John Deere X534 4.80 star(s) (5)

still in love
Model Year: 2010

Great Tractor. tight turning radius, powerful. keep in mind if if you want to use chains in winter you are supposed to disable the mechanism for turning the rear wheels...kind of a pain. I just skipped the chains and studded the tires, but if you are dealing with slippery hills that won't work. Starts in zero degree weather, no hesitation. Mulching deck works great. Added hydraulic rear lift, a day long project for inexperienced me and nephew, but came out great. 4 ft snowblower for the front works like a charm...shoots hard snow 60 feet, easy to operate. suggest you keep plenty of shear pins and a backup belt around.

Pros: quality
Cons: expensive

Mostly feeling the love
Model Year: 2010

Pricy, but a joy to work with. Mows great, we got the hydraulic hitch lift and we use the scraper blade for light soil transfer. 47 inch snowblower is fabulous. 4 wheel drive makes for super tight turns. Easy to handle with arthritic hands. Tricky issues: with the 4 wheel drive, they want you to disengage that feature for wintertime. This is a hassle in my opinion. Cannot use chains without doing it, so I have studded the tires instead, that works well for flat driveway but not for smooth walkways on hills. does not mind being out in cold weather as long as it has cover on. not a finicky starter.

Pros: powerful. reliable.
Cons: lift link tends to jump out, but maybe from my very rough terrain. 4 wheel drive makes some things trickier.

Excellent
Model Year: 2010

I have used my X534 now for around 200 hours and have had no issues with anything regarding the machine. It handles well and I would certainly recommend it to anyone looking for something between a zero turn and a standard tractor. I use it on my 9 acres and enjoy working with it.

Pros: Handling, power, maneuverability.
Cons: Not as easy, at least with little experience, to remove the mower deck as was shown to me at dealership.

Follow Up
Model Year: 2010

After 100 hours, here are the issues I've had: The snowblower idler pulley bearings toasted after only a couple of winters. The side skids on the blower are cheap enough to not last too long. Heavy duty replacements are expensive. The lift attachment handle on the dash broke for no apparent reason. The biggest problem I have with the tractor is that the four wheel steering is great for maneuvering but forget mowing in a straight line without the tractor wandering all over the place. The geometry of the rear steering linkage involves such shallow angles between parts that it's inherently "loose". It ticks me off, really. And it did go back to the dealer with little improvement.

Pros: See initial review.
Cons: 4-wheel steering.

Initial Post Purchase Review
Model Year: 2010

I would certainly like to use the tractor a bit more to be able to offer good information based on serious use, but at this point I can tell you that the 4-wheel steering is a nice feature in a yard with lots of obstacles where maneuverability is a big plus. I retrofitted my Trac-Vac after giving the entire unit a "tuneup" and painting it JD green. For new attachments I got the 48" deck, the front mount dethatcher, the 47" snow blower and soft enclosure, the coring aerator and the 125lb. spreader. The other big attachment is a Johnybucket Jr. I will highlight a couple of the attachments here--ones that I have actually used at this point. The bucket jr. Is great for quite a variety of tasks. I had no problem back-dragging well settled 1-1/2" bluestone to redistribute it. It was great for transporting cut up pallets to the fire pit. Another nice thing about it is that once you have it all set up, removing it and re-attaching it is an easy 30 second operation which means that you will be more likely to use it for small jobs versus let it sit there because its too much aggravation to put on and take off. I have spent some time doing a little fabrication work to make the attachment mounts more compatible for easier changes. The winter enclosure has a tube that mounts to the back of the tractor and loops up, across and back down behind the seat. I siamesed the mounting brackets with the hitch for the Trac Vac so both can be on at the same time. Another part of the enclosure bracketry serves as a rear suitcase weight bracket. I modified that to hook onto the Trac Vac hitch the same way the Trac Vac mounts so that when the vac comes off for the winter the weight hitch can easily go on. I added a tow hitch to the back of the Trac Vacso I can tow the spreader at the same time but the on/off lever for the spreader is now way out of reach as is the throttle control on the Trac Vac because the tractor is so much bigger than my old Wheel Horse. So I fabbed an arm that attaches to the rear enclosure base hoop (I mentioned earlier) that comes forward alongside the right side of the seat to which I mounted two throttle style cable controls that go to the vac throttle and the spreader on/off lever (I made the spreader cable detachable). I'm just finishing modifying the front bracket for the thatcher as it interfered with the main side plates the bucket attaches to. I had to get the thatcher bracket to reach deeper in between the plates to reach the holes the thatcher mounts to.

Pros: Quality, size, 4-wheel steering, power steering, range of attachments, sturdiness, fuel gauge and 5gal. gas tank.
Cons: Cost. For anything else it's too early to tell.