I would strongly consider stepping up to a 60" minimum for that size lawn.

 

Bad Boy Mowers are extremely popular in my area, I honestly don't think I've seen a Spartan.

My Area is Gravely > Deere > ExMark > Bad Boy > Randoms based on what I see mowning lawns around here between crews and homeowners.

One of my neighbors has one, he beats the living crap out of it, mowing the pines...etc. Keeps on trucking. He was home last weekend and took the mower through a construction area in his yard where he bent a tie rod on his tractor.

Between those two mowers you listed you're looking at 24hp on the Spartan and 30HP on the Bad Boy. I'd also favor the 3100 series HydroGear over the Tuff Torq 300.

Any particular reason you're looking to stay at 48" instead of going up to 60" for 3.5 acres?

 

Three reasons for staying under 60"
1. My trailer is a 5x10. If I need to take it somewhere I want to fit it on the trailer.
2. I have two gates that are right at 60"
3. That few inches makes a world of difference when parking it in my shed.

There is a 54" option that's in the running as well.

 

Get the 54" then - you'll regret buying a 48" for 3.5 acres.

 

Get the 54" then - you'll regret buying a 48" for 3.5 acres.

So much this. I got a bigger trailer when I got the 61 (actually I got a bigger trailer for the wife's utv, but that's another story)

I would at minimum get a 54", but man the difference between 54 and 60 may not seem like much, but it can be over 3.5 acres.

 

I own a bad boy zt elite and what I will tell you is to get a 60 deck for sure. The next thing is I would step up to the compact or rebel with the size lawn you have. I love my machine but my lot size is only .75 acre. After reading go to the 54 if that's all you can fit.

 

I looked at Bad Boy and Spartan and wound up with a Hustler Hyperdrive for the simple reason that I liked the hydraulic cooling better than any other brand out there. My price from JD was better because of my relationship with them but I felt the Hustler would be a better long term buy. I do wish I had looked at Wright more closely.

 

Get the 54" then - you'll regret buying a 48" for 3.5 acres.

So much this. I would personally not consider anything under 61" for that size yard and if my ground was a little more level, I would have considered a 72". I have a 61" Spartan SRT-XD and am currently mowing a little over 3 acres with it. So far I have 0 regrets with my purchase and have almost 100 hours now. It is built like an absolute tank and the power is unreal with the 37hp EFI Vanguard engine.

I have found that one of it's pros is also a con which is how much it weighs due to how overbuilt it is (I think it weighs close to 1300lbs?). I have some low areas that need to be mowed, and you have to be really careful to make sure it is dry enough to mow, otherwise you're gonna make ruts or get stuck with it. Sometimes it pushes my ability to mow since I need to wait an additional day or 2 for the ground to dry up after a big rain. This I'm sure is not exclusive to this mower though and is obviously gonna depend on your terrain.

I have no experience with the Bad Boy mowers, but I definitely can recommend Spartan.

 

Just for reference, I'm mowing my 3.5 acres with a 72" Deere in 60-75 minutes, depending on my pattern.

 

I think the gentleman that started Spartan was a former partner in Bad Boy and claims to have designed the Bad Boy mower. I think the factories are very close together.

I've seen both brands (parked!) but never used either.

 

I purchased my first Bad Boy Mower a couple of months ago from Southland Powersports in Lexington, TN. I got a 60-inch ZT Elite with the Briggs motor. I got it home and almost got my whole lawn cut when it threw one of the pulleys off one of the spindles and threw the belt. Loaded it back up and carried it to work with me so I could carry it back to Southland before they closed the next day. I took off work a hour and half early and made the 45 minute drive to drop it off. They said no problem we will get it fixed. Two weeks later I got the call it was done. Repeated the same steps above to pick it up. Got it home and made three passes around my yard and it happened again with a different pulley. This time however the belt was smoking and the pto clutch was making a horrible sound. I loaded it back and had to take off work again to drop it again. They called several days later stating it was ready again, I asked are you sure you went thru the whole thing this time. I got oh yes, its good to go now. Went back to pick it up and started it to load on my trailer and the motor was making a very loud ticking noise. They tried to tell me it was normal. I advised them it was in fact not normal, and it needed to be fixed. After 2 hours of them try to diagnose the issue in their parking lot I finally left. Got a call from the service manager at 5pm stating I was in fact right and it was going to need a new motor. I advised them at this point I wanted them to swap me for a different mower as this one clearly has a lot of issues. Southland Powersports says its impossible for them to swap me out or give me a refund. I called Bad Boy Mower themselves and spoke with the warranty department who advised me it was up to the dealership to make it right and not them. I then spoke with the regional manager for Bad Boy who advised the same but told me he would call them and try to make them make it right. I got that call today and its more of the same. No one can step up and take care of a customer and everyone is just shifting the blame.