John Deere X300 Mulching Mower

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• I'm thinking of buying a year-old X300 with the 42" dedicated mulching deck, and I'm encouraged by this post. But I'm also worried that it might not perform as well when the grass is a little higher than normal. I'm afraid I'll regret not having the ability to convert to side-discharge or bagging in those situations. Are my fears warranted? How does it perform when rain or a busy schedule doesn't let you mow right on time?

  • I have the x300 with about 17 hours on it now. I had the LX178 prior to this - and the engine was going strong after 850 hours.

    The 42" mulching deck is not as good as the 38" on my old unit.
    It does not mow taller (fine) grass well. The old mower would leave clumps, this one just pushes the grass over. I would rather have cut grass than have to mow twice to get an even cut.

    It also does not do well on turns - leaves a strip of long grass in the middle.

    This one is going back for a transmission issue - it drifts and just runs away on a hill. The brakes also grab.

• This is an amazing mower. I've even mowed through some pretty tall stuff. But you do have the ability to take off a side shoot cover to let it bypass. I haven't had to do that yet but I know it's fairly easy to do. Best of luck and in my opinion the mower is top notch!

• I'm thinking of getting this mower, but I'm not too sure if it's suitable for a yard that's about 0.25 acres with some slopes. What do you think?

• It's more than enough mower...maybe a bit large for a small yard. I mow about 1.25 acres with mine.

• Addendum to my last post: My yard is a really big yard. When we bought the house it had an above ground pool, but we eventually removed it, which has left us with more space. My wife and tried to measure it using a tape measure, and I don't think that it's anywhere close to 0.25 acres which is what we roughly came up with. Perhaps it's more like 0.35 acres or possibly a little more. I didn't want to go with the 'L' series as I've heard that it's somewhat of an inferior machine. I wanted to go with the 'X' series, not only because of the rating that Consumer Reports gave it, but also because of the many positive comments that people have said about it on the web. At present, I have a walk-behind mower, and it takes me roughly 3-4 hours to mow the entire yard - front and back, and a little longer, if I bag the clippings. Someone said that if it takes me that long to mow the yard, then I should definitely get this riding mower. What do you think? I'm also afraid that, with my yard being fenced, I would have trouble mowing around the corners with the X300. I don’t have any obstacles in the back or front of the yard. I only have a shed in the back corner of the yard, and a tree on either side of the front of the yard/house. How is the mower when it comes to that cutting the corners of the fence? Also, someone told me that I can use this mower to aid with picking up leaves which I have lots of come fall with the medium sized white oak I have in the front. Is it good at sucking up leaves if I were to get the bagging kit? Also, if I get this mower, should I also invest in the John Deere maintenance plan? Your thoughts, advice, and information is, of course, very appreciated. Thanks.

• Wow...lots of questions. If you want a really good mower the X series is definitely going to give you that. One of the great features of this mower is it's really tight turning radius (16" I believe). I have no experience using a bagger so I can't help you with the leaf questions. I still think this mower might be a tad large for your yard, but if you want quality than this is the mower for you. I'd really go to a John Deere place and have them help you pick the right mower. I did that and I've been pleased with their recommendation. I didn't get the service plan as I plan on changing the oil myself.

• Todd, I took your advice and bought an X300 w/mulch deck PLUS the 44in. snow blower. It wasn't cheap. I'm counting on it doing the job on my long driveways during our long Ohio winters and hoping it will last a long time. From the reports I've read, it will.

• Let me know how the snow blower works.....I'd love to have one for my mower as well.

• I recently purchased a John Deere X300 and have been nothing short of amazed. It does get kind of hot in Ga so I may get the sunshade and am considering the mulch option.
  This is a very nice smooth cutting machine. My John Deere dealer (not Lowes or Home Depot) set my mower to accomplish the needs I had for the appearance of my lawn and wa right on the money. Spend the extra money and avoid the 100 series all together. Yoy will not be dissapointed.
  Ben

• I had a John Deere mulcher mower about 10 years ago but was very disapointed with it because I kept breaking the timing belt for the blades. I ran over a tennis ball once and broke the belt! Do the present mulcher mowers still have this problem?

  • @ Tom - I've owned my mulching mower now for 3 seasons and it runs like a champ! I'd buy another one in a heart beat!