Great Dane Surfer mower

[FentonC]

Anybody have experience about Great Dane mowers? I am getting a 52" Great Dane Surfer with only 245 hours on it. Do these mowers have any typical problems? Thanks

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http://www.fentonslawncare.com

[SECTLANDSCAPING]

Lawn care business tips

I have a 52" great dane brutus ZTR with the 27hp kohler engine. So far I have little over 900 hours on the machine and only replaced a tire. The deck is the same as mine and you have a ground speed of 12mph. There good on hills. If I wouldve seen one for the price I paid for the Z, I wouldve snatched it up in a heartbeat. The standers are a great machine. I used them when I was a groundskeeper. The place had 3 of them with 1500-2500 hours on them. I didnt maintain the machines there but never had one go down while operating in the year I worked there. This was a few years back there now using Walker standers. Most likely due to dealer support.

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South Eastern Connecticut Landscaping /Lawn Care /Pressure Washing /Snow Removal /Gutter Cleaning
52" Brutus/52" Super Surfer/44" Pro Line/60" ZMaster
EB630/EB802/EBZ7150/EBZ8000/BR400/Billy Goat 8Hp
FS55&90/FC95/km110/L322&326/TR2350S
HC150/HC155/CHTZ2460
CS440/MS290
Case 1816 Skid

[wandfsmall]

Originally Posted by FentonC

Anybody have experience about Great Dane mowers? I am getting a 52" Great Dane Surfer with only 245 hours on it. Do these mowers have any typical problems?

Thanks

Great Dane was produced by 4 companies during their life. They started with Dane Scag owning them. They were a quality unit until the last few when the plant was being shut down(quality control was really bad during that time). Then they were produced by John Deere(I think quality dropped a little during this time) after john deere started producing a decent ztr they sold the Dane line to Everride(quality stayed the same as when deere owned them) Everride went bankrupt and Ariens Bought them and ran them till they shut down the line. For the most part they have been quality machines with the best ones being the oldest units. They only real issue with them would be parts availability. I am not sure how long they will make parts for the dane units.

[FentonC]

the one I am getting is a 2006 model. who was manufacturing them during this time?

[SECTLANDSCAPING]

Mine is a 2008 when the line was being dropped by Ariens.

Deere sold them at the end of 2005 to ACI. ACI also partnered with Deere manufacturing the Quick-trac standers and Gravely standers.

In other word the Deere and Gravely standers were rebadged super surfers.

[Steve]

They started with Dane Scag owning them

That is a fascinating history! Does Dane make any mowers now? What is your view on why these mower manufacturers change hands so much?

[wandfsmall]

Originally Posted by Steve

That is a fascinating history! Does Dane make any mowers now? What is your view on why these mower manufacturers change hands so much?

most of the time they do not change hands often. Dane Scag is as far as I know retired. But he does have a really distinguished history in lawnmowers. the ones I know about are Bobcat, Scag, and Great Dane. Another one that was really influential was Art Evans who worked on the following;Star Lawnmower, Bobcat, and Dixie Chopper.

[SECTLANDSCAPING]

I know Deere wanted the patents for the Dane ZTR's and Stander. Other then that the bigger companies feel its easier to buy their competition then make a better product. This kills to birds with one stone. More market share and no waiting around for R&D.

[wandfsmall]

Originally Posted by SECTLANDSCAPING

I know Deere wanted the patents for the Dane ZTR's and Stander. Other then that the bigger companies feel its easier to buy their competition then make a better product. This kills to birds with one stone. More market share and no waiting around for R&D.

Act Deere needed the R & D more then anyone at the time, they were the last to produce a ZTR mower. Toro did the same thing when they bought Exmark(they needed a better ZTR) Most of the sales we see are for names, like MTD buying Cub Cadet so that they can put a name that says quality on the MTD product. Same with MTD buying Troy Built. You also have companies like Husquvarna that buy both products that are better then the ones they produce for R & D like when they bought Johnsred for their Chainsaws, and Redmax for the blowers and trimmers. However I am not sure why they bought Dixon and Yazoo other then to shut down compition and gain dealers.

[FentonC]

Where is a good place to get replacement parts for my 2006 Great Dane Surfer? I heard they are harder find.