Dixie Chopper celebrates 30th anniversary with industry first

Celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2010, Dixie Chopper recently continued to build on its rich history of ingenuity and legacy of innovation with the introduction of “The Dominator,” the industry’s first mower to combine four-wheel-drive versatility with zero-turn maneuverability.

 The DominatorInvented by Art Evans, founder and chairman of Dixie Chopper, The Dominator made its public debut at GIE+EXPO 2010. Simultaneously, Dixie Chopper launched news of the mower on its Web site (www.dixiechopper.com) and posted video of Evans mowing hillsides with the unique new machine.

By the close of the show, Dixie Chopper had received several confirmed orders for The Dominator, which is scheduled to go into production in April 2011. Company officials had also received widespread kudos for the idea, which many commercial users said has been needed in the industry for a long time.

“The overall reception was awesome,” said Tammy Scharlat, territory manager for Dixie Chopper. “Everyone I spoke to was very impressed.”

One landscaper told her: “My crew has always been challenged with cutting on hills and embankments. Looks like this will solve our problem.”

Not much gets past the 68-year-old Evans, who has been in the middle of the zero-turn revolution and the industry’s more horsepower movement. Thinking about all the comments he had heard about The Dominator at the show, he focused on one telling remark. “The most interesting comment I heard,” Evans said, “was from a commercial cutter who said, ‘You don’t know how many jobs I have walked away from because I didn’t have the right equipment and I couldn’t afford to put that many people on the hillsides with weedeaters.’”

With The Dominator available, Evans said, commercial cutters will be able to bid on hilly properties as “premium-dollar opportunities” instead of considering them jobs they have to turn down because the terrain is too steep.

“This machine is going to shift the advantage back to the commercial cutter who invests in state-of-the-art equipment,” Evans predicted.

Powered by a 33-hp. Generac gasoline engine, The Dominator climbs inclines easily and clings mightily to the sides of hills with ease and safety. A custom front-end mechanism raises and lowers the mower’s front casters, allowing The Dominator to operate on four full-size wheels with four wheel motors when the casters are in the up position. It will run on two full-size rear wheels in unison with its front casters when those casters are in the down position. Operation of the caster wheels can be changed by a simple toggle switch activated by thumb from the right-hand steering lever. The Dominator is uniquely equipped with an engine oil accumulator that allows extra oil to be funneled from the system into the engine to ensure adequate lubrication while accessing inclines. Units come with a 56-inch deck, which is connected to an automatic deck-leveling system that ensures the deck remains level when switching the operation of the caster wheels. The Dominator is built on a modified Dixie Chopper Xcaliber frame.

The Dominator can be described as a zero-turn mower with the additional traction of a four-wheel-drive skid steer when needed. The unique front end has been designed for versatility, providing an interchangeable connection for a snow blade, brush or blower that can increase the unit’s productivity. An optional dual-wheel kit is also available.

Headquartered in Coatesville/Fillmore, Ind., Dixie Chopper offers more than 20 zero-turn models in six mower series. Dixie Chopper is the only mower manufacturer to build mowers in four different fuel sources: gasoline, diesel, propane and compressed natural gas.