John Deere X380 vs Husqvarna GT52XLS

[tk tom]

Units are shipping, I got screwed on my order. Something happened and half of my order was deleted - including my DXLS units. I'm currently looking at another 2-3 weeks before mine arrive. I should have had them 2 weeks ago. I highly anticipate selling out of my preseason order by Memorial Day weekend, I have seen the 48 clear cut deck on the Z248F zero turn units that did arrive. That is a nice setup.

 

[sledgehammer]

Thanks for the quick reply. What's the MSRP?

Also, how do you rate it against the Cub Cadet XT1 GT50?

 

[plowhog]

MSRP on GT48DXLS is $2,999. I paid a little less than that. Very powerful machine-- I only use about 2/3 throttle and that is plenty. Impressive speed and volume of discharge.

I bought one about 2 weeks ago. The dealer ordered it in for me and it was still in the dealer's crate. He told me as soon as he puts a new one on the floor, it is gone.

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

Here's my experience with JD and Husqvarna.

First off I'm a very big fan of both companies, and I can't remember of a bad product from either companies, I love Huskys chainsaws and am a huge fan of the premium JD mower lines.

My Father bought his 445 JD new in 2000 and I have had hundreds of hours on that.


I bought a Ariens 42in 19hp kholer lawn mower for my mother back in 2009 and that mower has had a hard life, it's cut 3-4 acres weekly and I used it to blaze trails in over grown pasture for the ATV and trucks, that was 5-6ft tall and full of thorns and saplings, Ariens sends a new set of blades every 2 years so by the time the old ones couldn't take a sharpening a new set showed up lol. That mower is sold by Home Depot but made by Husqvarna but the design is that of a old craftsman, I can order parts threw sears direct or Husqvarna. That mower burns up a deck belt once a year but that's about it past regular maintenance, it still mows strong to this day.


Next is the mower I bought for my house it's a GT2454T with 200h on it, picked it up off CL for $800, it has a 24hp B&S in it with a 54in 3 blade deck and so far I have had no issues with it since I have owned it (about a season), it doesn't see the tall stuff like that poor little Ariens does but it mows my 1.5-2 acres in about 60-80 mins depending if I cut it weekly.


Cuts like this

I have also ran 1 other GT husky for a lady I did lawn work back in 2008, never had any issues with that one either.

So I wouldn't hesitate to buy another Husqvarna product, I would never own a big box store Deere or a MTD made mower, I have seen a lot of 1xx JD's with stripped out steering gears or for example my neighbor stripped one of here blade gears on her Cub deck by hitting a water casing in her yard last fall, I didn't hear what the fix was but the guy charged her over $400 to fix it. That's just one example.

Seems to me the only big box store mower worth buying is made by Husqvarna, Deere makes a fine product on there premium lines but there big box store line is garbage.

So if you want a reliable mower of grass that will last a good long time buy the husky. If your gonna run a lot of ground engaging implements get a x500 or x700 deere.

P.S. the only time I have had grass clump is if the grass is wet, my husky doesn't seem to mind the dew as much as the arians does, even the 445 gets clogged when the grass is wet, the JD seems to handle the moisture a bit better than my husky. But all will clog after awhile.

 

[plowhog]

I think everyone knows John Deere riding mowers are available at the big box stores. It's limited to certain low end models. The better models are dealer only. I think Husqvarna is doing the same thing, although with fewer models and a smaller dealer network of course. I was told the GT48DXLS is only available at dealer stores, which can provide backup service, etc. Someone elsewhere wrote that the "D" in the model designates dealer model. In my shopping, I found the "Y" models to be the only ones available at big box stores. The GT models, which are heavier duty, were only at dealer stores in my area.

 

[s219]

You can buy the GTH52XLS at Lowes in my area, in fact it's where I first saw some of their GT models:

Shop Husqvarna GTH52XLS 24-HP V-Twin Hydrostatic 52-in Garden Tractor at Lowes.com

At the time someone here on TBN had told me the big box stores only carried low end Husky models (like Deere), but that didn't seem to be the case near me. I was able to compare a GT model side by side with lower end models it was parked next to. Other than tire size and features like engine/transmission, there is a lot in common across the Husky range and I didn't detect that big jump like you see between the Deere D and X models (latter are dealer only).

 

[sledgehammer]

Thanks to all for the feedback.

Spoke with 4 local dealers and the GT48DXLS is not showing up on the dealer portal for them. I've heard "obviously you have a wrong model #" more than once.

May have to increase my search radius.

 

[plowhog]

Maybe this will help. I'm guessing the 49 state model will not have the "CARB" designation ...

 

[sledgehammer]

Local dealer found it at another dealer an hour drive from here. He said they were special order from earlier in the season and he didn't recall being told about it. He also said he couldn't order it for me. So I'll drive an hour tomorrow to pick it up.

 

[sledgehammer]

Drove an hour, reviewed the tractor's features with the store owner, loaded it up and brought it home. Very nice tractor with a strong Kawasaki engine. Looking forward to trying it out tomorrow.