Buying Advice Looking for a Recommendation for a new lawn/garden Tracktor

[tletourneau]

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Take this from a JDLA115 owner with 204 hours on the hour meter and the same 6 year old 44 inch snowblower snow blower RUUUUUNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have the rear weights and chains and the LA115 was worthless against deep snows and I ended up filling the rear tires with windshield washer fluid to add more weight.

One more thing to remember is the rear wheels don't have a lot of power being delivered to them. Mine has only 2.38+- horse power delivered to one wheel.

Their snow blowers are made by RAD in Canada and you need metric tools to change the drive belt and it takes a very long time if you have never done it before (4+ hours)
The large driven belts are $125+ tax and travel, The chute and spout are thin plastic junk and will not survive dealing with ice and snow, I have replaced mine three times already.
I finally found some Gates Series 1 Kevlar V belts(A116 size) from an amazon supplier to replace the expensive JD driven belt and I hope it lasts longer then the jd driven belt. The Series 1 A116 Gates V belts were $44 plus shipping so........... I don't feel bad about buying them.

I also need you to understand that the driven belt is very long and it is also poorly very poorly designed as the V belt is allowed to bounce too much and it affects the total life of the V belt as it is allowed to move too much much too much and the unit needs a second snubber pulley to maintain tension on the driven belt to restrain it the belts would last longer.

The other issues include

All of the the V belt pulleys are not greasable, The auger bearings are not greasable, the support bearing for the impeller is not greasable, the flat snubber pulley and V belt pulley is not greaseable, The twin V elt guide pulleys are not greasable.


The impeller is a three blade plastic impeller(it should have four impeller paddles).

Now to the driven belt change out; you need to remove the cross brace that holds the impeller pulley support bearing and you have to use a heavy hammer to drive it back and then down to remove the belt after you unbolt the 2 V belt guide pulleys that do not have grease fittings.

The other issue is the snow blower sags on the heavy side where the impeller is as the underframe of the snow blower is made from thin steel and is weak.

Owing and operating farm machinery and lawn equipment and snow blowers has taught me a lot and you need ot have two separate machines one for snow and one to mow as lawn tractors are not ment to remove snow.
Which is what Consumer Reports will tell you as well. And I look forward to someone from JD telling me I am wrong, and I don't know what I am talking about and to provide proof.

OH and Stay away from the big box walk behind snow blowers.

Buy a good walk behind snow blower like an Ariens track drive unit or a Yamaha and a new replacement lawn tractor with just the mower.

Its been my experience with John Deere that they love to take your money and then they say "well you get what you pay for". Kubota treated me no differently as a potential customer.

Its fine to read literature and look at a garden tractor in the show room and listen to the spiel but the minute you walk out the door after emptying your wallet you are in a row boat without a pair of oars.

See discussions here regarding the differences between a LA115 and X300. John Deere LA115 vs John Deere X3

I can't speak as to the construction of the snow blower as mine is from a different series but mine is very well built.

I've never had an issue with service from my JD dealer.

 

[66cuda]

I went through this last year, and decided to go the SCUT route. The best contenders in the garden tractor realm was the upper series JD or Husqvarna. With the chains, weights, etc. I was not all that far from an entry level SCUT. I prefer the MF gc1700 series because I'm a cranky geezer that is a bit demanding. But, a kubota or mihandra would do nicely. If you do not require a hydrostatic transmission, I really like the little tractor Northern Tool sells.

Looking at longevity, versatility, resale, etc. You may want to go with a more substantial tractor than a lawn and garden unit.

I would love to go with a SCUT but right now I don't have the funds or the room to store a unit like that. I think this is something that is potentially in my future but not until I have a space to properly store it.

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Take this from a JDLA115 owner with 204 hours on the hour meter and the same 6 year old 44 inch snowblower snow blower RUUUUUNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have the rear weights and chains and the LA115 was worthless against deep snows and I ended up filling the rear tires with windshield washer fluid to add more weight.

One more thing to remember is the rear wheels don't have a lot of power being delivered to them. Mine has only 2.38+- horse power delivered to one wheel.

Their snow blowers are made by RAD in Canada and you need metric tools to change the drive belt and it takes a very long time if you have never done it before (4+ hours)
The large driven belts are $125+ tax and travel, The chute and spout are thin plastic junk and will not survive dealing with ice and snow, I have replaced mine three times already.
I finally found some Gates Series 1 Kevlar V belts(A116 size) from an amazon supplier to replace the expensive JD driven belt and I hope it lasts longer then the jd driven belt. The Series 1 A116 Gates V belts were $44 plus shipping so........... I don't feel bad about buying them.

I also need you to understand that the driven belt is very long and it is also poorly very poorly designed as the V belt is allowed to bounce too much and it affects the total life of the V belt as it is allowed to move too much much too much and the unit needs a second snubber pulley to maintain tension on the driven belt to restrain it the belts would last longer.

The other issues include

All of the the V belt pulleys are not greasable, The auger bearings are not greasable, the support bearing for the impeller is not greasable, the flat snubber pulley and V belt pulley is not greaseable, The twin V elt guide pulleys are not greasable.


The impeller is a three blade plastic impeller(it should have four impeller paddles).

Now to the driven belt change out; you need to remove the cross brace that holds the impeller pulley support bearing and you have to use a heavy hammer to drive it back and then down to remove the belt after you unbolt the 2 V belt guide pulleys that do not have grease fittings.

The other issue is the snow blower sags on the heavy side where the impeller is as the underframe of the snow blower is made from thin steel and is weak.

Owing and operating farm machinery and lawn equipment and snow blowers has taught me a lot and you need ot have two separate machines one for snow and one to mow as lawn tractors are not ment to remove snow.
Which is what Consumer Reports will tell you as well. And I look forward to someone from JD telling me I am wrong, and I don't know what I am talking about and to provide proof.

OH and Stay away from the big box walk behind snow blowers.

Buy a good walk behind snow blower like an Ariens track drive unit or a Yamaha and a new replacement lawn tractor with just the mower.

Its been my experience with John Deere that they love to take your money and then they say "well you get what you pay for". Kubota treated me no differently as a potential customer.

Its fine to read literature and look at a garden tractor in the show room and listen to the spiel but the minute you walk out the door after emptying your wallet you are in a row boat without a pair of oars.

Thank you for the information. I think the X380 I looked at would be more than powerful enough for the job, but I'll be honest that I didn't really look too deeply at the components of the snow blower. It was a two stage unit and the dealers said they have good experiences with them.

Just like the old MTD tractor I inherited, I also inherited an MTD 2 stage snow blower, which I have been using for the last 5 years without issue.

See discussions here regarding the differences between a LA115 and X300. John Deere LA115 vs John Deere X3

I can't speak as to the construction of the snow blower as mine is from a different series but mine is very well built.

I've never had an issue with service from my JD dealer.

Is your snowblower also a JD or from another manufacture?

 

[tletourneau]

I would love to go with a SCUT but right now I don't have the funds or the room to store a unit like that. I think this is something that is potentially in my future but not until I have a space to properly store it.



Thank you for the information. I think the X380 I looked at would be more than powerful enough for the job, but I'll be honest that I didn't really look too deeply at the components of the snow blower. It was a two stage unit and the dealers said they have good experiences with them.

Just like the old MTD tractor I inherited, I also inherited an MTD 2 stage snow blower, which I have been using for the last 5 years without issue.



Is your snowblower also a JD or from another manufacture?

I believe my snowblower is manufactured by JD. It's a 47" shaft drive unit that I got with my 445 (a precursor to the current X7xx series) that I am now using on my 1025R.

 

[Smoothas]

Wow lots of so called experts here way off the wall. First off a K58 will outlast life of the rest of tractor in most cases. Anybody who thinks different please post the facts. A Hydro gear G730 is rated for 230 ft-lb continuous torque. Slightly more than K58’s 217 lbs- of course the Tuff Torq tranny is considered superior to Hydro gear. Nobody considers any Husqvarna best in class- they are considered ‘economy” mowers

The JD snow blowers ( both 44 and 47) are considered by most “best in class” and are the industry leaders.

Your dealers gave you very wise advice- given your needs and budget they both recommended X380 – I tend to agree if you had more hills, I’d say go with X5xx series. Listen to your dealers – they know far more than most of the B/S posted in this thread

 

[TemporaryKubotaOwnerMark]

Interesting. I read and re-read the OP's requirements, and I didn't see one word about "ground engaging implements" or tillers or anything like that, unless you want to count a snowblower as ground engaging.

So then we get a long and interesting discourse about why his selection isn't suited for ground engaging implements. :confused2:

Then we get a recommendation for an equivalent unit in a different brand. Seems reasonable. Might be worth checking out.

Then we get a post from someone who apparently thinks a 115 is somehow similar to a 3XX series. Green color, I guess.

In between we have a bunch of guys pointing out that your dealers are apparently honest and knowledgeable, and gave you good advice.

Seems simple to me. :thumbsup:

 

[Deere Dude]

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Owing and operating farm machinery and lawn equipment and snow blowers has taught me a lot and you need ot have two separate machines one for snow and one to mow as lawn tractors are not ment to remove snow.
Which is what Consumer Reports will tell you as well. And I look forward to someone from JD telling me I am wrong, and I don't know what I am talking about and to provide proof.

Its been my experience with John Deere that they love to take your money and then they say "well you get what you pay for". Kubota treated me no differently as a potential customer.

Its fine to read literature and look at a garden tractor in the show room and listen to the spiel but the minute you walk out the door after emptying your wallet you are in a row boat without a pair of oars.

You do get what you pay for in most instances. Yes, John Deere will take your money but hopefully you got the machine they suggested and do not get a little tractor for big jobs.

I have and have had X700s or its predecessor equivalent in the past and what makes them unique are they can mow a 62" cut all day long and an hour later till up an acre garden easily then if you have a late snowstorm and hour later they can blow the snot out of a drifts 2' high across and down the whole driveway with a 47" 2 stage blower. And then start over. It will have no problem doing any of that stuff. It is a nice small powerful nimble tractor. I am not familiar with other brands but if they are beefy and engineered correctly they should be able to do that to. But they aren't box store cheap but the resale holds up fairly well.

It will take that out anyday to blow by rather large driveway before I would take out my CUT with a bucket. Get the right sized stuff to start with and you should have no complaints. The only people, generally, who complain are the ones who cheap out and expect more from the tractor than they are designed for and they break.