Engine changes to Diesel x7xx series.

[JDTank]

I agree with you. There is a big price difference between those two machines. I think the engine JD puts in the Premium tractor will be fine. As you know JD is very particular about its engines and it will stand behind the product. I have never known Yanmar to make a bad engine. Over the years, I have had several of them in various pieces of JD equipment and have seen some incredible hour logs of machines powered by Yanmar. My perception is that this new engine is as powerful if not more powerful in reality than its predecessor. It likely is also cleaner running and more quiet. I bet it will also be better on fuel. If you can stomach the upfront cost of the 748, you will love the machine. If you go to sell it, unless it is in poor condition you should get a more significant portion of the original value out of the machine. My best analogy is the 455, a similarly sized machine that the X series replaced. When they come in on trade, my dealer, who is a large dealer, says they disappear at a rate of 3:1 v. the equivalent 445 gas powered machine.

John M

I don't doubt that one bit.

I have checked every John Deere dealer within about 700 miles east and north of me, and not one of them has a used X7xx series diesel. Not even any used gas X7xx series. Lot's of used 100 and X3xx series though!

I know if I just spend the money up front, I will have this thing for 30 years. It's twice the money of a X540 though, and I believe that's a long time machine as well if it is looked after.

As you mention though, IF, and that's one huge if, I had to sell it, I know it would be gone in a flash.

One thing I can't get over after watching countless Youtube videos, you engage the mower deck on a diesel X7xx, and you barely notice it, the engine doesn't change in tone at all, you just hear the blades start to move. You do that same thing with a gas engine, and it bogs down, sometimes so much so it sounds like it will stall. You gotta love that diesel torque.

 

[Deere Dude]

I think the amount of lawn work you have to do may help you decide what to buy. If you only need a small tractor for 1/2 hour a week, I would probably get the 500 series. If you have any real work to do with it as far a blowing or bladeing or a lot of lawn to take care of, maybe the 700 series would be a better choice. I never drove a 500 but sat on one my friend has and started it up. He loved it and it was a nice tractor and it works for him. But for me, being used to the larger X700, it just seemed small.

The X700s are great tractors, the resale value is high, the dealers tell meand are very smooth riding and ergonomically great.

About 15 years ago I owned a 420 with a 60" mower with about 500 hours on it. It was a great tractor also. I worked at John Deere and I got a good deal on an almost new 285 with a cab and a 54" mower. I mowed the 2 acres with the new 285 for about 6 weeks and got ride of it. I just kept on using the larger more comfortable tractor. Everything worked great with it, but there's nothing like a big deck and big garden tractor to make it a pleasurable experience.

But, I have read a few of your posts and I think you were the one wanting to buy a x3xx utility tractor. Once you buy that, if you do, the 700 will just sit in the garage a whole lot more than if that's all you had.

I bought a new 2009 X740 and use that a lot, until I got my 3720. Now the X740 is only used for an acre of lawn or two and driving around the neighborhood. It seems like overkill and that is one thing to think about.
I had 50 hours on my X740 when I bought my new 3720. Now the 3720 has 215 hours and the X740 has 100.

You will more than likely have good luck with either the 500 or the 700, I am sure.

 

[JDTank]

I think the amount of lawn work you have to do may help you decide what to buy. If you only need a small tractor for 1/2 hour a week, I would probably get the 500 series. If you have any real work to do with it as far a blowing or bladeing or a lot of lawn to take care of, maybe the 700 series would be a better choice. I never drove a 500 but sat on one my friend has and started it up. He loved it and it was a nice tractor and it works for him. But for me, being used to the larger X700, it just seemed small.

The X700s are great tractors, the resale value is high, the dealers tell meand are very smooth riding and ergonomically great.

About 15 years ago I owned a 420 with a 60" mower with about 500 hours on it. It was a great tractor also. I worked at John Deere and I got a good deal on an almost new 285 with a cab and a 54" mower. I mowed the 2 acres with the new 285 for about 6 weeks and got ride of it. I just kept on using the larger more comfortable tractor. Everything worked great with it, but there's nothing like a big deck and big garden tractor to make it a pleasurable experience.

But, I have read a few of your posts and I think you were the one wanting to buy a x3xx utility tractor. Once you buy that, if you do, the 700 will just sit in the garage a whole lot more than if that's all you had.

I bought a new 2009 X740 and use that a lot, until I got my 3720. Now the X740 is only used for an acre of lawn or two and driving around the neighborhood. It seems like overkill and that is one thing to think about.
I had 50 hours on my X740 when I bought my new 3720. Now the 3720 has 215 hours and the X740 has 100.

You will more than likely have good luck with either the 500 or the 700, I am sure.

I wouldn't say it's a lot, but it isn't a small amount either. I have about 1.5 - 2.0 acres that need to be finished mowed, and I know I will be dragging the utility cart around quite a bit. As far as snow goes, we rarely get any snow, usually we go the entire winter without any, if we do get snow, it's melted and gone within 1 to 4 days. The only area I need to plow is about 100 feet long, so the X540 could easily handle that.

The way I was trying to justify it is, our property is basically divided into 2 sections. There is the home section where the house is, the 1.5 acres of finish mowing, the deck, the backyard, the garage, the garden, all of that stuff. Then we have a fence that separates this area from the "barn area" where the barn is, the horse paddocks and fields are.

I figure if I get the X740 or X748, that could be used for everything on the home side of the fence, since that is the area I am concerned about when it comes to the weight of the machine. Once I can buy a 3x20 series machine, that machine can do the heavier work in the barn area, such as bush hogging, moving manure, building a few roads, driving fence posts, digging a few trenches, that kind of work.

When I first started researching I was convinced I could find a machine that would do every job, and still be light and maneuverable enough to mow the finish grass on the home side. I finally realized that this is just not realistic, having one smaller light machine, and one bigger heavy machine, is the perfect way to go.

Given how small my home plot is, even a X540 would handle those tasks with ease, just not as nice, comfortable and fuel efficient as a X748SE would!

 

[Deere Dude]

I e-mailed a guy I know that works at the factory and asked him if the engines in those tractors are getting smaller, but I didn't get into any particulars concerning this forum. This is what he wrote back to me. He is not an engineer or anything but this is just what was going around the factory.

"What I heard is the frames are being lightened up and you will not be able to put a loader on them any more. They are not going to have the motors built to JD specs any more and probably just go with the cheapest one they can get. If your getting a new one I would get it before this fall."

For whatever that is worth to anyone.

 

[JDTank]

I e-mailed a guy I know that works at the factory and asked him if the engines in those tractors are getting smaller, but I didn't get into any particulars concerning this forum. This is what he wrote back to me. He is not an engineer or anything but this is just what was going around the factory.

"What I heard is the frames are being lightened up and you will not be able to put a loader on them any more. They are not going to have the motors built to JD specs any more and probably just go with the cheapest one they can get. If your getting a new one I would get it before this fall."

For whatever that is worth to anyone.

I'm not calling your friend a liar or anything, but that seems like economic suicide for John Deere's lawn department, not?

This tractor has been over the moon popular since it first came out, and for them to start cheaping out on there most premium model machine, is pretty risky.

Part of me thinks they wouldn't risk there reputation, but at the same time, a part of me thinks they would do it. They are a massive company, and we all know companies are out for one thing, profits. Every year, everything we buy is built with just a little less material, and with a cheaper material to boot, yet the prices only increase over the years.

John Deere is so immensely popular, they could put a block of cheese under the hood of a tractor, and a overwhelming number of people would still buy that machine for big money, why, because it's green. John Deere is John Deere, they can basically do whatever they want and they know people will still buy.

I really don't know what to think anymore. I don't ever want to put a loader on a X748, but at the same time, that doesn't matter. For the price I would be paying, I want a brute of a machine, not one that's been put on a diet.

 

[rsewill]

Maybe Deere is going to change their model numbering like they did with the x5xx to x7xx equivalency. Or maybe they'll put out a new series like an x75x series that would be equivalent to the old, bigger powered x7xx series.

 

[JDTank]

Judging by the way things are going, all I know is I had better order my X748 within the next few months before John Deere starts cheaping out.

 

[JB2]

I will be running my 2007 Deere X744 as long as I can, only has 874hrs right now on it and still going strong. Hope they don't lighten the frame up to much on the later X700 series. The new smaller Yanmar Diesel, should still be a good engine, considering they are well known and have been shown to still be running with 4-5,000 hrs.
Will be interesting to see what they do with the X700 series, I figured the Series was due to be replaced at some point. Hopefully, the new X700 series is not a "Glorified" D100 series Garden tractor where all you will be able to do is cut grass with. I am glad I bought my 2007 Deere X744, its an awsome tractor for sure, very operator friendly. I guess if I had to up grade to another X700 series, I would be looking at 2009 or 2010 model.

Jason B

 

[BleedGreen]

I e-mailed a guy I know that works at the factory and asked him if the engines in those tractors are getting smaller, but I didn't get into any particulars concerning this forum. This is what he wrote back to me. He is not an engineer or anything but this is just what was going around the factory.

"What I heard is the frames are being lightened up and you will not be able to put a loader on them any more. They are not going to have the motors built to JD specs any more and probably just go with the cheapest one they can get. If your getting a new one I would get it before this fall."

For whatever that is worth to anyone.

There are absolutely NO CHANGES anywhere close to that for X700 Series for 2012. For the entire Select Series (X300, X500, X700) we have one new model (X310) a low fuel indicator light on the X320, X324 and X360 and will be using the new SAEJ1995 rating for HP. (See below)

For improved operator convenience, a low-fuel light on the dash of X320, X324, and X360 Tractors is provided. The translucent fuel tank will remain on these and other Select Series X300 models for convenience when checking the fuel level and for refueling.

All Select Series gasoline engines will be rated for horsepower using SAE J1995 rather than SAE J1940, used previously. Engine displacements and manufacturer are unchanged, however some gasoline engine power ratings will change some increasing and some decreasing:

As I do not work at the factory I cannot state that there will not be any changes for 2013 but I can say that I have not heard of anything like what was said above. I am not saying that it could not happen - but it seems unlikely to me. Going back to 2002 with the X400/X500 HDGT's through the current X700's we have used the same frame, etc. so I see no real reason to change anything. That being said I am not a bean counter or an engineer.

 

[JDTank]

What about improvements, BleedGreen?

Have you heard of them possibly adding more features to the X500 or X700 series of machines?

Who knows, maybe in my rush to buy my X748 I will miss out on a cool new feature for 2013. If one always waits for new features, you'll never buy though.