There are lines of CC that go up from the entry level box store stuff.

The box store CC models are in the 1000 lawn tractor class while CC dealers offer the 2000 and 3000 series which are garden tractors with shaft drive and ground engaging capability.

The trans in the JD X300 is only serviceable in the respect that it can be removed and replaced. You can not change the oil or filter in the trans in the JD X300.

It always pays to look at everything available at your price point before making a decision.

OP - the x300 is a glorified, expensive lawn tractor only... not capable of handling ground engagement attachments.

suggest you think out what you really need/want...and then do some serious shopping around. Here's some old advice on the subj that still applies:

Re-post of Slammer's Rules...

1. Carefully evaluate the size mower you need and buy at least one size larger.

2. NEVER buy a mower from ANYPLACE that will not let you test drive it or at least a similar model. Ergonomics are just as important as performance and capability.
(Vitally important!)

3. DO NOT base your purchase on price or brand name alone! Do proper research and find all of the available models that fit your criteria and haggle, save, or trade to get the right equipment for the job. Do not compromise!

If you follow these three tips you will end up a happy camper with just the right unit for the job. If you disregard this advice your gonna end up with One or the other of the following problems:

A. Buyers remorse. Stuck with a piece of junk or simply a unit inadequate for the task at hand.

Or..

B. A teed off spouse when you start shopping for another tractor just 3 - 6 months down the road because you didn't buy the right unit in the first place.

Now go forth and shop and try and have fun!

In My opinion The Best Box store Lawn Tractors are the Cub Cadet 1000 series They are also a Dealers series as well They are all built on a 9 gauge frame and all but the the LTX 1040 feature a serviceable Hydrostatic transmission meaning the Hydro fuild can be changed The LX1040 is a dual belt CVT trans which the Oil can be Changed in as well. The only X300 series that has a servicable trans is the X360 which has a K58 with a oil filter The JD LA100 series all but the The LA 165 and LA175 have a Tuff-Torq T40 Trans while the LA165 & 175 Have a Tuff-Torq K46. Which you will find in the JD X300 and X304 The Deere X320,X324 &X340 have a K58 Trans. The K46 and K58(non X360) the oil can be changed in But you have to remove the trans from the tractor to do it. It cannot be done with Trans in tractor Like The Cub Cadet 1000 series or the JD X360 and above. The CC 2000 series actually does not exsist any more it is now the 2500 series In the past when they had both 2000 series and the 25000 series some 2000 series GT's & LTs could be bought Through Lowes or Farm and Fleet as well. The 2000 series sold in box stored has a Servicable aluminum Trans and shaft drive Where the 2500 series always had a Cast iron servicable trans and shaft drive.

To Compare the JD X300 and Cub Cadet 1000 series Excluding AWS models and some of the Cub Cadet models with 46inch decks.

X300 w/42inch deck $2,999 Compares to the CC LTX1042 $1,799 sale price $1,649
X320 W/48inch deck $4,099 Comapres to the CC SLTX 1050 w/50inch deck $2,499 Sale price $2,199
X340 W/54inch deck $4,479 Compares to the CC SLTX 1054 $2,849 Sale price $2,599
X360 w/48inch deck $5,099 Does not compare to any other tractor out there on the Market. Because it has Power steering and Hydraulic lift.

That being said I own Deere and Cub Cadet,White,Simplcity and Ingersoll made machines. If I where to buy a Lawn Tractor from A Box store it would be a Cub Cadet over a Deere. If I were to buy a Dealer Exclusive Lawn Tractor Brand it would be either Deere or Simplicity or its Clones over a Cub Cadet. Not comparing Garden tractors just Lawn Tractors.

Because in the Mid Level Garden tractors That being the Deere X500 series,Simplicity Conquest/Prestige or Cub Cadet 2500 series that would be a Tuff Choice. In the top of the Line Garden tractors it would Be between Deere and Simplicity for Me JD (X700)& Simplicity Leagacy XL Though Cub Does have the 3000 series it would really be out of the running in that Department for me. Well good luck in your tractor shearch.

Thanks for the great postings and help. I just got back from a CC dealer and really like the Cadet 2500 series. The GT 2542 with shaft drive and cast iron serviceable transmission does not seem like a bad deal for 3499. Also looked at the GT 2544.

I have owned both a Cub 2155 and a Deere GT225. The Cub was purchased new in 1999 and the Deere is a 1999 model aslo. Both have a 42" deck and 15HP Kohler engine.

I traded the Cub last year with a guy who had a 2 month old Deere 36" commercial walk behind that was 1K less than new. I went with this because my lot configuration was such that with all the dips and turns on hills I never got an even cut from the Cub. I hated the idea of selling at the time because I loved that mower so much with it's robust construction and the shaft drive. However, the Deere walk behind cut grass so even and smooth that my lawn looked like night and day compared to the Cub tractor.

Here's where it gets interesting. Over the winter I discovered what's known as a Johnny Bucket and yearned for one of those, but I didn't have my tractor anymore, so I bought a Deere GT225 used a few months back. I put new blades on it and leveled the deck per the owners manual. The cut quality on that machine is AMAZING...I would say it's 90-95% of the walkbehind mower...it follows all of the lawn's contours and the dips so well that I am seriously thinking of selling the Deere walkbehind and staying with the GT225. It is also much more manueverable than my same vintage Cub ever was. Deck installtion is MUCH easier than it ever was with the Cub.

I had been a Cub fan for over 20 years. Previously, I always thought Deere was an over-priced yuppie machine. Now that I own 2, I'll never go back to Cub. IMHO, the difference is in the engineering.

Tha being said, go with what you like and can afford. One thought for you is a used GT225 like mine. Expect to pay $1500-2000 depending on age and condition - about the same as an L series Deere. While you won't get a warranty and it may have a few scratches, you will get a rugged GARDEN tractor with a fully servicable transmission to boot. While not shaft drive, unless you have massive hills to climb, you probably won't notice the difference.

I was just discussing this with a guy yesterday who will be replacing his Deere w/ a Freedom mulching deck. With him, he really wanted to mulch most of the time. By us, the grass hasn't really dried out at all this year- which made that Freedom deck a star- even though it came w/ an occaisional timing belt replacement. The new style Deere mulch deck works well too in these conditions. I don't know of anything else that compares to these. What they don't tell you is the price of the 2 sided belt. Moral of the story: have to look at the whole machine including deck function, maintenance etc for what is right for you.

I was also a Cub fan.I have always had a John Deere and in 2003 I decided to buy a Cub Cadet 2166 new as a second tractor.We mow with 2 machines and at that time it was a LX277 and the Cub Cadet 2166.The Cub Cadet had the servicable trans same as in the 2500 series of today.It was the first servicable transaxel I ever had and the only one that gave me any problems.It worked OK and I changed the fluid and filter as the manual said.But that transaxel leaked a little oil from day one.Not a lot but sitting in my shed it always had a little leak on the floor.I mentioned it to the dealer and my response was they all do that.He said he would take it apart and try to get it stoped.But he said he knew it would do the same thing.

Also the deck was a shallow deck not much depth and always had a few blades of grass uncut.Never thought anything about it unless it mowed side by side with the John Deere and then it bothered me.

It did not handle like a John Deere.I always let my wife run it and kept her in the dark about how much nicer the John Deere was to operate.

Last year I traded the Cub Cadet for a X320 John Deere and now my wife runs the LX277 John Deere.She said its like going from a Chevy Cavalier to a Cadilac.I knew that all along and thats why I kept her off the John Deere until we upgraded.

Its John Deere for us now and no going back.

Deere line is sure nice, but I have found the two separate dealers very lacking in knowledge of their product. One bascially said they sell so well a lot of people do not ask such technical questions (questions about eaxtly what tranny and is it serviceable). I suppose that says a lot about its name, but not about their training of sales staff. Their equivelent to the CC GT2500 series is the X500. For my price there is a point that the cost of yard work would seriously impact my ability to do the things I really like doing. Still very open and learning.

However, I just got back from the new house, (close on it next week) and it really seems there are more obstacles than I remember. Thinking about between the X304 with four wheel sterring or the ZTT50 tractor zero turn. Want to be able to push a little snow and pull a cart with mulch and light wood loads. Thats why was looking at a GT.

Wait 'till you close on the house and then demo equipment on your lot...do not buy anything that you can't try at your place...try a few different machines - they all have good points and bad points - buy the one that has the most good points for you, feels good, and is in your budget.

I could not find any other tractor on the market to compare to my X534 with 54" with predators, and I must stress for the price . I field tested Kabota, and Cubs ,the last machine was Deere. Mow quality is as good as the lx176 with TriCycler which was the best mulcher out there at the time and still is. To mulch is to cut often every 3 days is crazy 5 is bad enough .Everyone on the market has a mulcher a hunk of plastic under a mower is a trap for grass.

I moved in and have been walking the property. I fear the 2542 Cub might not be ideal with its larger turning radius with all the obstacles. I do have a lot of large trees and a few areas I will certainly need to back out of. Also, I am going to be hauling some cart loads and fear the tranny in the x300 might not be ideal either. I really wish the x304 still had the upgraded tranny that it did a few years back. I think $4000 is my absolute max. The Deere dealer in town does not offer trials at your property for residential consumers.

You don't really say what type of cutting you wish to do- IE mulching,bagging discharging also what is your property like and how much lawn you will be cutting. If you are cutting an average, relatively level lawn - the "non servicable" transaxle would not be a deal breaker for me. Moving lots of heavy loads, getting into more major landscaping and needing to use other attachments would indicate the need for more of a garden tractor. Buying a tractor is like buying anything else. Everything now days is so feature intensive, tractors certainly no exception. What really matters is identifying your needs best you can, deciding if those needs can be met with a single purchace.Looking at that new yard and thicking of bigger projects? If you are, consider renting equipment say for a larger landscaping project.

virginiacowboy--Something your Deere dealer also hasn't told you is he does have a 30 Day Promise. This is a Deere program that you can use "once." You can get your money back, buy a different model, or just return for no reason at all. The Deere dealer gets monies from Deere if you return your mower to them. They have to fill out a form and return it to Deere via computer.

Thanks, I am mowing a flat half acre of grass with just one small incline. I would like to push snow in the winter, which is usually not too bad before this last year. Also have to pull a cart with the very large pile of branches left in my back boundary, but those loads should not be too bad. With the many trees the JD dealer was recommending a bagger for the fall leaves. It is depressing to me what one gets for his money this days.

It sounds like you mow less than I do.You are right everything is over priced and then some. If you push snow a x series is absolutely minimal I passed over the 300s I thought my lx was a bit more robust . I serviced the tranny on that every 4 years or 200 hrs. It is 18 years old and still running , ask the dealer for left over tractors for model years my model isnt so popular so they had an 08 saved 600 bucks. You might also want to look at used but be careful.

Having a smaller lawn gives you the advantage of going with a convertable twin blade deckto do it's chores. Have you pushed snow with a blade before?

Oh yeah. At my former property, I pushed a lot of snow with a Gravelly 18G. It had more of a snow plow than a blade. Awesome machine but it stayed with the property. Nothing else I tried could handle the slopes that yard had, but it would be way over kill for this place.

fcarp63,
How do you like the johnny bucket setup on your GT225? I've been on the fence about buying one of those for years, and now that I'm a week out from returning home from Afghanistan, I think a johnny bucket and a hayes electric sleeve hitch may be in my future. After living in a desert wasteland for nearly 9 months, I'm pretty excited to get home and do some landscaping work (and other things).

tomplum,
You should tell your buddy about the piranha deck if he's considering a freedom. Do the search on the bottom of the page and you'll see the writeup I did about mine. It's a pretty amazing upgrade, and simpler than the counter-rotating freedom deck.

virginacowboy,
I can't say enough about the Deere garden tractors. My GT225 is by no means too big for my 2/3 acre, but when it comes to gardening chores, or pulling, it's a tank. I've pulled my 10 cu ft cart heaped over with sand uphill with no problem at all. Consider one thing when buying a mower: even on a 1/2 acre lot you'll benefit from a 48" deck, since it shrinks your uncut radius slightly and allows you to cut up close to things better than a 42". I think most salesmen would tell you that for a 1/2 acre all you need is a 42", but I would disagree. I have a 44" mulching deck on my GT225 and a 48" deck on my GT262 which is a backup workhorse on my father's property. I was not really happy with the original 42C my GT225 came with, mainly because the deck is no wider than the wheels (on the wide setting) which makes it tough to trim up against my landscaping.

Nice point about the 48 inch deck. The John Deere garden tractors are awesome. I do prefer to buy new and have the four year warranty. I just dont think I can justify the X500. What is the 300 series with the tranny upgrade from the K46? I guess a X360?

The strange thing of the people I talk to w/ JD baggers- is it seems to be a love / hate thing. A 3 bladed deck changes the rules in several directions. On another note, I have several people that have a LTR166 and really like the bagging and chute mode too. They can be a bugger for some things to work on tho. Only one w/ the X300 R Haven't had much other than PM on this one though. I've not had the pleasure of working on a piranna deck. I read the review of Marineguy's- also saw mentioned that they didn't work well in the wet- which is where i live.

Marineguy:

I don't have the Johnnybucket yet. The plan was to get in in August for some work this fall, but the bad news is that finances are such that it won't happen this year.

The good news is that it gives me something to look forward to over the winter...I expect to order it in March 2011 so that I'll have a new toy (er, tool) for next spring.

I have yet to read anything negative about it. The only issue I can see is the lift height isn't that high, but you can still do quite a bit with it. Sure beats loading a trailer of topsoil or stone by hand, dumping it and then spreading it by hand.