Buying Advice John Deere D110 vs X304 (or others)

[darkelf1217]

Hi,

I'm a newbie to riding mowers so I'm just trying to figure out what to get. I have .5 acres with small hills/slopes and right now takes me 2.5-3 hours to mow with a 22" mower. I'm looking to upgrade to a riding mower. I've been looking at the D110 and the X304. The dealer tells me that the D110 will last around 7 years with high maintenance costs (2 year warranty) vs 15-20 for the X304 and lower maintenance costs (4 year warranty). Is this true? I really don't want to spend over $3k for the mower but I don't know what the right thing to do. Would the X304 be overkill for .5 acres?

Reading some of the threads I also see some people like the Kubota T series. How does that compare to the John Deere X304 as far as maintenance and durablility? I know it doesn't compare to the D110.

Thanks for your help.
Sam

 

[rjwerth]

Well, I'm guessing this is probably better suited for the mower forums, but I'll answer it anyways. I have an x304 and love it. 4 wheel steer is the best. I bought mine when they put a much better hydro in it than they do now, but hey, they are offering a longer warranty now than when I bought mine...go figure?

I would suggest you spend the money and get the x304. If you really don't want to spend the money or 4 wheel steer doesn't do it for you (like it does me), don't bother with the D series. It isn't any better than say a Husqvarna and you will get a lot more tractor with that than you will paying extra for green.

 

[jinman]

The D1xx mowers will require constant maintenance. Look down in the John Deere forums and read all the problems myself and others have had with the mower decks on the LA1xx and L1xx models. They are the same mowers that JD changes model numbers on every few years. Parts are cheap, but you constantly have to change blades, idlers, and pulleys (maybe even electric PTO cluthes if you have one). By that I mean about every 25 hours you can expect one of the three idlers to fail. If you don't keep the spindles greased every 8-10 hours (heavily greased) they will also fail. The B&S engines also have problems with the float valve in the carb. They are plastic and known for sticking closed so that your mower just dies and won't start. The fix is to replace the needle valve with a quality brass needle, but they won't tell you unless you complain. This mower does a good job of mowing. and is reliable once you get all the bugs figured out.

I have spent lots of time and money keeping my mower with 113 hours going. So far, I mow my 1/2 acre with it about 3 times and then do deck maintenance and repair to keep things running perfectly. I would say it is not high maintenance, but HEAVY maintenance. Spindles are a little over $50 and idler pulleys are around $9 to $15 each, so that's not much, but when you have to buy them 1/2 dozen at a time to have ready spares, it just gets silly. Buy the X300 series of mowers and you will get JD quality. I hate to have to say it, but Husqvarna's and Craftsman are probably more reliable than the low end Deeres. Your Dealer is speaking GOSPEL. He's trying to help you by recommending the X304.:thumbsup:

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

I bought an LT180 (17hp Kawi) in 2005. I have an acre with a big house and a 1200 sqft barn. I can mow in about an hour. There has been an ongoing drought where I live and so I haven't had to mow as frequently as normal (once a week when it rains). But we have long growing season from late Mar to Nov. Anyway, I have about 120 hours on it since June '05. That works out to roughly 20 hours a year. I also have a non powered rear bagger to pick up the billions of post oak leaves in the winter. It works great. I just wish it would hold more than 2-3 bushels.

Getting back to your issue, I'd love and would gladly pay the extra for the 4 wheel steering. The 304 came out just after I'd purchased mine. I've had a few minor problems on mine but some were caused to me. I've had to put new bearings in the deck spindles once. You can buy a new spindle assy for about $35 I think. I just went to auto parts and bought 4 new bearings (2 for each spindle) for about $20. It was pretty easy to beat out the old bearings and push in the new ones. I put some dirty gas in it once and had to take the carb off and blow out the bowl. Also a new battery after 5 1/2 years. Otherwise, its been a trustworthy mower and I love the Kawi engine so far.

 

[ultimatezap]

I don't know why so many are having troubles with these L1xx mowers. I have a 2003 L110 with 387 hours. During that time I have replaced one blade spindle (the original spindles were sealed, the new one is greaseable) one idler wheel (new one slightly redesigned) and one belt. I change the oil with 10-30 mobile 1 every fifty hours, and put double Stabil in it before storage for the winter, and it fires right up, every time. And I work this thing hard. Fence lines around and between twelve acres of horse pasture, and between two and three acres of lawn around the house. Took three and a half hours a week. Now, mind you, I got tired of this and just bought a grasshopper front deck, so the JD has been moved to rough duty only, where I don't want to bring the new 'hopper (maybe 1/2 hour a week) but I paid seventeen hundred bucks nine years ago and have spent less than a hundred bucks on repair parts since then. I have no complaints. Did I just get a good one, or am I lucky?

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

I don't know why so many are having troubles with these L1xx mowers. I have a 2003 L110 with 387 hours. During that time I have replaced one blade spindle (the original spindles were sealed, the new one is greaseable) one idler wheel (new one slightly redesigned) and one belt. I change the oil with 10-30 mobile 1 every fifty hours, and put double Stabil in it before storage for the winter, and it fires right up, every time. And I work this thing hard. Fence lines around and between twelve acres of horse pasture, and between two and three acres of lawn around the house. Took three and a half hours a week. Now, mind you, I got tired of this and just bought a grasshopper front deck, so the JD has been moved to rough duty only, where I don't want to bring the new 'hopper (maybe 1/2 hour a week) but I paid seventeen hundred bucks nine years ago and have spent less than a hundred bucks on repair parts since then. I have no complaints. Did I just get a good one, or am I lucky?

There are many like you with favorable reports on these.

 

[jinman]

I bought an LT180 (17hp Kawi) in 2005.

Kyle, anything with a Kawasaki engine cannot be considered in the same class as the Kohler and B&S powered mowers. The LT1xx series of mowers is a step above the current LA1xx and D1xx 100-series John Deeres. I don't think the LX series was ever sold at anything but a JD dealer. It seems that failures increase with larger decks. 48" decks seem to be particularly problematic.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

I've got the 42" deck that will mow close to the left edge. The dealer says with the bagger, it's all the deck I can pull.