John Deere Z 225 mow quality

[kirkifer]

Folks,

I am new to the forum and just trying to gather opinions on my John Deere Z 225.

I bought this machine used but expected a little better quality than what I seemed to get. It just doesn't cut very well, not compared to similar models made by companies like Toro, CubCadet, etc. I really am not in the market for a new mower, so I am looking for opinions and other people's experiences with this model and mower.

This thing has an 18hp motor and it just sort of seems like it is underpowered. I came to this conclusion after operating my neighbor's 52" JD with a 24 HP motor. The blades on his machine sound totally different when spinning. His machine gets the real mower sound. Mine just sounds like it is really not doing much. So, the question that comes to mind is how much HP is dedicated to moving the mower and my fat butt? Does this effort take away from the amount of power to spin the blades so I get that really nice cut?

I don't think I am the only one who experiences this issue. It seems like there are lots of other people who question this very mower. I have wondered for several seasons if this is why someone else sold it?

Thanks for the opinions.

 

[farmeratheart]

Is your 18 hp motor a 2 cylinder? You may have a bad ignition coil on one side that fails to fire that spark plug under load. The symptoms you describe are eerily similar to what I found on our JD zt a couple of seasons ago. Do a search on ignition coil failure on this forum and you tube for some information.

Good luck.

Frank

Edit: internet says you have a 18.5 hp single cylinder B&S. If you’ve checked all the usual suspects (spark plug, fuel filter, air filter, ignition wires, etc) you might still research the coil.