John Deere Mowers

Have been needing a new riding mower for a few years. Just kept piecing my wore out box store junk together trying to get by.

Finally enough is enough so the wife and I went out looking at mowers this morning and wound up at the local John Deere dealer.

Noticed the dealer did not have any 100 series in the show room but many in the shop area that were sold at the local box store. Said he can get one if it means a sale but he would not recommend it.

That's OK cause I was looking at the X300 with a 42 inch deck anyway.
Wife sees the X320 sitting next to it and says this one. Dealer knocks $100 off the price; will deliver; and threw in the oil and filter for the first oil change; to get me to go along; so now I am the proud owner of a new X320 mower.

Since this is the first mower painted green and yellow I have ever owned; Please explain to me that this was a good deal because the X320 will last twice as long as the box store junk at half the price.
Dealer claims since I am 50 this will be the last mower I will ever need to buy.

Now all I need to do is decide if I want the interest free for 12 months followed by 9.9% OR 4.9% for 48 months.
Any bank guys out there can tell me where the breaking point in months would be that will make one term better over the other.

I've had JD's since the 110, 112's, those were great, some reviews I've read about those 300's are pretty good. I think that will be the next series I'll step up to. I've currently got a LA 135 limited edition, 22 hp briggs 2 cyl. it does a good job, plenty of power for thick grass, easy to maintain, I cut at least an acre 30x per season, not bad at all, takes just over an hour if I don't let it go. Seat is comfortable enough too. Turning is so much better than the old ones too.

Sidehills are the only drawback, this one needs wheel weights, or a weight box, other than that, I think they do the job just fine. I can imagine that with all the lawn and garden tractors out there, features etc., it can be hard to decide, these are seemingly as good as any other.

Congrats. on the new machine! Good choice on not going the 100 series route. Those, and the 1000 series cubs are built and priced to compete at your local Home Depot stores, along with many others. Back in 03 I think it was, I purchased a used , better quality mower with around a 1000 hours on it. It now is between 15 and 16 hundred hours and still a good mower. If there comes a time to replace it, I won't go back with anything less.

We have a JD 111, 38" deck, that goes back to 1981. I repowered it a few years ago with a new BS 12 hp engine, 'cause the original 11hp was plain wore out. The steering is still as tight as new and nothing else has worn out.

We also have a Poulan 24hp/54" and a Poulan 20hp/46", but in rough/tall stuff neither will do the job that old John Deere does.

My brief history of riding mowers is 1. a 5hp unremembered brand with a 20" cut, 2. a 8hp Snapper with a 32" cut, 3. a 11 hp Murray with a 36" cut, 4. a 12hp Poulan with 42" cut, 5. a 18.5 hp Murray with 48" cut and now a ZTR Swisher with a 60" cut. I have never bought what I'd call a higher class mower. When I went shopping for mower # 5 I had decided to spend some $ for a better mower. Wound up at the JD dealer and almost bought a JD but here's what happened. I asked the salesman why I should pay triple for a JD when I could go to W-M and buy a Murray for 1/3 the price with the same cut/hp/drive but I knew didn't have the quality. He said that the JD would last 20 yrs. compared to 6-7 yrs for the Murray. I'm sure he was right but my statement to him was that I didn't know if I wanted a mower that would last 20 yrs. because they, like most everything else, improve with change. So I bought the Murray. Now, I'm thinking that my next mower may be a higher price/quality mower so there I go again. I do know that it will be a ztr unless something better comes along. Just another way of looking at it. Good luck with your JD and I'm sure you'll like it.

About the 1st thing I look at is if it has a Vertical crankshaft engine...they do not last like Horizontal shaft engines..
Of those, I have 3 Dixon 42" mowers and they have been fantastic..but each is leaking from the bottom crankshaft seal badly..
I have 3 old Bolens 48", all with 2-cylinder opposed (Horizontal) engines and they are great, even after more than 30 years of hard use ( we raised xmas trees)..
Remember:, NAPA's Fractional HP belts are better and Cheaper than Original Equipment..!!

Ron..

Ok,,,Il be the odd guy out here but we bot a huskavana 2 or 3 years ago and just love it,,,,,,,,, Ours has a 54 inch deck with a brigs twin,,,,Very smooth funning and easy on gas,,,,turns perty sharp,,,,seems to be perty well built,,,,,ya,,im 50 to but consider my self middle aged so not shure if it will last 50 more years or not

Deere and Cub Cadet use odd ball size belts so your better off getting them from the dealer. Deere was fairly reasonable on price , but Cub Cadet was usually not.

You did good Been running Deeres for the last 10 or so years. Keep the blades sharp and the oil changed and greased and you will love it. John Deere make a good mower./

i have two deere riders, a gt 245 and an L-110 automatic. both good mowers. the L-110 has had the snot beaten out of it, running atv knobbys in the rear, it does steep ditch and rough terrain duty. its been rolled twice sideways and once over backward (knobbys do grip well) the gt 245 has a 54 in deck, and 5 suitcase weights hanging off the back. i think they are 40 or 50 lbs each. great thing is the dealer support. so far anything i have torn up, the dealer had in stock. the 110 had 600-700 hours on it, never been apart. i got no complaints. (and i pretty much have all red tractor)ssshhhhhh....dont tell the howells!!!

got a john deere 265, bought new in 1994, its still going strong everything still works as intended other then oil and filter changes a few times a season the only thing its needed are a few batteries and 2 belts, not thats a good mower, got a crapsman 2000 its 2 years old and worn to the nub, and falling apart all over its such a pos that if i get 1 day out of it without having to fix it its a miricle, it might just barely make this season, thats ok i just got my new /old belly mower home tonight, a little tlc and paint and its going on my 1948 cub, lets see the lawn wear that out

Dealer should have no problem giving you a free extended warranty if he says it's the last mower you will ever buy. If he tries to back out, tell him it WILL be the the last JD mower you will ever buy.

Interest free for 12 month's is great if you pay for it in full in less than 12 months. They are hoping a lot of people will go for that and then not be able to pay on time. They make a lot more and you spend a lot more. If you're not absolutely certain you can pay for it in less than 12 months, go with the 4 year deal. Better yet, ask how much they'll take off for cash. Dave