John Deere X380 vs Husqvarna GT52XLS

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

+2 for Husqvarna lol, another guy on another thread just ordered one lol.

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

Congrats on the tractor!

 

[plowhog]

Congratulations! It seems even the horse in the background is impressed!!

 

[Smoothas]

You guys will have to come back in couple of years and give your reviews- hearing they have lots of problems with cut quality ( grass build up under deck) Belt drive system leaves a lot to be desired. Quality control issues? The Husqvarna GT52XLS gives a nice engine and tranny for the money, appears they took shortcuts in other area’s

 

[plowhog]

I hope everyone welcomes this new competitor. The competition benefits all of us. If this new Husqvarna GT48DXLS outperforms its direct competitors at a much lower price, such as a Deere x380 or other models, that is a good thing. The competitors will certainly notice.

Deere has something that few manufacturers enjoy. Followers and die-hard advocates willing to "pay sticker with no dicker" to get green and yellow. Nobody handed that to them, they earned it through decades of building a quality product. So it will be interesting to see if they stand pat, relying on brand loyalty to drive sales, or make changes to be more competitive. Whatever changes made will benefit us, the consumer. In response to this new model, Deere or others might upgrade engineering, add features, lower prices, or whatever. Even Deere advocates should celebrate that competing models push Deere to make an even better product.

Regarding cut quality, I am a poor judge of that. I just want the grass shorter after I am done mowing. But others are more particular. In the Husqvarna section of this forum, a recent purchaser of a GT48DXLS wrote: "It cuts better than my John Deere so it looks like the new "Clear-Cut" deck has solved the major complaint about poor cut quality of the old fabricated decks. I mowed wet grass and it worked great without any clumping. In the Pacific Northwest, we do not have the luxury of waiting until the grass is dry to mow."

I will repeat that the one aspect of the GT48DXLS that most surprised me was the force of the discharge out the side. It was so strong I throttled back to about 2/3 power. But, to be fair, I was comparing it based on memory of running the old Craftsman mower with only 12 HP. Exactly half the HP. I didn't compare it to the discharge of an x380, as the dealer let me sit on one but never started it. Although a couple less HP, I imagine an x380 probably has similar thrust out the discharge. Whether 22hp vs 24hp, I don't think it matters. Seems plenty and then some.

Finally, I can report my new unit reached a new milestone and has performed flawlessly with zero issues. I made it past the first hour of operation-- all the way to 1.5 hours now!

 

[Smoothas]

Of course everyone welcomes the competition, but let’s remember it’s not a new competitor, Husqvarna has been around a long time.
As for Deere, you are correct they do have a loyal following, earned thru years of quality products. Chances are if you said to person that knows nothing about lawn mowers or tractors - whose slogan is “nothing runs like a Deere” most of them would be able to say John Deere. John Deere has by far the largest and best dealer network of any lawn and garden dealer in USA and Canada . - BTW most dealers will “work” with you on price. But yes you pay for quality up front. Of course if you go to trade it or sell that 5 year old John Deere X380- it will still be worth between 2 and 3K depending on condition, while if current trends hold the Husky will be worth about 600 bucks – there is a reason for that. People just don’t pay for green and yellow – they pay for quality product, with quality support not only under warranty but for years to come and of course John Deere’s unmatched resale value. Good luck with your husky!! Glad its doing the job for you. be sure to come back and give us your review in 2 years

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

Monday I'm gonna service my mothers Ariens 42in 19hp kholer that was bought in 2009, it's had the hardest life I have ever seen out of a mower, as far as what I have asked it to mow down there and its still running very strong, I will take pics of her and maybe a video of it cutting. Ariens sends new blades every 2 years and sent new ones last year. It's made by Husqvarna.

It's getting for the first time a new spark plug, new fuel filter and air filter this Monday, I will also be giving her an oil change with new oil filter. Only thing it needs is the oil change but it's had 9 seasons on the rest, I have had a spare air filter for 6 years and never needed to change it, I just blow out the current one every year and it never gets clogged or deteriorates. It was $1200 plus tax and they threw in a black poly cart with it back in 09

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

Well I got everything done at my moms, I found the old Ariens filthy, front tires almost flat, rears really low on air, I pumped those up, changed the oil, for the fun of it changed the fuel filter that's now 8 years old (tractor was made in 09 and bought beginning of 2010) changed the air filter, old one wasn't that bad really but I bought an air filter 4-5 years ago so I changed that out as well, pulled the spark plug, cleaned that up and checked the gap, all good there (original champion plug). Greased the front end and cleaned it up a bit, I only used water and a sponge just to knock the crud off and she cleaned up pretty well.

I took a few pics, mowed and took another, blades were new last year and I haven't sharpened them this year, I widened her lane before those bushes get totally out of hand, they get 5-6ft tall fast down there, after I mowed her lane I put the Ariens up.

Husqvarna makes a good product even down at there lowest tractor like this Ariens, this is going into the 8th season and it shouldn't have any more troubles this year, steering is still tight, hydrostatic trans is very strong, that little mower is a tank.

I will say this, I hopped on my GT when I got home and that mower is like a caddy compared to the Ariens lol, rides much nicer with the bigger wheels.

 

[plowhog]

it's had the hardest life I have ever seen out of a mower

I think this is a somewhat hidden issue about lawn and garden tractors. The workload they are asked to do, and the care they receive, can influence longevity. So if one owner mows a small strip of level lawn for 10 years with no problems, is that a valid endorsement for how bullet proof the unit is? Or if another owner grossly exceeds the rated capacity by pushing their unit into tasks well beyond what it was designed for, is it fair criticism of the entire brand when it breaks?

Probably related in some way is purchase price. I'm guessing someone paying close to $5,000 for an x380 will probably care and maintain their unit better than someone paying less. I'm sure it works the other way-- someone spending $10k in the X7XX class probably cares even better than the x380 owner. It just adds another set of questions about the claims made about longevity and resale value.

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

I think this is a somewhat hidden issue about lawn and garden tractors. The workload they are asked to do, and the care they receive, can influence longevity. So if one owner mows a small strip of level lawn for 10 years with no problems, is that a valid endorsement for how bullet proof the unit is? Snip.

I should have taken pics of the rest that gets mowed down there, I just cut the lane for her, easiest part to mow. The creek flooded a few weeks ago and threw sand all in that grass which wasn't fun, huge dust clouds just on the part I mowed. To the far left of those pics it drops off to the creek, to the right was standing water, I mowed right on the edge on the right side, mower started sliding down in the water a few times, most of it is 6in-2ft deep in the meadow.

That mower maintains 2-2 1/2 acres of flat mole and ground hog riddled pasture, 1/2 acre at least of ATV trails on the dry parts in the meadow (the meadow is a swamp and very uneven) and another acre up by the house that's across the creek up on the side of a hill (part of the appellation Mountains), the mower gets drove under the bridge at creek level and clears all the brush under the creek (120ftx15ft strip) but that's very steep to get down there, bridge sits 15ft off the water.

I have had to pull that Ariens out of the swamp making trails many times, never in deep water just thick mud, the ground is flat but far from even, the mower hasn't been babied but has had maintenance kept up on it.

My yard is even not consistently level but my mower has it easy compared to that Ariens, I cut 2 acres at my house.

I have replaced the battery in that Ariens, a deck belt about once a season (one year two deck belts broke) all the deck belt guards, one year 2 guards just broke off, front right tire due to a slice in the side wall, my guess is it found glass or scrap metal in the meadow and the blades every two years. All just small maintenance stuff.