John Deere 830A Review / Experience

MooreSites · Apr 20, 2009

Well, after much reading here and at the lawnsite thread about the 800 series, I bit the bullet on a used 830A with 85 hours (13 months left in the warranty). I did give it a good run up and down my massive hillside of a yard before buying (it did fine). I'm going to try to keep this thread updated throughout this mowing season on my experience with the machine. I'm a single user with approx 12-15 acres to mow, so I'll try to give some good impressions on as many aspects of the machines qualities (and downfalls) as I can. Keep in mind, this is a very average Joe speaking when it comes to professional mowers, so don't expect some heavy hitting lingo or expertise!

Day 1
Gave the mower some runs up and down my hillside (approx 4 acres are on a slope - pretty good grade). Ran through decent height of grass and could roll around 70%-80% speed with no problems . . . faster was too rough (tough terrain). Was a bit wet today after much rain. Will mow entire hillside and my bottom lawn this week (flat out with some rough spots) and give feedback then. Fitting new blades tomorrow.

larso1 · Apr 20, 2009

Good luck on your new mower, you're my new hero

. After reading all the bad stuff on Lawnsite it would have made me too "askeered" to buy one, although there was the occasional story of someone having no problems with power and ground speed. I for one will be looking forward to your reviews. Hope JD has worked out the problems with this new model.

prosperity · Apr 21, 2009

I also had been following the lawnsite thread - made me so glad I bought one of the last 757's around.

Do you know if your 830A had the upgrades done to it? From what I have read, after Deere's upgrade, the machines were fine. Also, I read that the most severe problem was with the 820A.

Too bad we aren't closer - it would be neat if we could compare the 757 with the 830A side by side.

Thanks for the reviews - I will be watching for your updates.

MooreSites · Apr 21, 2009

Hey, one quick note. From my perspective, this machine (830A) gave better (or at least as good) performance as a new Lazer Z Advantage and Scag Wildcat (both with 27 HP Kohler Engines). I ran all through the same patch of medium/heavy grass. The JD seemed to power through a bit better at high speeds, but all showed slight strain at high speed (expectedly - oh, and all were on flat, open ground).

FYI - I plan on posting updates to my JD review within the original post. Less jumping through this thread I hope.

ddivinia · Apr 21, 2009

I have a 757. Which machine is it comparable to in the new line?

My 757 has been awesome - a great mower,
D.

MooreSites · Apr 21, 2009

It looks like the 830A or 840A would be the closest match (27 HP and 27HP Liquid Cooled respectively - does the 757 have 29HP?). I did see a 757 on the JD lot, but it was a 72 and 10K, so I passed. Have heard great things about those too.

ddivinia · Apr 21, 2009

MooreSites said:
It looks like the 830A or 840A would be the closest match (27 HP and 27HP Liquid Cooled respectively - does the 757 have 29HP?). I did see a 757 on the JD lot, but it was a 72 and 10K, so I passed. Have heard great things about those too.

$10k! Man, that sounds high. I have a 60" and I didn't pay that much for it new.

It has been a good machine. I added a material collection on it last year - what a machine.
I have no plans to upgrade any time soon.

D.

ddivinia · Apr 21, 2009

awesome!

D.

MooreSites · Apr 21, 2009

Day Two
I had new blades on my 830 today. Now, keep in mind, I was just on a residential Cub Cadet 50 Inch Z-Force, so take that into consideration when I say, "WOW". The best thing about these types of mowers (as you know) is the time. I'll state this for those who were in my situation and wanting to upgrade to a commercial model. A portion of my yard that normally took 2 and 1/2 hours, now takes less than one - this is the hilly, rough part. A portion that normally took anohter 2 and 1/2 hours on flat, fairly even ground now takes . . . wait for it - 45 minutes! So, in that aspect, I'm more than satisfied. I can go full speed about 1/3 of the time on the smooth with no trouble at all. Now, with this much fun, I kinda miss all those hours of mowing!

Likes so far . . .

Pully covers - I really like the fact that I can easily pop off the pully covers on the mowing deck. Also, cleaning the pully system is relatively easy.

Deck height adjustment - I thought this was going to be weird, quite honestly, but using a knob to adjust the deck height feels pretty intuitive. The deck is heavy, of course, but the foot-lift placement is good for a 6'2" fella.

Deck/Spindle strength - now, I found this out the hard (scary) way, but this is a mule of a deck. I have several steel culverts along my drive. Well, you see where this is going. Since the deck is so strong, no gap support is needed and the blades therefor dipped into the culvert. After a big thud, I stopped and checked the blades. All were fine and even (no weird vibrations when engaged - whew!). The culvert . . . no so lucky. Big slash out of that guy. Don't worry, won't try that again . . .

Dislikes so far . . .

Wheel spin - now this isn't a major dislike of mine (quite small, actually), but the right rear wheel does seem to spin more as posted by other users, especially on a full tank (gas on left side? Not sure of the ratio). I only encountered this a few times, but for a guy who might mow several smaller yards, a damp yard might give him fits. In the dry, this is very manageable, however, with practice on the sticks.

I'll get into more as I go along. So far, I'm very happy with this machine. Stay tuned . . .

Johndeere32 · May 13, 2009

Congrats on your new Mower they are very nice. I just bought a 840A last Saturday for my lawn care business and i really like the machine. So far no complaints about the 840A and the thing i like the most is the electric deck lift and it is so easy to change the blade height. Ill have a scan of it up tomorrow!!!

Again congrats on your new machine.

Dave