John Deere X584

[tkcomer]

Thinking of upgrading my 11 year old JD LA 145 to the JD X584 with a 48" deck. The LA 145 is what I call my trim mower. I have a 4 acre lot surrounded by woven wire fence with several buildings and a few trees. Plus several "dead" spots I mow as it's easier than using the Case IH DX-33 in those areas. The LA 145 isn't that bad for swinging tightly in and out of all those fence posts, but would the 4 wheel steer be that much better? Also, how durable is this mower? Any problem areas that I need to know about? Ground is pretty rough (Old farmland) so anything over 5 MPH on a rider is moot. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[beenthere]

but would the 4 wheel steer be that much better?

That much better!

The rear wheels follow/track the front wheels going around a location, be it a tree or curb or bush. Where the front wheels travel, so do the rear wheels.

Mount a sprayer bar with nozzles on the front weight bracket and you can steer that spray precisely where you want it. No watching back.
Backing up wagon or trailer or lawn roller is much easier too.

 

[oldnslo]

4 wheel steer aides significantly in maneuvering but they are strange to drive. Not normal feeling the backend go sideways…

my son had to replace most of the steering linkage on his X749 at around 1200 hrs so pretty durable also.

 

[tkcomer]

I doubt they drive like a tow motor. I do have a hillside by the road. Probably could mow about half of that with this. Not sure how steep this model could do. But I have a dedicated mower I'm trying to keep alive for that. Is the transaxle pretty durable? I have a 6X4 trailer that can make that LA 145 whine pretty good if it's loaded and going up a hill.

 

[tomplum]

Deere 4 wheel steering is real nice. Next best thing to already sliced bread. When people ask about zero turns, I suggest that they give one of these a road test first. Zilch in added repairs and 2 extra grease fittings. The 48 Accel deck does well plus the mulch on demand works great and is a big improvement over what they had before.

 

[jaydee325]

I've had an X584 for a year now. Replaced my old 1997 John Deere 325.

It is a great tractor. I would not have a garden tractor without AWS now!

The transaxle is a Tuff Torque (Kanzaki) K72 fitted with the AWS option. This is a heavy duty transaxle that is fully serviceable. It also has diff lock, which is nice in low traction situations.

The only down side in my experience is the swapping of implements is not "quick attach" as it was on my 325. (I have the 47" snow blower)

 

[tkcomer]

I'd say my biggest problem will be finding one to look at. Glad to hear the transaxle is rugged. I used to use the Poulan Pro (Hydro Gear) to pull with, but that's my hillside mower I'm trying to keep running. The LA 145 does excellent job cutting grass, except when it's wet. Are the spindles hard to get to grease? The LA has two that are a pain to get to.

 

[tomplum]

Greasing is easy. The Accel deck has flip up covers on the outboard spindles that flip up to clean the debris out and the grease zerks are on the sides of them. Besides the 3 spindles the pivot at the tensioner has a lube point plus the 2 joints at the rear end each have one. Then your center pivot and kings on the front axle.

 

[tkcomer]

Local dealer said they would try to get one in to look at. But the deck concerns me. With the LA 145, I can get the deck under the fence just a little to mow the grass in between posts. Not sure I can do that with the X 584 as the wheels look like they're too close to the edge of the deck.

 

[Spanner]

Local dealer said they would try to get one in to look at. But the deck concerns me. With the LA 145, I can get the deck under the fence just a little to mow the grass in between posts. Not sure I can do that with the X 584 as the wheels look like they're too close to the edge of the deck.

Take the wheels off - if you don't need them.
They're only needed as gauge (gage) wheels with undulating ground.