3Ts
Elite Member
I picked up a new John Deere Z525E mower yesterday. I now have about 1 hour on it and I thought you would like a report on it. It is a nice machine! I got the 54 deck and was concerned that it may not have enough HP to run it. I have grass in the 12 to 14 height, but it cut it easily. I started out with the deck fully up and I did not expect the cuttings to clear from the deck very well, especially when blowing into the tall grass. It blew the grass clippings out just like it was a silage chopper. It is going to take some practice to control it since the steering works differently, but I can tell that once I get the hang of it, it is really going to be great. I do consider the arms to be sensitive in that it does not take much movement to get a corresponding movement in the machine. That is just part of the process of learning the machine.
The mower spindles appear to ship without grease in them.
Now, there is another thread about John Deere dealers and their attitude so I thought I would add my experience in purchasing this machine. I have purchased equipment from the local John Deere dealer before, but not a lot and not every year. Both Lowes and Home Depot carry the Z525E as well. I went to Lowes first because they are closest and talked to the salesman about the machine. He was more informative than the John Deere dealer. I visited my JD dealer 3 times and each time he said he just sold the machine and would give me a call when he had one in. Never got a call. Called another JD dealer further away and confirmed that he had one in. Told him I would be there in an hour. Went to see it and the dealer had other things to do than to talk to me. So I checked out the 2 machines he had. One appeared to be used and had sat out in the sun for many years (the tops of the knobs had turned crumbly from UV) and the other had a broken wheel support on the deck. Went down the street a couple miles and bought one from Lowes with a couple of discounts applied it was almost 300 less than JD and in better shape.
The mower spindles appear to ship without grease in them.
Now, there is another thread about John Deere dealers and their attitude so I thought I would add my experience in purchasing this machine. I have purchased equipment from the local John Deere dealer before, but not a lot and not every year. Both Lowes and Home Depot carry the Z525E as well. I went to Lowes first because they are closest and talked to the salesman about the machine. He was more informative than the John Deere dealer. I visited my JD dealer 3 times and each time he said he just sold the machine and would give me a call when he had one in. Never got a call. Called another JD dealer further away and confirmed that he had one in. Told him I would be there in an hour. Went to see it and the dealer had other things to do than to talk to me. So I checked out the 2 machines he had. One appeared to be used and had sat out in the sun for many years (the tops of the knobs had turned crumbly from UV) and the other had a broken wheel support on the deck. Went down the street a couple miles and bought one from Lowes with a couple of discounts applied it was almost 300 less than JD and in better shape.
