You can find used engines either on craigslist, LT junk yards, Flea markets, or ebay. I see them every now and then. Don't have to be that exact model if you have skills? If not better get the exact same one for easy installation. Expect to pay at least $300 to $500 for good one and probably as mowie said grand or more for new one. Now the next question is it worth it to you to spend that much on LT got 800 hours? Me if I had freeby engine laying around would be the only reason I would fix it. but that's me.

Congratulations on the new X300. As closely as I can tell,you can get a bad machine from any brand...lawn tractor,car or ice cream maker. ANY manufactured product,whether man or machine assembled,could die out of the box,or run flawlessly for years. I,too,took delivery of an X300 this morning. I studied and conversed for weeks,trying to decide what to do. My decision was made because the JD sales guy was super,and I got one year same as cash from JD. ONLY time will tell if it was a good buy. On my street,there are 5 JD's,2 Craftsman,1 Cadet,1 Husky:ALL are working well. Please don't take this green vs orange vs red too seriously. For goodness sake,it's a lawnmower. Take care of it and it should be fine. Thanks to all of you,most of your posts were helpful,and I appreciate your thoughts.

It's not that I *like* any particular engine, my point was simply that no engine manufacturer should warranty an "engine failure" unless it was a real failure. Warranties only cover defects in materials and workmanship, and are not a "get out of jail free card" that covers anything and everything just because a product is still in the warranty period. I have people ask me to cover "failures" all the time. Engines run low on oil, with the wrong type of oil, engines run out of level for hours at a time, engines run in dirty environments resulting in the shrouding becoming completely clogged with debris cutting off airflow, etc. etc. Warranties need to be thought of as a contract between the consumer and the manufacturer. Each party in the agreement has a set of responsibilities to live up to or the whole thing goes out the window. The manufacturer DOES need to cover failures that have resulted from defects in materials and/or workmanship. But the end-user also DOES need to read, understand, and expect to abide by the conditions, exclusions, and limitations contained in the manual. The conditions, exclusions, and limitations HAVE TO be in there....or everyone would expect everything under the sun to be covered. Most "warranty issues" aren't warranty issues at all. Misuse, neglect, improper maintenance, etc. are most often the causes. When recommendations from the manufacturer, (recommendations for use and maintenance, etc.), are adhered to, the "issues" suddenly go away. Ask the average consumer WHAT their warranty covers and doesn't cover, and you'll get a blank stare.....despite the manufacturer having included several pages of detailed information about the subject with it. It may sound a bit harsh, but that's the way it is. ;-)

Way to go, Jo!!...at least now we know how long our leash is...I'm sure it used to be 100.