Deere GT235 vs Sabre 2554

[Anonymous Poster]

Hi,
There are a couple of Deere dealers in my area. Went to one a few weeks ago to ask about the difference between the Scotts 2554 and the Sabre 2554. The response I got was "the paint job". I've been looking at the Scotts model for a while, and this was the first time I checked out the Sabre. After looking at for a few minutes while the sales guy went over the features, he was right, it's the same machine. So I got a price on the Sabre 2554 of $3,949. Fifty bucks less than the Scotts. Not bad...
So now I'm 99% sure I'll be getting the Sabre 2554 this spring, but I figured I'd check out another local dealer, just to get another price, etc. Turns out, this dealer doesn't sell the 25HP model. Says the motor is crap. They sold them for a year when they first came out, but stopped because of the problems and complaints. So while I'm there, I start looking at the Deere GT235, sat on it... NICE!
Sorry about the long story, but now I have to get the Deere, and was just wondering about what I should expect to pay? If you have one, how do you like it? I think I like the 48" convertible deck. 54" sounds good, but might be too big. How does the 18 HP motor hold up?
Thanks for the info,
DougR

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I have one season on a GT235 and have enjoyed it. I have the 44" deck. It has cut wet grass well and the rear bagger system does plug up but it is very resistant to it if you make shallow cuts in heavy wet grass. I was in quite a quandry over these, the independent repair people I talked to said I wouldn't regret buying the Deere although they are spendy. I've noticed a couple of things, like designed in replaceable metal "thread" clips versus just putting in a sheet metal screw in a hole or worse yet the dreaded plastic thing a ma jigs that never hold right again and are "no longer available" when you need them. They seem to have spent some time trying to engineer these to last. There are different schools of thought, buy cheap let it go to he_ _, and throw it away. It's all in the way you like equipment.

If you start reading peoples posts, especially on some of th e lawn forum (a bloodthirsty, egotistical, angry bunch at times!) you'll find enough people to badmouth ALL of the different engines you'll go back to a hand sickle! Change the oil early, my dealer said they have had great luck at 5 hours for the initial change. Book says 50, I used 5 and 20. Compared to my barrel-of-oil Kubotas, the teensy bit of oil in the JD isn't much to worry about costwise!

Same thing on brands there are the JD haters, the Kubota haters, etc etc. Buried in the hot air blowers are some nice intelligent folks on the lawn and garden tractor forum, and if you email them directly you'll probably get lots of info on the various differences. One thing I found to be true, if you go with the GT235, with it's larger tires you will be more comfortable. Even my "good" lawn is bumpy.

Good luck
del John Deere, Kubota (2) and Ford New Holland owner, oh and Craftsman Self Propelled owner too!
oldcarparts@mygarage.com