Cub Cadet Ultima ZT1 46

18 months in and loving the zt1 46" – When buying the cub cadet zt1 46, I had done a lot of research over all the brands including toro and hustler which were about $1000 dearer for the equivalent. The selling point for me was the fab deck, Kawasaki motor (same as the hustler) and the serviceability. 18 months (70hours) in and I can not be happier with my decision. I have lots of trees who's sticks I run over and a riverbank that was covered in 5ft tall river reeds. I have since cleared a significant portion of said river reeds by running my mower into them repeatedly for hours and hours. I've also hit a concrete pit cover at decent speed with the deck and caused no damage. I can honestly say I have abused this mower and not had any problems. The serviceability of this mower is like nothing else. No plastic covers to damage or pull off. I can lift the air filter cover to check it with ease, wash all the grass out from around the engine. The oil drain plug is off a hose that has good access. The wheel releases are easy to get to. The deck adjustments are on the frame and are easily used. Also I was using a hustler 52" before this and when you filled the petrol tank you would have to wait for it to feed into the second half of the tank. On this you can just pour it in until full and chuck the lid on. Really happy I took the chance with getting a cub cadet although the older models have had issues. They have stepped there quality up in recent years and I would highly recommend.

Early days (22hrs) but has halved my mowing time and effortlessly cuts grass/ weeds up to a metre – I can confidently cut up to a metre of grass/ weeds and can venture into areas I wouldn't dare compared to my previous greenfield 42in 26hp machine. I just slow to a suitable pace and it handles very tall areas(5acres lawn, 2 acres bush block). Has easily cut mowing time in half. Belt and blade are easily accessible ( one bolt/nut) and the spindle/ deck with a hole design means no more grass build up around the spindles on top of the deck . Good up and forwards/ back adjustability in handles to suit most. Only cons are the oem blades are easy to bend, if you hit a dirt mound and the seat has a plastic piece as suspension which does not work - a simple spring would. Otherwise a great investment at just under $8k UPDATE: April 2026 - Up to 200hrs and Kawasaki engine is still going strong. Purchased 2 strong springs and chair leg rubbers to add under seat, in addition to existing plastic ones (from bunnings) to solve seat issue. New blades also bent but am cutting where gums drop branches - getting use to taking them off and sledge hammering them flat - good excuse to sharpen them. Would still recommend this machine.

just what the paddock needed ;-) – our 10 year old dixon ztr 42" was beginning to show its age, and since i'm not getting any younger, i wanted a bigger deck to get the job over and done with... the job: 5 acres, more or less level, with many trees, and a wide variety of grasses, weeds, whathaveyou. as mentioned, the dixon was terrific, and i would have jumped at another, but they've been absorbed by husqvana. so it was an open market, in which i got several headaches investigating... the net is wonderful, that is until you start researching products, where there can be literally 100's of reviews of the same item that both praise and damn it. who to trust, etc., and in this case, it's not as if you can test drive the products, or even get them (or at least not where we live). since we live in a rural area the first thing i did was ask everyone we knew for their opinion. as expected, everyone who'd invest $5k or more on a zero turn was adamant theirs was the best. i mean, who's going to really admit to buying a lemon? we started out with a budget of no more than $8k, a minimum deck of 46" and a desire for two blades only (much simpler for me to maintain). this narrowed our choice quite considerably. oh, and i wanted a fabricated deck if possible. we ended up looking at the following available locally, and i give my reasons for NOT buying: http://jonseredmowers.com.au/products/zero-turn-mowers/z46r/ apparently also huskie owned. dealer was badly organised, couldn't even find me a brochure. they only had the 48" in stock, and it looked 'ok' but wasn't comfortable to sit on. https://www.husqvarna.com/au/products/zero-turn-mowers/z146/970458601/ well it looked good, i liked the idea of the reinforced pressed deck, but no one had them in stock, and supplies were tenuous. the reviews were on the whole very good, the video's on youtube impressive, but if you can't get one... https://www.deere.com.au/en/mowers/residential-zero-turn-mowers/z345r-residential-ztrak-mower/ only 42" and underpowered. then there were the unknowns, red max, toro (didn't hear good reports on old machines), great dane, ferris, and a whole host of niche market machines i couldn't get to see at all. so, since my wife liked the bright yellow colour, and i liked the really solid fab deck, we bought the ultima. not really much to base a choice on i admit, but hey, it's fantastic, much more 'solid' and well-built than the dixon, certainly to all intents and purposes stronger than the huskie, and so far, it gobbles up the paddocks at a terrific rate. of course, it has a unique look - you'll love it or hate it. the kawasaki twin cylinder engine always feels it's simply ticking over. the seat is very comfortable, and easily adjustable, as are the steering levers, which feel very sturdy in use. deck adjustment height is a breeze, and the front rollers avoid any scalping, etc., the lights are a gimmick (so far)... i'll come back in 6 months with a more useful working review....