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More expensive 2008 X304 = downgrade from 2007 X304?

16 years ago

Is this a misprint? John Deere's website shows that the current (2008) X304 lawn tractor is equipped with a K46 transmission. Last year's X304 came with the K58, which was one of the big reasons (besides AWS) that people favored the X304 over the X300 in the first place (beefier trans). This year's model is actually more expensive, but has the cheaper transmission. Where's the beef? And why would JD do that?

Does the 2008 X304 have other features and content that justify the higher price of the 2007 model? Or did it just get more expensive because of the price of steel/fuel/labor/clearcoat protectant?

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Comments (4)

metal
16 years ago
See Thread Below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Thread about X304 Tranny Change
bmwbig6
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks, I also encountered that thread in the archive. It doesn't get to the bottom of why JD made the change. Was it purely a marketing/business decision? Because when you read posts on here from a year ago, everyone was saying "well the AWS demands the higher-rated transmission" and now I guess that theory is debunked.
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A very belated congrats on the new ride. Sadly your pix pulled on the ol' heart strings a bit as I'm attempting to trade in my beloved '06 X304 (bagger, mulch kit). The upside is that I'm after a '08 X534. I was hell bent on a zero turn, however, I fell butt first over a X304 at the local dealer while picking up a part for a snowblower (another sad story) and after a 2 minute test drive I was hooked. I was one that compromised and hoped the X304 would be all I really needed but what I couldn't know was that I would end up using it for a heck of a lot more than just mowing my yard making the X304 ever so slightly undersized. So, as soon as I finish this missive, I'm off to the dealer to get his final numbers and if everything goes as planned, I'll be in debt up to my eyeballs, awaiting the arrival of a X534 48" deck, mulch kit, front blowout baffle kit, snowblower (couldn't fix the old Honda as it was too old) with weights and tire chains. I will seriously miss my X304. She was my "first" mower and would recommend very highly to anyone with an interest. I learned much wading through all the info and I too would like to say thanks to all.
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bmwbig6
Original Author
16 years ago
Funny, the dealer just told me that the X304 transmission is still the same and hasn't changed.
pavshaus
16 years ago
The X304 2007 and 2008 trannys are most definitely not the same. Someone could provide facts I suppose to show they are similar as I cannot find that specific information readily available anywhere. (k46c vs. k58b-these were the designations I recall seeing on the two sitting at a dealer local to me when comparing the trans on the 07 to 08 models.

As to what the dealer says, the first JD dealer I went to stated the Tranny on both the 08 X300 and X308 was a K51!? I later checked the Deere site and of course found that they were in fact K46 models. I advised him of this fact the next day and he just said "oh are they, guess I was wrong." Only point being is that not all JD dealers are not as good a source of information as we would like them to be.

PS- I just purchased the 07 model new off the floor of a local dealer so there are still out there to be had. So I got the K58 tranny and a good deal to boot! Also after calling around it did seem to me that the dealers are not yet aware of the tranny change. Only one even had a fellow there who had even read about the change on this forum which is how he found out about it-not through Deere.

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