Comparison Husqvarna GT48DXLS Compared to John Deere

[SpudDaddy]

I have used the GT48DXL three to four times time now and can give my initial impression. The power, the rear wheel differential are everything they should be. The power deck is great, coming from someone who never had a power deck before. I have the grass bagger and it works very well. Very satisfied with the mower.

There are some issues with the mower. My rear end slides badly in the seat on any minor incline. I have a small rear end. A seat cover will be ordered before Spring 2018. The quality of the grass cut below 2 inches is poor. I do not know if my deck needs adjusting - will work on it after hunting season. Talking with multiple people it may be the 3 blade system - I have always had two blade mowers in the past. I am often cutting on minor hills at a fair incline. I do not like the gas gauge - a few more dollars would have gotten a regular gauge.

I can't see any issues in stability of the frame that some have alluded to. I wanted a top notch lawn mower, with very limited pulling capability (thus the better transmission). Still fill this is the best buy for those of us who will be using it as a lawn tractor with limited garden tractor use.

 

[17 Oaks]

I have used the GT48DXL three to four times time now and can give my initial impression. The power, the rear wheel differential are everything they should be. The power deck is great, coming from someone who never had a power deck before. I have the grass bagger and it works very well. Very satisfied with the mower.

There are some issues with the mower. My rear end slides badly in the seat on any minor incline. I have a small rear end. A seat cover will be ordered before Spring 2018. The quality of the grass cut below 2 inches is poor. I do not know if my deck needs adjusting - will work on it after hunting season. Talking with multiple people it may be the 3 blade system - I have always had two blade mowers in the past. I am often cutting on minor hills at a fair incline. I do not like the gas gauge - a few more dollars would have gotten a regular gauge.

I can't see any issues in stability of the frame that some have alluded to. I wanted a top notch lawn mower, with very limited pulling capability (thus the better transmission). Still fill this is the best buy for those of us who will be using it as a lawn tractor with limited garden tractor use.

Thanks Spud, it's what I am looking for, just need to mow and rough incline ground, nothing fancy, 4 in clip, this ain't no lawn...Good fit it sounds but if one wanted to buy one they are not to be had within 1000 mi of my location?

 

[plowhog]

17 Oaks,

Most web site designers prefer to leave product pages up even for discontinued items or models. The reasoning is that it is better to *find* the model and learn it has been discontinued, rather than wondering WTF my neighbor has a model not even on the manufacturer site. It's never perfect either way-- but better to find it than have to wonder.

One or two people here constantly run down the Husqvarna mowers with dubious claims, but it has been a good unit for me. I purchased a Husqvarna GT48DXLS plus a Cyclone Rake (model XL) with 44 bushel bagger for less money than if I had bought the Deere X380 with no Cyclone Rake and only a 7 bushel bagger which required their powerflow unit.

This Fall, I've used these two units to bag and dump 15 loads of 44 bushels (clippings and leaves.) That would have been 90+ loads with the smaller bagger. Paying the above-market "no dicker" price for the X380, then adding a Cyclone Rake, did not make sense to me. If I didn't have the Cyclone Rake, I would be back to using a rake, a tarp, and a trailer for leaves, like previous years-- NOT!

The Deere X380 is a finely engineered mower. But, a Husqvarna mower with Cyclone Rake performs at a level a Deere X380 without Cyclone Rake simply can't match. And, I have lost traction while on a side slope pulling a heavy and almost-full Cyclone Rake trailer and bag behind me. A flip of the differential lock switch and I was on my way. I believe that is a serious omission to not have that feature on a riding mower in the $3,000 and up range. I think Deere needs to add that feature to the X380, as it seems woefully absent.

 

[17 Oaks]

17 Oaks,

Most web site designers prefer to leave product pages up even for discontinued items or models. The reasoning is that it is better to *find* the model and learn it has been discontinued, rather than wondering WTF my neighbor has a model not even on the manufacturer site. It's never perfect either way-- but better to find it than have to wonder.

One or two people here constantly run down the Husqvarna mowers with dubious claims, but it has been a good unit for me. I purchased a Husqvarna GT48DXLS plus a Cyclone Rake (model XL) with 44 bushel bagger for less money than if I had bought the Deere X380 with no Cyclone Rake and only a 7 bushel bagger which required their powerflow unit.

This Fall, I've used these two units to bag and dump 15 loads of 44 bushels (clippings and leaves.) That would have been 90+ loads with the smaller bagger. Paying the above-market "no dicker" price for the X380, then adding a Cyclone Rake, did not make sense to me. If I didn't have the Cyclone Rake, I would be back to using a rake, a tarp, and a trailer for leaves, like previous years-- NOT!

The Deere X380 is a finely engineered mower. But, a Husqvarna mower with Cyclone Rake performs at a level a Deere X380 without Cyclone Rake simply can't match. And, I have lost traction while on a side slope pulling a heavy and almost-full Cyclone Rake trailer and bag behind me. A flip of the differential lock switch and I was on my way. I believe that is a serious omission to not have that feature on a riding mower in the $3,000 and up range. I think Deere needs to add that feature to the X380, as it seems woefully absent.

You could be (prob so) right on that. When i sold my IT company in 2000 after 20+ years in IT I walked away and have never looked back or missed it. Information Week did name one of my sites to the "All time Top 5 Websites". Today I just maintain my manufacturing company website with only 33 SKU's...But I would have NEVER told a client to leave old retail products up on their site. But that is just me...NOTE I am NOT a web guy, rather I am (was) a consulting Chief Technical Officer with several specialities in very large complex systems architecture and development.

IMO I think the Husk offerings are excellent and at a price point that makes sense for the serious user. While I love my JD the cost to add a mower underneath exceeds the cost of the Husk unit, in my mind I cannot make a case for it, wish I could.

But still looking and have got a TON(S) of rocks to pick up off this old ranch before I start doing any mowing with anything besides my Billy Goat rough cut mower.

 

[airbiscuit]

Well, its Dec, 2017, lets review the bidding:

the GT48DXLS is STILL on the Husk website: Yes it sez "discountined model! Really, then why is it on the website? Or is Husk a $Billion buck global enterprise so mucked up their website is not kept up to date? I own a company and while I cannot say its a $Billion buck global enterprise, I can tell you I update it EVERY WEEK, my customers depend on it! Hard to believe Husk cannot keep a website updated, on the other hand I am not shocked.
................

Stay tuned, mostly to Husk as who knows WHAT they will offer up this spring...

My guess is that the Husqvarna website is up to date, and the GT48DXLS is a discontinued/previous model. I am also guessing that they will offer dealers another limited run with some new bells and whistles and call it GT48DXLSi or some such thing. Wild speculation on my part here, but it is logical to crank out thousands of the consumer versions without making any changes. They can use the dealer specials to try out upgrades, offer something better than the average bear, and create a differentiator/scarcity for the dealers.

I am hoping that is what they are doing, especially if it is feeling out the sweet spot to compete as a lower cost alternative to the Deere 3xx and 5xx models. Maybe next year's D model will have a heavier gauge frame (although probably not needed for most consumers). We'll see what the buzz is in April or May.

 

[17 Oaks]

My guess is that the Husqvarna website is up to date, and the GT48DXLS is a discontinued/previous model. I am also guessing that they will offer dealers another limited run with some new bells and whistles and call it GT48DXLSi or some such thing. Wild speculation on my part here, but it is logical to crank out thousands of the consumer versions without making any changes. They can use the dealer specials to try out upgrades, offer something better than the average bear, and create a differentiator/scarcity for the dealers.

I am hoping that is what they are doing, especially if it is feeling out the sweet spot to compete as a lower cost alternative to the Deere 3xx and 5xx models. Maybe next year's D model will have a heavier gauge frame (although probably not needed for most consumers). We'll see what the buzz is in April or May.

I certainly see the logic in your thinking and would also see that approach as a way to penetrating the market and doing an end run around JD. I am prob in the market for sure this year and I have a good handle on what I need and hope its what I can find. I think the GT48DXLS was the fit, but now its seems its gone albeit I have found a couple still at dealers, which are about 3000+ miles rd trip from me. Cannot justify that cost and they are not willing to ship...

 

[s219]

In my 2015-2016 product catalog (paper), all models with locking diffs have a "D" in the name. Only have 3-4 models with a diff and I know one of them was sold at Lowes so I don't think D meant "dealer".

I downloaded the 2018 catalog as a PDF, and it looks like they are now putting a locking diff on almost all their models. Unless that's a typo. Seems like they kept many of the model numbers the same, so D or no D, it now has a diff. Unless it's a typo. Wouldn't put it past them. It always seemed dumb to me the way they named their riding mowers, as if there was no attempt at marketing and they were just trying to cram configurations codes into the names. That might have finally come back to bite them.

Interestingly, Sears of all companies had a much simpler naming scheme for their re-badged Husky riding mowers. Sears isn't doing very well these days, but they at least know how to name a product for marketing. If you can stand the ugly paint job, they often go on sale for a bit less than the Husky equivalents. When not on sale they cost more, of course.

There is a TBN member "tk_tom" who is a Husky dealer, and maybe he can shed light on the "D" and the 2018 model lineup. I believe he has posted in this thread. You may want to send him a PM and ask. He's a straight shooter and doesn't mince words -- if you scroll back a few pages you'll see where he thought the X380 was the better tractor but that didn't go over too well with the Husky owners.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Who knows, maybe they got a deal on a batch of unsold K66's and just cut loose a limited model.

 

[crazyal]

My guess is the "D" stands for deluxe. When I was looking the rear locking differential was a must. It wasn't as simple as finding the models that had it wasn't as simple as a "D" in the model name. Just did a quick search and, for example, the GTH52XLS and GT52XLSi have a locking diff. One of the annoying thing about Huskvarna was they seam to change (or maybe add and remove) model numbers each year. It made it a pain to start researching in the summer with plans on buying the next spring. It seams as if they are scaling down the number of models (just my impression).

 

[17 Oaks]

In my 2015-2016 product catalog (paper), all models with locking diffs have a "D" in the name. Only have 3-4 models with a diff and I know one of them was sold at Lowes so I don't think D meant "dealer".

I downloaded the 2018 catalog as a PDF, and it looks like they are now putting a locking diff on almost all their models. Unless that's a typo. Seems like they kept many of the model numbers the same, so D or no D, it now has a diff. Unless it's a typo. Wouldn't put it past them. It always seemed dumb to me the way they named their riding mowers, as if there was no attempt at marketing and they were just trying to cram configurations codes into the names. That might have finally come back to bite them.

Interestingly, Sears of all companies had a much simpler naming scheme for their re-badged Husky riding mowers. Sears isn't doing very well these days, but they at least know how to name a product for marketing. If you can stand the ugly paint job, they often go on sale for a bit less than the Husky equivalents. When not on sale they cost more, of course.

There is a TBN member "tk_tom" who is a Husky dealer, and maybe he can shed light on the "D" and the 2018 model lineup. I believe he has posted in this thread. You may want to send him a PM and ask. He's a straight shooter and doesn't mince words -- if you scroll back a few pages you'll see where he thought the X380 was the better tractor but that didn't go over too well with the Husky owners.

Can you provide a link to the 2018 PDF showing the models, the website is near worthless.

"D" Dealer, DeLux, locking Diff, Dunno!