I just purchased a used John Deere F525 (front mower deck, three wheel zero turn), it has a 48" deck. I know the F510 came with a 38" deck. Does anyone know if the F510 38" deck will fit on the F525? I am considering selling my 48" deck and finding a 38" deck since I have some tighter spaces in my yard. thanks, Ken

Scott, I'm not sure about the 235, but my 225 did not come with an hour meter. I had to install it (even though the cutout was there in the frame). Just because it shows less than 100 hours doesn't mean it was installed since new. Also, even if it were, they're pretty easy to replace. While "rolling back" a car's odometer will get you in hot water, I don't think the sheriff cares much about guys selling lawn mowers with bogus hours. That being said, check other things for signs of wear. With less than 100 hours, they should both be in like new condition. The only wear you should see is some paint scraped off the sides of the deck. If you see excessive wear on the tires, pedals, seat, lots of play in the steering, noisy deck bearings, etc, those are some things that might make you question the low hours claim. If you decide that both tractors do in fact have less than 100 hours, and move on from comparing the condition of the tractors to the features of the tractors, it's a no-brainer, the GT is an upgrade. The tractors handle and operate identically, with twin-touch pedals and a manual lift deck. Does the LX have the foot pedal lift? You might prefer than over the hand lever. As far as cutting grass goes, you won't really notice a difference. But if you ever want to branch out from there, the GT235 is a real garden tractor, which is basically a miniature farm tractor. While the LX is one of the more rugged lawn tractors, capable of pushing a snow blade, it's still just a lawn tractor. You'll never use sleeve-hitch attachments (plow, disc harrow, cultivator, planter, blade, box blade, rake) or a tiller (which are cheap on eBay). And if you tow a cart full of firewood, soil, mulch, whatever, you'll need to take it easy on the transmission.

I would look the engine and transmission over good for leaks, small wetness not a big deal, but visable drips especially after you run it a while could be an expensive repair down the road. Other than normal wear areas like wheel attachments bushings, belts, idlers, pulleys, and blades. These are normal wear areas and usually the homeowner can replace them. Boils down to how well you like the machine and you budget.

I own (3rd hand, I got it with 1400 hours for $600 after a recent dealership service job -oil, belt, blades) a JD F525 with about 1600 hours on it. It has operated very well for me, but has recently started leaking oil. It still runs very well. The worst thing about the mower is that the transmission and engine are one unit and that it is very expensive to have rebuilt. I spoke to my dealer and he indicated it would probably be several hundred dollars to find and fix the leak as the engine/transmission would have to be pulled to find the leak. I just top it off before I cut each week and let it leak. Another thing, it has a top speed of about 5mph fwd and 2.5 mph rev. Okay for me, as my ground is a little rough and I couldn't travel much faster without being beat to death. I changed the spindle bearing this year for the first time (ever for two spindles). The bearings are sealed and cannot be greased, but that is pretty good life for sealed bearings.