What a difference 7 years makes!!
Written: Jun 23 '07 (Updated Jun 24 '07)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Quiet, turning radius, quiet, cut-quality, quiet, cruise control, quiet, speed!
Cons: None so far!
The Bottom Line: Want to mow your lawn quickly, quietly, comfortably and beautifully? The X300 is your ticket!
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| STLambert's Full Review: John Deere X300 42-Inch Deck Select Series Riding ... |
I bought a LX255 in 2000 and was thoroughly impressed. But over 7 years of hard use on a 1+ acre lot with LOTS of trees, hills and more- time took its toll on "ol' green." I expected the tractor to last 10-15 years, but it didn't.
While the tractor itself kept running, the deck was pretty well shot after about 5 years with several failures, a rebuild and finally the diagnosis: Can't be fixed! Faced with a new $800 mower deck plus several other needed repairs I surrendered.
Reluctantly, I bought an X300, thinking it would be basically the same mower. BOY!! Was I wrong!
The X300 is in a different league entirely. It's MUCH quieter with the 2-cylinder Kawasaki engine. When needed- it'll scoot along at about twice the ground speed of the old LX. It has a REAL cruise control- just like on your car. Set it and it's good until you touch the accelerator and it releases instantly. (The old LX had a manual lever you could use to hold the accelerator- but it would also drive you right through a tree or into a wall if you didn't manually move the lever back in time!)
The deck sucks- literally. The new 42" deck lifts the grass and cuts it much more evenly than the old deck on the LX255. It also is capable of cutting to 4" in height, instead of 3.5" or less- important in conserving water in the summer. The deck also has a relatively easy leveling feature- a vast improvement over the old leveling system.
The deck converts RELATIVELY easily to mulching deck by changing blades and adding an enclosure to keep the grass inside the deck rather than discharging them out the side of the deck. It's probably a 45-60 minute job and not something you'd change from week to week of course. There's also an optional rear-bagger option for about $450 but the regular cutting and discharge works so well that I'm not sure why anybody would want either the mulcher or bagger attachments.
The seat is more comfortable- and adjustable for different weight drivers so you get maximum suspension benefit.
The turning radius feels like it's about half that of the old LX- an amazing 16" radius. No- it's not the X304 model with 4-wheel turning, but you'd never know it. Objects that I used to have to mow, back-up, mow, back-up, mow, back-up... now I can just mow around in one neat turn!
NOW I know why Consumers Reports chose the X300 as the number one rated lawn tractor!!
My only regret is that I didn't buy one of these 2 years ago before I spent any more money ono my old LX255!
And here's the REALLY amazing part- I paid over $3000 for the LX255 in 2000. The new X300 is only $2899 7 years later!! I actually bought a slightly-used one with 19 hours (the X300 has an hour meter!) for $2000 but it looks and feels like new.
I guess that the price changes reflect the big-box stores getting into the action with John Deere and Cub Cadet products since the year 2000 and driving the entire market down.
All I know is that the X300 seems like twice the mower for less money in cheaper 2007 dollars. What a deal!!
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
STLambert
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Location: America's Heartland
Reviews written: 46
Trusted by: 2 members
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