John Deere sold at Lowes & HD

[thatguy]

Our local HD sells
"JD" tractors but Deere is just licencing the name and colors to Scotts which is the real manufacturer. So they are not real Deere and moist likely built in china.

that must be something new. Id like to see the source of that information..

Previously the HD/Lowes JD lawn/garden tractors were 'true' jd's (the same as the dealer sells only the 100 series)..

brian

 

[Grateful11]

Our local HD sells
"JD" tractors but Deere is just licencing the name and colors to Scotts which is the real manufacturer. So they are not real Deere and moist likely built in china.

They are built in TN by JD in a non-Union JD factory. I owned an LA130 for
3 years, recently sold it as we were only using it to pick up leaves. They are
JD's, I can't believe this is this is still being discussed but it still pops up on
every L&G/Tractor forum from time to time. Are they built as good as the
X-series, no they are not. Will they get the job done of mowing, aerating
and pulling a yard cart, yes they will. JD sells a bunch of these L-series riders,
we bought ours at our dealer not at HD. It had to go back to the shop for
absolutely nothing. Can't say the same for the JD 425 or the GT235 I had.
So far my X720 has not been back to the shop for anything, it has nearly
70 hours on it. BTW: My Kawa. fuel injected 27hp engine has never started
as well as the Briggs on my LA130, it starts but it spits and sputters are
about 10-15 secs when cranking from cold, I'm running some Seafoam
through it to see if it will help.

 

[BTDT2]

I purchased a Cub Cadet 50" rider w twin cylinder Kohler about 5 years back at Lowes. I have no idea who 'made' it but I suspect much the same units with different hood and fenders have been painted orange, red, green, at same plant.

Five years and 250 hours and never been to shop- I change oil, filters and blades each year at home. A few more years work and expect to be in market for a replacement.

 

[jinman]

I purchased a Cub Cadet 50" rider w twin cylinder Kohler about 5 years back at Lowes. I have no idea who 'made' it but I suspect much the same units with different hood and fenders have been painted orange, red, green, at same plant.

Five years and 250 hours and never been to shop- I change oil, filters and blades each year at home. A few more years work and expect to be in market for a replacement.

MTD makes Cub Cadet riding mowers. There are thousands of MTDs that have been bought cheaply and had the heck beat out of them for many years with good performance. I bought a sub-$1000 MTD on halves with my dad so he could use it for mowing around his mobile home park. It lasted 8 years in the park before my dad passed away and I inherited it because of my1/2 share. I did have to disassemble the engine and replace the oil pan gasket plus replace multi-speed pulley, belts, blades, and two spindles. That mower lasted me until three years ago when I gave it away, still running but needing some repair. That's 15 years on that little cheap mower. The point I want to make is there is a lot of value in many of these mowers. Many may fail, but with proper care, I think most will do quite well.

I like my JD LA145, but the dang carb float needle valve needs replaced because it keeps sticking shut. Sometimes the mower starts and runs until the float bowl is empty and dies. I have to blow into the carb's intake hose and choke it manually to get it going. The sticking float valve may be due to the rubber seal's deteriorating with ethanol in the fuel. I may drive to Oklahoma and buy 10 gallons of "mower" fuel because they sell non-ethanol added fuel just across the state line.:thumbsup:

 

[chriswheeler]

The Box store JD riders are looked down on by the JD dealers generaly. But look up the rateings in Consumers reports, they are rated a "Best Buy". ( 100 series ) My local JD dealer provides parts for them and sells the 100 series for couple of hundred more than the box store. They can't be to bad beating out most of the rest ?? Built a lighter than the HD series, but not intended for that kind of use. ( not intended to be used as a brush hog ) If the dealers lowered their prices to match, bet sales would go way up. Bet the box stores sell 10 for every dealer sale baised on price. Looks like mine is made in USA, not China.
Chris

 

[JDGREEN4ME]

The Box store JD riders are looked down on by the JD dealers generaly. But look up the rateings in Consumers reports, they are rated a "Best Buy". ( 100 series ) My local JD dealer provides parts for them and sells the 100 series for couple of hundred more than the box store. They can't be to bad beating out most of the rest ?? Built a lighter than the HD series, but not intended for that kind of use. ( not intended to be used as a brush hog ) If the dealers lowered their prices to match, bet sales would go way up. Bet the box stores sell 10 for every dealer sale baised on price. Looks like mine is made in USA, not China.
Chris

My local JD dealer sells the 100 Series for the same price as Home Depot.

 

[Calleoj]

A neighbor who moved in up the street works for Briggs says...the "L" series John Deere came about after the Big Box stores pressured Deere to build a cheap homeowner entry level mower and held the #'s out there of possible sales. Deere tried the "Saber" line at first for about 2 years with limited sucess. The Depot and Lowes wanted the JD name on a machine to sell and the market was just too big to pass up, so John rolled over in his grave and MBA's in Moline put his name on a little rider with a plastic hood. They are not the same quality as the 200 series and above... real John Deere tractors sold only at dealerships. The engines may say 20 hp Briggs, but they are 500 hour engines at Lowes and the Depot. They don't have the quality of the 20 hp Kawasaki and yahnmar diesels Deere puts in the big models. Hydrostat trans. are lighter too.
Look for the place of assembly. The real stuff comes from Horicon, WI factory where Swedes and German heritage builds quality and people working there have "green blood". They believe and build the machines in that old saying that ...Nothing runs like a Deere.
Don't be fooled like me. I traded off my L100 and went to the 300 series at a real JD dealer. My advise is pay for JD quality once at a dealer and you won't be sorry. So that's my story.

 

[stevem5215]

I have a cheap Craftsman DLT1000 model from 14 yrs ago. 13.5 hp engine belt drive, 6 speed manual. It's cheap and still works. Sure it's needed some repairs but still runs and cuts the grass. If you buy one of these L100's you probably find it lasts you 15 yrs too. If you buy a used 400 series that's 15 years old you'll also probably find it lasts another 15years at least. If you buy a X series that's probably good for about 30 years as well. So, good gets you 30 years and cheap gets you 15. Heck I have two Cub cadets that were made in 68 and 71 still running too. Just gotta fix them when they break. How long do you want any tractor to last ? Forever is a long time.

Steve

 

[gwjd]

yea they are not garden tractors or sub cuts, they are riding lawn mowers they are light weight and easy on the lawn yes if you got 5 acres of lawn its not tough enough, but 0-2 go for it save you money, if you need a loader or tph well you need something else its just a mower but its a good mower

 

[jenkinsph]

MTD makes Cub Cadet riding mowers. There are thousands of MTDs that have been bought cheaply and had the heck beat out of them for many years with good performance. I bought a sub-$1000 MTD on halves with my dad so he could use it for mowing around his mobile home park. It lasted 8 years in the park before my dad passed away and I inherited it because of my1/2 share. I did have to disassemble the engine and replace the oil pan gasket plus replace multi-speed pulley, belts, blades, and two spindles. That mower lasted me until three years ago when I gave it away, still running but needing some repair. That's 15 years on that little cheap mower. The point I want to make is there is a lot of value in many of these mowers. Many may fail, but with proper care, I think most will do quite well.

I like my JD LA145, but the dang carb float needle valve needs replaced because it keeps sticking shut. Sometimes the mower starts and runs until the float bowl is empty and dies. I have to blow into the carb's intake hose and choke it manually to get it going. The sticking float valve may be due to the rubber seal's deteriorating with ethanol in the fuel. I may drive to Oklahoma and buy 10 gallons of "mower" fuel because they sell non-ethanol added fuel just across the state line.:thumbsup:

Ithought I had the same carb issues as you mention but found that the electric terminal on the fuel solenoid was not tight enough. So sometimes it appeared to be fuel starved, other times it worked. Tightened up the push on terminal and has been reliable ever since. Might wan't to check yours out. Before finding the loose wire I installed an electric fuel pump this greatly reduces the wear on the starter after long storage periods too. This was the 23hp Kohler engine though.