John Deere ZTR

[procutlandscaping]

Are there any comments about John Deere mowers, how are they? problems? concerns? compliments?

[BS]

In general or specific type?

I had a JD 345 18hp 48" cut. Its what I started with. It did an excellent job for a lawn tractor.

I love my JD 4115.

I don't have any experience with the Z's ,but they are built by Great Dane, so the quality id probably good.

Wooops - I just re-read the post, and saw you said 'z'.

[eric1]

I was looking at the john deer z turn online and it was about $1000 more then a scag or a husky,but i have never had one or used one so can not offer a personal story.

[Elwood]

I used to own several of the first midmount Z's they offered, the M665's. They were essentially a Yazoo Kees machine with the 7 iron deck.

Personally, I am not a Kohler man, so strike 1!

The mower is well built and had only a few problems, problems of which they took care of and I feel they have addressed with the new machines.

The deck is awesome! A good cut, I have seen better, but I have seen a LOT worse.

My only real concern is the spindles. I had spindle problems. From time to time, an employee would hit a water meter cover or sewer cover. The blades would pass over just fine, but the head of the bolt that holds the blade on would catch and instead of just floating over, it would bend the spindle. I am unsure if that has been addressed.

All in all, a decent machine, but there are others that I prefer.

If you are looking for a chore tractor/mower, the 400 series is excellent and the new 500 series is even better.

[eric1]

Elwood,is there a reason that you do not like kohler or just a preferance because I have found a mower that I realy like and it cuts good but it has a kohler on it.Thanks

[CrissBrothersLLC]

From whom i have spoken to (operators, repair techs, dealers, etc), they are good machines, but overall quality isnt up to Exmark, Scag, Toro stds. Motor brands are moslty personal preference, youll see kohler and kawasaki on almost any brand. I would say stick with one of the above three unless the delear has a great relationship with you and the mower is priced better than the above three. Just my opinion.

[Elwood]

My dislike with Kohler is simply my opinion. They make good engines, but htey are very cold blooded and at times hard to start when it gets cold at night, at the very beginning of the season and at the very end.

Also, my opinion, based on the machines I have owned and the horsepower engines I have owned, I feel the Kawi is a bit more fuel efficient. I also prefer H2O cooled machines if possible.

Just my opinion from my experiences. Some will swear that Kohler is better, but the fact is they both make good engines.

[Phil Nilsson]

For whatever reasons I have always thought of John Deere mowers as a "toy" ... their landscape tractors and heavy equipment are great.

Here's an alternative to the "cheaply made" mower units that seem popular. I think many of them have been oversold due to over marketing. IMO

Sensible alternative ... http://www.jacobsen.com/productManufacture.asp?MID=6

Phil

[Elwood]

For the money and the quality of the machine adn the job it does the Toro/Exmark line are tough to beat. Of course, finding a good dealer is helpful as well.

[LAWN NAZI]

I have 3 john deere mowers two 17hsp walk behinds and one nid z 737 all brand new 2003 not many problems with the mid z just minor stuff put over 500 hours on it this year. I went with john deere because closest dealer around, would like to try other equipment but would have to travel about 50 miles for parts or break downs so dont know if I shoul just stick with THE DEERE

[sprout]

I have never been a JD fan, however, I have owned four of them.
They all served me well except for the Kohler engines. To me Kohler is one step above Briggs and not by much. To answer your ? I just bought a 2003 Jd 757 60 inch w/25 kowi.,back in July. Very,Very nice mower, they got their act together on this mower. My wife does most of the cutting and she has in 24 years run a whole lot of mowers but she says this is her favorate. Everything is so easy to get to for service. I paid $8300.
Hope this helps.

[johndeereman]

http://deere.com/en_US/groundscare/homepage/comm_mow/index.html

Dane does not make deere mowers, deere owns dane for a patents. and as to the Jacobson guy who thinks the ztr's are a toy, wrong my friend. Demo one and you will see there is nothing that compairs.