Hustler Raptor

Terrible gas tank design - fill tube – The fuel tank design is terrible! Why they didn’t use the same tank & fill design thats on the commercial mowers is beyond me. This slanted fill tube does not allow me to fill the tank full. I have yet to be able to fill the tank completely. Once it gets to the top of where the filler tube meets the tank the gas backs up into the tube and… Read more

overflows even though you still got 3” of empty tank left. As for the lift peddle to raise the deck, it’s very difficult. I’m 68 years old, had knee replacement 10 years ago and it kills my leg to raise the deck 4-5 times when mowing. Hustler needs to do a recall and fix this tank design.

Still hanging in there after 8 Years – Over the last 8 years my basic 42 inch Hustler has done several deck belts, spindle pulleys, drive belts. Cracked the fuel tank, missing the LHS plastic wheel arch ( zero turning around trees) , welded up the deck, welded on several tow bar options as it tows 70kg of weed spray over 20 acres, through creek crossings over country that pokes sticks… Read more

up through the motor & blunts my blades. I've been bogged dozens of times, stuck on logs & rock formations. It tows soil about in its large trailer. Burns oil , smokes. Its missing the gear cog bit on one drive BUT still cuts my 1 acre home garden area beautifully (if the tyres are pumped up). I've never had to rake up my buffalo grass, as you could hardly tell (whereas my work kubota leaves clumps everywhere and looks like crud when damp)

Its at that stage where I need to look at another one as the Wet Season growth escalates, but I am horrified at everyone's reviews on the newer weaker sounding models. It appears that after reading other reviews that a 42 inch model is now built lighter for city mowing ( on all brands/models). I just wanted something sturdy that will fit in between my path borders & trees so I can get to the lawns around my place. The years are meant to improve models.

Designed to Fail – I favored the Hustler because they have been around a long time and there is a dealer in my area. The Raptor XD 54” that the dealer sold me on has the Kawasaki 23HP engine. It’s the engine I wanted. I should have paid more attention to the mower itself. While the engine seems ok, the mower is weakly designed and prone to failures. With only 10… Read more

hours on it, I’ve had it back to dealer twice. >The 11ga ‘welded deck’ is weak and was making contact with the blade on the right side. The dealer ‘beat it out with a hammer, saying the design doesn’t allow for enough blade clearance. >The J Hangar design to support the deck is weaker yet. Three times now, a rear hangar has failed. The dealer says ‘they sell a lot them’; and suggested I buy ‘extras’. The J Hangars themselves appear to be made of mild steel, cold formed with no post heat treatment. In one failure the hangar broke at the 90 degree bend. In two other failures, the upper sheet metal supports that holds the J Bolts deformed and dropped the hangar. I wrote a positive review of the dealer mechanic as he was efficient and knowledgeable. He provided some instructions on how to make repairs myself in the future. Not encouraging, but the design weaknesses are not his fault. >The drive system is delicately set and secured; and often ‘loses neutral’, per the Hustler Dealer. The result is it pulls to one side. At 10 hours, the right side had become completely unresponsive. This occurred again at 19 hours. Readjustment by the dealer was quick, but far from secure. Readjustment of this very poorly designed and manufactured system is required often. At 10 hours of service I asked the Dealer to allow me to upgrade to a heavier unit, Hustler or other; as they stock a number of different brands. The Dealer refused. Conclusion; DON’T BUY A HUSTLER RAPTOR. In fact, avoid all products from Hustler. Whatever the company may have been in its early years, it’s now a leader in poorly designed, low quality lawn equipment. PS: the Kawasaki engine (not made by Hustler) starts and runs fine.

Don’t buy Hustler or Bad Boy. Excel Industries does not back their product!! – Save your money and buy another mower. Stay away from Hustler and Bad Boy. The company does not back their product. I will give them credit in the fact that they have fixed the lengthy list of design flaws. However, if you were unfortunate (like me) and bought one of the earlier models, you’re screwed. I have experienced and continue to experience… Read more

every single one of the issues that plague the older models. I’ve gotten 600 hours out of my Hustler Raptor, but it has been painful. Constant repairs and have spent a small fortune repairing this thing over and over. If you own one, you better own a welder as well. You’ll need a stockpile of bolts to replace the constant breakage and will have a frame and brackets full of welds. I’ve contacted the company twice. No response after the first one and then got an email after the second. I called the provided number and was basically told “sorry about your luck”. I expected more for what I paid for the mower and the Hustler name. I was fooled. Save yourself the trouble and buy from someone who backs their product. It certainly is not Excel Industries.

Disappointing Purchase Raptor XD54 2021 – It has been a disappointing purchase. I would like to also add that I submitted the review below on the Hustler website, however it did not get published on their website. It goes to show the untruthful nature of the business conduct of Hustler. The reviews listed on their website have all seem to have 5 star ratings. Obviously from my personal… Read more

experience, it seems that any negative reviews just don't get published. I will be lodging a complaint with ASIC separately regarding this.

Review

The Kawasaki motor is great.

As far as the mower is concerned, it is north worth the money paid for it. Poor fuel tank design. Can only be 2/3 filled. Poor location of oil drain hole. Really hard to get to and doesn't drain oil properly. Poor design of guards over pulleys as grass getting caught there all the time and to clean you need unscrew bolts after each mow.

The back bracket holding mover deck in place bends easily and drops the deck. The overall deck is a strong design, but the bracket to hold the deck up is not.

The traction is quite poor, it pulls to one side, even after multiple adjustments, it has been to the dealer for adjustment, to which they said its normal. Due to this the mower has to be driven quite slow and unsafe on any slight slope.

A regretful purchase for the price. I definitely was expecting better from Hustler. Stay away from purchasing Hustler.

Poorly Engineered and Poorly Built – I had both transmissions replaced twice during my warranty period. Hustler tried to indicate that I was abusive to my equipment. When I bought it I told the dealer I mow 3 acres with 2 big hills. Now I had at least one of the hydro mounting brackets break. I had to purchase a “service kit” to fix it. This tells me that since Hustler has this… Read more

“service kit“ that they are fully aware that the hardware and the mounting brackets on this machine are very weak. I strongly feel like this should have been a factory recall especially in light of the fact that when these giveaway on a hill the writer loses the ability to steer the machine and could end up in a life-threatening situation. Now my left hydro transmission is slipping constantly. I am continually purging the air from the system and having to let it cool down before the left side will drive. I have reached out to hustler twice about this problem with no reply. I fully intend to escalate this case until the problem is taken care of. Since I am a disabled veteran if I have to get a veteran service organization involved I will. I will also contact the Better Business Bureau about their lack of customer service and dangerous equipment. I will also be looking into finding an attorney that would file a class action lawsuit against them. I would recommend that everyone else that is having the same problems do likewise. The dealer indicated they are still having a lot of machines brought in to have those brackets replaced.

Best investment for our new half acre property! – This thing is a beast! Can mow my block on 30mins including the edges! Paid $6500 cash from my local mower shop and can’t be happier. I trst operated the huskvarna and toro equivalent and the hustler out performed it price wise and quality. Also the warranty is longer and not one bit is made in China. Very happy. Show details

Terrible discharge/no traction on slopes – Like many other owners I had trouble as soon as the grass got higher than 100mm OR it was damp or very green. The mower simply doesn’t have the ability to discharge the grass out before it all gets stuck in and under the deck. Then there’s the traction issue. I’ve tried letting down the tyres and going a little slower but still slides from under… Read more

you. Very dangerous if you have to cut a nature strip with a slight slope. You have to leave the edges or you will end up in the road. Definitely a poor design mower!

Very disappointing – I purchased my hustler raptor for $7000. Biggest piece of rubbish I have had the misfortune of crossing paths with. Right from purchase, both front wheels were buckled and keep going flat, deck height lever bolt has come loose and fallen off(6 times). Deck keeps getting clogged (opening in wrong spot, cut grass hits wall instead of being pushed… Read more

out of deck). Can’t throw the grass out. I have just replaced the third deck belt. I have also replaced 15 drive belts at about $90 per belt( not happy Jan). The air cleaner cover has fallen off and disappeared into the ether and just to top it all off, I recently had the 60hr service done professionally. Surprise, surprise the hydro clutch now needs replacing($365). I may as well, I’ve replaced everything else. I’d sell it for scrap but the metal merchant wants metal not lemons.I wouldn’t buy another hustler if my life depended on it.

Worth the money – I debated spending the extra $ for a zero turn mower, for too long and the grass got very long & wet, the Hustler didn't care, it turned long wet grass into lawn effortlessly. It takes a while to get the hang of steering especially on a sloping block like mine. It's tricky when the ground/grass is wet and the wheels loose traction, suddenly no… Read more

brakes and no steering, not for the faint hearted. Tyres need more grip, nobby tyres would be a good investment. On the flat it's hard to beat, fantastic maneuverability in and around trees. Finish on the lawn is very even, visibility because of the seat position is excellent. With practice I'll get mowing straight lines and close to edges better. Ran out of seat adjustment, I have long legs and would like to be able get the seat back just a bit. Great machine built like a truck, feels sturdy under you and while it has traction is very nice to use. Don't believe what the salesperson says about steering on slopes, it's tricky, if you have a sloping block buy a conventional ride on.

Very disappointed with my Raptor SD 54" – I bought this unit in June 2019 after owning a few Walkers and a Hustler Fastrack SD 60" over the last 30 years for cutting various of my own residential properties, and the occasional free community mowing job for the local school. I previously owned a garden equipment dealership for 25 years and so I am familiar with how machines work, having… Read more

started the business by servicing clients machines myself..

Well, I sold my last Walker and bought the Raptor SD 54", and never have I been so disappointed with what I was expecting to be a sensible decision to go with what I thought was a 'quality' brand! From day one I noticed the trouble that it had discharging cuttings if the grass was more than 100mm long, or even very slightly moist. I tried various blades with higher lift to no avail. The cuttings clog up under the deck until it sounds like a helicopter and it needs the blades disengaged and stopped to dump it out, leaving a huge mess on the lawn or driveway. There is a fundamental design flaw with the deck that Hustler need to address. Either it needs holes in the top of the deck for more airflow, or a very high lift blade, or a closer clearance of the blade to the top of the deck, so cuttings don't build up. They obviously tried a cheap 'fix' by cutting back around the discharge opening of the deck to try and help the cuttings clear out, but have exposed the blade, which is downright dangerous and a liability, not to mention a good 'ringbarking' tool for trees and fenceposts!!! They should call in some airflow engineers, to sort their issues with this area, before it bites them.

I am sure that this problem contributes to the high fuel usage and low power complaints on a lot of reviews, as the cuttings are circulating around under the deck, or rubbing on the blades, and then they come out as mini hay bales and leave an unsightly mess! Not a pretty sight for someone who likes a tidy lawn.

The other major design fault is the 'balance' of the unit. The drive wheels cannot get enough traction to turn the mower efficiently, even when I let the tyre pressure down very low. When doing a right angle or 180 degree turn the drive wheels turn in opposite directions to each other and the mower continues in a straight line! Either the castor angle needs to be greater to allow them to swivel easier, or the drive wheels need to be further forward to put more weight on them.

There are other little things missing that you would expect on a 'quality' mower, like a simple cable on the deck height pin to save losing it, and height adjustment bolts in the armrests (there is a hole there already).

I had only done 12 hours on it and a deck pulley separated from its boss, which the dealer fixed 'out of his own pocket' as he didn't think Hustler would cover it.

I emailed Hustler USA regarding these issues and received no response, so I emailed the AU dealer, and they forwarded my email to Hustler USA again, still no response.

Overall very disappointed with the fundamental design and lack of interest from Hustler USA and their Aussie Agent to address these issues.

Only done 80 hours on it, but will be trading it soon on a better mower if there is no fix for the discharge and traction issues..

The deck is a complete junk!!! – They had a recall out on a bolt falling out, dealer didn't fix it. Deck fell off and actually tore the cheap metal and horrible welds they used. Over 3k and refused to warranty anything. Never did fix the left/right control to get it straight. Nearly every year this junk needs deck work without ending. Just junk, two years old and scrap other than the motor, which thankfully they didn't make. Show details

Needs more power – I bought the Hustler SD Raptor with the upgraded 54" deck, choosing to change brands from our prior John Deere 48" in June 2019 and has approx 30 hours on it. My first impression was and still is of a fantastically built commercial grade zero turn that drives very well. The problem that irks me is the seemingly under powered engine, although the… Read more

engine is, on paper, second to none. We have around 5 acres of easy flat mowing with a mixture of winter green couch, blue green couch and buffulo grass. I regularly mow the lawn fortnightly taking under 2 hours. Frequently the mower gets bogged down in the thick buffulo grass (around 10cm high) to a point close to stalling. Even backing right off the forward drive and edging through aiming to maintain high revs, drops the revs substantially. I bought this mower under the impression that it should just power through moderate level grass but am very disappointed. I returned to the source of purchase and questioned them regarding the lack of power of my mower or of any previous owner concerns regarding similar. I was only greeted with raised eyebrows. In hindsight it would have been best to have a trial run on our property prior to purchase to have had a greater insight into this problem.