John deere, cub cadet, and many other companies sold their name to MTD and AYP and others for their lower tier mowers.

SER FAQ: LMFAQ: Which manufacturer makes what brand names?

 

Lowe's is an MTD machine painted green. John Deere is a John Deere.

 

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Thanks, so he's right, I had no clue.
Is that why my old John Deere key doesn't fit this one??
It used to fit everyone's I ever tried.

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Thanks, so he's right, I had no clue.
Is that why my old John Deere key doesn't fit this one??
It used to fit everyone's I ever tried.


I have had a couple of those MYD tractors. They are made under many different names. Not tractors worked fine for me for regular no commercial work. I would get 5-6 years out of them and sell them. All ran and cut just fine. They do have a weak steering gear set up and one tractor I had to make a bushing for the steering shaft so the gear would stay engaged. That tractor should give you good service.

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Even though the differences are widely known by many, try taking that Lowes bought mower to a JD dealer for warranty work

 

basically he's telling you , you fucked up and bought a hung of Chinese crap.

 

Are the John Deere D100 series tractors at The Home Depot and Lowes the same as the tractors at my local John Deere dealer? Yes. There is no difference between the D105, D110, D125, D130, D140, D155, D160, D170 lawn tractors at your local big box store, local hardware store or the corporate John Deere implement dealer. There may be some confusion in the fact that some retail stores do not carry the entire line. For example, one big box store may carry the D125 and D160, another store carries the D130 and D155. Your local John Deere implement dealer will also carry other John Deere lawn tractors that look similar. The other tractors they carry are much more expensive and may be a better choice if you have a large property to mow, a small acreage to maintain or own livestock.

 

This! If it’s the same model number it’s the same mower. Period.

 

John deer warranty is in effect on Lowe’s John Deer products
My buddy works for John deer

 

The box stores sell the identical model cheap MTD built John Deere's as JD dealerships. But once you step up to a actual John Deere built model like the X series, only the JD dealers sell

 

I bought a Cub Cadet from Tractor Supply. Needed warranty work and could not get it done at the local CC dealer. Had to wait for an opening at a very shitty looking "approved" small engine repair shop to even examine it. I just fixed the damn starter myself and looked at it as "experience"

 

Sad part is box stores sell it for less....for a reason. Batteries, grills, tires, lawn mowers. There is a reason it's cheaper.
Zim

 

I "was" a John Deere fan for years but this year when I needed a new lawn tractor I opted for a KUBOTA.
I looked at the JDs and Husqvarnas then decided to "step up" to a KUBOTA T2290 with a Kawasaki engine and fabricated deck. I would consider buying a JD X series at a minimum.

BTW! Sadly JD "consumer products" have gone to shit....... I had my LX178 since 1987 and it was a work horse that was built to last but it started "nickel and diming" me so it had to go.

 

I had a 20" Cub Cadet lawnmower with a Kawasaki engine for over 10 years. I put new wheels in it, new bag, twice, new drive belt, etc. That engine was awesome, everything wore out before the engine did.

 

I inherited a JD E100 from my old man...wow what a piece of shit - everything was either already broken when I got it or broke within a year. I went with a second hand older locally manufactured Greenfield lawn tractor, was 5 years old when I bought it with 50 hours on it (basically) new. I service it myself and the thing has been flawless.

 

I bought my John Deere mower at the Deere dealer, it is EXACTLY like the ones at Lowes. It is the lower tier mower though.

 

Only jd i ever owned was a 2 wheel steer 425.

Lost it in a divorce.
Awsome true JD machine.
Now i believe the X series is the first line of trus JD machines. Everything built under that is just a green painted cheap ass mtd.
Only you as a homeowner can decide what is right for you. It really depends on what terrain , how many acres and how comfortable you want to be while mowing.

 

The commercial grade John Deere models have heavy guage decks painted green. All yellow deck models are homeowner grade built for, not by John Deere.

 

Yes that is true except for the x series they are commercial grade

 

My story is with an Ariens tool, and not John Deere,

but I bought my Ariens Snowblower at the Ariens dealer just in case they were different,


I asked the Ariens guy on the way out the door if there was any difference,

and he said, not only are the Home Depot Ariens the exact same (with fewer models availabe at HD)
but they (the Ariens Dealer) has the contract to assemble them for Home Depot.

 

The Cub Cadet I bought from the dealership, was the biggest pile of shit I ever owned, oil leaked all over my shop every time I used it, dealership wouldn’t/couldn’t fix it under Warranty. The day I bought my John Deere X-750 was the best day of my mowing life. Love it.

 

Lol that’s. Good. I’ve owned two cub cadets. This last one has ate two decks. Still going.

 

The MTD John Deere’s weight several hundred pounds less than a real JD.

 

WOW, that's a lot of proof of something going on!!!

 

Bought a jd 155 at home depot. there is a sticker right on it assembled by the local JD dealership and to get it serviced there. Its about 5 years old now with no problems.

 

An old "BU"????

 

I ran multi-location Deere Dealerships for 36 years (both Ag and Construction)-the E Series are the same wherever you buy them-they exist because Home Depot wanted to sell Deere products,, and this was shoved down Dealers throats in 1996-
They are all built to be sold at different price points, so quality parts are about the same as thier competition, so don't think you're getting something special--I was always at odds with my Territory Manager because I resisted stocking the pieces of shit (we could sell a $300k Combine, or a $200k Excavator and have fewer complaints than a Customer who bought a $1995.00 mower a Lowe's)-
If you want a quality Deere, buy an "X" series or larger-likewise in zero turns-the "X" series mower at the top of this page is built close to the quality of a real compact utility tractor, so there really is a difference-
You can tell in the Warranty-if it has a 4 year Warranty it's the better unit, cheap ones are two year Warranty-
Oh, be careful, the rear axles are not serviceable, so if it fails, you can only replace it-the ""X300's carry a better rear but are also not serviceable, buy an X4 or bigger)- if you have a lot of side hills to mow don't buy one, it'll take out the rear axle in less time than it should-
The reason it says that the mower was serviced by a Deere Dealer @ Lowe's/HD is that your local Dealer has no choice, Deere makes them assemble them (another Lowe's/HD demand, but they sell so many they have some clout w/Deere)-you will also get a phone call from the Dealer-I also hated them because I felt it lowered the quality that Deere stands for-

 

I've been wanting a John Deere for years. I've been hanging onto to my old mower but decided this would be the last season. I felt JD's at Lowes were the "2nd" and the dealership sold the first line of the mowers. I'll spend more on quality any day. After reading all these posts, especially your post, I don't want a JD anymore. I want a quality, reliable, good-cutting lawn mower that can cut an average home property lawn. My yard is flat except going up a medium slope from the backyard to the front. I was thinking of a Cub but an owner said they were awful going up slopes. Having been in the business for so many years what mower would you suggest?

 

Actually there is alot of information about the hydrostatic rear ends and how to fix them on the web. Spider gear kits or so I recall. Fluid flushes help more than anything. I have one and it is a 2003 model, still going on hills but I only use it in the fall so it gets non-regular usage.

 

You are correct, I have a 2007, bought new, and maintained D125, the hydrostatic transaxle began to slow the mower down to an almost crawl. I tried to get some information from the JD dealer, a joke, a new transaxle was $600.00. I contacted TruTorque, maker of the transaxle, and got parts info breakdown plus what really happened between TruTorque and JD with the transaxle. Seems JD was not willing to pay the price wanted for the TruTorque, so in order to get the contract, they cheapened everything they could, even to the point of omitting a drain plug, real filler plug and putting trash 10w30 oil in unit. The problem was that the too small filter screen fills up with metal from the spider gears which are made of powdered metal, so the filter plugs up. No oil No Hydrostat. There is excessive side play in the spiders, which just so happens to be the same size as BB chevrolet valve spring shims to shim the spiders correctly. I fixed mine by using 15w50 Mobil 1 synthetic oil, cleaning the filter and all of the ground up metal in the housing, shimming the spiders, and adding a small drain plug in the lowest part of the housing. I change the oil every 2 years now and it is still running fine. The new transaxles are now made of plastic, and are built even shittier than mine.
If you ever buy any parts from JD dealer, bring lots of $$$, they are proud of their stuff, really proud...

 

Tha rear axles I'm talking about are factory sealed, and the fluid is also not serviceable-

 

The ones you get at lowes, sears, home despot (intention mispelling) and the like are all cheaper units mostly made by American Yard Products, or something along those lines.

I've got a crafstman 54" that I got new from sear in '09. While it still runs, not much left of aside from deck, frame, sheet metal (if it can be called that), and engine are original...

It has the kohler 26 horse twin, and even that damned thing has had a bunch of parts put on. On the third new starter, new coils and plug, on the second PTO clutch, 3 new tires and now all 4 have tubes..7 sets of blades, 4 set of each belt, two new batteries, and before spring I have to replace the wiring harness, due to a rat or some kind of rodent. About to say fuck it and buy a big Cub or even a real Johnny fuckin' Deere. For what I've put into the craps, man, I could've bought a decent 2, 3 year old "real" JD and still have some dollars left over for a burger and bucket of gas...

Pay a little more up front, or a lot more on down the road with mowers. My dad had a Massey Ferguson when I was a kid. You know...one of those old heavy all cast iron motherfuckers...
The first engine shit the bed sometime around when I was 5, I remember him changing it. Put a early kohler on it. That one last about 5 years, and threw a rod. He came in off the road (he was a trucker), and had bought a tecumseh somewhere. We put that one on it ran till 2014 as a backup to his oft-troubled craps, man POS. Last time he used it, it too threw a rod so he dragged it up to the barn and threw it in the scrap pile. I ought to go get it, find a Honda horizontal shaft and resurrect it. Smallish deck...42 or some shit, but it was built to last. I remember the shaft that drove the blades would shear a time or two every summer. Always a bitch taking the deck off, loading the bastard and taking to town to get welded back up.

They don't make 'em like they used to..

 

My father worked for Home Depot and was top salesman on selling them ten years in a row. There is absolutely no difference. John Deere is John Deere Period. Home Depot got them from the local John Deere Dealer. Even the Scotts Garden tractors are John Deere. John Deere's version was the Saber. John Deere has a budget line that most of the Big stores sell, but so do they. The biggest thing about the dealer is they know what you need after a few questions and so did my Dad. The dealers usually only stock the ones that 90% of the people that come there need and thats not the one up top. My Dad got the customers what they needed, just like the dealer, not just what was in the store. That's why he sold ten to one more tractors than anyone there. The customers would go out of their way to come back and Thank him personally all the time.