Price Point Mowers

[Ric]

Price Point Mower Article



You see the ads every Sunday from your local 釘ig Box Stores? you know the ones, the orange place and the blue place. They advertise a brand new John Deere mower at a price point comparable to brands with far less reputation.
Like you I was amazed that they could sell the thing for such a great price. The John Deere 42″ X300 shown in the adjacent photo retails for $3,099.99. The John Deere BG20444 (sometimes also sold as the LA105) shown in the photo below retails for $1,499.00. The BG20444 is a model sold exclusively at Home Depot.
Apples To Apples?



Both of these are John Deere 42″ mowers. The one from HD is a model manufactured exclusively for HD. Hereç—´ where the problem starts. The big box stores have made deals with manufactures to supply exclusive products at attractive price points. I know there are many people who will argue this fact and say there is no difference. However, go to the John Deere site and search for Model BG20444, you will not find it. You will find the LA105 which is a similar tractor but the BG20444 was manufactured specifically for HD.
Whether you agree or disagree with this argument is really no big deal. What is a big deal is paying attention to specifications and truly understanding what youæ±*e about to buy. The reality is that high end brands (like John Deere and many others) have jumped on the big box store wagon and started manufacturing lower price point products so they don稚 miss out on sales. The old saying holds true, you get what you paid for.
I bring this up because I致e had the pleasure of speaking with some John Deere dealers that are frustrated with the results of this practice. They end up seeing the customers when something breaks or doesn稚 work correctly anymore. The number of John Deere mowers now sold in this Country is huge because of the lower price points. However, the lower price (lower quality ?) mowers are far more prone to break down and suffer from wear and tear. The cheaper models show up in their repair shops repeatedly for worn out and broken parts. When they explain to the customer that there is a huge difference between a lower priced model purchased at the big box store and a upgraded model they might find at a dealer the customer has a hard time understanding.
The big box stores and manufacturers (yes I blame them both!) play some interesting games with the specifications to trick the average Joe. For instance, the two models I致e compared here do not have the same size engine. In fact, the cheaper model has a larger motor, 19.5 HP, while the X300 only has a 17 HP engine. So an unsuspecting customer might stop right there and think the larger motor and cheaper price must mean he痴 getting a better deal. The reality is the bigger motor isn稚 as nice as the smaller motor and the rest of the machine is no where as good quality (plastic parts, thinner metal frames, etc).
When I purchased my X300 the dealer was pretty blunt with me. He said listen, if you want to buy half the machine then we値l sell you one of those or go back down the hill to the orange building and get one. But make sure you save the other $1,400 because you値l need it repairing the cheaper model. I知 no dummy and I know that you get what you pay for so it wasn稚 a hard decision for me.
The bottom line is this, if you see something that seems too good to be true, IT IS! Please understand how these franchises are operating in this country and do your research before you make a major purchase and find yourself unsatisfied later. Secondly, don稚 blame the repair man for the expensive frequent repairs if you choose the cheaper model. I壇 like to say that I believe the blame goes to John Deere and the big box stores for reducing their quality to make a sale. However, I understand that the market place is a tough place to survive.

 

[Mikel1]

I can understand why John Deere and others are in the blue and orange stores. Not sure why a dealer wouldn't want more work to do.
I'm guessing most homeowners don't have a lot of money to spend with everything going up. Not to mention they may not have much grass to cut. It's hard to educate someone to buy a higher quality mower for $3000 when they can buy a $1500 lesser quality mower and cut their grass.
I am leary of dealers(automotive also) because I expect them to try to make a sale even if that means lieing. I have been using my d110 from blue store for over three years, around 162 hours at this time. My father has had a poulan pro rider for three years and he's never changed the oil, still running. My friend just bought a d105 from orange store, we will see how it holds up.

 

[Ric]

I can understand why John Deere and others are in the blue and orange stores. Not sure why a dealer wouldn't want more work to do.
I'm guessing most homeowners don't have a lot of money to spend with everything going up. Not to mention they may not have much grass to cut. It's hard to educate someone to buy a higher quality mower for $3000 when they can buy a $1500 lesser quality mower and cut their grass.
I am leary of dealers(automotive also) because I expect them to try to make a sale even if that means lieing. I have been using my d110 from blue store for over three years, around 162 hours at this time. My father has had a poulan pro rider for three years and he's never changed the oil, still running. My friend just bought a d105 from orange store, we will see how it holds up.

It's all about sales. John Deere isn't the only company that's doing it . You have company's like Husqvarna, MTD, B&S and more that price point there products.

 

[motoman]

This discussion is good, however please present more facts...Thin metal and plastic do not seem , alone, to result in failures that are beyond the home owner. Can we go into the engine and transmission, for instance? And while we're at it someone please crack the code used by consumer reports which shows "reliability." If it is only statistical response from questionnaires sent by the magazine it really does not contribute much (which I suspect).

I was a price point buyer in 2004 when I bought a Craftsman DYT 4000 from Sears. It cost $1800 with Intek 24. I had an engine failure , but after fixing it this machine has supported my needs of mowing 1 acre of grass and weeds, hauling , etc. After the ownership experience I believe Briggs did have a supplier quality problem which allowed bad head material into the assembly line. But frankly I am surprised at how well the transmission and engine have performed since. I did put an oil temp and pressure gauge on the rider which I watch carefully. There is too much badge engineering by the manufacturers without any real improvements in the air cooled units IMO, but if one believes in "market competition" we are getting the best we can get at the "price point."

 

[JBrzoz00]

A few neighbors of mine have nice/large John Deere riders from the dealer and have told me they make "special" models to sell at HD. I would think they prob cut cost with bushings instead of bearings and thinner metal? Maybe engines made somewhere where they just throw them together?

 

[clpolcar]

A few neighbors of mine have nice/large John Deere riders from the dealer and have told me they make "special" models to sell at HD. I would think they prob cut cost with bushings instead of bearings and thinner metal? Maybe engines made somewhere where they just throw them together?

From what I've been told there is no difference in quality. They just buy large quantities so they can cut the cost down for the consumer.

 

[SeniorCitizen]

Do you believe it would be in the best interest of a JD manufacturing plant to re-tool for two different tractors because of where it would be sold. I seriously doubt it.

 

[motoman]

The labor cost of two "identical" mowers could be it. If half parts, half labor and labor in e.g., Vietnam is half US assembly then immediate 25% advantage on price. But unless QC is in place many consumer problems. I had a Nissan jointly produced US/Japan, but in that case little difference in quality or price.

 

[Ric]

Do you believe it would be in the best interest of a JD manufacturing plant to re-tool for two different tractors because of where it would be sold. I seriously doubt it.

Seriously? You really don't think that John Deere and others don't have multiple factories set up to make specific needs for mowers they sell. I mean everything that JD and others make don't all come from the same place or factories. John Deere uses a dozen or more facilities in this country alone to manufacture there stuff, I wouldn't want to hazard a guess as to how many MTD has. They probably don't have to re-tool anything. The thing you have too remember is who your talking about and what there purpose is in the industry and who they target.

 

[SeniorCitizen]

BG20444, you will not find it. You will find the LA105 which is a similar tractor but the BG20444 was manufactured specifically for HD.
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So it's looking as if the JD counter sales need to keep 2 separate sets of books, 1 for each if the parts are actually different. I seriously doubt that happens.