling a defective product with underpowered hydros!!

I would like to hear from people who complained earlier on this post to see what did did with their machine [sell, fix, still a nightmare,etc]

Thanks

Since Tecumseh/Peerless is defunct.......

@ Maflaya sorry I didn't respond when you posted this last year...I actually thought long and hard about it and decided it wasn't worth any more of my time to deal with crooked Gordon but if I could get enough people together who have been ripped off by this company I would entertain the idea of seeking counsel for a class action suit.

Well Maflaya another year later and the Beast is still down but I am trying to come up with a re-design/re-engineer of the hydro drives so it won't be a total loss...which so far has been. My idea is to install a proper drive system that can handle the extreme weight (around 1200 lbs) and also be serviceable (unlike the Peerless or GXI design). Oh and I read and saw the patent that Gordon applied for ( US 8613342 B2 in 2010 ), it is a rip off of the Peerless design so I can't see how this would ever correct the issue as the hydros are just too small for this unit.

I'm fairly confident a Hydro Gear ZT- 3100 or ZT-3400 would get the job done fine as they are rated for over 1000 lbs. and produce enough torque and speed (mph) to perform properly. I actually came here today to post my idea here on the forum and see what the experts had to say. There are some really great guys here on this forum, Mownie and Bill come right to mind, so I'm kind of excited to see how I can pull off this re-engineering feat.

Maybe I'll stop cutting grass and start a new company re designing z beasts. LOL

Don't buy anything Z-Beast or anything from GXi. Worst company, worst experience ever. Read below..

I'm an "owner" of this mower, and want to try and save as many people as possible from the horrible experience I've had with GXi, and this mower. Received this as a house warming present, and couldn't have been more excited, that ended quickly. The 2nd time I used it, the hydro belt blew, with only 5 hours on the mower - it came with 2 on it.

From the moment I called to get it fixed, it was a hassle, and took weeks. I didn't get to choose a shop to send it to, they had a list of approved shops, and sent it to one of those - this is important for what comes next. The shop diagnosed my mower, and were ready to fix in 3 weeks.. Four months later and I still don't have my mower. For 3 of those months GXi argued with the shop over an hour and a half worth of labor - total savings of that hour - $150. It's a $2500 mower. The call me and say they want to send it to another shop, who will fix it in less time. I've already paid for pick and delivery fees, which I will be out, and every week I don't have my mower, im paying $100 for someone to cut my grass. I then find out, the whole time my Mower was at the shop and they were arguing over the labor, it sat outside. I kept it in the garage and was washed after every cut.

At this point, the engine hasn't been started in 4 months, it's completely rusted, I'm out over a thousand dollars, and still don't have my mower. It was BRAND NEW when I sent it in, I used it once!! And now they want to

Give me a mower back with a dry rotted seat, and with every piece of metal on it rusted? Unacceptable.

I called, the rep totally agreed. However, those at the top who have zero clue of how to run a business and have customer service, instead offer $100 credit. The pictures said it all - rusted out pulleys, rusted out cables, engine was rusted, everything.

This mower was under warranty. It was brand new. My warranty expired as it sat in the shop from July to this day. They still refuse to the right thing and replace It. When you turn in a brand new mower, in perfect condition - well, minus the defective hydro - you expect to get the same thing back. They tried to even blame it on the shop, but it wasn't their fault. They would have it done after 3 weeks, but they wanted to fight for 3 months over a $100.

So now, after weeks of demanding them to fix the situation, the refused to help in any way, and wouldn't do anything.

I know that's a lot, but need everyone to understand what a horrible company they are. I didn't want to have to go though this, was hoping they would do the right thing - but now I'll demand a refund. Even if I have to spend more money, I refuse to deal with this company again. Spend your money elsewhere, they don't take care of their customers. You don't matter.

It's why most mower shops don't carry.

Garbage.

My experience in a nutshell.

jnservices, how did your search for new hydros for your Zbeast go? I've actually had good luck with my Zbeast but I recognize that the hydros are underpowered. Someday, I will need to change them out. Thanks for any leads

Does anyone have a bad hydro for a 62 inch z-beast they would be willing to sale for parts?

Ron Coker, To find the best ones, I just did a google search for zero turn hydros and looked to see what kind the best pro mowers had on them, and checked the specs to see what would be enough or overkill.

I have not however been able to complete this project due to health issues but hope to get back on this project over the winter while I have some down time. I realize this thread is old but hope it will stay open so I can share the results one day soon :)

jnjservices.....I look forward to hearing what you find out. Thus far, I've struck out!

I can save you a lot of money from experience and in the middle of lawsuits I bought ZBeast from GXI I have only gotten 37hrs out of it looked brand new when taken to northern tool who does GXI warranty work they trashed it transaxle went out steering bad I purchased a 50" cut 2 plus acres toro it runs and cuts Twice as fast. When purchasing Zero turns make sure transaxle have lube reserves

I have been using a 48"cut zbeast for 2 yrs.and I wouldn't give you two bits for another. I have had nothing but bad with it. It wouldn't cut hot butter when new. Now besides that it will not go forward or backward, nothing.

I have a1998 john deere 32 inch rider with kawasaki water cooled engine only needed rep belts and oil an filters on needed bases and one carburator in2014. you cannot go wrong with these mowers,but don't buy one any where but a JD dealer

In hopes of saving everyone time, money and tons of stress, please do not buy anything from GXI or ZBEAST. I did not do my research very well and purchase this Z62" on my sons recommendation. I received the mower in November 2016. It pretty much set thru the winter so after 10 hours on the unit in May 2017 the drive motor locked up. The manufacture GXI instructed me to carry it to Northern Tool who does their warranty work (closest to me was almost 100 miles). It is now November 2017 an my mower is still down at Northern tool. Parts take for ever and they don't have experience on these mowers. The motors are the same as one put on small riding mowers and Peerless now refuses to sell them because they are under spec for Zturns. Do yourself a favor and don't even consider these mowers. They are a piece of junk. Just read all the reviews. I have filed complaints with the AG in NC where GXI is and in Texas where Northern Tool is. Northern Tool has left my mower out in the weather now for 7 months (thru hurricane Harvey and the paint turned to pink now). They called me to say my mower is ready and I drove 100 miles to pick it up but when I got there the new transmission was growling and grinding worse than the one that failed.

I'll buy one GXi the bracket broke inthe seat back wheel dripping oil 4 months waiting for the factory contact me I do landscaping for living no answers for the factory I do have bet experience and the tractor 62 inch lawn mower customer service as bad I'm not recommended lawn mower wasting time and money 414 426 3139

These mowers and the people that represent them are a nightmare. Hydraulic drive motors are too small and will fail. No service centers qualified to repair them. Stay away. Youve been warned. I wish I had of known how bad they were 5 years ago.

Has anyone worked on a resonable Hydro conversion for the Z Beast 48? There was talk about it years back. Would like to know what everyone has learned along the way.

Sorry Randy but these mowers are outright junk dont waste mor money trying to convert it my advise is take your loses and move on sell it for parts and get some of your investment back good luck

I bought a 2006 Exmark Lazer Z 52" Zero Turn in 2009 from a commercial landscaper/mower with a 23 HP Kawasawki engine.. The first thing I did with it was take it to a dealer who looked it over. He replaced the two spark plugs, the blades and one spindle. I also assumed that he checked out the serial number for me. It's quite common to see these machines come off lease at three years old, but this one had been purchased. I paid $3500 and have been using it ever since to do an acre and a half.

i've never had problems with the hydraulic pumps or motors except that if the fluid gets low it gives a growling whining sort of noise when going up a grade so I add a little fluid and I'm good to go. I wore out some mower deck belts till I learned not to use it to plow piles of leaves with the blades spinning. I replaced the hydraulic belt myself two years ago and the automotive type oil filter that filters the hydraulic fluid a few times . It's had a another blade spindle, a starter solenoid 2 years ago and a starter motor last year. Not bad for a 15 year old machine. i can't remember a single problem with broken parts for the frame, the deck etc. I did all the maintenance myself till I got too old to figure out how to get at the starter motor bolts.

My only complaint is that I don't think the deck is wide enough because if it were wider it would go around the three foot diameter fencing I have up around new fruit trees to keep the deer off them. They had a 60" deck but it wasn't available with a bagger; as I remember.

I know you're going to question buying used but perhaps a used machine like mine is better than those you're criticizing here. I'd suggest if you look at one to look at the broken parts. Things like the wheels on the mower deck, the casters for the front wheels. If they're busted off or bent you get an idea how they respected their machine.

Thanks John

I ha have gone to gravel and love them i have 2 now

Thanks Hiram, I am ugoing to take your advice. Save the pain!!