42" Rider Decision... X330, XT2 LX42, TS 242XD

[paulyjsob]

Picked up the X370 today.
Chatted with the dealer for a while and let him steer me in the right direction. Didn't go in there saying I want the 370.
I described my yard and what I wanted to accomplish and we landed in the 350 or s240.
He said they've seen very few K46 failures over the years when we started discussing K46 and K57 differences.
Now have to wait 2 to 3 weeks to get it. They are slammed with close to 60 machine orders.
Anyway, thanks everyone for the advice.
Looking forward to the Z370 with mulch kit. I'll wait a month or 2 to get the bagger.

 

[cruzenmike]

Picked up the X370 today.
Chatted with the dealer for a while and let him steer me in the right direction. Didn't go in there saying I want the 370.
I described my yard and what I wanted to accomplish and we landed in the 350 or s240.
He said they've seen very few K46 failures over the years when we started discussing K46 and K57 differences.
Now have to wait 2 to 3 weeks to get it. They are slammed with close to 60 machine orders.
Anyway, thanks everyone for the advice.
Looking forward to the Z370 with mulch kit. I'll wait a month or 2 to get the bagger.

Congrats on the new mower. I am sure that you will be quite happy with it. Are you planning on getting the mechanical or electronic mulch control? I too have been considering this for my X380. On my old machine, an LT155 with 38" deck, I actually thought that the wavy mulching blades without any type of chute block actually left a nice cut. The 15hp Kohler was a bit too under-powered to actually mulch my lawn with some of the dense, heavy growth areas but with the 23hp Kawasaki and a better deck I might be able to do it now. I think that the one primary difference between the 42A and 48A decks on your machine and mine is that the bagger system on the 42A requires a high lift or bagging blade to work properly whereas the 48A can use any blade since it has a powerflow attachment to help move the clippings up into the hopper. Again, another cost to having the larger deck. I have seen many other 3 blade decks on Husqvarna and Cub Cadet machines that do not require a powered bagger unit but I am guessing that the types with a belt-driven impeller will give the best cut quality and remove more of whats laying on top of the grass after it has been cut. As for your current setup I think that you will be very happy with your new machine and be sure to double check engine oil level, transmission oil level, tire pressure and deck level before taking it out to do some work!

 

[paulyjsob]

I am going with the manual mulch control. I figure I'll be mulching 80% of the time.
I have one of those lawn sweepers that actually works very well. I used it after thatching a few times and it picks everything up.

 

[cruzenmike]

I am going with the manual mulch control. I figure I'll be mulching 80% of the time.
I have one of those lawn sweepers that actually works very well. I used it after thatching a few times and it picks everything up.

At the end of the season I picked up the Agri-Fab 44" Smart Sweeper to use on my leaves. They were wet and heavy but the sweeper did a pretty good job of picking them up. Dumping the leaves on the other hand was not fun; they just don't want to fall out when the hopper is tilted upward. I think that this year I will go ahead and mow over the leaves first to chop them up and then follow up with the sweeper. I will hopefully getting out this week to do some dethatching and will follow up with the sweeper to pick up the dead stuff. You have got me thinking of the mulch kit. I really want to try it but I like the idea of the electronic system. While I would like to side discharge for the sake of looks, the ability to only close it as I pass my landscaping or against the house would be nice with the flip of a switch from the driver's seat!