So do enlighten us - what is so great about this tractor?

I mowed my FIL's 1-acre lawn with his new (last year) JD X300R. The big plusses to me are the ability to mow edges close on both sides instead of having to maneuver the mower around CCW to get closer to those trees, etc. And of course you get a much narrower unit when parking it in the shed, saving a decent amount of room. I think it's a little longer than a side discharge bagger, however. And finally, you just back it up to your dump location and pull the lever to open the spring-loaded clamshell style hopper to dump. You do still have to ger off the tractor to close it back up as I remember. Otherwise, it was a nice handling lawn tractor with a smooth and quiet Kawasaki motor. The back-up safety controls were a pain tho. I think he finally disabled them.

only thing i can say is this is NOT a "garden" tractor, this is a LAWN tractor. the 500 series are for ground engaging.

but the idea of rear discharge is neat. i know it is the norm in europe and rare here. I don't like bagging and require ground engaging, or i might have looked at it myself.

The reason dealers are a little gun shy is that the previous rear discharge tractor (LTR166/LTR180) didn't perform that well. The X300R with the integral blower fan on the deck solves that.

Trimming on both sides is awesome, and the ability to dump the hopper from the seat are also great. Downsides are a more complex transmission belt routing and you need to have a property where you can drive to a spot and dump your hopper.

My wife mows about an acre twice a week with a LTR166. We bought it used with about 20 hours on it.
The day we acquired it I adjusted the deck height, re-timed the blade timing belt, re-sharpened the blades, adjusted the backup safety switch out of play, and generally gave it a good going over.
The grass catcher didn't work quite right so I took a look at it and whoever assembled it didn't have a clue. I re-built it correctly and it has been working great for over a year now.
The few times I have mowed with it I can dump the grass without stopping. My wife usually stops and pops the hopper, then drives away from the grass pile closing the hopper on the way back to the lawn.
We don't have a problem with a place to dump the clippings, there is 16 acres that we don't mow next to the lawn.
IMO the LTR166 works fine if it is set up properly from the start. If the X300R works half as good then it will be a good mower.

No slight intented, just MHO

1) Rear discharge mowers have been around since the 1960's

2) I am shocked so many are still bagging. Never made sense to me, but now that the decks are specifically designed for mulching and the healthy aspects for the lawn are so well known it perplexes me.

If you are going to back I have to admit this tractor sounds rather nice.

fantastic machine. bought mine 3 years ago.havent had to rake a leaf or twig yet--picks up everything.neighbor across the road saw mine and bought one the next day

As Wheelhosre of coarse said about the rear discharge bagging technology That would have been from two companies Bolens and Gilson that are now extinct for all intence purposes.

The 1st lawn tractor (Scotts by NOMA) I owned (came with my house) had 2 rear baggers and it was a PITA dumping clippings. I purchased a mulching kit for it and never looked back. I'm with wheelhorse of course in regards to not understanding why anyone would still bag clippings. They are very beneficial to your lawn and if your mulcher works properly, the clippings are very fine, breakdown quickly and can't be seen. Plus you don't have to handle them!

I mulch mow with 60 inch dixie chopper 4 years soil turning black rich now lawn looks good grows slower thicker someday I want haveto mow lol. Another way stop lawn weed&feed but not going that route. I saw cub cadet ztr at dealer it was rear discharge. I have sears lawn sweeper that has not been used in 7 years I found use for it 3 years ago I use it keep me other people from running over small pecan tree. I use bag as carpet mulch as move around tree.

"I'm with wheelhorse of course in regards to not understanding why anyone would still bag clippings."

What's good for one person may not necessarily work for another. In my case, I get a significant amount of tree trash from my big cottonwoods and I don't want all those leaves, sticks, cotton pods, etc. accumulating on my turf. Also, to mulch you have to keep up with he growth of your lawn. If it gets much more than 3-in. long you'll have clumping problems with a mulcher in many cases (not my experience, just what I've read). So again, that wouldn't work for me.

Hi, I purchased my X300R 3 years ago, Now the start of my 3rd season. I just turned 75hr on the machine, I have about a 3/4 acre lot with wooded area on one side to dump lawn clippings & leaves which I compost. I too like the rear discharge for the same reasons already stated, I do not use the bagger all the time, I remove it & install the deflector, I don't think I'll go back to a side discharge, The machine has never plugged on me and is tops for cleaning up leaves I have alot of trees.
Glenn

Of course you can enjoy the spoils of a rear discharge mower with the same old garden tractor. Last year I bought a Piranha 44M rear discharge mulch mower for my Deere GT225. It allows you to trim on both sides, and has six blades which turn the grass clippings into confetti. But the main reason I bought it is because of my allergies. It keeps the dust down low and between the rear tires, rather than spewing it out the side so every time you turn perpendicular to the wind you get a lungfull. A rear bagger would be nice, but if I need to bag, I just throw on the original 42C deck with the 7 bushel collection system. I can cut on both sides with it as well (but it throws out the dust like a combine).

On bagging vs mulching, in my second season of not bagging, one thing I've noticed is the nutsedge, which is usually a temporary problem grass before the Bermuda wakes up, has completely covered my back yard. I don't know if mulching the seeds into the soil last year contributed to this or what, but it was never an issue when I bagged and dumped it along the treeline. I just treated it; should be gone in two weeks.

A rear collection system would be a nice attachment to hang behind the wheels, but I think I can live without it. Let's not forget the other reason we have garden tractors:

Ground engagement, anyone?

{{gwi:334588}}

Here is a link that might be useful: GT225 with 44M

I live in Atlanta and had planted Emerald Zoysia and hired a lawn service to mow (no bagging). 2nd year I was having dead spots and county extension agent showed me how the thatch buildup was killing the grass. I had no idea how fast the thatch builds up with Zoysia. His recommendation was to de-thatch, aerate and bag the grass. I've had the side discharge big box mowers before and not really happy with them. I ended up with the X300R and love it. It feels compact enough when I'm mowing that I can manuever really well but it is a big powerful mower that cuts my 1 acre in around 45 minutes. The best part is that I just drive over to my compost area and drop the bagged grass. Not having to get off the mower and empty the bags is great. I just pull on the side handle and the grass drops out the bottom. Why nobody else hasn't thought of the idea is beyond me. Its simple and easy to use. It has a 22" turn radius. The best part is that its fun to mow the yard again. My wife was hesitant to try it out but loves it. Its a great mower.

A nice vid of the x300r

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzNDBYYSBUA