This past year, our company picked up two Toro Grandstand models from our local dealer. We thought writing a review of the Toro Grandstand would be very useful for other landscapers. We had previously owned a Gravely ProTurn 160, and decided to trade that in for our first Grandstand. Fast forward to two months later, we were already buying our second Toro Grandstand!
We have no affiliation with Toro, but somehow over the years have ended up with almost all Toro mowers in our fleet. I am really impressed with the quality of build that Toro makes for all of their mowers, whether it’s the Toro Timecutter, TimeMaster or Grandstand, we love them all.
Quality and Compactness Of The Build
I think almost all commercial lawn mowers have a similar build quality, but Toro in my opinion has one of the smartest builds for stand on mowers. Let me start with the platform. We absolutely love how you can flip up the platform and the mower becomes so compact. You can fit two grandstands on a 10 foot trailers! With a sit down rider, you can’t even fit one rider and a 36″ walk behind mower comfortably. From the front of the mower deck to the back tires, Toro Grandstands are about 54 inches. My 36″ walk behind for comparison is 70″ long.
If you are trying to minimize the amount of shop space a trailer takes up, getting 10 ft. trailers as opposed to 16 ft. trailers makes an enormous difference. We had zero serious issues in the 750 hours combined we put on our two grandstands.
How Efficient Are Toro Grandstands?
Having the 10 gallon gas tank is a huge benefit for our company. We burn about 5 Gallons of gas per day, so we have to fill up every other day. This may seem like small times savings, but not having to go to a gas station and physically fill up, is awesome.
If I have one criticism of the Toro Grandstand, it would be mainly with the 22 HP Kawasaki Engine. Kawasaki makes amazing engines that last awhile, but they do tend to burn gas pretty fast especially in the Spring with thick grass. Having more horsepower on the Grandstand I bought would be nice, but definitely not a necessity.
Now, let’s talk about the real efficiency I’m most concerned with as a business owner. How quick are these mowers able to finish cutting a lawn? Top speed for these machines are around 8 MPH, but nobody ever cuts a lawn that fast unless it’s the summer time. The speed difference compared to the Gravely ProTurn160 (Gravely was a 60″ deck and my Grandstand is a 52″ deck) is very small. The Gravely was definitely faster on my properties that are an acre and above, but I attribute that to the 8″ bigger deck. The physical speed of the mower in my opinion is definitely faster. On my typical 1/2 acre property, I can’t honestly say the Grandstand is slower.
I love the 52″ deck because it makes it slightly more versatile than the 60″. The 60″ can be hard to get into clients backyards, and a little harder to fit between obstacles such as trees or shrubbery. To me, the 52″ just seems like the best mower deck size for residential lawn mowing service.
Pros:
- Compact design saves shop and trailer space.
- Very comfortable ride.
- Easy deck height adjustment.
- Top of the line cut quality.
- Smooth turning and controls.
- The easiest mower that I’ve seen new employees get comfortable with using.
- Incredibly easy access to drain/change hydro oil.
- Very easy to clean.
- Easy to hop on and off the mower.
Cons:
- 22 HP Kawasaki seems a little under powered.
- Deck height lever sticks out and sometimes gets caught on branches.
- Very inconvenient oil drain valve placement makes oil changes annoying.
Price
The price of our machine was around $9,300 after taxes, which is roughly the same as the Toro Z Master 3000 rider. Really no savings in getting the stander. I wish Toro could figure out a way to lower the price on these machines but hey, so does everyone else.
Versatility
This is where I think the Toro Grandstand review really shines. There are so many attachments that you can add to this machine that make it more than just a lawn mower. D’ttach Manufacturing makes awesome products such as leaf plows, aerators, and more than make it a year round unit.
These mowers hold hills extremely well, and I feel 10x safe on steep hills than I did on any sit down mower. Knowing I can easily hop off the platform and be safe is a huge relief.
My team members also love using these machines. They’re honestly just really fun to use. Standing all day isn’t as bad as you think, and we even bought a stand on seat from Ballard products which you can attach to the stand on platform. Customers also love seeing a landscaping company stand and not sit. The perception is that the workers are less lazy and more likely to pick up debris instead of running it over. This isn’t just perception, it’s TRUE. I see my team members always hopping off to pickup sticks and trash instead of running it over.
Toro Grandstand Review Conclusion
We really love these machines and will definitely be purchasing more in the future as we grow. There are simply not many “cons” with the Toro Grandstand. I hope you enjoyed this Toro Grandstand review. Email us if you have any questions!
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