People say that new john deere mowers are crap.....

[redfish9]

I bought my JD in 2001 and this awful machine makes me put gas in it every day,and then i have to check the oil everyday to[never burned or leaked a drop] Then i have to grease this awful machine everyday ,and after four years i had to buy rear tires can you believe that ,oh yes never had a repair needed in all these years. Crappy dang deere

 

[Bison]

I bought my JD in 2001 and this awful machine makes me put gas in it every day,and then i have to check the oil everyday to[never burned or leaked a drop] Then i have to grease this awful machine everyday ,and after four years i had to buy rear tires can you believe that ,oh yes never had a repair needed in all these years. Crappy dang deere

I bought my 1972 JD 112 well used in 96 for $50.- ,been mowing my 3 acre lawn with it since.
It still has 3 original tires(blew and replaced 1 front tire 2 yrs ago),i grease it once a year,check oil once a week..but having to fill the tank before use is normal i would say.
Apart from replacing a couple belts and bearings and once a engine rebuild it works like the energizer bunny.:thumbsup:

Me thinks i can't complain :wink:

PS: some people are better off using a goat to do the mowing:tongue:

 

[engine29]

This may have already been said, but I will say again. Being a former Deere dealer I know what's good and what's not so good.

The Deere L100 series are the ones that are giving Deere the bad name. Those tractors are what they came up w/ to go into Lowes. Obviously, to sell in Lowes, they have to be be cheap in price. To be cheap in price they have to sacrifice quality and durability. Also, contrary to a lot of opinions, they ARE made by Deere (not MTD) in their Greenville, TN plant where the res. walks used to be made.

As far as the X series mowers, they are still made in Horicon WI. Those still are good tractors, but more money. You get what you pay for. As a dealer, we were very aggravated w/ Deere doing the Lowes thing, #1, the dealer was responsible for them, we were in competition w/ our local Lowes store and it ultimately gave Deere a bad reputation. Yes, it increased the service work, but also caused a lot of "I'll never buy a Deere again". It my opinion, it was Deere's greediness that got them in that position. And now, today, Deere is forcing the dealers to sell Deere only (no other brands), yet they stay in Lowes where they are selling other brands and also hurting the dealers.

That's Deere's two-sidedness. As a dealer, I saw a different side of Deere that the consumers don't.
It's not the great company people think they are. Enough said!

 

[tuckertom]

I have been reading all of these remarks about the John Deere line and can't help but to get the impresion that a lot of people just don't do there homework before shelling out there hard earnened money. I live in Canada and have worked for a very large J/D dealer some years ago and there was none of these so called Home depot, Lowes etc. units being sold untill the last few years. I have looked at these units and yes they do look like a deere at first glance but with a closer look they are not a real deere !! For all of you people that want a real John Deere with all of the many years of reasech and fine craftmanship you will have to go to the store that the sign reads "JOHN DEERE" .
Sorry but it is true you will not find a real John Deere other that at a dealer ship !!!!
I have lived at my present 10 acre acerage for the last 35 years and I started out with a Bolens lawn tractor for the first five years. After that I have had J/deeres ever since. I have a 1990 285 c/w a 42" mower and snow blower. After 600 hrs. I had to put in a new motor as the dealer said that I had run it low on oil at one time ??. I put a new 20 hp Kawasaki as the first one was a 17 hp. Other than that I have put in 3 Clutches , many sets of mower spindle bearings and a few belts etc. The tractor has just over 1200 hrs. This tractor has cut a lot of grass and blowen a lot of snow over the last 22 years.
other than the motor going at 600 hrs the rest is common as you can't grease any of the three mower spindle bearings as they quit putting them on as there is money to be made, as this will change the next time I have to change them I will be installing some threads and put in the three grease zerks for so I can quit sending them any more money.
I also have a 2009 John Deere 300R and so far a real nice tractor. also a Honda s/p mower and lots of other grass eating things !!

 

[bollingball]

Several years ago ( about ( about 10 or 12) my wife bought me a JD LT180 from the dealer Not the size I wanted to small of deck But turned out to be a good one. Just the normal wear parts have been changed. Now about three year ago my father in law buys one from Lowe's. He had a front wheel bearing go out. So I go out to fix it for him no bearing just some kind of plastic bushing. I don't know what is going on. Maybe Lowe's can speck them out the way they want to lower cost. The JD dealer and Lowe's are almost in sight of each other and the dealer has to fix Lowe's crap. Another dealer 10 miles away had to close down after 30 years Thanks Lowe's and JD. I just bought a Z445 54in. deck from the dealer I hope it holds up as good as the Lt180. Time will tell.

Ken

 

[sail902]

I have heard that newer john Deere's aren't very tough and they break all the time. Well was sceptialy about buying a new JD, buy I did. I have a 2006 series that I bought used last year. I have driven the thing in snow, cut down piles of wet leaves that were about 4 feet tall, I have driven the mower over rocks and extremely bumpy conditions. It has gone places that a riding mower shouldn't go. I still, knock on wood, haven't broke a part and it works fine. It still seems like a tough mower to me.:biggrin:

I guess it depends on which John Deere you bought! I bought the LA 145 new just to mow a couple of acres and it's junk! The dealer had to replace the carburator right off the bat. It still didn't run right after that,( popped thru the carb, hard to start, wouldn't idle down) so I had to take it back at my own expence (rented a trailer). It runs better but still pops thru the carb and doesn't idle down very well. It went through drive belt the first summer. Now an idler pully bearing is shot and a spindle bearing is on it's way out. If it's a hot summer day, the transmission fails and won't go up the incline in my yard and sounds noisy like an old power steering pump on a ford that has very little fluid in it. Of course you can't check the transmission fluid or change it because it has no drain or fill plugs because it's a disposable mower. The steering pinion gear has already worn a nice groove in it too. All this and the mower has less than 200 hours on it. Of course the warranty is done just as the thing starts to fall appart! Parts are expensive for this thing and you can't find them local. I had a Craftsman riding mower for 14 years and and only replaced a belt, a spindle and had to weld the deck a little because my dad always hit trees with it and ran over rocks. I sold that mower and it was still going after 14 years! When I did need those couple of parts, like blades, belts and the spindle, the local sears either had them or got them next day and I could order on line. I wish I bought another Craftsman insead of John Deere. I had always wanted a JD and and thought that it would surely be a nice mower and should outlast a cheap Sears Craftsman.... but was I ever wrong!

 

[sail902]

I have been reading all of these remarks about the John Deere line and can't help but to get the impresion that a lot of people just don't do there homework before shelling out there hard earnened money. I live in Canada and have worked for a very large J/D dealer some years ago and there was none of these so called Home depot, Lowes etc. units being sold untill the last few years. I have looked at these units and yes they do look like a deere at first glance but with a closer look they are not a real deere !! For all of you people that want a real John Deere with all of the many years of reasech and fine craftmanship you will have to go to the store that the sign reads "JOHN DEERE" .
Sorry but it is true you will not find a real John Deere other that at a dealer ship !!!!
I have lived at my present 10 acre acerage for the last 35 years and I started out with a Bolens lawn tractor for the first five years. After that I have had J/deeres ever since. I have a 1990 285 c/w a 42" mower and snow blower. After 600 hrs. I had to put in a new motor as the dealer said that I had run it low on oil at one time ??. I put a new 20 hp Kawasaki as the first one was a 17 hp. Other than that I have put in 3 Clutches , many sets of mower spindle bearings and a few belts etc. The tractor has just over 1200 hrs. This tractor has cut a lot of grass and blowen a lot of snow over the last 22 years.
other than the motor going at 600 hrs the rest is common as you can't grease any of the three mower spindle bearings as they quit putting them on as there is money to be made, as this will change the next time I have to change them I will be installing some threads and put in the three grease zerks for so I can quit sending them any more money.
I also have a 2009 John Deere 300R and so far a real nice tractor. also a Honda s/p mower and lots of other grass eating things !!

Hmmmm.... that's funny because, my John Deere LA 145 that I did buy from Lowes (not at John Deere) has grease zerks on the spindles!

 

[tomcat59]

i got the d130 jd from lowes my yard has slopes it does great

 

[sail902]

I bought my JD in 2001 and this awful machine makes me put gas in it every day,and then i have to check the oil everyday to[never burned or leaked a drop] Then i have to grease this awful machine everyday ,and after four years i had to buy rear tires can you believe that ,oh yes never had a repair needed in all these years. Crappy dang deere

What John Deer did you buy back in 2001? You sure aren't talking about the same john deere mowers that we are talking about!

 

[sail902]

I have been reading all of these remarks about the John Deere line and can't help but to get the impresion that a lot of people just don't do there homework before shelling out there hard earnened money.

When I bought my JD riding mower, It was because John Deere had a great reputation. I knew people that swore by JD. So, it didn't seem necessary to do a lot of homework because of the name. Why would JD put out junk after spending so many years building such a great reputation? My last mower was a Craftsman that lasted me 14 years and then i sold it for $250 when I moved. When I bought the JD mower I knew that it had to be as good or better than a Craftsman. Even a cheaper JD should be as good or better than a cheaper craftsman..... John Deere really shot themselves in the foot on this one. Carburator had to be replaced right off the bat then dealer didn't get the intake manifold sealed right and back it had to go at my expence. Right after warranty, transmission went- no way to check the fluid or change it. Idler pulley bearings and spindle bearings shot already with 170 hours on it. Still doesn't run right, hard to start, pops thru the carb and won't idle down sometimes and on and on...... They say you get what you pay for? not in this case, this thing was $2400 new. That is not cheap by any means. You would think after all the years JD has been making great equipment, some of the engineering would rub off on the less expensive homeowner grade machine! They should have had MTD make the lower models, it would have been much better!