X540

[daBear]

I may be about to pull the trigger on a new X540. I need to hear from the JD community about how the electric clutches hold up on the new machines. I have a 15 year old JD 285 which has gone through three of them in the past couple of years. Probably because of engaging the clutch with the engine at high RPM.

How are you supposed to engage the blades on the newer machines (low rpm or what) and how is the clutch holding up? At $150+ per clutch they get expensive.

 

[LBrown59]

I may be about to pull the trigger on a new X540. I need to hear from the JD community about how the electric clutches hold up on the new machines. I have a 15 year old JD 285 which has gone through three of them in the past couple of years. Probably because of engaging the clutch with the engine at high RPM.

How are you supposed to engage the blades on the newer machines (low rpm or what) and how is the clutch holding up? *At $150+ per clutch they get expensive.

*ouch.

 

[daBear]

*ouch. is not a praticularly helpful answer.

 

[LBrown59]

That seems to be a common characteristic of elect clutches.
I have a CC Garden tractor and I've heard of such a problem with those clutches.
I've never had it with mine but I've only put about 90 hours on it.

*ouch. is not a praticularly helpful answer.

 

[daBear]

That's better. What I am getting at is a discriminator between a similar Kubota garden tractor and the JD. Right now I have a Kubota L2800 tractor and a JD 285 grass cutter. I am well satisfied with the JD and have equally good dealers both orange and green as I have dealt with both for several years. I do like the shaft drive of the Kubota models and I do not like the electric clutch of the JD's.

So back to my original question to current X500-X540 owners, hows about the clutch?

 

[mfreund]

I always engage the pto at idle and then raise it to operating RPM. I feel this allows things to get moving and does not "shock" the engine or deck. I have a 72" deck on a 4310 and that is a lot of weight to start spinning.

I have a friend that has a x540 but he only has 35 hrs on it yet so I do not know about the life cycle of the electric clutch.

My brother in law has a 265 with over 2000 hrs on his and has not put a clutch in his. I am not sure if it has the same setup as your 285. I wonder if there is something else worn that is causing premature failure on your 285clutch.

 

[hillslider]

I was looking at the X540 also and I also was worried about the clutch. I read many stories about problems and then there were those posts that said never had any problems.....what to do??? I went with the X700 and could not be happier. Shaft driven trans, shaft driven deck, just a really great little tractor.

Good luck.

Rob

 

[Deadman]

engage it at Idle, like its supposed to be done, and you won't have any issues.
I've owned multiple JD's like this, and none of them ever had an issue.

 

[mjncad]

That's one of the reasons that if I had the bucks I'd go with an X700 series that has a hydraulic PTO if I recall correctly, along with shaft instead of belt drive.

I'd be willing to bet the X series electric clutches are no better than JD's units for the 100 series.

One way to find out is to go to www.jdparts.com and find the part number for a X540 electric clutch and the part number for a current LA series. If they are the same and/or the price is similar, you have your answer concerning the X series mower deck clutch.

 

[chrisdvorak]

That's better. What I am getting at is a discriminator between a similar Kubota garden tractor and the JD. Right now I have a Kubota L2800 tractor and a JD 285 grass cutter. I am well satisfied with the JD and have equally good dealers both orange and green as I have dealt with both for several years. I do like the shaft drive of the Kubota models and I do not like the electric clutch of the JD's.

So back to my original question to current X500-X540 owners, hows about the clutch?

i have a x500 and have put 230hrs on it with no clutch problems of any kind, i have a 54in mower deck with it and i engage it at full throttle to mow and always have.