New Owner of a John Deere X500

[drhjmacleod]

I know it's been a year since this post....but I'll take a shot. I'm looking at the same mower, x500, and wondering about your thoughts on it after a year of use. Good and bad. Thanks.

I am still very happy I purchased it...it has performed flawlessly! I bought a used JD plow blade and used it to push snow in the winter and was amazed at how well it performed. The HDAP tires are awesome and with wheel weights and 2 suitcase weights I did not have to use chains (and I have a hilly driveway). Sometimes I wish I bought the X530 to have the hydraulic lift (would have been nice with the plow blade), but other than that it is great machine.

Every once and a while I look at the X738 while I am at the JD dealer, but I made the right choice. It meets my needs and I like the size of the mower (the X738 is a lot bigger).

Good luck!

 

[dan ny escarpment]

I am very satisfied, huge improvement over the x320, after maybe 30 hours of mowing and hauling landscape payloads. The servicable and better transmission sold me on the model. There is one "challenge" for me anyway, I have a very bumpy and hilly couple acres to mow, and the increased speed of the mower over the x320 means I have to be more careful at times to not bounce off the thing at full speed. It burns less gas than the other model. Performs really well on the hills.

Hope it helps,

Thanks

 

[crreed67]

Thanks for the info guys. I'm kinda in the same situation as dan ny escarpment is, bumpy and hilly. Was really concerned about how rough the ride is and how it holds mowing across slopes. Also how durable it was after a year of use by drhjmacleod. Won't be needing it for snow as I have a tractor for that. Thanks again for the fast replies and any other information you might want to offer up to help a fellow spend his money. So far all my research leads me to this mower.

 

[beenthere]

Look for AWS if you want improvement in holding while mowing across slopes. By design, AWS works much better than just front wheel steer.

 

[crreed67]

Considered that. Money is just not quite there........

 

[RKJeepXJ]

Had my x500 since 2008, got about 450 hours now. Great on hilly/rough terrain and I have the turfs on rear. Hasn't needed anything but routine maintenance and tubes in front tires because I have those dang sweet gum balls everywhere.

 

[crreed67]

Good to know. Wasn't sure about tire type either. Tell me.....what's a dang sweet gum ball?

 

[1981804]

Gum balls fall from a sweet gum tree and are a brown ball about an inch in diameter with stickers all over their surface. They are almost imposable to rake because they get tangled in the grass. I have a tree that starts dropping balls in the fall and I picked up about six today.

 

[crreed67]

Interesting. Never heard of them in my 48 years on this earth. Are they hard on equipment at all?

 

[jenkinsph]

Sweet gum balls are hard on your feet to walk on. A chain saw is often a good cure for this problem.