Billy Goat Hurricane Z3000 Zero Turn Stand On Blower

 

Today we are talking about the Billy Goat Hurricane Z3000 zero turn stand on blower, this is the largest zero turn stand on blower available. Billy Goat makes a slightly smaller stand on blower which is 23 hp, however, today we will be talking about the largest model which is 35 hp.

The Largest Range Of Wheeled Blowers 

Billy Goat has the largest range of wheeled blowers in the world, the smallest wheeled blower being just 5 hp and then their largest walk-behind model going right up to 18 hp. Briggs & Stratton brought out the Hurricane models, they also make the identical Ferris model which is painted in the Ferris red paint colour. Ferris has been making great zero turn mowers for years, so having owned several Ferris zero-turn mowers I know that these machines are very well constructed and reliable.

Ferris makes the FB 2000 and FB 3000 Hurricane stand on blower, they are, 23 hp and 35 hp respectively.

The Billy Goat Hurricane Z3000 zero turn stand on blower comes complete with headlights, so as the daylight disappears in the autumn you can complete your leaf clearance jobs.

With a 35 hp engine, this blower is the equivalent to about 10 to 12 traditional backpack blowers, which is actually quite amazing, that’s a lot of blowing power. This blower has about 8500 CFM.

 

Vent Control

You can blow out the right side, this is a fixed vent which is open or closed, this fan is controlled by the throttle speed. The vent at the front is also the same, it is controlled by the throttle speed.

The left-hand vent is different, all the vents will work providing that the key is turned on. The vents are controlled by a joystick, if you move the joystick to open, they will open. You don’t have to close the vents all the time, you can just move across to the open position and the other vent will close. There’s also a place on the joystick to close all the vents, a very straightforward control feature.

When you want to open the left-hand vent, you basically have a depth gauge which you can see from the operator’s position. This depth gauge will tell you how far the vent is open.

As you can see in the photograph the left-hand vent has complete control, the vent is in two pieces, so as soon as the air blows through both vents will rise up together. Being able to adjust these vents is an extremely useful feature, you can direct the air to exactly where you want it depending on the type of material being blown. If you don’t want all that blowing power blowing out just simply adjust the vent to the required position. All these features are carried out from the joystick control.

 

More Features

The 35 hp Briggs & Stratton Vanguard engine has an easy access oil filter, which is always good to know when it comes to draining the oil out of the sump. The oil needs changing after the first 10 hours of use and then I would change every 100 hours of use. It’s always a good idea to keep the oil clean as it is much cheaper to change the oil regularly rather than wear expensive metal parts.

The batteries are housed underneath the engine. The air filter sits on top of the engine and is very easily accessible. Once again, keep your air filter clean as it is so important that your engine does not take any debris in that cause unnecessary wear to the engine.

The Billy Goat Hurricane Z3000 zero turn stand on blower has an hour meter, this is always a good idea as it tells you exactly when you need to carry out an oil change etc. When the machine is running the hour meter will actually tell you the rpm of the engine, you can push a button to switch from rpm to hours.

There is an oil alert light, which is always good to know in case your engine runs short of oil in case it has not been checked recently. I generally like to check the oil every time before I use a machine, it’s better to be safe than sorry.

 

Fuel Tank

The machine has a large 10-gallon fuel tank, which should keep going for several hours work. Unfortunately, and I see this on many machines, it does not have a fuel gauge. Some machines have a simple gauge on the fuel which works on a float system. I am guessing that providing you can find the right size fuel cap, you may be able to purchase an optional float fuel gauge from somewhere.

Although there is no fuel gauge on this tank, due to the large-cap, it is easy to look into the fuel tank. There is no filter to block your vision. Ideally, if you are filling from cans I would use a fuel funnel with a fuel filter on, it’s always good to keep your fuel tank clean and to help stop any fuel problems or blockages.

There are two small oil tanks that need to be checked regularly, make sure you use the correct hydraulic oil and keep the area around the caps clean. These oil tanks normally have around half an inch of oil in the bottom as the rest of the tank allows for expansion as the oil heats up. In normal terms, you shouldn’t need to add any oil as the individual hydraulic motors should all be sealed and should not leak.

Tyres And Speed

The stand on blower has large pneumatic rear tyres and foam-filled puncture-free caster wheels at the front. I always fill my tyres on horticulture machinery with a puncture repair fluid, this has literally saved me hours of downtime.

The puncture repellent normally comes in 1 L bottles, simply remove the valve from the tyre, the tar needs to be at the 10 to 2 position. Then place the spout on the valve and squirt in the required amount of fluid. The manufacturers will tell you how much you need to add. I cannot tell you how much downtime this process and save me. A puncture in a tyre can be so time-consuming and costly.

The speed of the machine is variable, it is powered by two individual hydraulic motors on each rear wheel. The speed is controlled by two levers that give you instant forward and reverse control, zero-turn machines are the most manoeuvrable machines on the market.

This is a commercial machine

This Billy Goat Hurricane Z3000 zero turn stand on blower certainly isn’t for the average homeowner, it is more for the contractor who is doing regular leaf clearing and parking areas.

It certainly is a very efficient machine and with the zero-turn capabilities it makes it exceptionally manoeuvrable, it can literally turn around on itself. Although the traditional walk-behind blowers are great, the 18 hp Billy Goat machine only has one forward speed and no reverse, which is fine, but also this particular machine is far superior and efficient.

With the walk-behind machines you have to pull the machine backwards, however, with this zero turn machine, you have instant reverse on two levers. Although, due to the three air vents, you will probably never need to blow in reverse.

To Conclude

Although this is a new machine the Hurricane design has been around for several years, so it should be bullet-proof. The 35 hp Briggs & Stratton engine is a well-proven engine which is also used on Billy Goats largest vacuum machine.

The fact that this machine is the same as the Ferris gives me a great deal of confidence. I have used and owned several Ferris zero-turn mowers which have been excellent machines. They are built to a very high standard and over the years that I owned these machines I had minimal problems. I was also using my Ferris machines commercially, so they carried out a lot of work.

Specification

Operators Manual

Parts List