Deciding between 2 riding mowers - JD vs Craftsman

[ddombrowski]

I'm looking to pick up a riding mower for our new house. I've done the research on them (basically, everything at this point is re-branded MTD stuff with either a briggs or kohler engine). I understand that the JD at home depot/lowes is a D series and not the X300 at the Deere dealership. I understand that these are all entry level machines.

My first option that is currently on sale with the Sears Friends and Family Discount (which I think ends soon, hence I have to make my decision) is this Craftsman:

http://www.sears.com/craftsman-20.0-hp-kohler-v-twin-automatic-42-8221/p-07120376000P

20 HP 2-cyl Kohler engine, 42" deck, CVT transmission, cast iron front axle. Its $1300 on sale, but possibly slight less if I do a Sears card (5% off) and I can possibly get $50 back if I do some kind of sears rewards program (shopyourway). I hate gimmicky things but if I can get a few bonus craftsman tools thrown in I'll take them.

The second option is a Deere D105 (lowest end Deere that HD/Lowes carries).

http://www.homedepot.com/p/John-Deere-D1...20699/204780321

17.5 HP 'Deere' engine (believe this is a briggs), 42in deck, CVT trans, cast-iron front axle. Its $1500, but I have a 10% off movers coupon to make it 1350. There is mixed information regarding the validity of 10% off coupons on the Deere brand, some say they are specifically excluded, however, the one I have in my hands does not mention anything about Deere mowers.

If I can't use the movers coupon, the Deere is $200 more (and I lose the free tools), and not worth it IMO. If I can use the coupon, the price difference is about $50 (and I lose the free tools), which is close enough and I'd just want whichever is the better mower.

 

[KD0AXS]

Neither one of those arw rebranded MTDs. The Craftsman is made by Husqvarna, and the John Deere is built by John Deere. Either one will serve you well if all you're using it for is basic mowing. I'd probably lean towards the Deere, but you really can't go wrong with which ever one is the better deal.

 

[757guy]

I had a large Craftsman with hydrostatic drive several years ago, and I couldn't wait to get rid of that thing. Main reason was it had very poor mowing performance. I had 2 acres to mow and it took forever, and if the grass was even a little tall, or damp, it would clump and bog down and had to be mowed twice to get rid of the clumps.

I have no expereince with the entry level JD mowers you see at Lowes and Home Depot, but I'm inclined to think they aren't so good either. Thin flimsy mowing decks mean if you hit a small cut off stump somewhere, you will bend the housing further degrading mowing performance.

I ended up buying a high level John Deere X585 that absolutely did not hesitate in tall grass and would even mow at 8 mph. That was an expensive purchase, but 12 years later, it is still going strong having never had a breakdown or any other issues.

My suggestion: Go to www.lawnpower.com and take a look atheir used selections. This is a dealership in Dubuque, IA, which is close to many John Deere manufacturing plants. Employees of John Deere are able to buy new models at substantial discounts and this dealership takes in hundres on trade, some with only 100 hours. This is where I bought my John Deere X585 at a terrific price. They are experienced in shipping as well.

My .02, but I would stay away from the entry level mowers. Like me, you will probably regret it within a year.

Hope the information helps,

757Guy

 

[ddombrowski]

Originally Posted By: KD0AXS
Neither one of those arw rebranded MTDs. The Craftsman is made by Husqvarna, and the John Deere is built by John Deere. Either one will serve you well if all you're using it for is basic mowing. I'd probably lean towards the Deere, but you really can't go wrong with which ever one is the better deal.


Thank you. I knew the craftsman was made by Husq, but I was under the impression that the frame for the husq was made by MTD, hence the oversimplification on my part. But yes, you're right that its made by Husqvarna.

The Deere I've heard uses a re-branded Briggs engine but I do not know if there is any truth to that. I leaned towards the Deere as well but the Kohler engine of the craftsman seems to be rated well and wonder if I'm giving something up going to the 17.5hp deere engine for more money.

Like you said though, I think either should work properly. Most of my past mowers have been rescued from my neighbors garbage and given me many years of useful life, so I tend to feel that even cheap junk works well enough. Then again, I've had terrible luck with cheap string trimmers and find the name brand stuff really is better, so hopefully I'm not making a mistake on the mower.

Thanks for the input.

 

[MikeHigg]

Wow, can't believe no one has responded on this. Here is an opinion, since they both have a CVT I'm guessing they are essentially equivalent. If you had a choice to not have a CVT then that would be my personal choice. Also I like cheap Deere's over cheap Craftsman, I've seen the bottom line Deere go a lot of hours, but this one didn't have a CVT trans. Typically mowers like that will make 500 or 600 hours or somewhat more of work till youre ready to leave them, whereas the more commercial weight will go up to 2000 hours or more. I think if you could step up in the Deere line away from that CVT it might be better (but then I'm not really knowledgeable about your particular trans).

 

[ddombrowski]

Originally Posted By: 757guy
I had a large Craftsman with hydrostatic drive several years ago, and I couldn't wait to get rid of that thing. Main reason was it had very poor mowing performance. I had 2 acres to mow and it took forwver, and if the grass was even a little tall, it would clump and bog down and had to be mowed twice to get rid of the clumps.

I've never been one to look at the engine HP as my main decision on a mower, but I was thinking that between the Craftsman and the Deere at near the same price, the extra displacement and extra 2.5 HP of the Craftsman might tip the scales in favor of not bogging down so much in thick grass.

Originally Posted By: 757guy

I ended up buying a high level John Deere X585 that absolutely did not hesitate in tall grass and would even mow at 8 mph.

When I spent summers on my grandparents farm 15 years ago, I used to mow with a Deere they had (couldn't tell you the kind), but I know it was FAST. Fast enough that I got myself into trouble on more than one occasion. Would love to have that kind of speed again but I also recall they spent something like 5K on the mower which is not something I'm going to do. I know you mentioned you got a good deal on a used one, which I'm not ruling out, just wanted to share that story of the fast mower.

Originally Posted By: 757guy

My .02, but I would stay away from the entry level mowers. Like me, you will probably regret it within a year.


Yeah, I hear you on this one. I've had plenty of entry level mowers before (some even below that as they were entry levels that a neighbor threw out) and always had good luck with just basic maintenance and a carb cleanout here and there. On the other hand, I've had terrible experience with entry level trimmers and chainsaws, which I will never do again. Not sure where ride-on mowers fit in there.

Originally Posted By: 757guy

Hope the information helps,

757Guy


Very much, thank you.

 

[JTK]

Some Sears machines are indeed re-badged MTD units. Like said, the one in question 'looks' like a Husqvarna group built machine, which is an excellent thing IMO. I've got a Sears LT2000 machine that I bought used and love.

I would place the low end Deere riders right along with the low end Husqvarna group machines. They'll both last many years with reasonable care, which includes never allowing the cutting deck to bounce around on the ground. It should hang when mowing, with gauge-wheels only contacting on high spots.

Also like said, the BIG unknown here are these "CVTs". If they are a belt and variator based system, I would definitely avoid it. If they are one of the new cone or toroidal based CVTs, those do look promising in this realm.

 

[ddombrowski]

Originally Posted By: MikeHigg
Here is an opinion, since they both have a CVT I'm guessing they are essentially equivalent.

If you had a choice to not have a CVT then that would be my personal choice. I think if you could step up in the Deere line away from that CVT it might be better.


I was kind of thinking the same thing. I've heard mixed reviews on the low-end deere hydrostatics, some good, some bad.

You can get different craftsman mowers with a traditional manual transmission, but some of the reviews were really down on them. Something about having to constantly hold it in gear because it kept wanted to go back to neutral. Without having driven the mower I'm not sure what they are talking about but there were quite a few unhappy customers with that setup.

I think the CVT might be easier for my wife and son to work if they ever end up doing any of the mowing, so it would either be CVT or hydrostatic, but by that time I might be ready for a new mower anyway.

 

[757guy]

If it matters, I bought the biggest Craftsman mower they had at the time. It had a Kohler engine, but I don't remember the size. It wouldn't matter how big the motor was, the mower deck design wasn't up to the task of mowing damp or tall grass.

I did look at the www.lawnpower.com website, and there a couple of mowers at less than $1,000, and a couple of premium - real John Deere mowers - at the $3,000 level.

Originally Posted By: ddombrowski
Originally Posted By: 757guy
I had a large Craftsman with hydrostatic drive several years ago, and I couldn't wait to get rid of that thing. Main reason was it had very poor mowing performance. I had 2 acres to mow and it took forwver, and if the grass was even a little tall, it would clump and bog down and had to be mowed twice to get rid of the clumps.

I've never been one to look at the engine HP as my main decision on a mower, but I was thinking that between the Craftsman and the Deere at near the same price, the extra displacement and extra 2.5 HP of the Craftsman might tip the scales in favor of not bogging down so much in thick grass.

Originally Posted By: 757guy

I ended up buying a high level John Deere X585 that absolutely did not hesitate in tall grass and would even mow at 8 mph.

When I spent summers on my grandparents farm 15 years ago, I used to mow with a Deere they had (couldn't tell you the kind), but I know it was FAST. Fast enough that I got myself into trouble on more than one occasion. Would love to have that kind of speed again but I also recall they spent something like 5K on the mower which is not something I'm going to do. I know you mentioned you got a good deal on a used one, which I'm not ruling out, just wanted to share that story of the fast mower.

Originally Posted By: 757guy

My .02, but I would stay away from the entry level mowers. Like me, you will probably regret it within a year.


Yeah, I hear you on this one. I've had plenty of entry level mowers before (some even below that as they were entry levels that a neighbor threw out) and always had good luck with just basic maintenance and a carb cleanout here and there. On the other hand, I've had terrible experience with entry level trimmers and chainsaws, which I will never do again. Not sure where ride-on mowers fit in there.

Originally Posted By: 757guy

Hope the information helps,

757Guy


Very much, thank you.

 

[Nate1979]

I purchased the D105 at the beginning of the season. My yard has lots of hills, is less than an acre, and I mow on the highest setting. It works just fine. No issues. I pull a small aerator and it didnt miss a beat. For entry levels its a good mower. Not everyone needs to spend top dollar just to mow a lawn.

 

[meep]

I'd be a little partial to the JD. I feel like the craftsman name isn't what it used to be.

I would not fear the one-lung briggs, in fact I might favor it. My ZTR has a 14.5hp 1 cyl briggs and it is a great powerplant. It's very thrifty on fuel. I test drove this model and the next model with a v-twin, and the single-cyl engine had less chassis vibration by a wide margin.

 

[millerbl00]

If you use the factory John Deere blades the Deere cuts ok. The top of my deck on my JD is rusting and peeling paint even being stored in the shed. I am disappointed in that.

 

[CT8]

The bigger the lawn the bigger the mower. that is all I know.. Buy once cry once . How long do you expect to keep the mower?

 

[Eddie]

Nether are MTD rebranded as mentioned and neither use a CVT transmission. My 42" JD L111 uses a hydrostatic transmission. The mower has a B&S 20 HP twin engine and the mower runs and looks like new after 125 hours. Both mower will do a fine job for many years if properly maintained. ed

 

[Tdbo]

Between those two mowers, I would go for the Craftsman.
They are both entry level mowers, and IMO the Husqvarna offering tops the Deere specifications for less money.
I am in no way knocking the Deere, as a matter of fact I own one.
However, IMO, if you are going to buy a true Deere, you start at the X series.
I see no point in paying extra at this price point unless you want to pay extra for green paint.

 

[ddombrowski]

Thank you for the input everybody. Unfortunately, I went back to place my order and found that the 07120376000P Craftsman was out of stock and couldn't be delivered, boo.

After talking with some cool people on Slickdeals, a member sent me some coupon codes that gave an extra 10% off on certain mowers and some additional points back I can use towards some tools.

In the end, I picked up this:

http://www.sears.com/craftsman-42-in-tur...mp;blockType=G2

Seems very similar to the earlier link, but with a single cyl Briggs Intek Platinum (19HP) vs the 20HP 2 cyl kohler 7000.

Both have cast iron front axles. The model I picked also drops the turning radius from 18" to 6" (of which I think both are optimistic but the one should be an improvement over the other).

With the current sale + both coupons I got the mower for $1250 + tax and I get $150 to spend at sears. I think thats pretty good.

 

[ddombrowski]

Originally Posted By: CT8
The bigger the lawn the bigger the mower. that is all I know.. Buy once cry once . How long do you expect to keep the mower?


As long as it will last I suppose. We just moved into a house and I don't see us moving for the foreseeable future.

 

[Andrew1972]

These level of machine seems to be about 5-7 years before something really expensive falls apart. Both are similar and have decent access to service.

I spent double of one of these machines and am at the 13 yr mark with little in terms of issues.

 

[ZTime33]

I would like to comment on "cheap" Craftsman riding mowers. I have owned my LT1000 since 1998 and still going strong. Other than regular maintenance, blades and oil changes, it has not had any other issues. While there can be some issues with anything manufactured, it’s how one maintains the equipment that determines longevity.

 

[cat843]

If you can find the SKU for the Craftsman it will start with either a 917 (Husqvarna) or 247 (MTD).

The 071 that the model starts with is the lawn and garden dept.