John deere lawn tractors

[jrsavoie]

I agree here. I have 3+ acres of lawn which I mow twice per week and twice per cut so I can counter-stripe, 100+ hr per yr mowing... My 1972 Simplicity Power-Max 4041 with the 60 inch fairway deck is an absolute monster that no modern "lawn" or "garden tractor" can even remotely hold a candle to (you have to own one to know...)

But I do my regular mowing with a cheap JD 335 zero turn from Lowes.

It's like if I had a 1970 Chevelle LS6 454, I wouldn't commute to work in it, I'd drive a Ford Focus. Both will get you to work, but who wants to wear out their bad-*** Chevelle driving to work when a Focus gets you there just fine. Once the Focus is toast, who cares, it's a Ford Focus, get another one. The 4041 is the lawnmower equivalent of the Chevelle. It will always be fixable and rebuildable even if it gets expensive, and it will easily outlive me. All the good American brands of the era had a similar high-quality unit. The 4041 comes out before I have a bunch of people over for a party, andmorerfect basketweave stripes in the lawn like a baseball diamond.

The Focus is the lawnmower equivalent of everything made in the last 20 years costing less than $20k. I'm on my third similar cheap mower purchased brand new, and get about 5-6 well-maintained years or 400-600 hours out of them before the non-servicable transaxles are tired, the spindles are sloppy, the low-grade B&S or Kohler engine is tired, but it's still worth ~$700 on Craigslist which I put towards a ~$3000 new unit. For regular mowing I say get the cheap unit and wear it out. To show off or as a hobby get a quality 30-50 year old American unit and fix it up/keep it running, but not for regular mowing.

I agree to an extent. But in 18 years, you spent more than I have spent in near 40 years. Of course the money I spent then would probably be worth at least double that now.

My oldies aren't pretty, but functional.

 

[lightning02]

I agree here. I have 3+ acres of lawn which I mow twice per week and twice per cut so I can counter-stripe, 100+ hr per yr mowing... My 1972 Simplicity Power-Max 4041 with the 60 inch fairway deck is an absolute monster that no modern "lawn" or "garden tractor" can even remotely hold a candle to (you have to own one to know...)

But I do my regular mowing with a cheap JD 335 zero turn from Lowes.

It's like if I had a 1970 Chevelle LS6 454, I wouldn't commute to work in it, I'd drive a Ford Focus. Both will get you to work, but who wants to wear out their bad-*** Chevelle driving to work when a Focus gets you there just fine. Once the Focus is toast, who cares, it's a Ford Focus, get another one. The 4041 is the lawnmower equivalent of the Chevelle. It will always be fixable and rebuildable even if it gets expensive, and it will easily outlive me. All the good American brands of the era had a similar high-quality unit. The 4041 comes out before I have a bunch of people over for a party, and I want perfect basketweave stripes in the lawn like a baseball diamond.

The Focus is the lawnmower equivalent of everything made in the last 20 years costing less than $20k. I'm on my third similar cheap mower purchased brand new, and get about 5-6 well-maintained years or 400-600 hours out of them before the non-servicable transaxles are tired, the spindles are sloppy, the low-grade B&S or Kohler engine is tired, but it's still worth ~$700 on Craigslist which I put towards a ~$3000 new unit. For regular mowing I say get the cheap unit and wear it out. To show off or as a hobby get a quality 30-50 year old American unit and fix it up/keep it running, but not for regular mowing.

This seems to be the trend when you research all these mowers. They are all junk and no matter what brand or model you get unless you send over 10k there all basically the same garbage so your better off getting one used with 10 to 30hrs on it for half the price and use until it shits the bed or fork over over cash for a good high end unit. Unfortunately all I would need is something to cut grass and a set of forks to lift **** but one that does those both would be way over kill for my yard at only an acre since I need something that can lift Luke 4k to be worth it to me. Other then those 2 jobs I don't need anything from it use wise. So with that said I'm probably going to buy something with 20hrs on it 6months old for 1000 bucks and call it done. We'll that seem to be the best idea right now unless something else pops up

 

[jrsavoie]

This seems to be the trend when you research all these mowers. They are all junk and no matter what brand or model you get unless you send over 10k there all basically the same garbage so your better off getting one used with 10 to 30hrs on it for half the price and use until it shits the bed or fork over over cash for a good high end unit. Unfortunately all I would need is something to cut grass and a set of forks to lift **** but one that does those both would be way over kill for my yard at only an acre since I need something that can lift Luke 4k to be worth it to me. Other then those 2 jobs I don't need anything from it use wise. So with that said I'm probably going to buy something with 20hrs on it 6months old for 1000 bucks and call it done. We'll that seem to be the best idea right now unless something else pops up

That's what I did for my daughter. $350 and not much work needed done. About $36 worth of parts.

 

[ScottsGT]

I want an older 318 with a bucket loader really bad. Planning on a Hustler ZTR in the spring, but no way to swing both and main focus is mowing and bagging. I guess it will just be a pipe dream.

 

[redmondjp]

I have to say, having used box-store riders for the past 10+ years to mow my neighbor's 1.5 acre field behind my house, there there are a couple different ways to go here. 1) full-tilt-boogie, get out your American Express Gold card and don't look back, or 2) buy a new box-store mower on clearance in the fall, and replace it every 5-8 years with a new one. Use diesel-rated HDEO oil in it, only alcohol-free gas, and a battery maintainer over the winter. You'll get a decent life out of most any machine if you don't abuse it or try to use it beyond its capabilities (ex: 15hp engine can't mow a foot tall grass full width).

I have a Deere GT235, a Deere F510, two Honda 4514H riders, and have used a half-dozen box store 38"-42" riders with single-cylinder 14-16HP engines on them. You can't go wrong with a nice Deere but these days you're looking at $5K+ to get into anything decent, and if you go used (as I did) you are going to spend time and $$$ to get the machine up to daily-use level.

Personally, the one feature that I absolutely must have is foot-control hydrostatic transmission. The GT235 and F510 both have it, and it is completely intuitive to use and leaves one hand free for steering, and the other hand free to apply the cutting fluid (the best kind comes in a tall, brown glass bottle). I have the spinner knobs on the steering wheels as well for easy one-handed steering.

My 4514Hs both have hand-control hydrostatic transmissions, and I find that very annoying after awhile as I mow rough fields where there are some smooth spots (3.5mph) and a lot of rough spots (1.5mph) so one is constantly changing the speed according to the terrain and grass height. Anything good that posts locally on the used for-sale boards that is priced right sells within a day or two, so you really have to watch the ads constantly if you want to pick up a good deal.

 

[Whitworth]

"Junk", "garbage", "shits the bed"
Give me a break please. These are relatively inexpensive consumer grade mowers intended to mow residential lawns, nothing else.
My D170 has over 120 hours and runs great, $3000 new 4 seasons ago.
My experience is they'll last for many years with minimal maintenance, and as long as you do two things. First is store inside a shed or garage, second is do not use for anything it's not intended for, like pulling stumps or hauling heavy loads. That's what farm tractors are for, and thats why they cost $25k and up.

 

[Mikeske]

Actually I looked for years on a good used JD lawn tractor and those deals are like the needle in the haystack good luck finding them. People out here on the left coast seem to think that if it has JD yellow and green on it it is worth 2-3K and actually it is worth scrap prices as most of them are trashed and the box store variety JD and were used way beyond the intended use.

If the JD lawn tractor is used as it is intended to do a couple acres and then kept clean and service and stored in under cover yeah it might be worth more but if I am like the rest of the consumers use it until it is used up scrap it and then replace it with something

 

[lightning02]

I have to say, having used box-store riders for the past 10+ years to mow my neighbor's 1.5 acre field behind my house, there there are a couple different ways to go here. 1) full-tilt-boogie, get out your American Express Gold card and don't look back, or 2) buy a new box-store mower on clearance in the fall, and replace it every 5-8 years with a new one. Use diesel-rated HDEO oil in it, only alcohol-free gas, and a battery maintainer over the winter. You'll get a decent life out of most any machine if you don't abuse it or try to use it beyond its capabilities (ex: 15hp engine can't mow a foot tall grass full width).

I have a Deere GT235, a Deere F510, two Honda 4514H riders, and have used a half-dozen box store 38"-42" riders with single-cylinder 14-16HP engines on them. You can't go wrong with a nice Deere but these days you're looking at $5K+ to get into anything decent, and if you go used (as I did) you are going to spend time and $$$ to get the machine up to daily-use level.

Personally, the one feature that I absolutely must have is foot-control hydrostatic transmission. The GT235 and F510 both have it, and it is completely intuitive to use and leaves one hand free for steering, and the other hand free to apply the cutting fluid (the best kind comes in a tall, brown glass bottle). I have the spinner knobs on the steering wheels as well for easy one-handed steering.

My 4514Hs both have hand-control hydrostatic transmissions, and I find that very annoying after awhile as I mow rough fields where there are some smooth spots (3.5mph) and a lot of rough spots (1.5mph) so one is constantly changing the speed according to the terrain and grass height. Anything good that posts locally on the used for-sale boards that is priced right sells within a day or two, so you really have to watch the ads constantly if you want to pick up a good deal.

Why HDEO and not just regular diesel rated oil? Any reason to go with the HDEO formula instead?

 

[redmondjp]

Why HDEO and not just regular diesel rated oil? Any reason to go with the HDEO formula instead?

It has more anti-wear additives that they have removed from on-road motor oils in order to not damage the emissions systems. After reading on the lawn mower forums about lawn care companies down south using diesel oil in their air-cooled gas-powered equipment with great success, I switched myself and have been very pleased with the results. Oil consumption has dropped significantly, and it seems to stay cleaner longer.

 

[rd65]

It has more anti-wear additives that they have removed from on-road motor oils in order to not damage the emissions systems. After reading on the lawn mower forums about lawn care companies down south using diesel oil in their air-cooled gas-powered equipment with great success, I switched myself and have been very pleased with the results. Oil consumption has dropped significantly, and it seems to stay cleaner longer.

I've read that in recent years the diesel oils are getting "cleaner" to go with new diesel emission standards. What was true for those oils 5 years ago may not be so these days.

 

[jrsavoie]

What was true for those oils 5 years ago may not be so these days.

Very true of filters and many other parts as well.

Now days you also have to beware of counterfeit parts.

I was very surprised to learn what an issue counterfeit parts has become. Especailly for AC Delco, Bosch, Moog and other higher dollar parts.

Of course AC and Moog didn't do their reputations any favors when they came out with different grades to compete with the cheapo parts.

Their cheapo parts are junk. And then you have the imposter parts that really give them a bad name. Beware of rockauto. They are not a legit AC Delco dealer and have been caught selling counterfeit parts. As was Amazon. Now Amazon is a registered AC online dealer.

 

[rd65]

Very true of filters and many other parts as well.

Now days you also have to beware of counterfeit parts.

I was very surprised to learn what an issue counterfeit parts has become. Especailly for AC Delco, Bosch, Moog and other higher dollar parts.

Of course AC and Moog didn't do their reputations any favors when they came out with different grades to compete with the cheapo parts.

Their cheapo parts are junk. And then you have the imposter parts that really give them a bad name. Beware of rockauto. They are not a legit AC Delco dealer and have been caught selling counterfeit parts. As was Amazon. Now Amazon is a registered AC online dealer.

I recently purchased some shower faucet cartridges from Amazon. They were sold by the Delta Store, they were not Delta parts. Good chinese are fine but the cheap copies are junk.

 

[rburke65]

Well the X and the GTs are MUCH better units. You will pay for them, but they are better