Well used X 500 Impulse buy

[tacticalturnip]

It seems this impulse buy was a solid purchase.

 

[sd455dan]

It seems this impulse buy was a solid purchase.

Yes.
Really appreciating the build quality and especially parts availability for this JD rider. Looks like the 48 C and 54 C decks are approaching 16 years of continuous production.

After a fair amount of mowing and listening to the stacked idler pulley It sounds like the bearings- although not loose are making some noise, so I also ordered 4 of them in the Timken brand (never hurts to have a spare set.)

The Deck Arm AM137197 (complete assembly) has jumped from around $60 to over $120 with shipping now. so being on the cheap side I will just re-bearing the cast arm.

I actually wanted a zero turn and have no doubt it could mow quicker, but the lawn tractors have more adaptability plus I could not convince the wife to go with a zero turn.
She was firm on wanting another lawn tractor.
After looking at what the New successor JD lawn tractors with the power steering and powered deck lift cost to buy (today) I think we did very well. I Guess It has grown on me to where I want the hood to Look nicer.

Still have to build a Grille guard of some type as well, or source one, Haven't looked into that yet, The diamond plate my wife brought me is not steel likely Aluminum, not sure that will be strong enough for a front impact.

More X 500 updates to come.

ps. omg I'm beginning to sound like a JD fanboy

 

[hslogger]

It sounds like a love affair with an oldie. You won't regret springing for the grill guard. OEM spendy yes. Stout and does the job, yes also

 

[sd455dan]

Yep liking the X500

I had ordered a factory Brush Guard thru amazon. Box showed up with large holes punched in it.

No one was home and knowing myself I still would have accepted it anyway.

Sure enough small parts were missing (just a bolt and washer and one of 2 stepped spacers.

I figured it would actually be less hassle to machine a new spacer than deal with amazon/UPS so started to lathe one up on my little HF unit...

Then I promptly lost the spacer that did not fall out of the box,smh,
so I made two out of the delrin copy of round stock left over from the QA I did on the tractor.
Thinking probably less likely to rattle as well.

I Like the Grille Guard, and we have lots of stuff to run into around here, plus I did a quick repaint and fiberglass repair on the cracked hood.
Color did not match ( Van Sickle fizz can) but Its OK since the cracks are still showing. Anyway It is still the nicest mower we have ever owned.

 

[tacticalturnip]

Awesome that you're enjoying it so much, the X5xx machines are arguably the best lawn/garden tractors you can buy.

If you've not visited Green Tractor Talk you ought to; a lot of good information, a fair number of familiar faces, and a lot of new ones.

 

[Cub gt 2544=best]

Yeah, I thought it was funny our old MTD that we bought the x 500 to replace has a full size screw on hydro filter and also has a reservoir that looks to be about 3 times the volume of the K72 plus it is also divorced from the hydro unit which may be better at dissipating heat.

Today I needed to weight roll our driveway after spreading some 3/4 minus with the Rhino tractor and box blade.

Figured it would be nice to use the x500 to pull the roller.

So I modified a generic short receiver from HF and mounted it up with three 3/8" bolts and also turned a nut down to the ID of the existing hitch hole and then MIGed it on along with a center upper L bracket.

If the receiver comes loose, my guess is the Hydro will be toast long before the hitch comes loose.

The roller is a "Manual" unit from my FIL's old landscape company for seating "Green side up" sod that we were given years ago.

I added rubber suspension bushings and then just bolted through them and a couple washers and It works well for taking a bit of shock out of starting or stopping.
After a bit of use found the roller was leaking so I drilled out the leaking areas and then plug welded them shut after purging the inner airspace with Argon CO2 mix, and almost full of water Not taking a big chance when welding on a vessel that has much internal volume.

The under Hood fiberglass repair i did is bugging me and the cracks really detract from the mowers overall condition, so if i have some extra time tomorrow may try and do a little body work and see if using Fizz can Van Sickle JD Green to the the hoods plastic casting line can improve the looks a bit.

Dont use the x500 for strenuous tasks. The cub cadet XT3 has 626 foot pounds of torque and is much better suited for heavy tasks. It also weighs more, has the spin on filter and steel cut gears, and has the cast iron axle. Take it from me who owns a gt2544 and a x540. The x540 has had 3 transmission replacements. And 1 engine and it only has 327.3 hours and the hour meter works. I do matinance like crazy, and the x540 always breaks. Just be careful so you have a good machine for years my friends. I wish you luck.

 

[sd455dan]

Dont use the x500 for strenuous tasks. The cub cadet XT3 has 626 foot pounds of torque and is much better suited for heavy tasks. It also weighs more, has the spin on filter and steel cut gears, and has the cast iron axle. Take it from me who owns a gt2544 and a x540. The x540 has had 3 transmission replacements. And 1 engine and it only has 327.3 hours and the hour meter works. I do matinance like crazy, and the x540 always breaks. Just be careful so you have a good machine for years my friends. I wish you luck.

Well I am pretty much done rolling the 3/4 minus. Managed to put a couple more holes in the roller.Grr

I did put the hitch on it... wife wanted to pull a very small trailer.

But it is now also the Go to mower with the Gilson rider now for smaller areas. This JD already had ~800 hours on it when we bought it.

If I need to pull something heavier I can use the MTD Hydro since the deck is shot. It does have an external full sized filter and divorced good sized reservoir.
I have worked its Peerless Eaton unit hard. Moved cars trucks and boats. Thousands of hours and it was used commercially as a mower for over a decade as well.
If that won't move it the old Cushman Golfster cart probably will.
Anything bigger I will use the Rhino tractor, which easily snaps 10,000 lb straps.

If that don't do it, the JD 550 LT dozer will probably move it with its 18000lbs + weight.
Are you saying the Kanazaki Hydro unit is failure prone?
The 626lb ft is more torque than my 3500 Ram with H.O. Cummins has at 555lb ft.

Something sounds fishy with the math.

The only mention of a comparison I found was this from TBN in 2012

Hydrogear BDU-10 vs. Tuff Torq K72

I've been narrowing my pick for garden tractor for months. It's about time to buy. It still comes down to dollars and cents, but I wonder if anyone has an opinion (stupid question), about which is better Hydro BDU 10 or K72 (a.k.a., Cub GTX2100 vs. JD x500).

www.tractorbynet.com

From that it sounds like they are somewhat comparable.

So far I adore the X500 and pretty much everything about it, really like that parts are readily available.

I cant believe you had a Kawasaki engine failure with that low of hours. I have had a few Kawasaki engines and they were all Bullitt proof.

What failed on it and the K hydros if you don't mind me asking?

 

[Doughknob]

I pull a 5x10 1200lb utility trailer with my x500. I have even pulled it with a half ton of logs in it. No problems. The tranny, Kawasaki engine, whole thing is still going strong.

 

[Cub gt 2544=best]

Well I am pretty much done rolling the 3/4 minus. Managed to put a couple more holes in the roller.Grr

I did put the hitch on it... wife wanted to pull a very small trailer.

But it is now also the Go to mower with the Gilson rider now for smaller areas. This JD already had ~800 hours on it when we bought it.

If I need to pull something heavier I can use the MTD Hydro since the deck is shot. It does have an external full sized filter and divorced good sized reservoir.
I have worked its Peerless Eaton unit hard. Moved cars trucks and boats. Thousands of hours and it was used commercially as a mower for over a decade as well.
If that won't move it the old Cushman Golfster cart probably will.
Anything bigger I will use the Rhino tractor, which easily snaps 10,000 lb straps.

If that don't do it, the JD 550 LT dozer will probably move it with its 18000lbs + weight.
Are you saying the Kanazaki Hydro unit is failure prone?
The 626lb ft is more torque than my 3500 Cummins has at 555lb ft.

Something sounds fishy with the math.

The only mention of a comparison I found was this from TBN in 2012

Hydrogear BDU-10 vs. Tuff Torq K72

I've been narrowing my pick for garden tractor for months. It's about time to buy. It still comes down to dollars and cents, but I wonder if anyone has an opinion (stupid question), about which is better Hydro BDU 10 or K72 (a.k.a., Cub GTX2100 vs. JD x500).

www.tractorbynet.com

From that it sounds like they are somewhat comparable.

So far I adore the X500 and pretty much everything about it, really like that parts are readily available.

I cant believe you had a Kawasaki engine failure with that low of hours. I have had a few Kawasaki engines and they were all Bullitt proof.

What failed on it and the K hydros if you don't mind me asking?

I don’t mind, the pumps on them started to grind really really bad. Not just gear whine, but grind. I changed the hydro fluid and had chucnks of metal coming out. Eventually the hydro stopped working even with new belt, pullys, oil, adjusting the linkage. 3 of them. The Kawasaki had thrown both rods. 2nd Kawasaki ive had do that at low hours and ive had 3. No issues with kohlers. Briggs are even more of a nightmare. I know, the BDU10L has an impressive amount of torque. And that is infact how you do it. Do it yourself. I learned how on mytractorfourm. The K92 has 650ftlbs of torque. So i mean its not that far off there both shaft driven and have high cc pumps and motors. Dont worry about pulling a small trailer but anything else get the MTD to do it.

 

[sd455dan]

I don’t mind, the pumps on them started to grind really really bad. Not just gear whine, but grind. I changed the hydro fluid and had chucnks of metal coming out. Eventually the hydro stopped working even with new belt, pullys, oil, adjusting the linkage. 3 of them. The Kawasaki had thrown both rods. 2nd Kawasaki ive had do that at low hours and ive had 3. No issues with kohlers. Briggs are even more of a nightmare. I know, the BDU10L has an impressive amount of torque. And that is infact how you do it. Do it yourself. I learned how on mytractorfourm. The K92 has 650ftlbs of torque. So i mean its not that far off there both shaft driven and have high cc pumps and motors. Dont worry about pulling a small trailer but anything else get the MTD to do it.

I will be gentle with the X 500 for now.

I Get it... you sound just like me, except when I talk about the expletive Honda 4518 Hydro mower.

Sometimes it is luck of the draw. I really can't get as mad at used equipment when problems show up, never really know for sure what they have been through before you buy them.

Now if I paid full price for something brand new and it ends up breaking the bank and constant trouble I get pretty irritated.

This applies to a New HP printer copier I just purchased, less than 50 pages printed 4 ink cartridges and an unclearable fault which even the HP boards only answer is send it in for repair.