JD D100 series

[JDGreenGrass]

Howdy folks.

I am considering a purchase of the D140. I have read somewhere that when it comes to Deere rideing lawn mowers there is a quality jump in the line-up. In other words the lower models are not the quality of say the X-series.

Is the D140 a quality unit that will last say...15 years.?? Or, is the quality of the D-series much like a Craftsman or a Cub Cadet.

In which model Deere does the quality become great versus mediocre.??

I should add that I am looking for a strong deck. My 1.5 acres of lawn is nice but, not pristine. I have some areas where the grade needs to come up with some topsoil but now has some rock pokeing up through.

Thanks in advance.

 

[ctlguy]

The 100 series machines where created to compete with the craftsman style mowers. Main difference is you have most likely better aftermarket support from Deere than Sears otherwise very similar machines I think in terms of durability if you take care of them. The decks do appear to be mounted better on the x series than the 100 series.

 

[Johndeere50d]

Howdy folks.

I am considering a purchase of the D140. I have read somewhere that when it comes to Deere rideing lawn mowers there is a quality jump in the line-up. In other words the lower models are not the quality of say the X-series.

Is the D140 a quality unit that will last say...15 years.?? Or, is the quality of the D-series much like a Craftsman or a Cub Cadet.

In which model Deere does the quality become great versus mediocre.??

I should add that I am looking for a strong deck. My 1.5 acres of lawn is nice but, not pristine. I have some areas where the grade needs to come up with some topsoil but now has some rock pokeing up through.

Thanks in advance.

Get it....what are your engine brand options???

 

[JDGreenGrass]

Get it....what are your engine brand options???

Briggs and Stratton 22hp V-Twin.

I assume you have the 150D.?? Is the deck built strong.??

 

[Johndeere3720]

I Got the brochure on the D100 series and they have a warranty up to 120 hours. That means my L118 has out lived it's warranty almost three times! I have 354 hours on it and it is still going strong. It comes down to how they are taken care of and what they are used for. I have also heard horror stories about the L series about their poor quality and people always look towards the X series which will last as Deere claims up to 20 years. The L series is a 5-10 year unit. So pay cheap now and get something that will last up to 10 years or pay a little more and get 20 years? With the d series, I assume they have the K42 or something tranny? The trannys on the L's and LA's go out at times from 50 hours to mine which hasnt gone out and has 350. The X320 has i think a K54 in it which will outlast those smaller trannys and I have to say that it is a noticeable difference in quality. So it also comes down to what you want to spend, do you want to risk it with the big box mower or get a quality unit for a bit more? i don't have anything against the D series, i am just saying that if you want something better that will be better built and more reliable look at the X320. The X300 has the L series tranny so I would steer clear if it if you can.

 

[jenkinsph]

I have mixed feelings on the 100 series mowers but haven't had any real problems with their cut quality. If you keep up the maintenance, keep the blades sharp and the deck clean you can get good results out of them. The K46 tranny is the weak link, mine needs rebuilding now with about 225 hours on the machine, but some get more or less time. I have a 2005 L130 which I use for mowing duty only, I expect the transmission repair parts to be about $200 plus my labor to rebuild. Still I hope that with the repair I can get a few more years use out of it. I would not recommend pulling carts with any of these small mowers. Since I already have it I intend to use it to reduce the hours on the newer mower.

Last fall I purchased an X749 which I use for the heavier lawn jobs and while it is a vastly superior rider in every way it does cost more too. I use this in my work quite often for close quarters touch up jobs. I find that having this small machine eliminates a lot of hand work we use to do where the larger tractors couldn't fit. I have mine equipped with the TPH and rear pto and it handles the small implements well enough. Very satisfied with it so far.

If all I had to do was mow and fertilize my own lawn area and wanted a good machine for these jobs I would recommend an X320. This is where the better transmissions start, it has a K58, below this model most have a K46.

 

[trook]

I have had both a L series and an x320. While the L series was marginal, but probably better than the craftsman, murry, etc, the x320 was in a totally different league. This was one GREAT mower in every way and worth the additional cost.

 

[JDGreenGrass]

Thanks for the comments.

I am in the same situation as soo many others. Trying to find a tractor that does EVERYTHING I NEED.

I am nearly big enough for a RFM. I would love that but, too many obstacles and just about 1.5 acres to mow. Doesn't really justify a RFM. And, my JD770 has Ag tires. Not good for mowing. Heck, I could get a RFM for about $1500 which is reasonable but, once again, not justified on a small piece of property.

So, that puts me into a rideing mower but, I am tired of the $1500 junk Craftsmen units. And, I can't really afford a 3 to 4000 dollar mower, like an X320. My hands are tied.

Fact is... the 770 is my first tractor. Great machine, I love it. But, having it for 2 years has made me realize that it is not a versatile machine for my needs. Which brings me to this point.....A JD2520 is made for my property. Do I want to turn around and sell my 770....Heck no. Do I need a 2520...yes I do. It would fit my needs to a T.!!!! Can I finance $10,000 after selling the 770 and putting 3 to $5000 down...yes I can, but I don't want to. Just like I don't want to put $3500 into a rideing mower.

What would you all do.??..... I love my grass.!!:confused2:

 

[jhonb]

JD Greengrass, I have a LA120 I picked up new in 2007. I use it to mow 3/4 acres and it get's it biggest workout clearing the leaves in the fall as My lot is wooded. I occasionally pull a dump trailer with it, but that's about it. I have under 100 hours and with the exception of a minor issue the first month I had it, it has worked flawlessly.
I read hear that some people think it is a POS, but I love mine. It still looks like it's new and has no signs of letting up. I just dropped the deck for the first time and gave it a good cleaning and it too looks new. I am surprised as I have some stone landscaping that I suck the leaves up on and hit the stones often. I purchased new belts but left the original one on as they still looked good. I am retiring in a few years and plan to take it to my house in Florida and see who dies first. I truly believe that if I take care of it, it will last me forever.

 

[Johndeere50d]

Briggs and Stratton 22hp V-Twin.

I assume you have the 150D.?? Is the deck built strong.??

Dont waste your time with a Briggs, get a Kawasaki my best friend has a lx280 with a Kawasaki and it's runs/sounds GREAT!!! And no actully I don't have a Deere mower in the family business we have a John Deere 260 skid steer 970 with a 440 bucket loader tractor and a John deere 50d witch is a mini ex(that's my username) oh and a new holland ls170 skid steer, but I know that the Briggs isn't really that good

 

[kennster]

Its interesting to see the many comments discouraging the entry level Deere's. I purchased a John Deere D100 this year for a very challenging 2 acre landscape area. By way of background, I have been paying yard maintenance companies between 20,000-24000 per year in yard maintenace costs. I didnt have any of my own equipment up to that point as the companies brought equipment. I decided to hire a full time groundskeeper for our residence figuring I would get a much better value out of having an employee all year round. We looked at many different solutions, and found that we were limited due to a rather steep hillside of lawn thats about a 1/4 acre size along with some very tight contoured areas. Additionally we were unable to go larger than a 42" deck as we have a gate that limits width and some tight area's.
Almost all forums and review sites tell me that I should have gone to a Kawasaki, $3000 type unit. In all honesty, cost was not a problem for me but I also didnt want to waste money if it wasnt necessary. One of the main necessities if doing anything on a hill is fully pressurized oil system. My single Cylinder Briggs 17.5HP has been flawless for 100 hours so far of what I would consider pretty heavy use. The 1/4 acre hill is steep enough that at an angle I worry about rolling over! It climbes that up and down now problem. Living in Seattle, its often times mowing thick wet grass. I have a 160 gallon tumbler composter so the mower frquently tows a trailer load of compost/dirt. The deere D100 has also been pulling our plug aerating attachment with about 80 LBS of brick weight on the back and we have used the front thatch attachment a couple of times.
Obviously, 100 hours is not 10 years but this D100 seems to be built well enough to withstand pretty much everything Ive thrown at it in a short period of time.
The criticism I have is that the mower and drive belt's seem like they are a bit on the small and sloppy side. I have only had to tighten them each 1 time, but they could be better. I also wish the turning radius was tighter and in hindsight I would have went with the 110 model for the electrostat shifting. A manual 5 speed can be a PIA if your lawn isnt a big square patch.
Also the Deere rear bagger system clogs easily in moist or slightly longer grass. In the Pacific Northwest, mowing a wet lawn is not an option and having to stop and unclog the bagger in addition to having to run in 1st gear can double the time it takes to mow. WHen its dry, its wonderful!
Overall the D100 is MUCH more capable than many of the posters claim. The irony is that none of the people recommending upgrading are doing it based on any real experience with the D series...

 

[jhonb]

Its interesting to see the many comments discouraging the entry level Deere's. I purchased a John Deere D100 this year for a very challenging 2 acre landscape area. By way of background, I have been paying yard maintenance companies between 20,000-24000 per year in yard maintenace costs. I didnt have any of my own equipment up to that point as the companies brought equipment. I decided to hire a full time groundskeeper for our residence figuring I would get a much better value out of having an employee all year round. We looked at many different solutions, and found that we were limited due to a rather steep hillside of lawn thats about a 1/4 acre size along with some very tight contoured areas. Additionally we were unable to go larger than a 42" deck as we have a gate that limits width and some tight area's.
Almost all forums and review sites tell me that I should have gone to a Kawasaki, $3000 type unit. In all honesty, cost was not a problem for me but I also didnt want to waste money if it wasnt necessary. One of the main necessities if doing anything on a hill is fully pressurized oil system. My single Cylinder Briggs 17.5HP has been flawless for 100 hours so far of what I would consider pretty heavy use. The 1/4 acre hill is steep enough that at an angle I worry about rolling over! It climbes that up and down now problem. Living in Seattle, its often times mowing thick wet grass. I have a 160 gallon tumbler composter so the mower frquently tows a trailer load of compost/dirt. The deere D100 has also been pulling our plug aerating attachment with about 80 LBS of brick weight on the back and we have used the front thatch attachment a couple of times.
Obviously, 100 hours is not 10 years but this D100 seems to be built well enough to withstand pretty much everything Ive thrown at it in a short period of time.
The criticism I have is that the mower and drive belt's seem like they are a bit on the small and sloppy side. I have only had to tighten them each 1 time, but they could be better. I also wish the turning radius was tighter and in hindsight I would have went with the 110 model for the electrostat shifting. A manual 5 speed can be a PIA if your lawn isnt a big square patch.
Also the Deere rear bagger system clogs easily in moist or slightly longer grass. In the Pacific Northwest, mowing a wet lawn is not an option and having to stop and unclog the bagger in addition to having to run in 1st gear can double the time it takes to mow. WHen its dry, its wonderful!
Overall the D100 is MUCH more capable than many of the posters claim. The irony is that none of the people recommending upgrading are doing it based on any real experience with the D series...

Glad to hear your pleased with your D series. I am very pleased with my LA series which the D replaced. But I don't have the property you have. Just one thing I learned about the shoot. Mine came with the JD 3 in 1 blades. Last year I purchased the JD High Lift blades and it cut out about 90% of my clogs. It was like a different mower. You might want to give them a try.

 

[jenkinsph]

kennster,
Most of us take issue with the hydrostat models not the gear model that you have. IIRC, only the smallest D series is available with the gear tranny and all the other models have the K46 hydrostat tranny which is problematic.

Since you have a D series mower can you point out any refinements of consequence that these have over the older L and LA series?

 

[jinman]

In addition to what Steve said, your mower has a manual PTO engagement and the deck probably only has two spindles instead of three. You may well be correct in saying that those of us with disappointments may not have experience with the D100.:thumbsup: I can accept that if you also agree that you have not had experience with the electric PTO clutch and three spindle 48" deck.:thumbdown: The 100-series is indeed a series. Your post would make me think that Deere has exceeded the design's ability in the higher end models. I would caution you to not assume that you can upgrade to a D150 with the same success as your D100. The reason many of us suggest the X300 series is that those machines have much better reviews from people who own them. My dealer advised me that the problems with my LA145 are exactly the problems they see in their repair shop. For my specific model, the problems are very real; so much so that I would feel bad selling it to somebody as a used mower.

 

[RayFromOntario]

I just purchaed the new D-120 hydrostatic model with the B&S 21hp motor.
My lawn is exactly ½ acre of flat smooth grass, with a total of 3 on the property. I wouldn't dare compare this machine to any of the more expensive JD lawn tractors out there that some of you have, then again, I don't need a $3000.00 +++ machine to simply......cut grass. In fact, if I weren't so lazy, I could cut my lawn with a 3hp push mower, which would take me about 2 or so hours, and would get the job done nicely. However, so far, I'm pleased as punch with my little D120, and I hope it'll last as long as my olde 87 John Deere 160, which was a simple 12hp Kawasaki gear driven little tractor. Still runs great, and I sold it to my neighbour. Anyway, I've learned in life (the hard way), that sometimes....less is more....which certainly applies in my case. :thumbsup:

 

[jenkinsph]

I just purchaed the new D-120 hydrostatic model with the B&S 21hp motor.
My lawn is exactly ｽ acre of flat smooth grass, with a total of 3 on the property. I wouldn't dare compare this machine to any of the more expensive JD lawn tractors out there that some of you have, then again, I don't need a $3000.00 +++ machine to simply......cut grass. In fact, if I weren't so lazy, I could cut my lawn with a 3hp push mower, which would take me about 2 or so hours, and would get the job done nicely. However, so far, I'm pleased as punch with my little D120, and I hope it'll last as long as my olde 87 John Deere 160, which was a simple 12hp Kawasaki gear driven little tractor. Still runs great, and I sold it to my neighbour. Anyway, I've learned in life (the hard way), that sometimes....less is more....which certainly applies in my case. :thumbsup:

Using your 1/2 acre lawn as an example I would have preferred the D100 with the manual tranny if I wanted to expect the long life of your Deere 160. If all you need it for is to cut this small plot the D120 will last quite awhile but I doubt you will get 24 years out of it without transmission problems. That is the point that most of us who own these 100 series are trying to make.

 

[RayFromOntario]

Using your 1/2 acre lawn as an example I would have preferred the D100 with the manual tranny if I wanted to expect the long life of your Deere 160. If all you need it for is to cut this small plot the D120 will last quite awhile but I doubt you will get 24 years out of it without transmission problems. That is the point that most of us who own these 100 series are trying to make.

Since reading your comment, I've searched high and low on the Internet about the hydrostatic transmission problems you claim that all D series JD lawn tractors have. I've read some negative reviews on the D series, as well as some positive ones, the latter being more. I've also read some negative and positive reviews on the X300, again, that latter being more. So, there isn't a machine out there that is perfect and will please all of the people all of the time. I paid $1,199.00 CAD for my D-120 on sale. I agree, it's not, and will never be anything like the X300 and up lawn tractors, but it also isn't $5000.00 +++ either. (how many D 120 transmissions is that?) In my case, I need a lawn tractor that will 'cut grass' on a half acre of flat land...hardly need a high end Deere, Kubota, Cub Cadet etc to take on such a small job. I'm sure my little D120 will do just fine if driven and taken care properly. Time will tell, and I will be the first one to come back and eat crow, if I do end up with a tranny problem eventually. Time will tell I guess. :drink:

 

[jinman]

Ray, I think you will be fine. Your PTO is manually engaged and the deck is two-blade. If you keep your spindles well greased and are very sensitive to the sound of idler pulleys going bad, you probably won't have many problems. You may wish for a dual cylinder engine at some point, but in the case of the D100 series, I honestly think less is more. The higher end models of this series have things that cause them to not be reliable. My guess is you will be fine. I surely hope so and hope you will stay around and post what you think two or three years down the line.

 

[RayFromOntario]

Ray, I think you will be fine. Your PTO is manually engaged and the deck is two-blade. If you keep your spindles well greased and are very sensitive to the sound of idler pulleys going bad, you probably won't have many problems. You may wish for a dual cylinder engine at some point, but in the case of the D100 series, I honestly think less is more. The higher end models of this series have things that cause them to not be reliable. My guess is you will be fine. I surely hope so and hope you will stay around and post what you think two or three years down the line.

Thanks Jim, I hope you are right as well. Could you elaborate on what spindles you are talking about. Not sure I follow exactly. (not a mechanic by any means, but I do like to do my own preventive maintenance if possible.)
You can rest assured, that I will gladly post my review on this machine as the months go by, whether my findings are positive or negative. I don't work for JD, so I have nothing to gain by BS'ing to future potential JD owners. If it's not a good machine, I will not be shy to state that I made a bad choice and warn people of my bad experience(s). However, if she proves to be a reliable low maintenance machine, I will gladly share that experience as well.
I think I'm going to like this forum, and hope to learn more as the months go by.
Here's a question, I know this is a no no, but is there any way to disable the (RIO) button, which would allow me to mow in reverse without pressing it down each time. I've been cutting my grass for over 30 years with a lawn tractor, and I've never mowed over anyone or anything going backwards. I realize it's a safey net for some people who can't think responsibly, and make sure the kids and fluffy are not around when grass cutting, but I really find this to be a pain. If I didn't have to push the RIO button each time, I could easily turn around, and see where I'm backing up to.
Any help in that area would be appreciated.
______
Ray
Thanks again.:thumbsup:

 

[jenkinsph]

Did some research to check on the transmission used on the D120, I found that the D120 uses the TuffTorq T40 transmission. The D160 or D165? and larger (through the x304) use the TuffTorq K46. The K46 is the transmission that alot of us have had problems with. I have no experience with the T40 transmission so I have no opinion on it.