John Deere x350 or Husqvarna models

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

I'm not really concerned with what would be better than plowing and hauling with the tractor, only because the 17 year old craftsman was just a sears bought tractor with a hydro gear hydrostatic and 21hp B&S opposed twin. That lasted 1000+ hours and 17 years plowing snow every year and hauling upwards of 1000lbs of lumber in our hilly yard. The k66 theoretically is way stronger than that hydro gear. I'm leaning towards the Husqvarna or possibly a snowblower and a lower model Husqvarna.

Lol sorry just ignore everything I said then lol.

I have never had a product from Husqvarna I didn't like, I have had 2 chainsaws from them, and have many hours on 2 GT tractors made by them and the ariens mower with a 21hp kohler and 42in deck, it was the same design of the older craftsman lawn mowers but made by Husqvarna, I could buy parts from sears direct or Husqvarna for it.

JD makes a good product but some of there economy tractors are no heavier built.

Have you visited both tractors yet? Had a chance to play on them and get a good feel for build quality?

Another thing I might add is my GT has Grease zerks everywhere and I like that a lot, all the pulleys, front end ext. is all greasable which goes a long way to how long parts last.

I have farmers in my family and I will tell you what they tell me, buy the one that is the easiest to work on and is the easiest to get parts for. Husqvarna and JD aren't going anywhere anytime soon so parts should be avail for a long time.

My GT has the gas tank on the rear which makes it so much more easier to fuel up compared to the ariens which has the tank under the hood. Just stuff like that. Deck thickness is something I would look at also for a long term.

Every tractor I have had or used made by Husqvarna has steel hoods, I see a lot of JD mowers with busted hoods running around and the hoods are too expensive to replace. My mom ran into a tree hard with that ariens and I just hammered the hood back, a plastic hood would have been trashed.

That being said all the body work on my 48hp 4320 JD is all plastic body but it has guards to keep things from hitting the plastic and the plastic is heavy.

 

[Robmus18]

Lol sorry just ignore everything I said then lol.

I have never had a product from Husqvarna I didn't like, I have had 2 chainsaws from them, and have many hours on 2 GT tractors made by them and the ariens mower with a 21hp kohler and 42in deck, it was the same design of the older craftsman lawn mowers but made by Husqvarna, I could buy parts from sears direct or Husqvarna for it.

JD makes a good product but some of there economy tractors are no heavier built.

Have you visited both tractors yet? Had a chance to play on them and get a good feel for build quality?

Another thing I might add is my GT has Grease zerks everywhere and I like that a lot, all the pulleys, front end ext. is all greasable which goes a long way to how long parts last.

I have farmers in my family and I will tell you what they tell me, buy the one that is the easiest to work on and is the easiest to get parts for. Husqvarna and JD aren't going anywhere anytime soon so parts should be avail for a long time.

My GT has the gas tank on the rear which makes it so much more easier to fuel up compared to the ariens which has the tank under the hood. Just stuff like that. Deck thickness is something I would look at also for a long term.

Every tractor I have had or used made by Husqvarna has steel hoods, I see a lot of JD mowers with busted hoods running around and the hoods are too expensive to replace. My mom ran into a tree hard with that ariens and I just hammered the hood back, a plastic hood would have been trashed.

That being said all the body work on my 48hp 4320 JD is all plastic body but it has guards to keep things from hitting the plastic and the plastic is heavy.

Thanks for the input! I'm going to my local JD dealer to check out the x350 and I'm going to the Husqvarna dealer next weekend. I think the husky is what I'm going for.

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

Thanks for the input! I'm going to my local JD dealer to check out the x350 and I'm going to the Husqvarna dealer next weekend. I think the husky is what I'm going for.

Hey you never know, sit on both, look both over really well and pick the one you like the best, you can look at data all day and compare everything down to tire size but if you have a tractor you don't like for whatever reason, just remember you may be sitting on and using this thing for 800-1000 hours so tractor design, peddle layout ext is important.

I wouldn't pay too close attention to what motor each has unless ones liquid cooled, if there both air cooled and made by either Kohler, B&S or Kawasaki you should be fine, I have ran lots of the three and in newer stuff there all good. The Kohler seems a bit quieter than the Briggs and the liquid cooled kaw v twin in my dads 445 is quieter yet.

I see a lot of smaller tractors have the steering gears stripped out, I personally have never had a issue on a mower but see it quite a bit trolling CL. Maybe check how beefy the steering gears of each are also. Usually I see it in little mowers like the 100 series JD.

 

[MessickFarmEqu]

the ole "they don't build them like they used to" applies 100% to lawn and garden equipment. Its virtually impossible to get the life out of today's equipment unless your willing to pay for quality.

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

the ole "they don't build them like they used to" applies 100% to lawn and garden equipment. Its virtually impossible to get the life out of today's equipment unless your willing to pay for quality.

I can agree and disagree at the same time, back in the day the "build quality" may have been better, the beefed up rear ends ext BUT take a mower from back in the day and run it against a new "economy tractor" and I bet the new mower cuts better and much faster.

Old mowers were like 8-12hp and cut a small deck at 2-4mph and they were geared which isn't as efficient, now most are HST and cut 5mph, the blades spin faster due to the higher HP motors there stuffing under the hoods.

I would still rather cut with a newer "cheaper" mower vs a older underpowered and slow tank.

Those old lawn mowers and garden tractors was so simple and had less to break, manual tranny, mechanical dry breaks, cast iron motors with metal guards.

Now newer lawn mowers and garden tractors have heath and safety all over, cup holders, cruise control, power steering ext. when you take ergonomics and operator comfort that's safe and half way reliable and try to keep price down they have to save cost somewhere, they do it on parts you don't see like steering columns, rear ends and focus more on a big comfy seat and 2 cup holders lol

So yeah there made "cheaper" but I feel it was a decent trade off

That's also why I don't break ground with my Husqvarna, the rear isn't made for it even know it's considered a "garden tractor". I just cut grass with it. I till my garden with a walk behind tiller made to till and handle the stress. The only little tractor I will hook a trailer to is my dads 445 tractor, it's heavy enough to pull with, I put a 1500lb 6x12 landscape trailer on his tractor many times moving trailers around, my husky doesn't have a hitch to speak of, it's a stamped plate near the rear end lol.

 

[murph1]

I have had good luck with Simplicity. I had a Conquest with a 54"deck. Put 1800 hours on it and sold it for 70% of what I paid for it. Had a blower on that but was not fun to put on.

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

I have had good luck with Simplicity. I had a Conquest with a 54"deck. Put 1800 hours on it and sold it for 70% of what I paid for it. Had a blower on that but was not fun to put on.

Wow, can't beat that.

 

[MESSMAKER]

I have had good luck with Simplicity. I had a Conquest with a 54"deck. Put 1800 hours on it and sold it for 70% of what I paid for it. Had a blower on that but was not fun to put on.

I have never heard a negative on the quality or performance of a Simplicity. I think they are the equal of a good John Deere as long as you have good dealer support.

 

[Rudedawg]

the ole "they don't build them like they used to" applies 100% to lawn and garden equipment. Its virtually impossible to get the life out of today's equipment unless your willing to pay for quality.

I am interested in the Cub Cadet XT3 GS is this a solid reliable tractor? I had narrowed my new mower decision down to the Cub XT3 GS or John Deere X570 but Cub offers a 42" twin blade deck which is what I want/need, where as JD only offers 48" or 54" triple blade decks. Thanks, RP.

 

[buickanddeere]

Just stay away from that scrawny K46 transaxle no matter what the make. As previously stated a K66 or better is preferred. Also keep in mind if you want to use a machine like a D4 Cat then purchase a D4 Cat.