Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

I went out yesterday and bought a 2011 X300 42" JD lawn tractor, just want it for cutting grass (about 2 acres) and nothing else. I have a 1991 garden tractor I bought new which was a Lawn-Boy. I figured being 20 years old and 700 hours on it anything could let go now so I better pick up something new.  The Lawn-Boy was exactly the same as the 1991 Ford models just painted green and Lawn-Boy decals added. I have been told many times these were built by Gillson and some went to Ford and others to Lawn-Boy. Has a Kohler Magnum horizontal shaft engine with hydro transmission and 2 speed rear end. This has been a real work horse for me over the years, cutting grass, blowing snow, ripping soil and hauling/towing ridiculous amounts of weight when we had the hobby farm. I sold off the rear PTO tiller from it, but I will keep the 2 stage Ber Vac blower. Tractor needs a new electric PTO clutch, still trying to find one of those. Even though we no longer have the hobby farm I'll keep this tractor around for hauling. The X300 Deere I got yesterday is a MUCH lighter built tractor then the Lawn-Boy so I'll just keep the JD for the cutting grass. I hope the Deere lasts for a few years. I have 30 days to take it back or exchange it for another model. Any thoughts out there? Should I move up to a 500 series just to cut grass or am I ok? I'm new on here so if I ramble on too much please let me know.

Thanks,

Paul

You're not gonna like this answer, but ....

If you are reasonably handy and can do some minor repairs, stick with the old one. You've already seen how much better built it is. As long as it's not rusting through (and only yourself to blame if it is) there's no reason you can't use it for another 20. You should get 2000 hours out of a well maintained Kohler. Take the money you spent for the Deere and put half of it away for future repairs (Kohler total rebuilds are not really that expensive). Spend the other half on something fun. If you run into a problem you can't figure out, there's a group of Gilson owners at mytractorforum.com who can probably tell you anything you'll need to know.

FYI: Lawn-Boy/Gilson made tractors for Ford. Toro purchased Lawn-Boy and thus acquired Gilson. I'm a bit hazy on when this happened in relation to when yours was built.

Hi,
The John Deer x300 is a nice machine. It has a good engine.You can get many attachments for it too. My concern is your purpose.  You said you only want to use it for cutting grass. For that reason i will personally recommend a Husquvarna.  They offer superior quality too. There cutting deck is superior to John Deer. There decks float over your grass. Not hover like a John Deer. You can add attachments as needed just like  a John Deer. They have many models In the same Price range as Your  X300. Go to there web page and check them out.  I use a lot of there products myself with no problems.  I do know that MTD builds a lot of  equipment for John deer.  MTD makes  Snow blowers for Sears, Troy built,White,murry as well as well as  John Deer. I'm sure they do the same for Tractors.    John Deer does give you a 4 year warranty , That is a good thing.
Check out a Husquvarna. I do think small John Deer tractors are custom Pimped out over priced MTD tractors the x300  is not made by John Deer.

Well after reading about all the transmission problems on the X300 I am going to return it to JD this week. Looks like the transmissions like to start slipping just past the 200 hour mark. A lot of folks have upgraded to a K66 transmission for about 1500-1700 dollars plus install. John Deere says you have 30 days to return for all your money back, I have not even driven it out of the garage since they brought it over yesterday so their better be no problems with the return. Guess I will just fix up my old work horse and use it.

Thanks guys,

Paul

streetbully wrote:

The TuffTorq K46 or any of its incarnations (T40, etc...) have been known to be problem prone at the 200 - 300 hour mark for owners who have hilly terrain and/or pull heavy loads with a yard cart. I have some hilly areas on my property and started to notice the tranny (K46) in my LT getting real loud and slowing down when under load at about the 85 hour mark. I began to realize that I was using my LT (particularly the tranny) beyond its engineered limits (grass cutting, very light yard cart loads, flat terrain, etc...) and would soon be in for trouble if I kept using it like a GT.

I cut my losses and sold it while it was still in good shape after finding a nice low hour used Toro Wheel Horse 522xi GT that fit my needs perfectly. I keep my OPE in really good shape so I only took a small hit when I sold my LT but it was worth it in the long run. I'm in the camp that believes you can never over buy when it comes to OPE. I'd rather have extra capacity than just enough or not enough on those occasions when you need a little more power.

Streetbully, My neighbor bought a 304 last year with a bagger, thats the all wheel steer version, and he really likes his so far but we have pretty level mowing where we are at. I have a F445 zero turn John deere and really like that.

I traded up the new X300 for the X320, bigger transmission (k-58)  bigger deck (48") bigger motor (22hp) bigger tires should be fine for just cutting 2.5 acres of lawn. I'll keep the old garden tractor as the work horse. Found a complete 1991 Ford/Gillson garden tractor out in the shop I forgot I had bought in pieces so I may part that out. Everything from the Ford fits my old 91 Lawn-Boy/Gillson garden tractor so I'm good to go for now if I need parts.

Paul