Husqvarna TS354XD - First Garden Tractor

Portland · May 11, 2019

Hey guys,

I’m new to the boards, this is my first thread. I’ve been lurking for a while learning from you all and finally decided to make an account.

My wife and I just bought 5 acres in SW Washington and we need a garden tractor. 3 of the 5 aces are wooded with some grassy walking trails with the other 2 acres being mostly flat grass. I have been doing my research on garden tractors and landed on Husqvarna. One of my local dealers had a new-old stock 2018 TS354XD with the Kawasaki FR series engine. I purchased it yesterday and will be picking it up next weekend. I’m looking for something with a wide deck, strong transmission, and the ability to tow a little weight as I have quite a bit of firewood to process. I’m also looking for durability. I’m the kind of person that likes to put in a little more cash up front and buy something that will last a while rather than take the cheaper option and have to replace it in a couple years.

It is my understanding that Husqvarna no longer offers the Kawasaki engine in its riding mowers or garden tractors. Rumor has it that Husqvarna is moving to Yamaha engines in 2020 alongside its Kohler option. I’ve also been reading multiple threads about the cult following for Kawasaki engines in garden tractors. I have a few questions for you guys.

1) Is there any true advantage or disadvantage to having the Kawasaki engine over the Kohler 7000 series? They have both at my local dealer and I can still swap for a Kohler if I want to. I have never owned anything with a Kohler engine but I hear they’ve come a long way. I’d like to hear from any of you that have owner either engine.

2) This is my first garden tractor, any tips, tricks, or best practices you guys can share with me?

Thanks in advance!

Paul

nybirdman · May 11, 2019

I like Kawasaki motors;I have an 1998 ATV purchased new(water cooled) with 4000+miles with no real problems;I have a 25 HP Kohler JD mower with 580 hours(2004 model) that has been excellent.I like them both but would go with the Kawasaki if I had a choice.

slus · May 14, 2019

I would have picked the Kawasaki if I had the choice. Had to do a lot of research and talk with the service guy at the dealer before I could be convinced to take the Kohler 7000 mower due to poor experiences with Kohler engines in the past. I'm not inclined to take sales guys at their word, but this guy basically told me that he like the Kawasaki's better, and he wished he could still get them with Kawasaki's, but the Kohler 7000 was a fine engine. He said the Kawasaki factories couldn't keep up with demand, so the only mowers he was able to get with those engines were higher end ZTRs and everything else was going Kohler. The service guy said the Kohler 7000 was based off a Kohler Command commercial engine that had been proven reliable for many years, and he had no reason to doubt the 7000 would be the same. Hopefully it's true, won't matter to you though since you found one with the Kawasaki!

Portland · May 14, 2019

slus said:
I would have picked the Kawasaki if I had the choice. Had to do a lot of research and talk with the service guy at the dealer before I could be convinced to take the Kohler 7000 mower due to poor experiences with Kohler engines in the past. I'm not inclined to take sales guys at their word, but this guy basically told me that he like the Kawasaki's better, and he wished he could still get them with Kawasaki's, but the Kohler 7000 was a fine engine. He said the Kawasaki factories couldn't keep up with demand, so the only mowers he was able to get with those engines were higher end ZTRs and everything else was going Kohler. The service guy said the Kohler 7000 was based off a Kohler Command commercial engine that had been proven reliable for many years, and he had no reason to doubt the 7000 would be the same. Hopefully it's true, won't matter to you though since you found one with the Kawasaki!

Thank you slus,

I appreciate your and nybirdman's input. I called around a few dealers before I purchased to inquire about pricing and two of those dealers said the exact same thing you did about supply/demand as being the reason Husqvarna no longer offers Kawasaki's in their riding mowers. I guess I lucked out finding one. I'm sure both are great mowers, at this point we're probably splitting hairs but I figured it was worth asking. Do you have any experience with the baggers? I may try to negotiate a 9 bushel bagger if its worth having. There are such mixed reviews on the Husqvarna baggers. People either love them or hate them, very little in between.

slus · May 14, 2019

Portland said:
Thank you slus,

I appreciate your and nybirdman's input. I called around a few dealers before I purchased to inquire about pricing and two of those dealers said the exact same thing you did about supply/demand as being the reason Husqvarna no longer offers Kawasaki's in their riding mowers. I guess I lucked out finding one. I'm sure both are great mowers, at this point we're probably splitting hairs but I figured it was worth asking. Do you have any experience with the baggers? I may try to negotiate a 9 bushel bagger if its worth having. There are such mixed reviews on the Husqvarna baggers. People either love them or hate them, very little in between.

I don稚 have any direct experience with the bagger. A friend of mine has a very similar mower, and he has a wife that can稚 stand lawn clippings sticking to shoes and migrating to the decks and sidewalks, so he bags and it does fine. It痴 a non issue for me, if the lawn is dry the mower shoots those clippings a LONG way out compared to my old JD mower. I mow a few counter clockwise passes around the house and decks to fling the clippings away from everything and after that I don稚 worry about it.

TractorGuy · May 15, 2019

On the Kawasaki vs Kohler subject I would take the Kawasaki.

In my opinion you should have gone with a compact utility tractor instead of a garden tractor.

widefat · May 15, 2019

Portland said:
Thank you slus,

I appreciate your and nybirdman's input. I called around a few dealers before I purchased to inquire about pricing and two of those dealers said the exact same thing you did about supply/demand as being the reason Husqvarna no longer offers Kawasaki's in their riding mowers. I guess I lucked out finding one. I'm sure both are great mowers, at this point we're probably splitting hairs but I figured it was worth asking. Do you have any experience with the baggers? I may try to negotiate a 9 bushel bagger if its worth having. There are such mixed reviews on the Husqvarna baggers. People either love them or hate them, very little in between.

I have a GT52XLS with the Kawasaki engine. RE the question of a bagger - I opted for a mulch kit instead. It does a good job of chopping up the clippings and dropping them back into the turf. And, the mulch kit closes up the deck so you can now get "blade close" on both sides of the tractor. The bagger will make the right side access even worse.

Portland · May 19, 2019

I picked this bad boy up yesterday. Such a solid driving lawn tractor. Those oversized tires are incredible. I think I did alright with the negotiations. I got the Husqvarna for about $500 off retail (plus no sales tax) and I got them to throw in a couple filters and quarts of oil. With some of the savings I picked up a Stihl MS251 at 30% discount. I could have done worse.