Best Deere for my 2 acre lot and 150' driveway?

[ajd187]

Greetings all,
I went looking at JD lawn tractors yesterday for my new house with a 2 acre lot and a 150' driveway. I want something to cut the grass spring/summer/fall and something that can take a blower attachment to cclear snow in the winter.

I had done some online research as well, and that, combined with a trip to the dealership (with a salesman who was not very helpful) left me more confused than when I started.

Basically the sales guy and the product configurator on the JD website are trying to push me into an X320. I definitely see the point in going with this size but is it too much for what I am trying to do? The driveway is mostly flat as is the yard.

I looked at the X300 and 304 as well, but would the 17 hp engine be enough? taht's the only concern I had with it. The 320 has the 22 hp Kawasaki engine.

I also briefly considered the 100 series too, so if anyone has any input on that that'd be great also.

 

[jenkinsph]

All of those mentioned will work well. My yard in town is about the same size and I currently mow it with a L130 with a 48" deck. Takes about 1.5 to 2 hrs to mow it.

Aother mower I am considering in the lower price range (everythings relative) is the X300R a little more pricey but can trim from either side and has a very good rear bagger setup. This is a rear discharge mower with an iron blower built in and a short large throat to the collection system. For my use I think what time would be lost with the 42" cut would be made up for by the convenience of trimming on either side.

If you have a wide open expanse without trees and or obstacles just about any of the mowers with a wide cut will do the job. People with lots of confined spaces or lots of trees also like the ZTR mowers and AWS mowers but the initial cost will be much higher. So alot depends on your budget and how much time are you willing to spend mowing the lawn.

As far as the blower I think all of these are available with an add on front blower capable of handling a small driveway.

 

[LBrown59]

I also briefly considered the 100 series too, so if anyone has any input on that that'd be great also.

I'd skip them and all the other Big Box store brands. .

 

[bontai_Joe]

Is the X320 too much tractor? Nope, I'd say it's the right size. I am assuming that you are only considering Deere? There are other brands out there just as good at a similar price range. Depends on what dealers you have local to you.

 

[mjncad]

I have an L-130, and I would rather have an X-series, preferably with AWS. I mow a mixture of native grass and juicy tumbleweeds, which is more than what the 100-series, and any competitive series was intended to cut.

Based on my experience with my L-130, I consider any lawn tractor regardless of brand in that class and price range to be almost a throw-away piece of equipment. Regardless of maintenance some crap out quickly, some last forever.

If you can afford it, get an X-series or comparable from another manufacturer, especially if it has power steering. I can't imagine steering a 100-series with a small blower or blade hanging off the front end. I like my L-130 for its maneuverability; but steering it wears me out.

 

[AKfish]

How long do you want this lawn tractor to last? 5-10-15 years? Rochester - there's snow up there! :laughing:

Is the neighbor gonna do the plowing?

2 acres and snow... and maybe like the tractor to last more than 3-5 years. Get the X320 or comparable - Kubota, etc - at a minumum.

I've got the X300R and have had no problems the past 2 years. But I don't use it to maintain my driveway and I've only got a little more than an acre to mow.

Get more machine than you think you'll need and have it last more years.

AKfish

 

[Gator6x4]

I would suggest the John Deere X540 with the fifty four inch mowing deck. The 300 series only comes with a 38 or 42 inch deck. Two acres is a lot to cut with a 42 inch deck unless you have a lot of time. The X540 will also handle a 47 or 54 inch snow blower for your driveway. The 26 horsepower engine should also provide plenty of power for the mowing deck and snow blower or other available attachment you may later purchase.

 

[jenkinsph]

From the OP's post in the general forum,

#1 (permalink)
ajd187
New Member


Join Date: May 2010
Location: Rochester, NY
Posts: 3 My first lawn tractor for my 2 acre yard

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Hi all,
I'm a new member, looking for some advice on buying a lawn tractor.

My wife and I are buying a house with a 2 acre yard (mostly flat, no trees) and I'm looking for something to cut that grass with, as well as help clear a 150' driveway of snow in the winter. My 24" push mower and our snow shovels that we use for our house in the suburbs now aren't going to cut it anymore.

I went and looked at John Deeres today on the recommendation of friends. Before I did that I looked the Deere website's product configurator. They recommended an X320, which is what I tested today at the dealership.

It seems like a nice sturdy machine, but is it too much for what I want to do? Is it too little? It's at the upper end of my price range. We certainly CAN swing it, but if it's too much tractor then I won't. Also

I'm a suburbanite moving to the country, and even as a kid I always mowed with push mowers.

Our house is just east of Rochester, NY so we get plenty of snow here, although not as much in recent years. I would probably buy the blower attachment for anything I purchased.

Thanks for all the help! Deere makes SO many products and there are about a zillion diferent configurations.

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Last edited by ajd187; Yesterday at 11:11 AM.

Since you added in this post that you don't have trees to mow around and I did the research to find the better K58 transaxle is used on the X320 I would go with that. The combination of X320, blower and chains will be over $6,000 though.

While a nice X500 or X700 would be great you would need to be prepared to drop alot more coin and convince the wife that this is more important than her new dining room set etc.

 

[ajd187]

Yeah I think that I am going with a 320 at minimum. It sounds like the 42 inch deck on the 300 is too small. I did some quick math, and a 42 inch deck would add about 9 minutes per hour of mowing on our lawn which is 265' wide at it's longest point. That is a lot of time.

I would be doing the driveway myself, probably with a blower attachment on my tractor. But I may just get a dedicated blower. In any case I can get that later, since we don't normally have snow from May-November...

I'd like it to last as long as possible, obviously.

I actually have full support from my wife to get whatever we need. She said to get whatever is going to last the longest, and doesn't mind spending a bunch of cash on it. Gotta love that.

I'm not only considering Deere, I looked at Kubota and Cub Cadet quickly as well. The look to be around the same price, and the Deere website has way more information than the others.

The area I'm going to move to is right on teh edge of the country so we have all the dealers out there.

 

[ajd187]

here's the overhead of the lot. The outline in blue.