cc 2550 or jd x324

[Petertucky]

Just so you know, I bought the CC 2550 on Friday. Dealer in Princeton IN delivered it the same day. I actually went to the JD dealer around 11:00 that morning, just to see if they would come off of the price enough to make it worth the effort to buy the 324. They didn't so I bought the 2550.

Mowing was great. It really broadcast the clippings well. The tractor was taller than I was used to, so some trees will need to be reevaluated, but it was fine.

One thing however, when I first looked at them in early march, the dealer fired one up, and I noticed the headlights on. I thought the salesman just did this for effect. When I went to buy it, the salesman told me the lights are on full time. Heck, I even turn my daytime running lights off on my trailblazer when I think about it, so this was somewhat of a bore for me.

When the service guy delivered it, he must have read my mind. He said that he went to Radio Shack and bought a cheap 12V switch for his 1000 series, and put it in under the hood, to turn the headlights on and off. I went him one better. I bought the $3.00 switch, but I extended the length of the headlight wires with some old speaker wire and some household connectors, and then drilled a hole in the dash just to the upper right of the ignition area, and put the switch in there, so I can access it at all times. It was pretty easy, so now the headlights only burn when I want them too. The switch simply installs on only one of the wires (green or red), to disrupt the circuit.

Lastly, I cut a knotch in the discharge chute so I could attach a bungie cord and pull the chute all of the way back towards the tractor. This made it much easier for me to get the tractor into the 56 inch wide opening of my shed.

So far I love it. The engine has a deep throated ring to it, and it does ride like a tank, but that is good and bad. Solid but bouncy.

I am thinking of putting synthetic oil in the engine at the next oil change. I hope this is ok, as the manual mentions synthetic as a plus, but only in cold weather applications. I use synthetic in all of my stuff now, so I want to continue this.

Anyway, I love my 2550.

 

[jay25rs]

Congratulations on the new Cub! Regarding your bouncy ride, double check the tire pressures, should be 10psi rear and 14 psi front or something close to that. The tires are overinflated for shipping and some dealers miss that small detail during setup. I will probably change to synthetic at about 50 hours on the engine. Glad to hear that you like it.

 

[LBrown59]

First off, you should actually measure a deck in person to verify you can get it through your shed door. Assuming you can fit the JD 48" and Cub 50" decks in your shed, then you really need to decide what you're going to need out of a tractor.

The X324 will be a superior lawn mowing machine. I prefer it's cut to the Cub 44" and 54" decks. I also like how you can set the deck height once so that every time you lower it, it will be at the same cutting height. And the Kawasaki engine is smoother and quieter than the Kohler. But I wouldn't haul more than a couple houndred pounds with that tractor, and I sure wouldn't put a plow on it. And the fact the JD doesn't offer a sleeve hitch pretty much sums up it's ground engaging career.

However, if you're like me and want one machine to rule them all... I mean, do everything, then the Cub is the way to go. The Kohler Command, though louder than the Kawa, is just as durable if not more so. The frame is well designed and meant to deal with the stresses of ground engaging equipment. The transmission seems to be bullet-proof. The shaft drive means one less belt to worry about (and you won't get stranded somewhere with a broken drive belt).

Then there's cost: the JD X324 lists for $4500, and the Cub 2550 lists for $3800. For $700 you give up ground engaging abilities and get 4WS.

This really comes down to what you want this tractor to do. I chose a 2544 over a X320 last year because I knew that I didn't know everything I was going to want to use it for. I wanted equipment that would have room to grow as my needs increased.

How much would you have to add to the $4500 to get a front blade and a rear tiller with the JD x324?

 

[JSharp]

I lost 3 quarts of tranny fluid when I changed the filter on my 2554 the other day. That was half of the 6 quarts it holds.
Put a container large enough to hold at least 3 quarts under the filter before you take it off . That way you should limit fluid loss to way less than a quart.

I jack the front of mine up as far as I can before I pull the filter. Doing that keeps the fluid loss to under a quart.