2021 John Deere X380 First Impressions and Review

[cruzenmike]

Hello all.

Just wanted to give a 50 hour update on the John Deere.

All is well with the X380 and I continue to be more than satisfied with the way that the machine cuts and runs on a daily basis. The deck is capable of removing long, thick grass without leaving anything uncut. The RPM gauge on the instrument cluster is nice as you can see when the engine is under load, telling you that you need to slow down. I still struggle with keeping an even cut in some parts of my lawn, but that is mostly due to the fact that the deck hangs out wider than the track of the machine and I have some uneven and sloped areas. Most people wouldn't notice this so its not a big deal.

I did purchase a bagger for the X380 in September. I could not find the entire setup ANYWHERE in SE Michigan but in speaking with my local John Deere Dealer he explained that the material collection system, which has been on backorder for 4 months, can be ordered from what they call their "emergency stock" but that I would have to pay $75 for shipping. Since I had waited so long and wanted to put it to use before the leaves started to fall I went ahead and ordered it. I opted to install the whole thing myself which was really not that bad. The directions were a little bit vague when calling out fasteners to use in certain steps, but I was able to figure it out. The whole assembly and installation process took about an hour. The only roadblock along the way was that I needed a 26mm socket to remove the pulley on the right spindle to install the double pulley that drives the Power Flow unit. The instructions also require you to cut some of the discharge chute off in order to accommodate the belt for the Power Flow, but I opted to just remove the chute since the bagger will be staying on for the rest of the year. Now for the bagging performance; IT IS EXCEPTIONAL!!! I can honestly say that I was anticipating a little bit of grass being missed or that the bagger would clog up, but even with long, thick and sometimes damp grass, it just keeps packing the clippings into the material collection system. The only issue that I have experienced along the way is that leaves can get blown out from under the deck when bagging if the deck is raised up too high. Since I am cutting at 3.5" I believe that there is too big of a gap between the ground and the deck lip allowing for air to move out from under instead of towards the chute opening. When I lowered the deck down to 3" I did not notice this as much.

The only thing that I am contemplating is reinstalling the one-touch mulch control. From what I understand the mulch control will still cut grass and leaf clippings into smaller pieces, recycling approximately 1/3 of them back into the turf and then the Power Flow can still remove the remainder and put them into the material collection system. The added benefit of the one-touch mulch control with the bagger is that you can pass over leaves with the chute closed off and then a second pass can be made with it open, further reducing clipping size and making more efficient use of the bags in the material collection system.

I have included some pictures of the bagger being used on grass and leaves.

 

[bkeller500]

I had the X590 48" with the electric MOD kit and really struggled getting a good cut. With the MOD Kit on I would get poor grass lifting from the deck due to the reduced air flow. I tried Gator G-5 blades but that made the under deck build up worse. I removed the left baffle which helped but with the reduced side discharge opening, it just did not give a great cut. Removing the MOD kit was better but not as good as I was hoping for. I came to the conclusion that I needed to remove the MOD kit in the spring when the grass was actively growing and juicy. Use the MOD kit in the drier summer and for mulching again in the fall for leaves. Don't get me wrong, the JD X590 48" is a great mowing system, but I found that it needed to be tweaked for the seasons more than I was aware.