On this page we are going to give you a look at the Ariens Zenith 60 (60″) 23.5HP Kawasaki Zero Turn Lawn Mower which is another Ariens zero turn mower with some key differences to the Ariens 915223 IKON-X 52 version that we reviewed at a previous date.
If you are interested in a zero-turn mower that is manageable and easy to use but also very sturdy with a powerful engine, then you may find what you are looking for here. This is another “true” zero turn mower, so this one will be able to turn at a 0° radius which makes it fantastic to be able to manoeuvre and also brilliant if you are using in a confined area.
We will look at the features and explain the pros and cons of exactly what you get with the Ariens Zenith 60 (60″) 23.5HP Kawasaki Zero Turn Lawn Mower, the other thing that we will do which we believe will be of more value for you as a potential customer is to look at the customer experience.
This way you will be able to see the pros and cons of the lawnmower before you buy based on real feedback coming from people that are currently using it. We have researched some of the top reviews and will give you the general good points and also the bad point of this lawnmower.
If you are in a hurry and you just want to check out the Ariens Zenith 60 (60″) 23.5HP Kawasaki Zero Turn Lawn Mower you can click here and go straight through to Amazon.com.
The first thing that we will do is give you a brief overview of the features and also explain each one in turn with the benefits that we believe you will get from these features.
Here is a quick look at the features:
Table of Contents
Ariens Zenith 60 (60″) 23.5HP Kawasaki Zero Turn Lawn Mower Features:
- 5HP/726CC Kawasaki FX730 V-Twin OHV Engine
- 60-Inch, 3-Blade Fabricated Mower Deck
- Hydro-Gear ZT-3100 transmission
- Twin oil filters for easy maintenance
- Adjustable High-Back Plush Seat With Armrests
The first thing that you will see above is the power of the engine which is 23.5 hp or 726 CC, this is also Kawasaki engine, you may remember this engine from a previous choice that we had a look at which was the Husqvarna MZ61 61 in. 24 HP Kawasaki Hydrostatic Zero Turn Riding Mower. Although this choice was from another brand it gives you an idea of the engine popularity and of course they are famous for making bike engines, what this means for you as a lawnmower owner is that you can rely on the engine.
For this particular version you will get a FX730 V-Twin engine, which will help you in a few different ways:
- Power:
With 23.5HP that you are able to get from the engine you should find that no task will be too large for this zero-turn mower. The other thing with the power that you are getting here is based on the lower centre of gravity and also the size of the mower, you will be able to manoeuvre this effortlessly, but you will also find that it feels like more power because of the design.
- Reliable:
As you are getting a Kawasaki engine it will be as reliable as it can be. Bear in mind, as with all zero turn mowers you will need to perform general maintenance with them to maintain the engine, we also highly recommend picking up a warranty option, but it will give you as much reliability as you can get.
In short, if you are looking for a great zero turn mower but you are worried about the reliability then this would be a fantastic choice as your first mower, as the brand will pretty much negate any problems that you will have with reliability as long as you keep up general maintenance.
- Warranty:
With ANY zero-turn mower that you buy one of the key things to make sure is that you have a good warranty. Of course, you don’t have to do this in order to be able to buy one but just like buying a car without any cover or warranty at all, if something goes wrong it can be very expensive to fix.
The Ariens Zenith 60 (60″) 23.5HP does give you a fantastic engine which is powerful enough and definitely capable enough for any residential or even small commercial work, however we also highly recommend that you pick up a warranty and then you will not get any nasty surprises. When you go through to Amazon.com to check out this particular mower you will be able to see all of the warranty options and they are very reasonable in terms of pricing.
Another feature that you get with the Ariens Zenith 60 (60″) 23.5HP Kawasaki Zero Turn Lawn Mower is a 60-inch commercial grade 10 gauge welded deck design, this makes it very sturdy and also a very wide cutting deck, especially when you consider the size of the mower itself.
You also get a depth of 5.5 inches with a reinforced leading-edge that will give you the airflow needed to tackle even tough mowing conditions and it will give you a great evenness of cut which includes the discharge chute to make the whole experience easy.
To give you some real wealth feedback based on the cutting efficiency of the Ariens Zenith 60 (60″) 23.5HP Kawasaki Zero Turn Lawn Mower we found a review over at Lowes.com that said they actually purchased this unit as an upgrade from the JD z255 unit. They said that it seems very well built, they also mentioned that they were able to knock down a knee-high field of grass on a 2” with a single pass and it gave a great looking result.
So, as you can see above you will get a very wide cutting deck that will also give you a 3 Blade fabricated mower deck which is sturdy enough and strong enough, especially when you consider the feedback that we have mentioned above you should be able to make light work of any job that you need to do for a residential or even a light commercial nature.
The next BIG feature with the Ariens Zenith 60 (60″) 23.5HP Kawasaki Zero Turn Lawn Mower is the transmission that you get as you will get a commercial hydro-gear ZT 3100 transmission that will work to give you enhanced torque and load capacity that will generate mowing speeds of 8 mph forwards, and you can also use this in reverse up to 4 mph. The benefit of the transmission being this way means that you will get extra torque, this means that the power of the engine in conjunction with the transmission will be able to propel this zero-turn mower forward and it should be able to handle uneven ground and longer grass to cut without any problems.
You also find that you get a very capable lawnmower because of the tyres, you will get 13-inch front tyres and you will get large 22-inch rear tyres, the design has been made like this to offer you enhanced traction and also it will help to produce a smooth ride even on uneven terrain. As you have oversized wheels at the back will find that it is able to cut more effectively as there is a certain downforce at the front and you will also find that you feel confident using this lawnmower even if you are on slightly uneven ground due to the extra-large wheels and tyres at the back.
The Ariens Zenith 60 (60″) 23.5HP Kawasaki Zero Turn Lawn Mower will give you a very comfortable seat, sometimes this can be overlooked when you are shopping for a zero-turn mower. Especially, if you are buying online and you are not going to go into a store to try out the mower it can be difficult to get feedback on the comfort. However, with the Ariens Zenith 60 (60″) 23.5HP Kawasaki Zero Turn Lawn Mower it has you covered as you will get a high back premium seat, you will also get padded armrests and a rubber seat isolation that will separate the operator from the frame, this is a great feature that will mean it will significantly reduce operator fatigue and it will also produce additional comfort during all day cutting.
The way this works is that the seat is configured in a way to make sure that you are away with the vibrations coming up the frame of the lawnmower, this just means in terms of comfort you will not have much vibration and therefore this will remain comfortable to be able to be used all day.
The Ariens Zenith 60 (60″) 23.5HP Kawasaki Zero Turn Lawn Mower also excels in terms of safety features as it will give you a commercial design with automotive style welded steel frame rails, this means that despite it being more powerful it has been made to be very sturdy, this will not buckle under pressure and you should remain safe as it has a very strong steel frame. The other benefit that you have with this particular zero turn mower, just like some of our other choices is that it will give you ROPS which stands for rollover protection system which will come as standard.
The great thing as well is that you will get an Ariens 4-year limited warranty, bear in mind that you should check this as it is a limited warranty and see exactly what you are covered for, if needs be you can enhance the warranty options as well.
You will also find that this gives you twin oil filters, this essentially will not enhance the performance, but it does make it far easier to maintain. Of course, when you purchase the Ariens Zenith 60 (60″) 23.5HP Kawasaki Zero Turn Lawn Mower it will come with all of the maintenance instructions and it is relatively simple as long as you keep up to date with oil and general maintenance tasks.
Verdict on the Features:
The Ariens Zenith 60 (60″) 23.5HP Kawasaki Zero Turn Lawn Mower is a fantastic alternative to the other zero turn mowers that we have had a look at. It gives you all of the features that you need, and it will also give you a very strong mower deck, so this is capable for light commercial work and pretty much any residential job that you need to do.
You will also find that this is worth having a look at seriously if you are after a great transmission. The transmission itself will give you extra torque and load capacity, this means that if you know you are going to be doing some heavy-duty work, then you can rely on this transmission to be powerful enough to use.
In terms of comfort, we do not think you will have any problems at all, it gives you a very padded premium seat and it will give you armrests. We also like the feature with the rubber seat isolation that will separate you from the frame, this will significantly reduce the vibration that you get from the frame when you are using, and it also means that you are far less likely to suffer from operator fatigue and you will be able to use this for all day mowing if you wish.
Having researched some of the reviews where someone had upgraded from a JDz255 unit they really liked this version of zero turn mower. They claim that they were able complete a job on a high field where the grass level was 2 feet, they could do it with a single pass and it will also give a great looking result as well.
When you add in the fact that you are getting a very low gravity mower, it will give you the zero-turn feature so you are able to turn at 0° axes and the design also has larger tyres at the back to make sure that you feel safe and very sturdy no matter if you are on level or uneven ground.
We would recommend this mower to anyone looking for a powerful mower for residential work. This is also a commercial grade mower; we personally will recommend this for light commercial work if you need something that is very easy to use.
You are constantly playing between getting a more powerful but more complicated mower that would be fine for a commercial setting but may be “too much” for residential work, to getting less power that will be perfect for residential but cannot take on the huge jobs.
We would class the Ariens Zenith 60 (60″) 23.5HP Kawasaki Zero Turn Lawn Mower as a very capable residential zero turn mower or something that you can use for light commercial work.
What Are People Saying?
Having researched some reviews on the Ariens Zenith 60 (60″) 23.5HP Kawasaki Zero Turn Lawn Mower, we mentioned above that someone was very happy with the purchase, but we also wanted to give you a review that came in that was very good but not quite perfect feedback.
This was another review that we found on Lowes.com – they mentioned that they received the mower and except for a couple of issues this was a big upgrade from a Hustler Raptor that they previously owned.
They were interested in buying the Ariens Zenith 60 (60″) 23.5HP Kawasaki Zero Turn Lawn Mower as it gives you a larger frame and they thought it would make it very easy to use even though they have a bad back.
They also found that the large discharge chute will be less prone to clogging which was a problem with the Hustler mower that they previously owned if the grass was not 100% dry, they would find it would clog.
The only negative that they could find about the Ariens Zenith 60 (60″) 23.5HP Kawasaki Zero Turn Lawn Mower was the seat release. They found that the battery on theirs was completely dead when they delivered it and they ended up having to jumpstart it from a truck.
To get to the battery you will have to fold the seat forward, they found the lever very stiff, and you will have to push it down while lifting up the seat. The lever moves with the seat so you are pushing down pulling up at the same time on the seat, they ended up saying that they will have to remove one of the springs on the release lever in hopes it will make it easier to fold the set.
The cool thing is that, apart from the seat release function that they did not like very much they said they would have given it 5 stars if it wasn’t for this problem.
This means that not one person that we found mentioned anything too bad about this lawnmower, it will give you all of the functions that you require, and you should find it super easy to use.
Another review that we found for this mower mentioned that they found it very heavy duty and it has been well built, they claimed it is evident that it has been built to last. They also mentioned that they have used it once at the time of reviewing this mower and they found the cup to be phenomenal.
They went on to say that they were very happy with the purchase so far, the only downside that they could say was that they ordered some accessories, and they are still waiting as they are on back order, this would be their only complaint, but the great thing is as far as the mower goes this is the best one that they’ve ever used.
Looking around the web for people’s experiences with the Ariens Zenith 60 (60″) 23.5HP Kawasaki Zero Turn Lawn Mower it is evident that they are very happy, the main takeaway is from looking at this mower is that nearly everyone says that it looks like it has been built to last.
This means, as we mentioned above if you’re looking for something very sturdy that will be easy to maintain and also last you a long time then this would be a fantastic choice.
It will also give you stellar performance as a few reviews that we had a look at mentioned that it is able to cut the grass, even long grass in most cases first time over.
When you add in the fact that you have a very comfortable seat and also the ability to move forwards and backwards as well is a very powerful engine, we think you will be very pleased with this mower.
The other thing as well where this mower shines is the safety features as you will get the rollover protection which is ROPS for short and that means that you will be able to use this with added confidence as you will have a far less likely chance of being injured.
Recommendations on where to buy:
We recommend checking the Ariens Zenith 60 (60″) 23.5HP Kawasaki Zero Turn Lawn Mower out at Amazon.com. The main reason for this is you will be able to see all of the reviews when you go through to the site.
The big reason for checking out on Amazon is that you will normally be able to pick up warranty while you are there, this will increase the warranty from the standard limited warranty that you get, and it can normally work out to be quite cost-effective.
The other big reason apart from the fact that you are able to pick up your warranty and see what people are saying is that you will be able to see all of the accessories for sale and if you do need to pick them up most of the time, they will be included in a frequently bought together deal.
These can change from time to time so make sure that you check out Amazon to see the latest deals if any are available.
To conclude, we think you will be very happy with the Ariens Zenith 60 (60″) 23.5HP Kawasaki Zero Turn Lawn Mower especially if you are comparing this to the previous Ariens mower that we had a look at or even if you are comparing it to a Husqvarna this mower would make for a very good choice.
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