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Last week I purchased a new X300 48" cut mower.My grass is not high enough to cut yet so I have not used it,it has .2 hours on the clock. I was hesitant about the purchase,I had to dig deep to pull out right out $3600 including tax.It does have the JD 30 day promise.The only issue I have is when unloading it off my trailer I noticed all the tires have bad splitting on all the tires around the tread,it was in a crate at the dealer and looks like the tires were flat and they cracked.I let my dealer know but he has been very slow about resolving this,sent him pics and he says he has to contact JD Corp but after 2 emails and 2 phone calls to the salesman he has not contacted me which is making me wonder about service after the sale.As far as the mower are they good mowers if maintained? I like the feel of the mower,it handles well what little I drove it,the Kawasaki is smooth running.I hope I made a good choice.My old mower is a 15 year old well maintained Craftsman with a 15.5 Kohler Command 42" which still runs fine but the deck is thinning along with a few minor issues. All I know is there is a huge difference between the JD and my old mower.I'd like some owner opinions of their X300,how many trouble free hours,tips,advice ect.. Thanks

Hi TreasureHunter,

15 year running a JD LTR180 and finding it maintenance challenging (costly). Looked at the X300R as that's the successor and they got rid of the timing belt but this must mean more vibration. You look at the jd.com website for user comments. whilst most are of proud new owners the one that struck me was "A $4000 mistake". Next check the web to see at what price recent (low hrs) X300R are being offered. Here they loose 40% of their value in the first year.
Hope this helps you take the right discussion before the 30days are up.

Best of luck,
Roel

Thanks,I've thought about the cost of parts after the warranty expires on the Deere.My 14 year old Craftsman has has breakdowns over the years but parts are easy to find and they are cheap and that's a plus,overall I've put maybe $200 in it over a course of 11 years not counting the typical blades,filters ect.As mentioned I've took care of the old mower I have which cost around a grand when new and it was 3 years old when I got it for $500.My dealer not being eager to help me in a timely manner has made me question my purchase which again does not effect the quality of the mower,I'm sure not all are like this.Seems like mowers has changed alot over the years.

I would take it back and go get a craftsman or a cub cadet they both are a better built mower then the JD.

The dealer should have never sold you a mower with bad tires.

Called the dealer after5 days of not hearing from him,he states "waiting to hear from JD,if we have to eat the tires we will,I will contact you as soon as we hear from them,the replacement that come in also had cracked tires and we contacted JD about the issue" We told him we may bring it back for a refund,trade it for a D140 or look at another brand mower.I'm not sure about the B&S on the D140,the website states a KW but if not mistaken it is a JD branded B&S,it is $1899 which is alot cheaper than the X300.I wish Craftsman still used the Kohler Commands on their mowers like they did years ago,it is a great motor

duplicate,sorry

Nothing runs like a Deere.

Carscw said:

I would take it back and go get a craftsman or a cub cadet they both are a better built mower then the JD.

The dealer should have never sold you a mower with bad tires.

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I have an X300 had it for a year no problems at all. I had JD la135 for 6 years I did not like as well. The X300 is a much better mower. I would keep it if i was you, just have dealer change tires. I wonder how old the mower is.

So did they ever reeplace your tires? My new X300 was perfect out of the box and cuts the lawn like a carpet. Love the thing.

I've had my X300 since 2009. In that time I only had one complaint; the reverse was always slow. I finally found out why, however, and the dealer didn't know this himself. The rod that links the pedals to the transmission is adjustable with two nuts on the threaded end around the reverse lever on the tranny. It's hard to see and harder yet to work on, but if you can its worth it. I adjusted my link rod to be snug on the tranny arm (the reverse side had to much play) and now my reverse is snappy and nice.:thumbsup:

I have one this is only third season using.Stored inside during winter.It stalls after running for 30 min. than every five minutes.It thought it was gas related.Changed gas,filter,sp,still stalling.Someone told me it maybe electronic control module.It is very frustration for the cost of this tractor.Still waiting to hear from dealer.

spring1802 said:

I have one this is only third season using.Stored inside during winter.It stalls after running for 30 min. than every five minutes.It thought it was gas related.Changed gas,filter,sp,still stalling.Someone told me it maybe electronic control module.It is very frustration for the cost of this tractor.Still waiting to hear from dealer.

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dealer sz warrantty does not cover "gas related" of course this is sz cab blocked over 200$ to repair,& $50 transportation.I asked how it has been used just 2 yrs. about 90 hrs"sz dirty gas,blah,blah."I say they know &test components ,parts so they can exclude from warranty coverage poor performing parts. I thought with the cost of this mower and company rep.I could expect more Wrong

spring1802 said:

I have one this is only third season using.Stored inside during winter.It stalls after running for 30 min. than every five minutes.It thought it was gas related.Changed gas,filter,sp,still stalling.Someone told me it maybe electronic control module.It is very frustration for the cost of this tractor.Still waiting to hear from dealer.

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I had that same problem with one of my a older mowers found out it was gas cap vent hole was stopped up opened it up ran like it was new.

Roylawn said:

I had that same problem with one of my a older mowers found out it was gas cap vent hole was stopped up opened it up ran like it was new.

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Dealer sz dirty cab .and not covered by warranty because gas related $ 200.00+ used less than 3 yrs and I didn't put dirt in the gas.Stored inside in the winter Cheap cab I guess,my bro has a craftsman over 10 yrs no cab problems.

TreasureHunter11 said:

Called the dealer after5 days of not hearing from him,he states "waiting to hear from JD,if we have to eat the tires we will,I will contact you as soon as we hear from them,the replacement that come in also had cracked tires and we contacted JD about the issue" We told him we may bring it back for a refund,trade it for a D140 or look at another brand mower.I'm not sure about the B&S on the D140,the website states a KW but if not mistaken it is a JD branded B&S,it is $1899 which is alot cheaper than the X300.I wish Craftsman still used the Kohler Commands on their mowers like they did years ago,it is a great motor

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Treasure - So what happened with your tire issue?

spring1802 said:

Dealer sz dirty cab .and not covered by warranty because gas related $ 200.00+ used less than 3 yrs and I didn't put dirt in the gas.Stored inside in the winter Cheap cab I guess,my bro has a craftsman over 10 yrs no cab problems.

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Cheap carb. This is what they do now is make the carbs cheap then blame everything on ethanol.

I have a five year old X300 with nearly 800 hours on it and have only had routine maintenance problems (belts, tires, battery, etc.), so I would say it's worth the $$.

Just did the first oil change on our new X300 at 8.5 hrs. Oil looked like metalic paint draining out of the engine. Went ahead and changed filter, even though the manual didn't call for a filter change. Will be intrested to see how the oil looks at next oil change.

I can say on new engines I've seen a small amount of particles but not like silver paint,guess I'll find out soon. The dealer replaced my tires and rims,actually it was a issue on alot of the new X300s,bad batch tires or old stock?? I only have 3.7 hours on the mower,my only complaint is it seems to be bad on gas or perhaps it has a issue with the float,noticed today on hot starts at 1/2 throttle there is a puff of black smoke and it runs uneven for 20 seconds or so.

TreasureHunter11 said:

I can say on new engines I've seen a small amount of particles but not like silver paint,guess I'll find out soon. The dealer replaced my tires and rims,actually it was a issue on alot of the new X300s,bad batch tires or old stock?? I only have 3.7 hours on the mower,my only complaint is it seems to be bad on gas or perhaps it has a issue with the float,noticed today on hot starts at 1/2 throttle there is a puff of black smoke and it runs uneven for 20 seconds or so.

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Didn't look like siilver paint, but black paint with a lot of silver particles in it.

Glad they took care of your tire problem.

I'm pretty happy with my gas usage. Our old Craftsman LT2000 held 1 1/2 gals and would require a fillup doing our yard. The X300 holds 3.3 gals and only uses a 1/2 tank doing the yard... and in an hours less time

I've had my X300 four years and have just over 100 hours on it -- it's performed flawlessly. With the added mulch "kit", it's a pleasure to mow. With some ditches and quite a lot of shrubbery/trees in our yard it took me a while to get the hang of mowing in close without having to use a push/trim mower quite a bit, but it really does it all well with time and experience. I really love my X300! :thumbsup:

I enjoy mine but so far it only has 5.5 hours on it due to the wet weather so I've been putting my old mower in the bad stuff till I get drains down.The only quirk I have is when I shut it off after mowing and the engine is warm and go back in say 5 minutes to restart it I get a puff of black fuel smoke and it runs uneven until I open the throttle to full,if I wait 30 minutes and restart it,no puff of black smoke and runs fine