Scag Liberty Z

Scag Liberty Z

Since homeowners don’t rack up hundreds of hours on their mowers each season, manufacturers use lower quality components than their commercial offerings to keep the price down at the cost of reliability. The Liberty Z is Scag’s first residential mower, but they’ve taken a different approach, carrying over many of the parts and features of their professional mowers to create something that owners can rely on year after year.

Borrowing from the Pro Mower Parts Bin

The Liberty Z may be a residential mower, but it comes with many of the parts Scag uses on their pro models to ensure excellent performance, easy maintenance, and a long service life.

Instead of stamping the deck out a thin piece of sheet metal, Scag welds together several thick pieces of steel to create a deck that can withstand major impacts without denting. The rear of the mower gets the same treatment with a tall steel plate rear bumper that protects the engine.

Scag offers the Liberty Z in three deck sizes: 36, 48 and 52 inches. Like their other mowers, the cutting height is adjusted using a foot pedal and can be set between 1 ½ to 4 ½ inches in ¼ inch increments.

The blades are bolted onto ball bearing sealed aluminum spindles require no maintenance, while grease points for other moving parts are within easy reach. The Liberty also uses the same hard-wearing Marbain blades as their commercial mowers, and several types are available including an abrasion-resistant model for use on sandy soil. The deck can be paired with a mulching plug or bagging system, as well as the mower chamber-sealing Hurricane system, which increases vacuum for stamped deck mulching performance. They even offer the Tiger Striper for getting a ball park finish.

A wide foot plate and an adjustable high-backed, bolstered seat make it comfortable to operate, even when mowing across inclines. On one side of the seat, there’s a gas tank with a molded-in cup holder that holds 3.5 gallons in 36-inch deck mowers and 5.5 gallons in the 48 and 52 deck mowers. On the other side, there’s a panel with the mower controls including the PTO, starter and an hour meter with maintenance reminders.

All this equipment rides on a set of 20-inch drive tires and 11-inch caster tires. Their large size improves the ride and traction while spreading out the mower’s weight to decrease turf damage.

Quality Parts from Pro Equipment Manufacturers

Like the rest of the mower, the engines used in the Liberty are top quality residential units built by companies that specialize in professional equipment.

Kohler’s 7000 Series Pro is adapted from their commercial Command Pro series, carrying over many of its features including cast iron cylinder liners, a large commercial duty air filter, and a full pressure oil system. The company says this design should last twice as long as the engine it replaced. The 7000 is available in mowers with 48 and 52-inch decks.

Kawasaki may be a new player in the residential market, but they’ve long been a dominant force in commercial mowers. The new FR Series delivers their high build quality and design to a price point within reach of home buyers: even their unique grass chopper system carries over, which keeps the fan intake from being clogged with debris. Scag fits the 18 hp FR600V in mowers with the 36-inch deck and the 21.5 hp FR651V in mowers with 48 and 52-inch decks.

The wheels are driven by equipment from another pro mower mainstay: Hydro-Gear. The Liberty uses a pair of 2800 transaxles which come equipped with cooling fans and all metal gears for reliable performance. These units can propel the mower to a top speed of 7 mph.

Power is transferred to the deck using an automatically adjusting belt system and an Ogura PTO clutch brake that can be adjusted to compensate for wear, greatly increasing its service life.

Warranty

Scag guarantees the Liberty Z for 5 years or 750 hours of operation. Kawasaki backs the FR Series for three years, while Kohler backs the 7000 Series Pro for three years of residential use or one year of commercial use.

Parts and Service

Shank’s Lawn Equipment is a certified dealer for Scag and their equipment partners so we can provide you with the service and support you need for your entire mower. If you need help with your Liberty Z, visit our shop, located at 4900 Molly Pitcher Highway in Chambersburg, PA. To get here from I-81, take Exit 10 to Marion and drive one mile east.

Not in the area? We ship parts and accessories across the U.S. and Canada. To order, visit www.shankslawn.com.

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