John Deere x350 or Husqvarna models

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

Two years later I bought a X350 with 77 hours . Never thought I would be in the market for one but here I am lol.

I needed something super easy to use for my mom, this X350 is almost dummy proof lol.

She mows about an acre now, mostly flat ground, her current mower is a 2011 ariens (bought new) 19hp Kohler, 42in deck with K46 that is still going strong.

X350 18.5hp, 42in deck with K46 trans.

 

[nards444]

I can agree and disagree at the same time, back in the day the "build quality" may have been better, the beefed up rear ends ext BUT take a mower from back in the day and run it against a new "economy tractor" and I bet the new mower cuts better and much faster.

Old mowers were like 8-12hp and cut a small deck at 2-4mph and they were geared which isn't as efficient, now most are HST and cut 5mph, the blades spin faster due to the higher HP motors there stuffing under the hoods.

I would still rather cut with a newer "cheaper" mower vs a older underpowered and slow tank.

Those old lawn mowers and garden tractors was so simple and had less to break, manual tranny, mechanical dry breaks, cast iron motors with metal guards.

Now newer lawn mowers and garden tractors have heath and safety all over, cup holders, cruise control, power steering ext. when you take ergonomics and operator comfort that's safe and half way reliable and try to keep price down they have to save cost somewhere, they do it on parts you don't see like steering columns, rear ends and focus more on a big comfy seat and 2 cup holders lol

So yeah there made "cheaper" but I feel it was a decent trade off

That's also why I don't break ground with my Husqvarna, the rear isn't made for it even know it's considered a "garden tractor". I just cut grass with it. I till my garden with a walk behind tiller made to till and handle the stress. The only little tractor I will hook a trailer to is my dads 445 tractor, it's heavy enough to pull with, I put a 1500lb 6x12 landscape trailer on his tractor many times moving trailers around, my husky doesn't have a hitch to speak of, it's a stamped plate near the rear end lol.

Well said and I think people miss this at times. Machines do a lot more then they used to and often times do it a lot better, but like you said to get them to last forever and do more would ultimately cost more than what people are willing to pay for. I think people often times forget and confused on old items, they still broke but there was less parts often times cheaper parts and easy to replace. Think about TVs today lucky to get one to last 10 years or not be phased out because of tech upgrades. You could have bought the biggest and best TV in the 70s or 80s for thousands of dollars, now you can get one for 500 bucks and upteen times better, I could replace the newer one 4-5-6-7 times instead of buying one old TV>

Its all perspective really.