New Rider- Questions

[lindy rig]

Just bought a new house. 5 acre property, probably 1 acre to mow maybe a little more in the future if I cut trees ect. Mild slope to the driveway, also looking to get a blower attachment and blow snow in winter.

Looking at the John Deere X300. Would this be a good choice? Any other input or things to consider?

[Jared_P]

I just posted a L100 on C list tonight for the father-in-law if you ared interested...snowblower attachment iss post separate from mine as well...just throwing it out there...

JP

[kudu63]

Personnaly I would not recommend the x300 - it is not made for heavy duty work or hills and the transmission is not a serviceable either. Not sure what your budget is but looking for a good quality used JD might be a good option. A X500 or X530 would also be a nice setup for you and allows you options for future attachments. Other chocies: 425/445 but make sure it is a 1999 or newer as they had issues with a plastic cam gear in earlier models. X475, X485 are nice choices and they have full hydraulics as well.

[CANOPY SAM]

Nothing against JD, but I just bought a top of the line Craftsman with tons of compatible attachments. Tight turning radius, comfortable ride, and she cuts near perfect, and probably 1/4 the cost of the comparable JD machine. Also, I was thrilled at the gas mileage! Can mow a couple acres and she hardly burns a drop of gas. Lifetime warranty. Great machine, and you can add every attachment or implement you can imagine.

[rundrave]

Personnaly I would not recommend the x300 - it is not made for heavy duty work or hills and the transmission is not a serviceable either.

Agreed, the Tuff Torq K46 tranny in the x300 is not a viable option if you don't have a flat property. The K46 has a bad reputation for going bad.

I have a JD LX277 AWS that is a few years old that I have been very happy with. There is a big difference between the big box store models and the better quality made tractors.

[LightningBG]

How long is your driveway?

If it were me, I'd look into a zero turn mower and a walk behind blower.

Only tricky thing with the zero turn is bagging leaves isn't as easy to get setup with.

But... When we switched from a JD 314 to a zero turn it cut mowing time from 2.5-3 hours down to 1 hour. Little bigger deck, less time looping and turning, more power to keep the speeds up on the long straights.

[fishersofmen]

Nothing against JD, but I just bought a top of the line Craftsman with tons of compatible attachments. Tight turning radius, comfortable ride, and she cuts near perfect, and probably 1/4 the cost of the comparable JD machine. Also, I was thrilled at the gas mileage! Can mow a couple acres and she hardly burns a drop of gas. Lifetime warranty. Great machine, and you can add every attachment or implement you can imagine.

I got a new Craftsman as well. 46" deck with a 21hp Briggs. Takes me a while longer to mow after using a walk behind for so many years but I just got tired of walking. Plus now my wife and kids can mow since they were terrified of the walk behind.

[lindy rig]

How long is your driveway?

750 ft

[Dave S]

I'd recommend one of the larger X series tractors mentioned earlier if you're set on JD.

With 750 ft of driveway (assuming gravel), a blower between 48-54" wide with hydraulic lift would be in store.

[fishersofmen]

750 ft

Now that is a driveway!