I know what you are talking about when you say mounting the bumper on the LA120 was a b*tch. I had to use one of those flex cable things with the fingers to fish the bolts in the holes...no way you can get the bolts in place with your hands. Installing the plastic end caps n bumper was not easy either.

duke88, the end caps were actually quick for me as I took a rubber mallet to them right away after seeing how tight the fit would be otherwise. I didn't think of the flex cable, and even if I had, didn't have any on hand. The salesman at HD warned me about the install when I bought the bumper but didn't go into details, just said something along the lines of 'watch out'.

Indeed.

Congrats! Always good to hear from a proud new owner.

So your saying, buy the tractor at a dealer and have them install the bumper pre-delivery?
steve

Congrads on the new LA120.I bought a LA100 this spring and so far all is good.I just bought the front bumper today and ill see shortly how much of a pain it is to put it on.

sadixon, certainly, if you're buying from the dealer for unrelated reasons anyway.

(I think you might have been making a semi-humorous case for buying from the dealer but my answer above is to your question at face value).

BTW, I did want to point out that although the max recommended slope by JD for such tractor is 10 deg and others say 15, the LA120 handles my 15-17 deg with no problem, in fact when I let off the gas totally it went too slow and I had to goose it a bit so it would finish the slope. Maybe the grass being quite dry had some effect on this.

IMO- dealers have their place and without any direct knowledge of their business I am in no position to say much. But there is that suspicion, nonetheless, that SOME of them may denigrate the big-box Deeres (ie, the LA line and its predecessors) so as to narrow down or eliminate the competition which would then leave the stuff that only they sell.

Also if you read a prior post of mine my local dealer may be an exception, as he unhesitatingly recommended the LA120 as well (this a few days after the HD salesman, yes right next to the light bulbs, actually did a better job of describing its usefulness in my situation). Maybe I just got lucky with both places. Did I waste the dealer's time? I don't think so... my first question to him was if he could set me up with a used machine for around $2K. He didn't have any, at which point he addressed the LA120.

I should have added in my OP - I strongly considered Husqvarna as my neighbor is very pelased with his (although its a ZTR).

Lowe's sells both brands, and my local store displayed the 2348 and the LA120 side-by-side, outdoors. I liked both, recognized that the Husky seemed to offer more for the money, and was quite undecided... until I stepped behind the machines.

It was quite a revelation to notice that the Deeres, even the LA100, had a significantly wider rear track than the Husky. I think there is some 5-6 inches difference between the 2348 and the LA120... I am referring to the length of the axle here. A clearly wider stance told me that the center of gravity, ceteris paribus, of the Deere must be lower and to me this was an advantage.

Center of gravity...........now thats a new one.
Do you have a lot of side hills that you are mowing?????

I was trying to put a little humor in my post. But I am certainly looking at lawn tractors, and the JD LA120 is pretty hi on my list. I will probably have my local dealer install the bumper when he sets the machine up, if I get one. Thanks for the heads up.
steve

I have a few side hills although their width is minor. Surely width of track is an important factor on hillsides, which yes I know to avoid, but in my situation a little bit is more or less unavoidable.

I will also say this, although I chide myself for my own shallowness of it... the JD machines' looks, in my eyes, completely blow away anything else I viewed, including Husky (nice but a little too macho), Toro (plain-Jane), CC (close, esp that zero-turn tractor) or Craftsman (barf). It goes beyond paint, although that is certainly a big factor... the styling, curves, proportions, etc. Sort of like a Corvette among Camaros, if you get my drift. Certainly no offense to owners of other brands... I'm just showing off here!

I installed the front bumper today.It was much easier to install once i removed the heatshield protecting the muffler.The shield is removed by unscrewing two hex bolts.Couldnt use a socket wrench!Had to use an open end wrench to install the bumper because of not enough space between the muffler and the hex nut.Id say it took about half an hour to install.

I saw the front bumper attachment at Lowes one day, and I thought to myself, why buy the bumper? To me it seems like it would be like adding a tape stripe to a car, it does nothing but cost extra $$$. Your opinions?

The bumper may just save buying a new grille and or hood if you happen to run into something. I told the JD dealer to throw in a bumper on the deal when I bought my LA120 and they did , but I had to install it.

Absolutely agree w/duke88. That pretty front fascia is all plastic... one misturn into a fence or whatever and it's bye-bye to around at least $300.

There is a double-bar bumper that protects upper and lower but at twice the price and unknown availability I went with the single.

After all the posts here about how hard it was to get the bumper attached I thought I would share a tip that worked for me.

Put the left hand side bolts in first... while tight you can get your fingers in there barely. For the other side I took a small screw and attached it to a long piece of thread... I then pushed the screw through the holes from the outside and let it drop down... remove small screw and tie thread to the bolt. Pull up on the thread carefully and with a little patience it will pull into the hole and be ready to accept the nut.

The width of the axle has nothing to do with the center of gravity . . . . however, so long as the center of gravity is kept between the tires on a slope, the machine won't tip over, so a wider axle DOES make it more stable on a slope

The easiest way to alter the center of gravity for a lawn tractor is for the operator to go on a diet ;-)

Don

"The easiest way to alter the center of gravity for a lawn tractor is for the operator to go on a diet"

umm.... that' ain't easy at all.... what's easier is to convert your tractor to a "low rider"!

Well... there are these couple of areas which are pretty steep, so I have not eaten for two days now and also removed the seat from the tractor and will sit directly on... er, between the springs. Am also looking into 8" lo-profile wheels for the rears. Any other ideas to lower this ride? Will some purple flashing lights and spinning wheel covers help?

You could take the seat off and attach a sulky behind it.

New JD LA 120. Took delivery 2 hrs ago, from my local dealer. Wife took it away from me after 10 min. and now she's still mowing. We cut 6 acres. but only 1.5 to 2 with lawn tractor. The rest is field grass and weeds where we use the bushhog. I have cut around the house with a 1969 JD 112 for years and years. Now it needs to retire and look pretty. Thanks to all for this thread, I've enjoyed the discussion and will provide some feedback of my own if she'll let me have some seat time!