X540

[daBear]

I may be about to pull the trigger on a new X540. I need to hear from the JD community about how the electric clutches hold up on the new machines. I have a 15 year old JD 285 which has gone through three of them in the past couple of years. Probably because of engaging the clutch with the engine at high RPM.

How are you supposed to engage the blades on the newer machines (low rpm or what) and how is the clutch holding up? At $150+ per clutch they get expensive.

 

[LBrown59]

I may be about to pull the trigger on a new X540. I need to hear from the JD community about how the electric clutches hold up on the new machines. I have a 15 year old JD 285 which has gone through three of them in the past couple of years. Probably because of engaging the clutch with the engine at high RPM.

How are you supposed to engage the blades on the newer machines (low rpm or what) and how is the clutch holding up? *At $150+ per clutch they get expensive.

*ouch.

 

[daBear]

*ouch. is not a praticularly helpful answer.

 

[LBrown59]

That seems to be a common characteristic of elect clutches.
I have a CC Garden tractor and I've heard of such a problem with those clutches.
I've never had it with mine but I've only put about 90 hours on it.

*ouch. is not a praticularly helpful answer.

 

[daBear]

That's better. What I am getting at is a discriminator between a similar Kubota garden tractor and the JD. Right now I have a Kubota L2800 tractor and a JD 285 grass cutter. I am well satisfied with the JD and have equally good dealers both orange and green as I have dealt with both for several years. I do like the shaft drive of the Kubota models and I do not like the electric clutch of the JD's.

So back to my original question to current X500-X540 owners, hows about the clutch?

 

[mfreund]

I always engage the pto at idle and then raise it to operating RPM. I feel this allows things to get moving and does not "shock" the engine or deck. I have a 72" deck on a 4310 and that is a lot of weight to start spinning.

I have a friend that has a x540 but he only has 35 hrs on it yet so I do not know about the life cycle of the electric clutch.

My brother in law has a 265 with over 2000 hrs on his and has not put a clutch in his. I am not sure if it has the same setup as your 285. I wonder if there is something else worn that is causing premature failure on your 285clutch.

 

[hillslider]

I was looking at the X540 also and I also was worried about the clutch. I read many stories about problems and then there were those posts that said never had any problems.....what to do??? I went with the X700 and could not be happier. Shaft driven trans, shaft driven deck, just a really great little tractor.

Good luck.

Rob

 

[Deadman]

engage it at Idle, like its supposed to be done, and you won't have any issues.
I've owned multiple JD's like this, and none of them ever had an issue.

 

[mjncad]

That's one of the reasons that if I had the bucks I'd go with an X700 series that has a hydraulic PTO if I recall correctly, along with shaft instead of belt drive.

I'd be willing to bet the X series electric clutches are no better than JD's units for the 100 series.

One way to find out is to go to www.jdparts.com and find the part number for a X540 electric clutch and the part number for a current LA series. If they are the same and/or the price is similar, you have your answer concerning the X series mower deck clutch.

 

[chrisdvorak]

That's better. What I am getting at is a discriminator between a similar Kubota garden tractor and the JD. Right now I have a Kubota L2800 tractor and a JD 285 grass cutter. I am well satisfied with the JD and have equally good dealers both orange and green as I have dealt with both for several years. I do like the shaft drive of the Kubota models and I do not like the electric clutch of the JD's.

So back to my original question to current X500-X540 owners, hows about the clutch?

i have a x500 and have put 230hrs on it with no clutch problems of any kind, i have a 54in mower deck with it and i engage it at full throttle to mow and always have.

 

[daBear]

Thanks chrisdovorak. I have read through the X5-- manuals and they say nothing about reducing the throttle before engaging the clutch. That made me ask the quesiton in the first place to see if JD has modified something in the 500 series so that it does not matter if the engine is at idle speed when the clutch is engaged.

 

[jimgerken]

Our 540 has 100 hours on it now. We engage the 54" deck at full throttle and so far, no problems. It would be wonderful to engage it at idle, but the engine will kill everytime unless it is wide open. I wonder about the electric clutch lifespan too. Other than this, the 540 is the nicest lawn tractor I have ever operated. Power steering, and it steers WAY sharp, leaving about a 3 foot un-mowed circle. Great traction, plenty of power no matter what the grass conditions, comfortable for hours of mowing. Fairly easy on fuel. Will pull my trail mower with ease, power and traction.

 

[Gator6x4]

I view electric clutches on a lawn mower like teeth, some fail and some don't. I have a 1971 Wheel Horse Charger with the original electric clutch, still works. I have a 1993 2084 Cub Cadet with a electric clutch, still works. Will either fail tomorrow? I don't know. The clutch on a automobile that engages the air conditioner is a electric clutch. How many time a day does it cycle on and off? How many times would it cycle on or off on a trip requiring a driving time of 10 hours?

 

[dawgfan55]

You have to engage the PTO at full throttle on the x540 or the engine will stall. Replaced one clutch at 45 hours now have 300 plus hours and I won't be surprised if I replace another soon. Great thing is its covered under the 4 year, 500 hour warranty.

 

[jenkinsph]

That's one of the reasons that if I had the bucks I'd go with an X700 series that has a hydraulic PTO if I recall correctly, along with shaft instead of belt drive.

I'd be willing to bet the X series electric clutches are no better than JD's units for the 100 series.

One way to find out is to go to www.jdparts.com and find the part number for a X540 electric clutch and the part number for a current LA series. If they are the same and/or the price is similar, you have your answer concerning the X series mower deck clutch.

Out of curiosity I did look up the parts for the 100 series and 540 and the clutches appear to be very similar and I was suprised to see the L100 series clutch is $165 and the 540 clutch is about $150.



Steve

 

[VTtractorguy]

Our 540 has 100 hours on it now. We engage the 54" deck at full throttle and so far, no problems. It would be wonderful to engage it at idle, but the engine will kill everytime unless it is wide open. I wonder about the electric clutch lifespan too. Other than this, the 540 is the nicest lawn tractor I have ever operated. Power steering, and it steers WAY sharp, leaving about a 3 foot un-mowed circle. Great traction, plenty of power no matter what the grass conditions, comfortable for hours of mowing. Fairly easy on fuel. Will pull my trail mower with ease, power and traction.

I echo everything Jim said. Mine too will stall if the engine is not wide open. When I first got the tractor, this bothered me terribly. After talking to numerous dealers, they said this is normal for the 540. And yes, the manual does say to engage at full throttle. Even at wide open, engaging the PTO will take the RPMs down to half. Otherwise, it痴 a great machine steering radius, cut, comfort, etc.

 

[ATCtech]

My 2008 X540 hit 50 hours exactly yesterday and they're coming Tuesday to check out the ever-louder squeal that sounds to me like it's from the electric clutch or an idler pulley very close to it, definitely underneath and up front. It pretty much goes away when the deck is engaged, but howls over the engine noise at any RPM when the deck is stopped.

 

[daBear]

Because of the electric clutch I am looking beyond green for my next mower. My trusty JD 285 will be retired next year and so far the Kubota G2460 is my choice. Maybe even the diesel model if I decide to pony up the extra $1,000. They are shaft driven, all wheel drive, water cooled, and a mechanical wet clutch. Not too much more than the X540 and a less than the X7xx series.

 

[ATCtech]

Suspicion confirmed, they will be changing the electric clutch tomorrow.

 

[mjncad]

ATCtech:

Sorry to hear your clutch puked at 50-hours. You got 6-hours less use than I did on mine. I hope your X540 is under warranty.