Get a Simplicity. I don't understand the John Deere hype and think they are very overrated

Simplicity or Snapper are the Best bang for the buck in the that Class as Yt has indicated , quality cut and accessories at a very reasonable price . Deere and Cadet have gone to hell in a basket !

I know two people who have Simplicity lawn tractors and they are very pleased with them. I've seen their lawns and Simplicity does an outstanding job. I've never had a Snapper. There are two reasons I chose the John Deere over the Cub Cadet. One, I wanted the Kawasaki engine that the S-240 is equipped with and Cub Cadet is now owned by MTD, which in my opinion is a company that is more interested in churning out machines as fast as possible than actually producing quality machines.

If I can't get the problem solved by the end of this cutting season I'm seriously considering putting the S-240 in storage and buying a different brand of lawn tractor, going with a zero turn mower instead of a conventional mower. I know that JD mowers are not the very dependable mowers that they once were but that can be said about almost any product produced today when maximum profit is more important to companies than quality and longevity. I'm still not going to badmouth JD mowers because my problem is apparently not normal. There has to be a fix. I just don't know what the fix is and the JD dealer doesn't seem to know either.

hi, I read your original post and your right, that/your problem doesn't look like it's common. it's obvious you have a grip on the quality machines of today.

hope you can figure it out.

So there are quite a few variables that come into play when discussing quality of cut. Both blades are the same on yours, the counter rotating blades do not fit your mower. Should you want help troubleshooting this, give us anything specific you can think of regarding which blades you use, is mulching different than discharge, pitch adjustments done and current measurements, etc. etc. What's your grass like? Post pics.

I can't believe all you guys jumped on cbmullen's band wagon of "John Deere is junk!" I have owned almost everything out there over 6 decades and I must say my current mower is the best I have owned. It's a John Deere. OK. Here's the deal about his complaint. A mower deck isn't rocket science. I don't care what brand it is. It is just a metal housing with spinning blades. He needs to figure out the size and model of his deck, get the correct length blades, make sure the deck is level. The blades spin clockwise when looking down from the top. Almost all mowers turn the clockwise direction unless the deck chute is on the left. Next.....quality of cut. Mowing high grass or tough grass and weeds will occasionally leave some uncut grass with all mowers. Riding mowers in general are at a disadvantage when mowing because the world (aka yard) is not flat. Your mower with it's wide deck is trying to mow in flat planes. Depending on your grass type the result is marginal at best. That's why golf courses use $70,000 powered reel mowers with floating decks. If you have continued problems get the John Deere district rep involved if possible.

No you did not call it junk but in "so many" words you made your opinion quite clear. That's ok. you're entitled to an opinion. If I bought a mower that left a strip of uncut grass it would be back at the dealer that day. Why did it take 92 hours to get to this point? Something doesn't add up.

It does really seem more like you want to vent your frustration rather than work on the problem. That's OK. I've heard it said that if money can solve a problem, that it isn't really a problem.

1. My concern is that John Deere is selling inferior residential grade lawn tractors , than Simplicity and Snapper ! Much the same as Honda did with their high dome twin blade push mowers , which also produced the poor quality cut that Mr Mullen is experiencing ! Yes , lawn mowers and lawn tractor cutting deck designs and set up are not rocket science , which begs the Question , why can,t an Authorized Dealer not resolve this issue ? Answer , because there is a apparent design flaw .
2. Simplicity and Snapper have quality cuts , even the box store Troy-bilt and Craftsman . It would appear that JD has significantly down graded the quality of their base point mowers recently , which is unfortunate but perhaps a practical necessity with all the sales pressure from the offshore produced mowers and components being shipped into North America . I still believe John Deere produce,s a Quality Commercial and Professional Grade Series lawn tractor however , along with their Agricultural Series units , I currently own a 1970 1020 Series JD AG Diesel Tractor that I skid logs and use in my gravel pit. P. S. John Deere lawn tractor Dealerships , much the same as Stihl have really lost credibility within quality service and product representation over the past decade....Sad , sign of the times perhaps ?

My JD dealer has had the S-240 for almost two weeks now. I received a call from them yesterday and the service rep informed me that the spindles are bad, one of them not too bad and the other one very bad. I never heard any squealing or dragging noises from the spindles and they seemed to be working properly but then again, I'm not a mower tech so I was unable to diagnose the problem. The blades seemed to be working properly. They are replacing the spindles under warranty as I have an extended warranty until some time in 2022. I think they never tried cutting grass after their previous attempts to fix the problem but it seems to me that they should have discovered the spindle problem without cutting grass. I don't know. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps they'll try cutting a patch of grass after replacing the spindles, although there's not much grass to cut in northeast Ohio this time of year.

Hopefully, the new spindles will solve my problem. The JD dealer's service rep informed me that the one bad spindle on the right side was probably the cause of the uneven cutting and the patch of grass left after mowing, although I don't understand why that would cause the problem unless the spindle for the right blade was tilted. I'm not qualified to make that determination. I'll discuss the situation with the service rep when I pick up the mower tomorrow so that I can better understand the problem and watch for such a problem in the future. The service rep did tell me that the deck was adjusted properly, the hangers are OK and the blades are fine. The air pressure in one of the front tires was slightly off.

I bought the mower in May of 2015 and it has less than 200 hours on it, although it wouldn't have that many hours on it if I didn't have to cut my lawn at least twice every time it needed cut. I hope the new spindles solve the problem because I really want this JD mower to be the quality mower that JD mowers are supposed to be. I waited a long time for my first JD lawn tractor and I want it to last a long time, although if it only lasts a few more years it will probably outlast me.

They also fixed the fuel gauge, which stopped working a few months ago. They discovered that the gauge was stuck because lawn debris was preventing it from moving. I find that odd because I think the engineers should have foreseen/discovered this potential problem and shielded the gauge from the debris in some manner. Perhaps my criticism regarding this is unwarranted but there is nothing in the owner's manual that discusses this issue.

I want to thank everyone for their time and assistance. I appreciate it very much.

Glad your dealership has resolved your dilemma apparently . 200 yrs is not much for spindle failure,s , nice that you got the extended warranty . Please do get back to us , on your final resolution !

I can understand your skepticism OP. Time will tell when your back into a regular mowing season. Ewalk, I see bearing failures even under 50 hours on Deere spindles. The ones that use the washout ports are the worse and fail sooner as well as the guys that let the blades get beaten. Yet, some folks can go well beyond the 500 hour mark. Not laying any of this on the OP BTW.

I can't say how very disappointed I am after picking up my "repaired" JD lawn tractor. After arriving home I was ready to cut the grass and see just how well the "repaired" mower worked. It took forever before I could even get it to move after starting it. As soon as I would hit the forward or reverse pedals the engine would hesitate or stop. There was a noise coming from the deck area that I had never heard before. Finally, after the engine stayed running for a few minutes I attempted to engage the blades. I pulled up on the blade engagement knob and nothing happened. The blades would not move. I tried it a few more times and finally the deck jumped as if it had been hit with something and then slammed back down, the blades finally turning. They weren't turning as fast as they turned before but they were turning. There was nothing under the deck that would have caused this. No rocks, timber or anything else under the deck that would stop the blades from moving, which is understandable since the mower was sitting on my clean concrete driveway; no obstructions under the deck whatsoever.

I then decided to make a few passes to see how the "repaired" mower would cut. Unfortunately, whenever I tried to move forward or in reverse, or when I tried to engage the blades, the engine would hesitate or stop. I kept trying for another ten minutes or so and gave up. I called the JD dealer and was told to bring it back and they would look at it. The service man put it on a rack and removed the spindle cover. The left side spindle was at an angle and the deck had been bent. The deck was not bent when I took it to them to fix it. One look at the photos and it's quite apparent that any mower service tech would have immediately seen the angled spindle and the bent deck directly below it. The service tech said that I had hit something with the blades and that is what caused this particular problem. I informed him that I hadn't even had the opportunity to cut the grass yet. I asked him point blank "would a service tech have noticed the angled spindle and the bent deck when I brought it in for repairs and when they replaced the bad spindle" and he said "absolutely, without a doubt". During the time they had the mower nobody said anything about a bent deck or angled spindle, which is an indication that both were fine when I left it with them. I also noticed that there's a place on the deck where the paint is worn off. The service tech asked me what caused it and I said "I don't know. It wasn't like that when I dropped off the mower".

The bent deck and angled spindle could not have been the result of me hitting something when I was cutting the grass because I never got the chance to cut the grass. The only place the mower had been since I picked it up at the shop was on a clean driveway. I'm not a service tech but I assume that whatever they did when they worked on it created the problem of the blades not turning, which caused the bent deck and angled spindle when the blades eventually started turning. I have no idea what could have caused this.

I apologize for the photos not being correctly oriented. It doesn't matter how I rotate the photos before uploading them. They always show up in the post incorrectly.

I'm going to call them tomorrow and inform them that I expect the deck to be repaired or replaced and the spindle mounted properly. I will also inform them that I have no intention of paying one penny for parts or labor since the deck was fine when I left the mower with them. I expect them to give me a hard time. I expect then to deny responsibility. I expect them to say that I have to pay for the work or they won't do it, at which time I'll tell them that I'm leaving the mower at their dealership until they fix the problem they caused, at no cost to me, at which point they'll probably just leave it outside.

I'm done with JD mowers. I'm done with this JD dealer because I have no faith or trust that the service techs know what they are doing. I checked today and the mower has only 120 hours on it. However, I've had cutting problems with it since day one. It's simply no longer worth the time, the effort, the frustration and the aggravation. This mower will be sold or given away when it is returned to me. I'll buy a new one next spring, one from a different manufacturer, as long as that brand is not under the corporate umbrella of MTD, which will undoubtedly narrow my choices quite considerably. I'm almost certain that I'll purchase a zero turn lawn tractor at that time.

Tom , 350 - to 400 hrs is what I normally see with a properly maintained tractor spindle and blade set . However do not service a lot JD 240 models . c.b. May be time to get the district rep involved , since the unit never left the dealership and no mention was apparently issued of a damaged deck or mechanism during the 1st preliminary inspection . Very unfortunate to say the least ! P.S. Better business bureau may be of assistance also .

Very disappointing for you. Is there any way that a blade got hooked on something unloading? Weird. Ewalk, the S240 is not very common. It essentially is a D/ E series with a Kawasaki I believe. The 42" deck is the same.

Me too with my s240. Dealer is trying to fix it.

Update:

The deck was undoubtedly bent when the dealer's employee was loading it onto my trailer. Long story short, the dealership manager agreed to fix it. I assume they simply straightened the deck near the spindles but I don't know. The deck was not replaced, nor were either of the two spindles. I thought that the dealership had assumed responsibility but when I went to retrieve the mower I had to pay in excess of fifty dollars. Since the charge was not excessive I simply bit the bullet and paid it.

The mower now performs as it should have since day one. The cut is very nice. However, I still experienced the engine cutout problems. I had decided to never again take my mower to the selling dealer so I did some research and determined that it was a bad seat switch. I replaced the switch with a new one and still had the problem so I did some further research. I bypassed the part of the seat switch that determines that someone is sitting in the seat. I also had to bypass part of the wiring under the hood. It now runs perfectly, but leaves me with a safety issue. The mower engine will continue to run if the blades are not engaged and I get off the seat and to me that's simply not safe. However, the mower engine will shut off if the blades are engaged and I get off the seat, which is a good thing. I'll just have to live with it.

As far as the quality of the cut is concerned I couldn't be happier. I'll leave it at that. I again want to thank everyone for their time and their assistance.

Thanks for updating us cb . Good to hear that your getting use out of the lawntractor . Unfortunate that you got such a run around by the dealer !

WORST TRACTOR EVER - I am actually suing John Deere. Leaves an uncut strip down the middle of the cut path - not all the time but randomly every single time I mow the lawn.

JD took no responsibility for this so I am taking them to court

I would appreciate if the original poster could contact me so that i could get an affidavit from him.

ksachse@comcast.net

hoping cbmullen will check back and contact me

My S240 cuts fine if you keep the deck clean underneath