DMESS 24 #1 Posted May 6, 2008 616-Z Less than an hour away from home and I don't have any that spin circles yet! I imagine the price will get rediculous when it comes down to the wire although it was mine at $600 for a few hours. <_< Anyone have any experience with this particular style? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nick 13 #2 Posted May 6, 2008 I purchased a new 616-Z but forget if it was an 89 or 90 model. I really liked mine. It did have the smaller 38" hi vac deck with bagger but that thing would out mow much larger decks on tractors. That deck had very good lift and cut very well also. The 600 series dont hold the side of hills very well but most older zero turns dont. the last I heard the hydro drives were not sold by each side but as a single unit for well over $1,000. The units were sometimes damaged by the owner trying to drive while the parking brake was locked and that can blow the case apart and drop some parts on the ground. Might be why the new Toro Zs die if thats tried. You might have noticed but that should be a 42" deck mounted on the 616. They had the 38, 42 and I think it was a 52" deck. My dealer didnt recommend and didnt install the big deck, they thought it was to much weight on the small Z. I also dont think they sold many of the smaller 612-Z mowers. There were 612, 616 and then the 620-Z. I picked up a 620 at an auction last year and sold that to a friend for $500. Guess I could have tried ebay. One thing I dont like to admit doing, but might be a testament to the Onan 16hp engine, is that my brother pulled the oil filter then I drained the oil out...but we both thought the other had put the oil back in. I mowed for 30 minutes and just had a bad fealing about the oil so I pulled the dipstick but didnt wipe it off. The small amount of oil left in the system had somehow splashed right to the full mark so I went back to mowing. Later after mowing for at least another 30 minutes I had to check the oil again and found it had no oil. That was with not a lot of hours on the engine but many years later i saw it again and it had 600 or 800 hours and ran fine. :D Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DMESS 24 #3 Posted May 6, 2008 Nick, Yeah, I figured out it should be a 42" cut. The 38" with the Easy Twin bagger would probably have me seriously considering it since I have the 37"/ET on my 310-8. Not being able to bag tends to limit my interest to more of a novelty. I took a look at what some of the available parts cost and about fell off my chair. I'd assume with the low hours things should be good to go, but it would certainly be a tougher machine to swallow repair costs on than the 310. I've never been wild about electric clutches either. They must have thought these little machines pretty stout as they offered a 56" snow plow and a drawbar. The brochures I have rate it to pull all sorts of stuff that I wouldn't expect it capable of. Thanks for the info! :whistle: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites