Its all down to fuel consumption

[fredkos]

Am looking at both the Kubota GR2110 and John Deere 534/530 not that much of a difference-about $800- between the two. Deer dealer is of course asking full price, even when I was the only person in the showroom this Saturday afternoon, the Kubota dealer really wants to move one that is on the floor REALLY wants to move it.

I could get by nicely without awd, in fact the Deere with the 4 wheel steering and diff lock is the best decision on paper-I do like to keep things simple.

Just how -bad- fuel consumption wise are the 25hp kaws and is there really any compelling reason to spend the extra dollars on the liquid cooled version.

Info greatly appreciated.

I did try to search but no luck getting what I am looking for.

 

[csr0831]

I can't speak to the Deere, but the fuel consumption on the GR2110 should be very good, I have the 2100 and fule consumption is excellent. That said, I would go for the Deere for several reasosn.....in a nutshell, I have had nothing but trouble with the GR. There are others on here that will tell you they have had no trouble with theirs at all so maybe it's just me. Good luck with your decision

Chris

 

[fredkos]

Chris, thank you for the reply. If you could give any details on your Kubota experience it would be very appreciated as I will be buying something by the end of this week. Of particular interest, besides problems, is just how long can you mow on a tank of fuel and in -general- are you satisfied with the the 3cyl diesel? Personal issue, really bad back-installed one too many boilers- does make the Kubota and its suspended seat attractive.

And if I am lucky someone with first hand experience with both a liquid cooled Kawasaki and an air cooled Kawasaki engines could help me out. I have read a little info that indicates both are hard on fuel, but no real specifics.

But when the Deere dealer himself says that he would NOT buy the liquid cooled engine it does get you wondering..

Tnks again.

 

[csr0831]

I have no problems with engine at all. IT's a little loud, but it runs well and there is plenty of power. My problem is that it has about 134 hours on it and seems to spend more time in the shop then anywhere else. Mostly for transmission and related problems. My main complaint is that it leaked and for a machine of this calibur, the transmission is very weak. Kubota had some known issues with the first generation trannys in these things....primarly the fact that they used bushings instead of bearings for the rear axles. That has since been corrected and the newer ones have bearings. The bushings isses caused a lot of leaking after they got a few hours on them. Mine was upgraded after I had it in about 5 times and when I got it back, it was still leaking. It went back and has not leaked since, but I hve only put a few hours on it since...the machine only has 137 hours on it total. They have already had to replace the glide steer cables as well, but they have redisgned the mounts for the new ones so in theory they wont break again..... at 120 hours. My main complaint now is the the the trasnission is incabiable of delivering the power to the ground. It , in my opinion is very weak. I do not advocate spinning he tires over on a tractor just for grins and giggles, but if it gets into a bind....(pulling a cart, pushing snow...whatever) it should have the cabibility of spinning the tires. Otherwiser how does one know if the all of the aviable power is being delivered to the ground? Mine just sits there and whines. For a machine that cost 8K, I expect more then that. As far as fuel ecomany goes, I have and 18hp gas gravely that uses three tiems the fuel of this Kobota given the same work load......but, it also handles said workload nuch better.

If all you're after is cutting grass economicly and reasonably quickly, with all the improvments that have been made, the Kubota might be a good choice, but if you're wanting anything else and mine is representative, I would go with something else. The last time mine came back from the shop it was in there for the sole purpose of the Kubota rep to go over it and and make any necessary adjustments. When it came back to me his words were, "it pulls as well as any GR out there". I haven't really had a a chance to find out yet, but I guess we'll see.

There are others on here that are totally satisfied with their GR's. There is one guy who has made many very nice attachments for his and he loves it...maybe he'll put in his two cents worth. Maybe i got a bad one, but I am a long way from being satisfied. Good luck with your decision.

Chris

 

[fredkos]

Chris, one last question for you; you sound as if your machine is a couple years old but I still think it has the seat with the twin shocks, just how comfortable is it over the bumps-will it bottom out much?

Tnks again

 

[locknut]

The new GR's have an adjustable spring tensioned seat that should be better a better ride than the older GR's like mine and Chris's.

That said,if I were looking at new tractor today and had no use for 4WD,I would look at a new Simplicity.I've had three of them and the cut can't be beat imho,plus the decks are lighter and easily removed and will stand on their tail for easy maintenence like blade removal/sharpening.

 

[fredkos]

Nothing can match a Simplicity for cut and for ease of getting the deck on and off, I owned one for 15 years. Problem is that I did not even get 500 hours out of the Briggs Vanguard twin, never again.

 

[csr0831]

What locknet said about the seats is absolutly true...I hope the newer ones are better....

 

[IH3444]

Fred I was at the John Deere dealer and he offered me a new 2009 540 with 54" deck, Kaw water/air cooled engine for $6500. I almost bit, but want a small diesel lawn cutter. He also said that Deere maybe reviving the old 355d, with an up dated possible 3 cylinder diesel.

 

[Baucom]

I don't have much to compare the LC Kawasaki to and have never paid much attention to fuel consumption on a lawn mower, but those LC Kawasakis are quiet...real quiet for a lawn mower engine. Dad has a JD 345 with ~300 hrs on it (no problems) and when he's mowing the loudest thing you hear is the mower deck. You can have a conversation with someone without too much diffculty even at full throttle if you want. The noise difference in his LC Kawasaki and my Kohler Command V-twin is like night and day.

 

[beenthere]

I've had the Deere Kawasaki's for over 15 years, and never a problem. Mostly had AWS tractors. With the juggling of model numbers, I'm not sure if what you are asking about and what I have (400 series like 425, 445 and now an X485) are close to the same. But are in the 25 hp range.
I wouldn't go air cooled, after my neighbors experience with a mouse building a nest in one side. He didn't find out about it until it cooked one cylinder. Not a good story or outcome. That was Simplicity.

 

[fredkos]

IH, I have not been able to locate a Deere dealer yet that was even one penney below msrp, never mind one that was matching the $500 Deere rebate, Deere people are an interesting lot, arrogant-condecending are just two words that come to mind-and I have stopped in to about 7 different dealers, the experience has always been the same, basically this, 'take it or leave it'... I cannot imagine doing business this way even in high season, never mind in the dead of winter, in a showroom with only two people in it......
My wife was with me on two different occassions and she called both of the dealers, 'creepy'.

baucom, very helpful info on noise level thanks; now if I could only get solid numbers on fuel consumption....

beenthere, I was pretty much set to go for the liquid cooled until the dealer made the comment that he would not spend the money on one himself-I always thought that liquid cooling was better in the end-I did buy an air cooled BMW bike though-AND Deere uses liquid cooled throughout the X700 series-their flagship models, which is why I found what the dealer said even more confusing.

 

[aerostar]

I have a GR2110 with about 75 hours on it. It is one of the newer ones with the fixes/upgrades. I use it soley to mow about 2 acres of pretty thick grass with the mulching option on the deck.

I have had no issues at all to date with it. Surprisingly, even though my lawn is perfectly flat and I don't really need it, the AWD makes for far less rutting in the turns when the ground is soaked. My neighbor tore up his back yard pretty good with a 2 wheel drive tractor.

Fuel consumption is about .75 gal/hour when mulching heavy grass.

 

[fredkos]

aerostar, its starting to look as those the Kubota uses about 25% less fuel per hour than a Kawasaki just enough to offset the extra cost of diesel fuel??

The strong points of the Kubota are the seat, sweet 3 cyl engine and awd but what I don't like is the way they engineered the glide steer as I understand it the 'system' is merely a cable which somehow disengages one rear wheel as a turn is made-a bit hokey but not overly trouble prone, and it seems to work.

Deere : Kubota
Deere : Kubota
Deere : Kubota

Going nuts.

 

[aerostar]

I wouldn't actually call the glide steer system hokey. It has two heavy-duty cables that go from each front wheel to a lever on the transmission. All of the clutching of the wheels is done inside the transmission with wet clutches. It's really sort of like an automatic locking differential if you will. The problems Kubota had with them in the past were mostly related to the cables breaking. This was caused by a mounting arrangement that had the cables make a very sharp curve. They have changed this on the newer models.

I really like the torque of the diesel. No matter how thick the grass is, the engine never lugs or really shows any sign that it is working harder, just keeps chugging at exactly the same RPMs.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[bad00serg]

I have a GR2110 that I've been using for almost two years - no problems at all. It's quiet, easy on fuel, comfortable - very happy with it!