Bought a John Deere JS28 walk behind mower and thought I'd post a review since previous searching in this forum for the JS28 resulted in "no finds".
BACKGROUND:
I wanted a front wheel drive mower because our front and back yards are small and flat. Figured that FWD would allow easier 180 degree turns and allow easier back & forth mowing when necessary.
I originally bought a Craftsman 37066 front wheel drive mower but returned it without even opening the box. I bought the 37066 because it was on sale but the next day I checked the user reviews on the Sears website. There were many complaints of the teeth of the plastic ring gear on the front tires stripping. Checking the illustrated parts breakdown, the metal gear that drives the plastic gears on the tires looks like it's about 1/4" wide. This was (somewhat) verified by a youtube video that shows how the plastic gears on the tires strip.
I found the John Deere JS28 at Lowes at a reduced price. Before buying, went home and checked the user reviews. They were good. Checked the illustrated parts breakdown and the metal drive gear for the front tires looks to be much wider (like about 1/2") than the Craftsman mower.
THE JS28:
Here's a picture:
The John Deere JS28 is a 22" FWD gas mower and comes with Deere's "MowMentum" variable speed control. It has a 190cc Briggs & Stratton, 4 cycle, side valve, engine with 7.25 ft-lbs of torque. Converts to mulch, side discharge or rear bagging using the included attachments. The handle has 3 height adjustments which I found is rare in self propelled mowers in this price range.
It has four 8" wheels on ball bearings. I did not want large rear wheels since I read that large rear wheels put the tire axles further back than smaller wheels. The axles being further back make the mower slightly heavier when pushing down on the handle due to the added lever effect.
While checking out the JS28 at Lowes, I compared it to a Troy-Bilt FWD mower with small rear wheels next to it. The JS28 was noticeably lighter than the the Troy-Bilt when pushing down on the handle. I think the handle to rear tire axle relationship might have something to do with that. The JS28 rolled backward and forward very easily. In fact there's a patch of grass by the sidewalk in front of our home. The sidewalk and road slope a bit but not much. The JS28 will roll down the sidewalk by itself which indicates how well it rolls back & forth when the FWD is not engaged.
The JS28 comes with a plastic side discharge chute and a plastic mulch plug. Lift the side discharge cover and insert the side discharge chute when side discharging. Close the side discharge cover and remove the mulch plug in the back discharge opening when bagging. I tried side discharge and bagging on my first mow job but did not try mulching.
The specs say there are 9 mowing height adjustments but I didn't count them. Each wheel must be adjusted individually on the JS28 but no big thing as once the desired height adjustment is found, there's no need to keep readjusting it. I read a user review somewhere that mentioned that the minimum cutting height was not low enough. I disagree with that. I had to raise the cutting height by 2 clicks for our lawn. I wonder if the negative reviewer needed a reel mower to cut golf green type grass, not a rotary mower like the JS28 is.
Assembly is very quick. Just cut the box, roll the JS28 out, unfold the handle (in two places). The upper fold is just securing the handle to be straight instead of folded. Tighten the two handle type nuts for that, no tools required. The lower fold is where the handle has 3 height adjustments. There's a bracket with 3 holes. The lowest handle height adjustment works the best for me. The recommended adjustment is the middle hole. Extra tall folks would probably prefer the top hole. Push the bolts through the desired holes and tighten the handle type nuts, no tools required.
I used car wax on the underside of the metal deck before putting any oil or gas in. Waxed the top of the deck too. Sprayed some rust prevention on all bare metal bolts and nuts. Filled the oil and gas. The engine started with one pull. It has an automatic choke so no need to push prime the engine. The engine is about the normal loudness for a mower this size. Not overly loud or soft.
The MowMentum drive is terrific! Looking at the picture, the topmost Mowmentum handle bar has a recess for the throttle bar. When the throttle bar is held depressed, it blends in with the MowMentum handle. Very nice. To move forward, push on the MowMentum bar and it pivots forward. A slight push and the FWD moves the mower forward slowly. Push the bar forward more and the FWD moves the mower forward faster. The slowest speed is slow and the fastest speed is a brisk walk. No problem going fast enough for me and I tended to walk slower than the fastest speed. Previously I wondered if pushing the MowMentum bar forward would be tiring. Not at all! It takes very little effort to move at the desired speed. --- To make 180 degree turns, just push down on the MowMentum handle and the front wheels come off the ground and it's easy to turn since the rear wheels are free wheeling. --- There's a lever on the right side of the MowMentum handle near the pivot point. (Hard to see in the picture) That lever locks the MowMentum handle in the straight back, non-drive position for manually mowing back & forth. Very quick and easy to use and very handy indeed.
I really like the FWD when mowing straight ahead against a wall or under shrubs or plant stands. There's no ratcheting action on the rear wheels like there is on RWD mowers. The rear wheels are free wheeling and the front wheels practically free wheel when the FWD is not engaged. Lock the MowMentum handle in the non-drive, straight back position and it's very easy to mow back & forth.
All in all, I'm very happy with the John Deere JS28. A FWD mower for yards with steep slopes would probably slip the front wheels but for flat yards like ours, it works very well. The MowMentum variable speed works really well, and better than I expected.
YardGuy
BACKGROUND:
I wanted a front wheel drive mower because our front and back yards are small and flat. Figured that FWD would allow easier 180 degree turns and allow easier back & forth mowing when necessary.
I originally bought a Craftsman 37066 front wheel drive mower but returned it without even opening the box. I bought the 37066 because it was on sale but the next day I checked the user reviews on the Sears website. There were many complaints of the teeth of the plastic ring gear on the front tires stripping. Checking the illustrated parts breakdown, the metal gear that drives the plastic gears on the tires looks like it's about 1/4" wide. This was (somewhat) verified by a youtube video that shows how the plastic gears on the tires strip.
I found the John Deere JS28 at Lowes at a reduced price. Before buying, went home and checked the user reviews. They were good. Checked the illustrated parts breakdown and the metal drive gear for the front tires looks to be much wider (like about 1/2") than the Craftsman mower.
THE JS28:
Here's a picture:
The John Deere JS28 is a 22" FWD gas mower and comes with Deere's "MowMentum" variable speed control. It has a 190cc Briggs & Stratton, 4 cycle, side valve, engine with 7.25 ft-lbs of torque. Converts to mulch, side discharge or rear bagging using the included attachments. The handle has 3 height adjustments which I found is rare in self propelled mowers in this price range.
It has four 8" wheels on ball bearings. I did not want large rear wheels since I read that large rear wheels put the tire axles further back than smaller wheels. The axles being further back make the mower slightly heavier when pushing down on the handle due to the added lever effect.
While checking out the JS28 at Lowes, I compared it to a Troy-Bilt FWD mower with small rear wheels next to it. The JS28 was noticeably lighter than the the Troy-Bilt when pushing down on the handle. I think the handle to rear tire axle relationship might have something to do with that. The JS28 rolled backward and forward very easily. In fact there's a patch of grass by the sidewalk in front of our home. The sidewalk and road slope a bit but not much. The JS28 will roll down the sidewalk by itself which indicates how well it rolls back & forth when the FWD is not engaged.
The JS28 comes with a plastic side discharge chute and a plastic mulch plug. Lift the side discharge cover and insert the side discharge chute when side discharging. Close the side discharge cover and remove the mulch plug in the back discharge opening when bagging. I tried side discharge and bagging on my first mow job but did not try mulching.
The specs say there are 9 mowing height adjustments but I didn't count them. Each wheel must be adjusted individually on the JS28 but no big thing as once the desired height adjustment is found, there's no need to keep readjusting it. I read a user review somewhere that mentioned that the minimum cutting height was not low enough. I disagree with that. I had to raise the cutting height by 2 clicks for our lawn. I wonder if the negative reviewer needed a reel mower to cut golf green type grass, not a rotary mower like the JS28 is.
Assembly is very quick. Just cut the box, roll the JS28 out, unfold the handle (in two places). The upper fold is just securing the handle to be straight instead of folded. Tighten the two handle type nuts for that, no tools required. The lower fold is where the handle has 3 height adjustments. There's a bracket with 3 holes. The lowest handle height adjustment works the best for me. The recommended adjustment is the middle hole. Extra tall folks would probably prefer the top hole. Push the bolts through the desired holes and tighten the handle type nuts, no tools required.
I used car wax on the underside of the metal deck before putting any oil or gas in. Waxed the top of the deck too. Sprayed some rust prevention on all bare metal bolts and nuts. Filled the oil and gas. The engine started with one pull. It has an automatic choke so no need to push prime the engine. The engine is about the normal loudness for a mower this size. Not overly loud or soft.
The MowMentum drive is terrific! Looking at the picture, the topmost Mowmentum handle bar has a recess for the throttle bar. When the throttle bar is held depressed, it blends in with the MowMentum handle. Very nice. To move forward, push on the MowMentum bar and it pivots forward. A slight push and the FWD moves the mower forward slowly. Push the bar forward more and the FWD moves the mower forward faster. The slowest speed is slow and the fastest speed is a brisk walk. No problem going fast enough for me and I tended to walk slower than the fastest speed. Previously I wondered if pushing the MowMentum bar forward would be tiring. Not at all! It takes very little effort to move at the desired speed. --- To make 180 degree turns, just push down on the MowMentum handle and the front wheels come off the ground and it's easy to turn since the rear wheels are free wheeling. --- There's a lever on the right side of the MowMentum handle near the pivot point. (Hard to see in the picture) That lever locks the MowMentum handle in the straight back, non-drive position for manually mowing back & forth. Very quick and easy to use and very handy indeed.
I really like the FWD when mowing straight ahead against a wall or under shrubs or plant stands. There's no ratcheting action on the rear wheels like there is on RWD mowers. The rear wheels are free wheeling and the front wheels practically free wheel when the FWD is not engaged. Lock the MowMentum handle in the non-drive, straight back position and it's very easy to mow back & forth.
All in all, I'm very happy with the John Deere JS28. A FWD mower for yards with steep slopes would probably slip the front wheels but for flat yards like ours, it works very well. The MowMentum variable speed works really well, and better than I expected.
YardGuy
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