John Deere 285 Opinions

[Newell52]

I'm thinking about buying a 285 that is for sale in my area but don't know anything about this mower. It has the Kawasake water cooled engine and hydro tranny. Has anyone had one of these and if so what kind of maching was it? I don't know the hours on this mower but it looks to be well taken care of. He is asking $1200 which seems a little high for a mower this age but I don't know. Any info would be appreciated.

 

[Wrenchin]

I'm thinking about buying a 285 that is for sale in my area but don't know anything about this mower. It has the Kawasake water cooled engine and hydro tranny. Has anyone had one of these and if so what kind of maching was it? I don't know the hours on this mower but it looks to be well taken care of. He is asking $1200 which seems a little high for a mower this age but I don't know. Any info would be appreciated.

I work on quite a few of these ,real nice machines if its clean and in good shape with 500 or so hours its worth it what size deck ?

 

[Doug455]

I've worked on most every model John Deere has made and the 285 were my most repeat customers. Lots of problems with the Kawasaki engine, which has been discontinued, and the wiring. I have one my step father bought new and at only 304hrs the motor blew. I finallly located a replacement engine to do a repower this winter. He wasn't very pleased with the tractor and actually replaced it with a 318 I had. If you want to invest in a tractor that you can rely on I'd suggest looking for a 300 series.