Today I learned an expensive lesson about choosing the correct replacement blades for a John Deere X300 mulching mower. I own a John Deere X300 with a 42″ mowing deck. You can actually buy this machine with two different decks apparently, a regular 42″ deck or a 42″ mulching deck. All this time I thought I had the 42″ mulching deck, but thats because I have the regular deck with the mulching kit.
So if you’re looking to buy new blades for your John Deere X300 mower then you need to be careful which deck you actually have. The following is what you need:
Needless to say I’m not happy that I own these extra blades (One is actually the blade I need so it will be a good spare) but it’s my own darn fault. Hopefully this article will help others order the correct blades the first time!
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I hate it when something like this happens... especially if its something not easily returnable. We've been making due with sharpening our existing blades for now, but eventually I'm going to spring for a new one for the mulching mower. Ended up bagging today cause I let it grow too long.
But, our grass is looking real nice for the first time in this house.
I'm sure this post will be some help to folks looking for it.
Keep up the good work, Todd!
I have the X300, which I purchased as a "mulching mower," but I don't know which deck I have. How do you determine this? I suspect mine is a kit unit also, since it does have a rubber discharge chute (apparently useless with the mulcher).
-dan z-
@ Dan - Z, The only sure fire way to know is to remove the blades. if both blades are a "RIGHT" then you have the kit. If one blade is RIGHT and one is LEFT then I believe you have the mulching deck. My deck has a black plastic cover over the normal chute.
The dedicated mulching deck does not have any discharge chute. If your deck has a rubber discharge chute it is not a mulching deck but a standard 42" deck that utilizes an optional mulching kit for the purpose of mulching.
John
John - Thanks for pointing that detail out.
I have an x300 as well, I bought it in June 2008. It is the mulching mower; it has a decal on the top left side of the deck that says: "the Edge mulch cutting system 42"". I took the deck off of it today and removed the 2 blades...and yes as mentioned before, each blade is labeled "left" and "right". It took me about 20 minutes with a metal file to smooth out the bevel of each blade, removing the nicks and gashes (the left blade was quite a bit more gashed-up than the right blade). By the looks of the blades, I'll probably be able to keep them sharpened by hand for a couple more seasons before its time to actually purchase new replacement blades.
Mayy dose the washer go crown up or down on x300 when replaceing blades