Last winter I picked up a John Deere Signature X738 at an estate sale. I didn't really plan to buy it, but I was having fun bidding against someone else and ended up getting it for $7,050 which is well below retail. It's a 2015 model with less than 200 hours on it. The deck is a 60" high capacity deck with auto connect-just drive over it and flip a couple levers and it connects itself. Flip a couple levers again and it disconnects itself and just drive off over the top of the deck. Pretty nifty. I used it to mow this weekend and I have to say it's fairly impressive; not only is it physically large, but it handles extremely well and is surprisingly quiet. The power steering is genuinely effortless; it almost needs a spinner to do end row turns quicker. I have to give John Deere a lot of credit-this really is one very nice machine and I find myself liking it more and more each time I use it. We never had enough snow this winter to really try out the 4 wheel drive, but by all accounts it works quite well on the X series tractors. Being a 2015 model, it's still under the 4 year/700 hour warranty.
For sheer speed the zero turn can't be beat-it takes about 20 minutes longer to mow our 3 finished acres with the X738 than it does with the 757 (both have 60 inch mower decks). But the X738 will do a lot that the 757 simply can't-it pulls the sprayer, the aerator, dethatcher and trailer, all of which I do with the little 210 now.
It may be time to say goodbye to the 757 and 210, and downsize to just one piece of equipment that will do the job of both. Our local John Deere dealership also has a 54" snow blade for the X738 that I can pick up for $800, so that may take the place of the Ford 2N that I use to plow the driveway in the winter too. Between those 3 units I can recoup about half of what I paid for the X738, and I have certainly gotten my money's worth out of both the 210 and 757, as well as the 2N if I also decide to sell it. I've owned the 210 for 42 years, the 757 for 8 years, and the 2N for 23 years.
For sheer speed the zero turn can't be beat-it takes about 20 minutes longer to mow our 3 finished acres with the X738 than it does with the 757 (both have 60 inch mower decks). But the X738 will do a lot that the 757 simply can't-it pulls the sprayer, the aerator, dethatcher and trailer, all of which I do with the little 210 now.
It may be time to say goodbye to the 757 and 210, and downsize to just one piece of equipment that will do the job of both. Our local John Deere dealership also has a 54" snow blade for the X738 that I can pick up for $800, so that may take the place of the Ford 2N that I use to plow the driveway in the winter too. Between those 3 units I can recoup about half of what I paid for the X738, and I have certainly gotten my money's worth out of both the 210 and 757, as well as the 2N if I also decide to sell it. I've owned the 210 for 42 years, the 757 for 8 years, and the 2N for 23 years.
