If he's a good hungry dealer, he will bring out a demo and let you chk it out in action on YER turf... take a look at Slammer's old buying advice:

Repost of Slammer's Buying Guide...

1. Carefully evaluate the size mower you need and buy at least one size larger, given gate and storage door considerations. Work with reputable Dealers who can provide product choice assistance, product predelivery prep and aftersale service at competitve prices.

2. NEVER buy a mower from ANYPLACE that will not let you test drive same or at least a similar model. Ergonomics are just as important as performance and capability.

3. DO NOT base your purchase on price or brand name alone! Do proper research and find all of the available models that fit your criteria and haggle, save, or trade to get the right equipment for the job. Do not compromise! Dealer support after the sale is also important.

4. Understand your property and it's impact on your choice of equipment. Mowing slopes, obstacles, future landscape projects, winter use, attachments, etc. can all have a significant effect.

If you follow these three tips you will end up a happy camper with just the right unit for the job. If you disregard this advice you may end up with one or the other of the following problems:

A. Buyers remorse. Stuck with a piece of junk or simply a unit inadequate for the task at hand.

Or..

B. A teed off spouse when you start shopping for another tractor just 3 - 6 months down the road because you didn't buy the right unit in the first place.

Enjoy the experience!

My mower is Dixie Chopper 60" cut engine important hp half size of cut are close as can get my 60" has 28hp EFI engine I would not want less horsepower it slow down travel speed with lower horse power engine as cuts you extra horse power when blades are dull. Dixie Chopper comes in 66" and 74" cut both those mower cut over 6.5 acres and hour. The 66" cut 9.1 acres hour and 74" cut 11.1 acres hour. My 60" cut 7.1 acres hour but my average a little over 3 acres hour slow easy ride no hurrying in pasture grass cut the other mowers you looking at cut nice lawn grass if cut when grows 1/2. When cutting at fast travel speed air pressure in back tires ride best at 6 psi easy on back bone.

Good advice...thanks to both of you! Especially the part about testing the demo on my own place. That would be excellent if they'll do that.

I hadn't looked at Dixie Chopper. I'll have to check them out. How would you say they compare to Bad Boy?

They all copied Dixie Chopper as much as could some are petty good copy's. If get one remember power to deck size ratio you be okay cutting pasture grass one thing important discharge opening need to be big to flow a lot grass so want have cut grass ball all over the place. A wide stance is good for ride distance between rear tires Some ZRT made for smaller deck and rear tires close together even has 60" deck in line up small decks want cut tall grass it stay bend over stand back up after mower crosses.

Claims of 9-11 acres per hour are completely unrealistic. The 6.6 acres per hour that Dixie Chopper claims on their 54 hp, $16k XCaliber Twin is based on BEST case scenario only. Just because a company advertises that a mower will run flat out at 16mph doesn't mean it can mow (worth a hoot) at that speed.

To the OP: if you are looking at spending $9k, in my opinion, you can do better than the Bad Boy… There are a lot of forums where posters are very unhappy with those machines after using them for a while. You can get JD, Scag, Toro, Exmark, etc… for that kind of money. Machines with a long history of durability.

"You can get JD, Scag, Toro, Exmark, etc… for that kind of money. Machines with a long history of durability."

Even John Deere had problems, with their Z800-series a couple years ago, underpowered. That was a fiasco for the company (and I own a residential JD ZTR, no problems with that one though).

I've also been looking at the Walkers, but not sure what I could get there... looks like their range is $7k-$15k based on their website. I do like the floating deck, though, and the speed controls.

Nicemac, I'm really not wanting to spend $9k. I'd rather stay at $6k-$7k. However, I just found a Kubota diesel ZTR with low hours for $8500. That sounds pretty good, especially being diesel. I would prefer to wait until end of season, because I think I can get by with the mowers I have...but if I can get a real sweet deal, I might pull the trigger.
Also, I haven't seen many forum posts from unhappy bad boy owners. A few, but that seems to be the case with any brand.

I mow about 4 acres, and it can get old.

I have a currently have a large ZTR (8 foot cut ... $$$), but have also used a tow-behind three point hitch (grooming mower). The latter work pretty well too, for cutting a lot of grass. Of course you need a tractor, probably 30 hp min.

One of the upsides to having a tractor/3pt hitch (even an old tractor) is that maintenance is less than the hydro mower, and riding a farm tractor or utility tractor is like driving a car. Driving a ZTR is more like driving an expensive Go Kart - noise, bouncing, never really have your hands free.

A big downside to using a tractor/3pt hitch groomer is turning it. Big turning radius. If you have a tractor with power steering, not so bad.

Of course, if you have a tractor, you can do a lot of other stuff with it. If you can get a deal on a three point hitch tractor, the single deck mowers are cheap.

Three point hitch groomers come in many sizes, ~ 5' tp 9'

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Even have floating deck tow behinds, for hilly terrain (more $$). These come in sizes 96" to 132"

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RE:"Also, I haven't seen many forum posts from unhappy bad boy owners. A few, but that seems to be the case with any brand."

Do some more searching… I originally had them on my short list, but quickly dropped them off after finding so many negative posts.

I wound up buying a 2-month old, JD Z930M with 28 hours that the guy thought "rode too rough" for $7,500 cash off Craigslist last week. It has 2 years and 10 months warranty left. I would much rather have this machine than the Bad Boy… Deals are out there if you are patient.