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

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