John Deere X340 for 5 acres?

dcx340

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I Have 5 acres of a mixture of grass and weeds (4"-5" tall) to mow. All flat, no trees. Do you think a John Deere x340 can handle this? John Deere has a mower selection tool on their website that says this mower can handle up to 4 acres. Choosing 4.5 acres causes it to recommend an x500 model. Not sure how they determine this but I can't afford that. The x340 is air cooled so Im concerned that the 4hrs or so mowing in the middle of summer might be hard on it. Any thoughts?...
 

KennyV

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Buying more machine than you need is usually best...if you can't see the price of what you need... you might look at good used equipment in the size class that you need .. you could even go up to the level above that...
Good used equipment is always worth considering. :smile:KennyV
 

JDgreen

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I Have 5 acres of a mixture of grass and weeds (4"-5" tall) to mow. All flat, no trees. Do you think a John Deere x340 can handle this? John Deere has a mower selection tool on their website that says this mower can handle up to 4 acres. Choosing 4.5 acres causes it to recommend an x500 model. Not sure how they determine this but I can't afford that. The x340 is air cooled so Im concerned that the 4hrs or so mowing in the middle of summer might be hard on it. Any thoughts?...

Lot of variables here....you say "grass and weeds up to 4 to 5 inches" well what happens if it rains so much you cannot mow until they get double that height? How thick is the grass? Will you be mowing in the hottest part of the day or later in the evening? What width of deck will you be using and how high will it cut? I am doing a Google search on the models with my Blackberry as I compose this...lets see now, X340, 25 hp, 54 inch deck, 4 inch maximum cut height...the X500 seems to also be rated at 25 hp but also weighs 809 pounds with a 48 inch deck....

There is no reason the X340 would not be able to handle the job as long as you don't mow in the hottest part of the day, and you also do not have to cut the full width of the deck, but it WILL take more time to mow cutting only 1/2 or 2/rds the width at a time. If you keep the blades sharp it should do fine at cutting full width most of the time. I used to mow 4 1/2 acres with a 318 that had a 50 inch deck, with 18 hp it did the job but I often mowed at dusk or night time in the summer because the engine ran a lot cooler then. Hope this helps.
 

dcx340

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Thanks for the replies... The 340 has a 54" deck. I have also been looking at craftsman, and husky but, everytime i go back and checkout the 340 it just seems to be built more sturdy. Then again, for the cost I could almost buy two of either of the others. Anyway, Im still leaning toward the x340 but Just didn't want to ruin a new mower trying to do something it wasnt designed for
 

dcx340

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As for used, I've been keeping an eye out as well. Haven't found what I want yet.
 

JDgreen

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Thanks for the replies... The 340 has a 54" deck. I have also been looking at craftsman, and husky but, everytime i go back and checkout the 340 it just seems to be built more sturdy. Then again, for the cost I could almost buy two of either of the others. Anyway, Im still leaning toward the x340 but Just didn't want to ruin a new mower trying to do something it wasnt designed for

JD models of that size are very well engineered, you will not ruin it UNLESS you run it hard in hot weather very early during ownership. I may be an exception but every time I buy a new engine in 4-stroke, be in a car, truck, mower, etc. after the first hundred miles in a vehicle or an hour of running in small engines I ALWAYS change the oil and if it has one, the filter...ALWAYS. The amount of debris and dirt inside a new engine makes it worth doing early. Flush the crap out in the beginning don't leave it in the engine for a long time.
 

jenkinsph

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I think the X340 is a good choice for 5 acres but that is alot of hours of use each year. I could get by with an X320 for my lawn area but need the X749 for my work. As suggested keep it blown off and clean, change the oil and filters and you should be good to go.
 

figtide

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I Have 5 acres of a mixture of grass and weeds (4"-5" tall) to mow. All flat, no trees. Do you think a John Deere x340 can handle this? John Deere has a mower selection tool on their website that says this mower can handle up to 4 acres. Choosing 4.5 acres causes it to recommend an x500 model. Not sure how they determine this but I can't afford that. The x340 is air cooled so Im concerned that the 4hrs or so mowing in the middle of summer might be hard on it. Any thoughts?...

I just bought an X340 to cut my 4.5 acres, and it handles that job nicely. The model was discontinued after 2010 due to the fact that it was stealing sales from the 500 series. The only major difference between the x340 and the 500 is the 500 has a locking differential and a 1 gallon larger tank for about $1200 more than the x340. They both have the same motor (air-cooled). I've cut areas well over 5 inches tall with mine and had no problems whatsoever.
 

robert

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From a brand new zt convert; mowing five acres with any tractor is insanity, unless you really really like to sit on a mower growing basil cell carcinomas' (sp?) even with a 12 volt cooler with a six in it-thanks but no thanks.

When my brand new Quest will start I can mow our 3/4 acre yard and my neighbors-about the same size-in much less time than it took me to mow just ours with the Simplicity lawn tractor and it had a fairly tight turning radius, 14" or so.

As for used equipment; what I found is that the prices are nuts, especially JD, in a year of serious Ebay/Craigslist hunting not a single unit turned up that was priced low enough to make me buy-for about another 1000 bucks whatever model advertised could have been bought new, broken in by me and maintained by me. The John Deere models, without exception, could have been bought new for about $500 more and this included some units that were 5-10 years old, fancinating really.

Plus, there are some really-really-really wierd people out there, I am a 'well nourished' person, my docs description not mine, just over six feet and I have a very 'diverse' background and I went to a few addresses where the people made me a bit uncomfortable, and I still carry.

My advice; go only during the day with a friend AND be certain ownership can be proved BEFORE you put a desposit on any equipment-one situation got real ugly on me fast-I am afraid that you will find that there are many very desperate folks doing what they have to do to either survive or support a habit-or screw the spouse out of assets.....

On ebay especially the most frequent scam I encountered was to place the 'winning' bid only to have the sale withdrawn-insurance fraud I am certain and Ebay does not care.
 

benski

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Put some premium synthetic oil in your JD, along with a new filter, drive it intelligently, and enjoy.:thumbsup:
 
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