Mowing JD X300 transmission problems

[bmg88201]

I thought I would vent my anger with JD. I have an X300 that I bought new in 2010, it has 378 hours on it and I have taken excellent care of it, serviced it, kept in out of the weather and all around treated like a new born. The transmission is shot and I am disappointed. The cost of replacement is approx: 1700$. Heck the mower cost 3100$ new in 2010. Never again will I own a JD product. JD is no help, the warranty is over and I am screwed. Local small engine guy told me that a replacement might last a year or two and then your back to square one again and he won't touch it.

Going to buy another brand but I do not want a zero turn, any suggestions? Kabota, Cub cadet, Husqy ?

Thanks for letting me vent.

 

[tomplum]

To put this in perspective, it would seem like your small engine guy doesn't want the job. What sense does it make if the first one lasted 7 years and 378 hours that the next one will last you 2 years and last a hundred? Yep, the base X series has the base transmission. Maybe the next in line with the serviceable transmission was out of reach at the time and you get to pay for it now. We've all done that. Other brands of similar quality that you may like have which transmission? A good question to ask before your drop another 3k.
Now, I didn't look up your part, but I googled x300 transmission and this was the first result: John Deere Transmission X3 with serial numbers above 41 MIA1959 | eBay
Replacement may not be your only option, but if you special order your gloves w/ 10 thumbs- you can still do this in a couple hours in an afternoon.

 

[Spanner]

Welcome to the site but- Stop the bus!
"Serviced it" ???

Don't blame JD. The whole marketplace was at your disposal. They (JD) have a whole range of mowers, many with serviceable transmissions, but...

YOU purchased a machine with a non-serviceable transmission. Caveat emptor. How could you "service it"? It is sealed & non-serviceable.

So don't blame JD...

You've had 7 years use and a new trans is $1700 (approx) that's less than $250/yr or around $1.40 per day.

There is no description of the terrain this mower is working on. Hours/mow? Slopes? Weight of operator?? All relevant to the discussion.

Your attack on JD is unwarranted. Blame yourself and the dealer you dealt with as these were the only parties to the transaction with any local knowledge. JD just made a machine. They export them worldwide to many satisfied customers.

Some years ago JD reported the milestone of manufacturing their 4 millionth Ride-on Mower and guess how many they had control over the purchaser of? None.

Accept some responsibility for your own actions. You wrote the cheque.

As for suggestions - I say buy something Chinese-made. I doubt you will be able to rant at them in Mandarin.

:2cents:

 

[RBLapham]

The K46 can be rebuilt with a kit from Tuff Torq. Also you can put in a K66 which is available for just $350 brand new. Here is the link to the K66 for sale and the putting the K66 in a X300
TUFF-TORQ K66Y Hydrostatic Transaxle | Featured Items | www.surpluscenter.com
http://www.mytractorforum.com/215-j...6245-john-deere-x300-k66-upgrade-project.html

 

[xcgreene]

Welcome to the site but- Stop the bus!
"Serviced it" ???

Don't blame JD. The whole marketplace was at your disposal. They (JD) have a whole range of mowers, many with serviceable transmissions, but...

YOU purchased a machine with a non-serviceable transmission. Caveat emptor. How could you "service it"? It is sealed & non-serviceable.

So don't blame JD...

You've had 7 years use and a new trans is $1700 (approx) that's less than $250/yr or around $1.40 per day.

There is no description of the terrain this mower is working on. Hours/mow? Slopes? Weight of operator?? All relevant to the discussion.

Your attack on JD is unwarranted. Blame yourself and the dealer you dealt with as these were the only parties to the transaction with any local knowledge. JD just made a machine. They export them worldwide to many satisfied customers.

Some years ago JD reported the milestone of manufacturing their 4 millionth Ride-on Mower and guess how many they had control over the purchaser of? None.

Accept some responsibility for your own actions. You wrote the cheque.

As for suggestions - I say buy something Chinese-made. I doubt you will be able to rant at them in Mandarin.

:2cents:

I think bmg88201 said "serviced" in reference to following the maintenance plan for his machine. i.e. properly taking care of it.

So long as he was using the x300 within its recommended usage, I would expect that transmission to last longer than 378 hours. I can understand his frustrations here, lets ask for a few more details before we talk down to him on his first post in the forum.

 

[s219]

If you do a little research you will find rebuild kits for the transmission you have now for a couple hundred dollars, or you can upgrade to a better K66 transmission for a little more than that ($350 according to the link RBLapham posted). Both of those are cheap easy solutions. I'd go the K66 route and never look back -- to me that is the easiest fix and most bang for the buck. If this happened to me and I could solve the problem for $350, it would already be done.

The transmission you bought on that machine can last a long time, or it can develop problems if used in hilly terrain or used for long periods of time. Heat and load are its enemies. It's unfortunate Deere uses that transmission in the entry level 300 series model, but you could have upgraded to a better model with a better transmission if you wanted something tougher. This will be true across the model lineup of multiple brands, and is not an issue specific to Deere.

 

[stevem5215]

Like everyone said.. do a little research and you'll find the K46 thread with lots of good info. I used it to do a dump and fill on my fluid and a new belt and I was good to go. It's still working from that advise. I would advise you to do the same. Start off small and work towards the end game of repaired tranny. It's not that difficult really.

Steve

 

[bmg88201]

Just an update on my first post, I found an X300 that was almost new, it had been on a trailer and involved in an accident on the interstate and the mower was basically trashed. (my neighbor is an insurance agent and he told me about the accident and who to call.) I bought the transmission for $100. The owner said his insurance will buy him another mower and he only had 28 hours on the damaged mower. I got sooo lucky. Will install this weekend.

As far as the comments from Spanner. Don't blame JD huh, there was a third party involved in that purchase transaction, THE COMPANY THAT MADE THE PRODUCT!!!!!! I took excellent care of my mower, drove it responsibly on fairly smooth and flat ground. I kept it in pristine condition. So, yeah I have a right to be a little pi**ed.

 

[Spanner]

As far as the comments from Spanner. Don't blame JD huh, there was a third party involved in that purchase transaction, THE COMPANY THAT MADE THE PRODUCT!!!!!! I took excellent care of my mower, drove it responsibly on fairly smooth and flat ground. I kept it in pristine condition. So, yeah I have a right to be a little pi**ed.

No you still don't.:duh:

The company make a range of products. They offer them all for sale. You and your salesperson made the decision to buy that one model. The JD company had nothing to do with it. They just make the mower....

As for keeping it in 'pristine condition' that still has nothing to do with how it is used and you still give us no information on your terrain or even your load/weight on the powertrain.
I hope your 'new/used trans lasts you another 7 years. Bye.

 

[plowhog]

BMG, welcome to the forum. I'm sorry to learn of your difficulties, especially with your level of care for the machine. Deere products are priced and sold at a premium and you deserve better service and longevity. All in all, they make good machines. But it sounds like you got a lemon.

My experience on this forum is that many of *us* are true end users and customers, with the usual and normal biases toward what we purchase, like, have good experiences with, but nothing beyond that. But then there is also another element present-- for the purpose of promoting Deere products. A few posters here champion everything John Deere, where John Deere is always superior, regardless of facts, logic, and direct experiences of others. So, in that light where Deere equals perfection, it was your fault you chose the Deere model you did, and since Deere makes better models for even more money the implication is that you were a fool for the choice you made. Supposedly JD company had nothing to do with your purchase of a JD mower that blew up, except of course they manufactured it and offered it for sale.

In my case, the Deere champions claimed my Husqvarna GT48DXLS mower with Kawasaki engine, K66 transaxle, and locking differential in no way was comparable to a Deere X3XX model, as Deere is .... so much better. Even though the comparable Deere X380 has virtually the same engine, K58 differential, and no locking differential. And once you add a bagger the Deere is pushing about $6,000 compared to about half that for the Husqvarna. But the die hard Deere champions claimed the X3XX frame is stronger, the cruise control button is more user friendly, and of course there is a dealer in North Africa in case you ever move there and your mower breaks down, One of the Deere champions even claimed the Husqvarna plastic headlamps would fog up in fewer years than the Deere plastic headlamps. This was from someone claiming to be a Deere mower end user-- think about it-- how would a typical end user know the comparative fogging rate of plastic headlamps, and is that even real? It makes no sense of course.

So, again, welcome to the forum. There is tremendous knowledge here. My suggestion is to mine that great quality of knowledge here while navigating over and around the Deere marketing hysteria.

 

[tomplum]

Perfect! If you ask nice they may send the belt along with it. I would think that your rider would be due for another traction belt by now- if it hadn't been replaced. They changed the spec slightly on them since yours was built anyways.

 

[Redlands Okie]

Well spanner makes me wonder how a person would set expectations of what item in a "range of products" provides what range of expected use out of said item. Description i see on X300 line of mower in question says it for 3 or 4 acres size jobs. Is that based on 10 or 17 years of use with x amount of mowing per year? Is it based on being able to mow that acreage in a half a day ? Pretty interesting lack of information on the products we all have to buy and deal with.
Best of luck with your swapping out the parts and many more years of mowing with your mower.

 

[bmg88201]

I mow 3.5 acres of mostly flat terrain, no steep slopes or hills, I never pulled anything behind it, never used any kind of attachment, I mowed often so I wasn't cutting a hay field. Here's how I took care of my mower, during the mowing season I would grease the chasis and deck often, kept the deck adjusted correctly, deck height set at 2.75 inches, always used non-ethanol premium gas, would clean it completely after use and store in the shop, kept the tire pressure correct. sharpen and BALANCE the blades often. In the winter I would change the oil and filter, clean the plugs or replace them, new air filter, grease it, sharpen and balance the blades, clean it completely, fill it up with non-ethanol fuel up to the top of the tank, remove the battery and bring it in the house out if the freezing weather on put it on a battery tender, I made adjustable stands to put under the mower to take the weight off the tires so it would not sit in one place on the tires all winter. Guess what, the only thing I could not service and is one of the most expensive parts is the transmission.

I too, hope this almost new transmission lasts, it seems the rest of the mower is made well. Too bad this transmission is not made as well as the old STX Deere I bought used in 1990 for 200$ and drove it till 2010 with only a few minor repairs but never any transmission issues.

 

[jenkinsph]

bmg,
Since you will be swapping the transmission with only 25 hours or so I recommend you make a modification before installing in your mower. Find the k46 thread on servicing the transmission and change the oil to synthetic oil. This is recommended by the transmission manufacturer and will prolong the life of the transmission.

Tuff Torq also has an upgrade kit you can add to the k46 which adds a filter and other parts to upgrade this to a k57 transmission. Tuff Torq the manufacturer of the transmission has a good site and has been very helpful in resolving issues with their k46 transmission. You can rebuild one or in your case you can do a few things to make sure the new one last a lot longer. I strongly suggest you change the oil at a minimum.

 

[RBLapham]

Here is a thread I made changing the trans oil in a X300 - K46 oil change with pictures
PS it was a 2010 X300

 

[plowhog]

RBL, That is a great writeup regarding the K46 fluids. Very timely considering he has to remove and replace the trans anyway.

 

[bmg88201]

Thanks to several you that posted good advice for me and support concerning my transmission failure. I now feel like I can bring my X300 up to standard again and will no longer look for a different mower all together. Yes, I am still mad at JD, but hopefully this one major part failure will soon be a distant memory and I will continue with my, somewhat obsessive, maintenance rituals and use this mower for maybe the next decade and beyond.

 

[RBLapham]

Thanks to several you that posted good advice for me and support concerning my transmission failure. I now feel like I can bring my X300 up to standard again and will no longer look for a different mower all together. Yes, I am still mad at JD, but hopefully this one major part failure will soon be a distant memory and I will continue with my, somewhat obsessive, maintenance rituals and use this mower for maybe the next decade and beyond.

Just make one of your maintenance rituals to change the K46 oil about every 100 to 150 hours

 

[hosspuller]

For good or bad ... Everything is built to a price point. The problem as I see it is the lower price points want the same features as the high end stuff. So the manufacturers put those features on but skimp on the features that insure longevity. Synthetic oil, replaceable filters, needle bearings, large gears, etc. I have a 30 year old Deere mower with a hydrostat transmission. It's been used and abused but still mows. It was a commercial mower, a new equal type mower was quoted at $18,000 last week. I'm replacing a drive shaft on it now.



I was shopping for a new car early this year... So many of the new models have CVT's instead of conventional auto transmissions. I expect to hear a lot of similar displeasure in a few years after the new car warranty ends.

 

[RBLapham]

BMG - when you pull your old K46 out take a picture of it and drain the oil in it and describe it like black white etc. We can be objective on possibly why it went bad.