“We had a well-known brand of garden tractor on site which was fairly old and had packed in, even getting a second-hand model of this brand would have been at the top end of my budget. After visiting a local dealer to start looking at what machine to specify, I noticed the Zenith on display. I was pleasantly surprised at how robust it was. All the features were solid, there wasn’t a single part I thought was cheap or flimsy and that may breakdown in the near future. And I was even more surprised at how affordable it was.

Pricing was a factor in the purchase decision

Price was a major factor in my decision of what machine to buy, we were looking at second-hand machines initially due to budgets. However, the brand-new Zenith was in our price range so to be able to buy this brand-new machine was a no brainer.

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St Michael’s school is set i​n a rural setting, most fields used to be agricultural grazing fields, none are flat. All have some form of rise and fall. We’re not cutting cultivated grass; we’re cutting wild grass, so we need machinery capable of handling this thick grass. To-date, the Zenith has given us a very professional cut and the grass hasn’t put any strain on the Kawasaki motor. One thing I’ve noticed is the time savings I’ve made from using the Zenith against my previous machine, a tractor type mulcher with a front deck. Our previous machine used to overheat after an hour’s use, causing us to experience regular downtime whilst we waited for it to cool down for a further 45 mins. To do the site, it was taking us 2-3 days whereas with the Zenith we can do it in a day.

St Michael’s grounds

For all our grounds, we need something with a large cutting deck. And that’s why we specified the Zenith. Budgets play an important part and our previous machine was breaking our maintenance budget and the Zenith has the Kawasaki motor bolted on the back, so if anything does go wrong with it you can simply replace the motor, not the complete machine, so no issues. I like the fact there are no hydraulics, very few areas for that to go wrong. I wanted a machine that wasn’t going to give us any headaches. The Zenith really stands out, it really is a beautiful machine.​Comfort whilst you’re working is second to none, this is due to the minimal vibration through the machine due to its large back wheels. Our previous machine when we mowed over one field, bounced all over the place whereas the Zenith just seems to glide over it.

To summarise what I like most about this machine is that it is very fast, its cutting capability is exceptional, the ability to turn as and when you want it to – there and then is a real bonus. It really is an all-rounder and a very competitively priced product. I’m really, really happy with it!”​​​​