John Deere vs Cub Cadet

[Daubs]

Depends on how big of yard you have, slopes / hills? Do you want to do anything else...i.e., push snow, till garden, etc?

Way back in 1998 I moved to acreage and purchased my first riding lawn mower. Craftsman 18hp with 42" deck. I was mowing about 2.5 acres at the time. That Craftsman lasted about three years before it was shot.

Co-worker suggested I look at a John Deere...but the price! Sticker-shock! My Craftsman was $1,800...a USED John Deere 445 was going to cost my $7k...this was back in 2001 (they were $11k new). So I looked at new Craftsmen and compared to the JD's...it was really no comparison. JD had power steering, Kawasaki engine, shaft drive, liquid cooled, oiling system with spin on filter like my vehicles. Hydraulic deck lift, options for snow blade, tiller, snowblower, etc.

Co-worker pointed out my old Craftsman lasted 3 years...Yes, JD would cost more, but will likely last 20 years.

In 2005 we moved from the acreage to the city, so put the JD 445 up for sale. Neighbor had a huge lot and inquired. Thought I was crazy to ask $5k for my JD. Claimed he could by three Cub Cadet's for that price. He passed on my 445...I did sell it for $5,400 a few weeks later.

Interesting thing...I kept eye on my neighbor...He purchased a new Cub Cadet about every 3-4 years. He should have got my 445 and been done with it.

Fast forward to summer of 2018...wife and I moved to the country. I picked up a used John Deere x750 off craigslist. It's got the Yanmar diesel that is rated to 4,000 hours. Buy once, cry once.

The lower numbered John Deere's are better than their box-store counterparts. If you want one to last, step up to the 300 or 500 series John Deere's.

I certainly could have gotten by with a smaller yard tractor...but sometimes a guy has to resort back to the A-Team's Colonel John "Hannibal" Smith...

"Overkill is underrated..." : )

[Rich84]

I bought a JD 140 at Home Depot about 15 years ago. I mow over an acre. 1/2 of it is very hilly. It has 48" cutting deck and still works like the day I bought it. I also use it with a vacuum system in the fall for leave removal. I doubt that they are still made with the same quality today.

[67ChevyRedneck]

I bought a D140 for my acre lot about 10 years ago. It has around 300 hours on it now. I change the oil, filter, plugs and sharpen/replace the blades every year.

The only "bad" think that happened was one of the cheap "plug style" wheel bushings they use on the front wheels failed and ruined my wheel and spindle. The tires were almost bald anyway (how does that happen on grass?) so I just bought a new set of wheels/tires and replacement spindles WITH actual roller style bearings. It was about 8 years before it failed.

If you go with a Deere, I'd recommend looking into replacing the front wheel "bearings" with real bearings. It's about an hour job to do both sides.

[chevyboy55]

I bought a John Deere S240 with a 42” deck. LOVE IT! It has a lot of the same components as the 300 series (deck,front axle,Kawasaki 2 cyl engine if I remember correctly) one of the drawbacks of the 100 series for me is the 30 second oil change system. It has to be changed every 8 hrs (compared to 50 hrs on the S240) and I believe you have to buy it through a dealer.

[67C10Step]

Had another thought down this path. You could look at used mowers in your price range. I got this Exmark about seven years ago with 70 hours on it for $3500. It was a $5000 mower. Has over 350 hours on it now. Kawasaki 20 hp twin engine.

[Boog]

Originally Posted by chevyboy55

I bought a John Deere S240 with a 42” deck. LOVE IT! It has a lot of the same components as the 300 series (deck,front axle,Kawasaki 2 cyl engine if I remember correctly) one of the drawbacks of the 100 series for me is the 30 second oil change system. It has to be changed every 8 hrs (compared to 50 hrs on the S240) and I believe you have to buy it through a dealer.

Oil change every 8 hours, really ?

[67ChevyRedneck]

Originally Posted by Boog

Oil change every 8 hours, really ?

I had to google it too because I have a D100 series. Apparently it was "new" for 2018+ models, mine is a 2010. I change mine every spring. It usually goes through about a quart throughout the summer anyway, so that's kinda like a second oil change

Anyway, it appears you swap the filter every 8 hours, it's some kind of sealed thing with the oil in it. I guess the reason for the change every 8 hours is because you never change all the oil, only the 0.8 qt in the filter (I think my engine takes 2 quarts, I can never remember...)

https://www.deere.com/en/our-company...nd-oil-change/

[Rich84]

Mine is an 05-06ish so it has a regular filter. I only change it once a year.

[Boog]

Changing the filter every 8 hours is way unreasonable so I did look it up. What I found is JD says for the 2018 + 100 series with quick change system the recommended change interval is 50 hours or once a season whichever comes first. Most likely the 1st change is due at 8 hours then at 50 hours intervals each time from then on.

From JD ad.

Step three. Done.
Close the hood and mow. John Deere recommends the Easy Change™ 30-second Oil Change System every 50 hours or at the end of your mowing season. Don’t drain engine oil ever again.

[CG]

I’ve already chimed in here about my Deere. Great mower but time to do a bunch of upkeep. Haven’t gotten to it yet though “shocker” haha!

Two days ago this brand new Husqvarna became available through work for a price I was unable to say no to. Never driven a zero turn, it takes some getting used to. Almost lost it over a very steep embankment!

Sorry it’s an off topic mower, didn’t think it was worth it’s own thread =)

[1976gmc20]

Well, I obviously need something with a lot more HP and/or a much slower crawl gear, but it seems to me like those zero turn mowers would get awfully tiresome on a relatively long straight stretch, compared to just hanging onto a steering wheel/yoke and making slight corrections.