5 acres of mixed ground - What "little Deere" do I need ( D155, S240, X330)

[Treozen]

Hello all - newbie seeking your opinions and feedback.

I'm looking for some advice on which John Deere to get for my new property. I haven't looked closely at riding mowers lately (or are they lawn tractors now?) and traditionally I always over buy - I get way more machine or technology than I need. This time though, I'm trying to be more realistic and so I thought I'd see what you all thought given the property in question. My only experience has been with an ancient Cub Cadet riding mower - now deceased - and so not really useful for making a decision.

All things going to plan, I'll be moving to property with just shy of 5 acres. 2.5 acres is pretty much open grass pasture, 1.4 acres is grass area but with your typical landscaping stuff to navigate around (trees, plant beds, etc) and the occasional building (shed, round pen, etc). The rest of the land is either taken up by larger buildings or will be push-mower territory due to the locations and small navigable pathways. Most of the land is flat to a gentle slope, but perhaps the back acre is a little more sloped with a fair drop off say for the last 40 feet - I'm not sure what grade that last 40 feet is - not so much that its hard to walk up, but enough that you notice, I'd guess my old cub-cadet would make it up the hill on a dry day ...well...if it wasn't dead and stripped for parts. That last 40 feet also leads right up to a sheer drop of about 30 feet down an embankment - so I'm not sure its a safe riding-mower place anyway - that last 20 feet at least might need to be left wild or mowed with a walk-behind. It looks to me like the current owners use their riding mower right up to the fence line....brave folks, I guess. I do plan to get a tractor too - thinking Massey 1710 or similar with loader - this will be horse property. I am aware that some of the sub-compact tractors have mower decks, but I think I prefer the idea of having a tractor for tractor work, and a mower for mowing work.

I've done some research and I think the D155 would probably work for me. It appears to have a better engine, transmission and other features than the D-series below it in the range, and good sized mower deck (48") yet not so big as to make navigation a challenge. Then I spotted a post or two on the s240 - so I looked at that - I'm not 100% sure I understand why the s240 exists - I note that it has a different seat, smaller mower deck but perhaps built better, less horsepower than the D155 (-6HP) but an engine with a better reputation? Its around $200 - $500 more than the D155 depending on which add you're looking at and it does carry an additional 1 year / 80hr of warranty. Finally, as I was researching, many many posts indicated that rather than a D-anything, people should just buy the X330. So I looked at that - around $1000 more than the D155. Best as I can tell the X330 shares the same transmission with the D155 and s240, same engine as the S240 but still less HP than the D155 w/ 24HP Briggs & Stratton ELS. I'm not sure how much better the X330 / s240 engine really is. The deck is smaller like the s240 (42 " versus 48" for the D155) but has heavier duty frame and a better mower deck than the D155 in terms of construction (though same deck as the s240?). I'm just not sure where I see $1000 in extra value, although the warranty is twice that of the D155. At the moment, I think the D155 would probably work, but the s240 might make better sense due to the better mower deck and the additional warranty.

This just what I can gather from the JD site, but curious to your thoughts.

Thanks - Allan.

 

[Richard001]

Re: 5 acres of mixed ground - What "little Deere" do I need ( D155, S240, X330)

Allan,

No ideas on your question on "what to buy", but want to welcome you to TBN.

Richard

 

[Deere Dude]

Re: 5 acres of mixed ground - What "little Deere" do I need ( D155, S240, X330)

That doesn't sound like very forgiving property at least for part of it.

What I would do, unless you want a CUT, I would get the biggest baddest ruggedest garden tractor I could afford, and skip all the cheapy crap out there. Anguish over problems from a cheapy garden tractor and flimsy attachments will last a long time past the pain of buying a nice one originally.

 

[jenkinsph]

Re: 5 acres of mixed ground - What "little Deere" do I need ( D155, S240, X330)

For what you want to do I would suggest a single tractor for now that will do everything with the additional walk behind mower. Later when you get over the budget constraints of buying the new property I would add a good mowing tractor to the arsenal.

The new 2038R would be a good choice, it is compact but has plenty of power to run pto equipment such as rotary tillers and brush mowers. This is a good size for a small horse property with improvements you will want to make over the next 10 years. If you prefer Massey Ferguson then see what they have in the 30 to 40 hp sizes it is a good brand too.

The mower and tractor you mention are just too small to get much done. If you still work full time you will soon tire of spending all Saturday or Sunday just mowing the grass with the small equipment you listed.

 

[mapper]

Re: 5 acres of mixed ground - What "little Deere" do I need ( D155, S240, X330)

I have a X324 with a 48" deck and power flow bagger on it. I mow about an acre or so of grass with a lot of trees and obstacles in it. It takes about 3 hours to do the entire job. I like the four wheel steering as it lets me get really tight around the trees and landscaping yet is a bit more stable on slopes than a zero turn. I have been really impressed by the power flow bagger, the only time I have clogged it has been when I wasn't paying attention and over filled the bags.
It is not an inexpensive mower but I feel that it meets my needs, not having to unclog chute every couple of minutes during our moist early spring and summer fast grass growth is really nice. And yes I have mowed with it in the rain, didn't clog - but it was a green gooey mess to clean up afterwards:laughing:

 

[Treozen]

Re: 5 acres of mixed ground - What "little Deere" do I need ( D155, S240, X330)

Thanks everyone for the replies.

For what you want to do I would suggest a single tractor for now that will do everything with the additional walk behind mower.

The new 2038R would be a good choice, it is compact but has plenty of power to run pto equipment such as rotary tillers and brush mowers..... If you prefer Massey Ferguson then see what they have in the 30 to 40 hp sizes it is a good brand too.

The mower and tractor you mention are just too small to get much done. If you still work full time you will soon tire of spending all Saturday or Sunday just mowing the grass with the small equipment you listed.

I thought about the single tractor to start - but my Father-in-law has suggested he might buy us a JD riding mower as a "house warming" gift - so I started looking for a riding mower I'd actually want - no way he's going to buy a full tractor and its seems tacky to as for the value of the riding mower towards a tractor, so I figured might not be bad to have both anyway - My wife will probably do most of the mowing and I think a smaller riding mower is probably a good idea versus a bigger tractor - not that she can't handle a tractor [looks over shoulder] but for the front 1.4 acres the better maneuverability will be good. Besides, if my Father-in-law actually does buy as one, might as well take it - I'd just like to know which one to bend his ear about and the X-series might be out of the price range - he recently bought a D110, but doesn't like it and is looking for something else, so that tells me the upper D-series and or s240 is probably doable.

I'm a bit surprised that the Massey 1700 series is thought to be too small - I know its not a big tractor, but I thought it was good enough to dig post holes, move manure, do some grading and maybe dig out an arena footing (backhoe). I had thought about getting a 40-50 HP tractor, but used if I could find one.

 

[Deere Dude]

Re: 5 acres of mixed ground - What "little Deere" do I need ( D155, S240, X330)

Thanks everyone for the replies.



I thought about the single tractor to start - but my Father-in-law has suggested he might buy us a JD riding mower as a "house warming" gift - so I started looking for a riding mower I'd actually want - no way he's going to buy a full tractor and its seems tacky to as for the value of the riding mower towards a tractor, so I figured might not be bad to have both anyway -.

Oh Oh. I wish my FIL would have bought me a garden tractor.
I hope he is generous to a fault or you will end up with a piece of crap and will feel bad for trading it in a few months later. Good luck with that.

 

[Spindifferent]

Re: 5 acres of mixed ground - What "little Deere" do I need ( D155, S240, X330)

Welcome to TBN!

Your approx. 4ac is a lot of ground to mow with a 48" deck. Suggest that you borrow a riding mower with a 48" deck and mow your property first to see if you can stand all of that time in the seat. The actual condition of the soil surface will make a big difference on the time you spend mowing. If the soil surface has bumps and holes and ruts and rocks and such, a Deere riding mower in the D or X2xx or X3xx ranges may be out of the equation with these conditions. With lots of bumps and holes and ruts and rocks and such, a Deere X5xx would likely be out of the question as well.

You can certainly mow 4ac with a D or X2xx if the soil surface is in a relatively smooth condition, and you like spending time in the seat.

Enjoy!

 

[Treozen]

Re: 5 acres of mixed ground - What "little Deere" do I need ( D155, S240, X330)

Oh Oh. I wish my FIL would have bought me a garden tractor.
I hope he is generous to a fault or you will end up with a piece of crap and will feel bad for trading it in a few months later. Good luck with that.

Well yes, in a nut shell this is why I'm asking the question.

He may not buy one, and since we are very capable of buying our own, its worth asking the question anyway. Given the list of sometimes very random stuff that shown up in my yard and house over the years however, it is very possible he'll just decide to pull off at the Deere dealer and pick something up. By random, I mean as in..."I was getting bread at Safeway and got tired sitting at the lights so I just pulled off the road noticed that local tractor dealer across the road had a sale on so I bought you this....[insert random riding mower here]. Since I don't want a random mower that maybe can't really do the job, and we wouldn't be able to trade it in (you don't trade in gifts...seems to me anyway ) and we'd only feel bad for not using or ultimately replacing the random mower, I figured its probably a good idea to try point him in a specific direction, should the urge to buy a riding mower become more than idle chat. He is generous, but not specifically knowledgeable about lawn tractors - which is probably why he has a new-ish D110 that he wants to replace already.

Its equally likely that we'll buy our own, and in that case, I'd need the same feedback on the options - although going John Deere is in that case be optional, I have no particular brand requirement, only that it be a solid machine that performs as it should.

Allan.

 

[Treozen]

Re: 5 acres of mixed ground - What "little Deere" do I need ( D155, S240, X330)

Welcome to TBN!

Your approx. 4ac is a lot of ground to mow with a 48" deck. Suggest that you borrow a riding mower with a 48" deck and mow your property first to see if you can stand all of that time in the seat. The actual condition of the soil surface will make a big difference on the time you spend mowing. If the soil surface has bumps and holes and ruts and rocks and such, a Deere riding mower in the D or X2xx or X3xx ranges may be out of the equation with these conditions. With lots of bumps and holes and ruts and rocks and such, a Deere X5xx would likely be out of the question as well.

You can certainly mow 4ac with a D or X2xx if the soil surface is in a relatively smooth condition, and you like spending time in the seat.

Enjoy!

I was just thinking about that actually - I do need to walk the property more, but it seemed relatively flat and even. That said, its not "a lawn" definitely more a natural field. My thought was maybe we cut the front 1.4 with a riding mower but use a tractor with one of those tow-behind mowers for the back 2-ish acres....The "pasture" doesn't need to be manicured, just kept low enough that its tidy. Perhaps We can borrow something like you suggest and see what it takes.