O.K gjjbmoore. Thanks for the reply. Where did you hear that from? It has me a little worried as my wife would be using this mower also. I thought the 4 wheel steering was a good thing on hills. Anyone have any more info on this /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif
JD X304 VS CUB CADET 2542
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My brother-in-law lives in a neighborhood that is very hilly. When one of his neighbors was looking at the JD's 4-wheel steering, the dealer mentioned it to him. That's all I know, but it does make sense. So be careful.
See how helpful your dealers are....Ask them to bring the tractors to your house for a test drive on your property and then make up your mind. Find out how comfortable you are riding the Deere on the slopes in your yard. You'll never know for sure if you will like it sitting on it in the showroom. You might like the seating position on the Cub more, maybe not. They're both good tractors, I'm partial to the Cub myself.
Hard..The Deer dealer would do this for me. The Cub dealer wiil not. On the other hand my father in-law bought a Cub because the Deer dealer up his way was very rude and not very helpful. He really always wanted a Deer but the next closest dealer was pretty far off. To me and my father in-law, customer sevice is #1. So I am going to take the Deer for a little ride up my hilly lawn and see what she will do. I hear so much talk about the belt drive slipping going up hill and the shaft drive being the way to go. We will see.....
No problems with the AWS on hills that I have seen. My dad even mows the ditch 1/4 mile from his place to my brother's. It is pretty deep in places.
I agree though. A test drive is the best way to know if it is right.
I agree though. A test drive is the best way to know if it is right.
I wouldn't worry about using a belt drive tractor on slopes. There have to be 10's of thousands of home owners using them successfully. I did it for 6 years, plenty of slope with no belt slip even pulling a 12 cu ft yard trailer full of dirt/mulch or whatever...and that was with a Craftsman garden tractor on almost 3 acres. If the Deere dealer provides better service get the Deere. They're both nice tractors that will cut the grass.
They both are nice tractors. I talked to another JD dealer who was also very helpful. He did say that the x 304 was more of a mower than a garden type tractor. The cub seems to be a more of a garden tractor. It weighs about 80 pounds or so more than the deer. That cast iron trans. I assume. But that aws on the deer really got my attention. I would be mowing grass for the most part and pull a cart now and than. So I think the deer would fit my needs. But still can't shake the feeling that the x 304 is not much better than the Home depot models and the cub will out last the deer. Maybe I need to look at a 500 series. But it's hard to justify the xtra cost to mow 3/4 of an acre of land /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
That X304 is not a L/100 series. If you take a look at the construction of the X304 and compare it to the L/100 series, you will notice that it's has a stronger frame and better quality. As for the Cub, that X304 will last as long as the Cub will. I also wouldn't concern myself with the shaft drive versus belt. I had a 1966 JD 110 that was belt driven and it's still going strong and never slip on hills. Same for my 112L and 111, 21 years old and 27 years repectively.
Treet. You have gotten many years of sevice form your deers. In my search for knowledge on these two machine someone pointed ot that it is nearly impossible to back up a cart with the AWS. Makes sense with the back wheels moving also. Should this be a concern?