According to the Title, This is a Lawn Mower Forum. I canÂt speak for the other contributors. but I associate my Lawn Tractors and any other Lawn Tractors as Lawn Mowers. To me, a tractor is something I use to mow, condition, bail and feed hay, pull wagons, grind feed, and a multiple of other farm chores. In keeping with this association, I feel that this "Is DEFINITELY" an appropriate place to discuss Lawn Tractors. If those of you who contribute to this forum disagree with my thoughts, maybe it would be a good idea for us to come with some sort of agreement as to what really qualifies as a "Lawn Mower." Bill

5 years ago, I bought a new JD L110 with a 17.5 hp Kohler engine and a 42" mulching deck for about $1750 from a JD Dealer to cut my 1.5 acre up hill bumpy lawn with a septic field up top. I got it because Consumer Reports had said that it was the best all-around for the dollar. It worked great with a beautiful cut until the septic field and a contractors fertilizing made the grass so tough, the engine bogged down as if it was gonna stall, especially over the septic field, and really bad if I missed a week due to rain. By the way I threw away the $200 double bag grass catcher because I got tired of getting off the tractor and dumping them every 7.5 minutes. I went to a Kubota dealer to find out what a real tractor was and how I couldnÂt afford one, but some farmer had traded in his JD G110 w/ a 25 hp Kohler engine and a 54" mowing deck I bought it used, with no warranty for $2000, and at first was happier the way it had no problems with the thickness of the lawn. It also carried my over 300 lb. body uphill and cut much faster in that it turned my 1 hour and fifteen minute weekly task into about 50 minutes. The blue smoke the used G110 was blowing when I test drove it was to mean later that I had to put about 3 to 4 hundred dollars into it for repair, and apparently, I was lucky, because it could have been much worse! It seemed the farmer, believe it or not, didn't change the oil much. But the main problem was that with the 54" deck it had did not cut the grass as nice as the smaller 42" deck with the rounded mulching platform. It made "Wind Rows" that did not seem to go away even after going back over it again, because my grass grew so fast or something. A salesman told me I may have to cut it twice a week (NO WAY). So, bottom line, it was taking longer to get the grass cut with a 54" deck than with the earlier 42" deck; almost twice as long and it STILL didnÂt look as nice as before! I added a mulching kit to it, installed by the dealer, even after their warning that I may get clumping. I did get clumping, and my wife never lets me hear the end of itÂ..The tension spring on the belt/pulley system broke 2 weeks ago and I went to the dealerÂs parts dept. and bought another one for $6 because their Spring back-log for repairs was over 2 weeks wait. I spent about 3 hours getting it on the deck. This new spring worked for two mowings and broke. Now, with rain, I have monster grass and no way to mow it. My wife almost bought a $2000 Cub Cadet at a box store out of desperation yesterday just to get the grass cut. So now, 5 years into this monster lawn, and two JDÂs later, we are looking at our 3rd one, an X300 or X304, to solve my weekly woes on this lumpy lawn. Oh yeah, by the way, when it was graded, the man did not do a very smooth job and my back and I wish my tractor had shock absorbers, but we can not afford the Kubota, or a real John Deere. I will probably trade in the G110 for a X304 next weekend, and peeve that I am trading down from a 25 hp Kohler w/ 54" deck to a 22 hp Kohler w/ a 48" deck, albeit in the new "stronger" X Series, but my wife wonÂt mind, because there will be no more "Wind Rows" and clumping (HOPEFULLY!). She doesnÂt have to do itÂ.she naps on the couch while I mow! I guess sheÂll nap a little longer, because I will be out there a little longer now. I hope the clumping and rows go away then, and I really hope to have less annoying repairs. I imagine, though, that they all use the same spring. Wish me luck if you have no good advice I can use.

actually i have idea what a camshaft or a camgear is. i thought they were just the same thing. now you can see i will never be the mechanic to maintein the JD properly. I followed everyone's advice here and accepted the 1999 JD 425 offer. It does NOT come with any attachment. It is used by a homeowner (sole owner) strictly for cutting grass in the past 10 years. i guess that explained the low hour of usage on the engine. i will arrange a pickup as soon as possible with the seller and will report back after that. hopefully it will go through smoothly this time. njrookie

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.