Buying Advice 48" or 54" deck?

[jbjgold]

I have 1.5 acres to mow, mostly hilly. My front lawn has a 25 deg. pitch while my back is around 5 deg.

I have two quotes on a 530. One is with the 54", the other with the 48".
I alternate cutting the front lawn, one time up and down, the other time side to side. I now have a 325 with a 48" deck. Should I stick with the 48" or is it worth the extra $$$ for the 54" deck?

 

[nybirdman]

I like the 54" in most ways,gets closer to trees ect.,but on my hills it does scalp some.

 

[TripleR]

Our 425 has a 54" deck and it worked great. We got the 62" on our 2305 and liked that even better.

 

[jenkinsph]

I would choose based on clearance (tree and immovable objects) and how smooth the lawn is, any abrupt changes in contour and you can easily scalp or miss a depression. Otherwise a 54" deck will cut faster eliminating a few passes.

 

[Nuru]

I would go with the 54", it does make more than a noticeable difference in time reduction. I have a 54" deck on my GX255, works great. I am cutting about 1.5 acres of grass too. Even though I typically cut with my 3520 and the GX255, I have done the whole thing with the GX255 - when the 3520 was sent to the shop for a warranty fix.

 

[OneMarineE5]

While I can not argue with any of the previous comments, there is another consideration worthy of merit.

An x500 series can be transported in the bed of a full size pickup weth a 48" deck. I find this benefit worthy of consideration especially if you have any need to assist church/family member too far to drive tractor etc with lawn care.

Please note that it is tight, but my x500 would go right into the bed of my F series truck....deck lightly scraped both wells in bed but did not remove spray on liner or crease bed.

Just a thought.

 

[JDGREEN4ME]

I went with the 48" on my 534 because the 54" would not fit through the door of the shed I keep it in...

 

[TripleR]

While I can not argue with any of the previous comments, there is another consideration worthy of merit.

An x500 series can be transported in the bed of a full size pickup weth a 48" deck. I find this benefit worthy of consideration especially if you have any need to assist church/family member too far to drive tractor etc with lawn care.

Please note that it is tight, but my x500 would go right into the bed of my F series truck....deck lightly scraped both wells in bed but did not remove spray on liner or crease bed.

Just a thought.

We bought a 5x8 tilt bed trailer to haul ours on as I really don't like driving anything up a ramp to the back of my pickup.

We later went to a 6x12 when we got the BX and JD2305, but kept the 5x8 for use behind our Rhino and ATVs.