Thoughts on John Deere X749

[Builder]

Quite evil of you to post those wonderful pictures.....

I see more money leaving my bank account.....

 

[jcmseven]

Steve,

I cannot speak to the cylinder liner thing, but I can say that the series numbers on the engines looking directly at two machines on the lot are exactly the same. I doubt they made any special changes within the series numbers.

John M

 

[jenkinsph]

When reading the info on the website it appeared the 749 had liners but out of boredom last night I visited JD parts and they seem to be the same.

One thing I don't like about the new small engines is pressed in place liners, makes those engines "throw away blocks", have to get to 5000 series to have liners now.

 

[jcmseven]

I agree, but truthfully I have seen a number of these small diesel Yanmar machines come in for service and such at our local dealer that literally have thousands of hours on them and they are no where close to needing an engine overhaul, etc. It is really an instance of the rest of the machine failing around the engine at that point. Our local college once traded in a machine 455 that had, I believe, over 5000 hours on it to buy a new one. The motor started and ran well and it ultimately sold to another buyer.

John M

 

[LBrown59]

The back over feature of the 7 Iron deck is really nice according to all that have used it. It is not available on the 4 wheel steer models though, and I don't know if material collection systems are available for it. Just a couple of things to ask about. 1*The new JD decks do come with a fitting for a garden hose to wash most of the junk from the underside of the deck. 2*I'm not sure how well these work, but another thing to ask about.

1*So do the Cub Cadets.

2*Not to well I've heard.

 

[TCowner]

I just picked up a new X748 with the 60" 7 Iron deck about three weeks ago. I sold my X595 with the 62" deck with just under 750 hours.

I mowed once with the new deck and my initial feeling is that is gives a better cut than the 62C deck or the 60" that was on my old 445. Its also noticably quieter. The gearbox has much less of whine than the other decks. Again, I only mowed once and the grass was dry but there was no accumulation of debris (sludge) under the deck like the others. The wide open design without rivent heads and other obstructions to catch the debris I think helps. Of course it is a new deck with perfect paint so we will have to see how it performs next year after the paint has been roughed up a bit. I had basically the same deck on a 4300 compact utility ten years ago and was quite impressed even after two years of mowing how clean the underdeck remained.

I was a little nervous driving over the deck when I took it off last Saturday. Somehow it just doesn't seem right to drive a tractor up and over the deck but it worked just fine. I won't be putting the deck back on until next spring so we will see how the installation works.

My initial evaluation is that the X748 is quite a trator albeit expensive. My old X595 was essentially trouble free after a couple of very minor issues when I first got it. The 748 is full time 4 wheel drive so we will see how that holds up over time but the new ones come with a 700 hour 4 year warranty. It seems to take a little more effort to hold the foot hydro control in position over the old tractor. I suspect it is because the oil has to be pumped to the front hydraulic motors which requires more hydraulic pressure. Its not annoying just noticable. The big advantage of course is that the 4wd is on all of the time and there is no front tire scuffing. It also turns just as short as the 595 in two wheel drive mode. Deere did a nice job on this design. We will have to see if it holds up over time.

I will be putting my heavy duty 60" sweeper on this weekend that I picked up this summer. When we get the first snow I will be anxious to give it a try.

Now, If Deere could just redesign the front of the tractor so it wasn't so darn ugly. They could just ask the folks who designed the 3000 and 4000 tractors to give them a hand. I guess I can live with the looks as long as it remains a great functional tractor.

 

[LBrown59]

I just picked up a new X748 with the 60" 7 Iron deck about three weeks ago. I sold my X595 with the 62" deck with just under 750 hours.

I mowed once with the new deck and my initial feeling is that is gives a better cut than the 62C deck or the 60" that was on my old 445. Its also noticably quieter. The gearbox has much less of whine than the other decks. Again, I only mowed once and the grass was dry but there was no accumulation of debris (sludge) under the deck like the others. The wide open design without rivent heads and other obstructions to catch the debris I think helps. Of course it is a new deck with perfect paint so we will have to see how it performs next year after the paint has been roughed up a bit. I had basically the same deck on a 4300 compact utility ten years ago and was quite impressed even after two years of mowing how clean the underdeck remained.

I was a little nervous driving over the deck when I took it off last Saturday. Somehow it just doesn't seem right to drive a tractor up and over the deck but it worked just fine. I won't be putting the deck back on until next spring so we will see how the installation works.

My initial evaluation is that the X748 is quite a trator albeit expensive. My old X595 was essentially trouble free after a couple of very minor issues when I first got it. The 748 is full time 4 wheel drive so we will see how that holds up over time but the new ones come with a 700 hour 4 year warranty. It seems to take a little more effort to hold the foot hydro control in position over the old tractor. I suspect it is because the oil has to be pumped to the front hydraulic motors which requires more hydraulic pressure. Its not annoying just noticable. The big advantage of course is that the 4wd is on all of the time and there is no front tire scuffing. It also turns just as short as the 595 in two wheel drive mode. Deere did a nice job on this design. We will have to see if it holds up over time.

I will be putting my heavy duty 60" sweeper on this weekend that I picked up this summer. When we get the first snow I will be anxious to give it a try.

Now, If Deere could just redesign the front of the tractor so it wasn't so darn ugly. They could just ask the folks who designed the 3000 and 4000 tractors to give them a hand. I guess I can live with the looks as long as it remains a great functional tractor.

How is the sweeper doing?

 

[TCowner]

I have the sweeper for sale in the classified section. I was going to use it this winter for the lighter snowfalls but just ended up using the 54" blade. In the end I figured it would sit in my shed more than it would be used so I decided to sell it. It is in like new condition if anyone is interested.

 

[John House]

I have been debating between the x749 and a 2305. I think I am leaning to the x749 for two reasons. One is that the wife will be more comfortable on the x749, and the other is I can put a cab on it for snow blowing. I also have a lot of trees in my yard. I really don't need any tractor that big for my 1 acre yard, however I want to have shaft drive. I was wondering what everyones thoughts were. Also which would be better the turf tires or the HDAPs.
I am also looking to get rid of a 88 Bolens GT160 with a single stage blower and bagger in good shape and everything runs great. Any thoughts on what that would be worth?
Thanks

I had a tough decision between the 2305 and the x749 myself. I finally decided to go with the x749 because of it's manuverability. The HDAP tires are great and I believe they would be better than the turfs if you have hills to mow. I bought the 54" front blade with the clamshell bucket attachment. It was a bit pricey, but it does what I intended it for. It seems a bit flimsy for the price, but I like being able to use it for a blade or a bucket, whichever I need for the moment.

 

[Builder]

I just picked up a new X748 with the 60" 7 Iron deck about three weeks ago. I sold my X595 with the 62" deck with just under 750 hours.

I mowed once with the new deck and my initial feeling is that is gives a better cut than the 62C deck or the 60" that was on my old 445. Its also noticably quieter. The gearbox has much less of whine than the other decks. Again, I only mowed once and the grass was dry but there was no accumulation of debris (sludge) under the deck like the others. The wide open design without rivent heads and other obstructions to catch the debris I think helps. Of course it is a new deck with perfect paint so we will have to see how it performs next year after the paint has been roughed up a bit. I had basically the same deck on a 4300 compact utility ten years ago and was quite impressed even after two years of mowing how clean the underdeck remained.

I was a little nervous driving over the deck when I took it off last Saturday. Somehow it just doesn't seem right to drive a tractor up and over the deck but it worked just fine. I won't be putting the deck back on until next spring so we will see how the installation works.

My initial evaluation is that the X748 is quite a trator albeit expensive. My old X595 was essentially trouble free after a couple of very minor issues when I first got it. The 748 is full time 4 wheel drive so we will see how that holds up over time but the new ones come with a 700 hour 4 year warranty. It seems to take a little more effort to hold the foot hydro control in position over the old tractor. I suspect it is because the oil has to be pumped to the front hydraulic motors which requires more hydraulic pressure. Its not annoying just noticable. The big advantage of course is that the 4wd is on all of the time and there is no front tire scuffing. It also turns just as short as the 595 in two wheel drive mode. Deere did a nice job on this design. We will have to see if it holds up over time.

I will be putting my heavy duty 60" sweeper on this weekend that I picked up this summer. When we get the first snow I will be anxious to give it a try.

Now, If Deere could just redesign the front of the tractor so it wasn't so darn ugly. They could just ask the folks who designed the 3000 and 4000 tractors to give them a hand. I guess I can live with the looks as long as it remains a great functional tractor.

I didn't even realize you could do the drive-over deck feature with the X748. Here I was thinking it was exclusive to the 2000 series only. I have a 74X in my future, but not this year. I spent too much on attachments & other equipment.