[fouracres]

Also posted in the Simplicity site:

Good morning all.

I am in the market to replace an aging Sabre 16/46. I went to the local JD dealer and checked out various models. They have a large lawn out front and we drove many models. Pretty much narowed it down to power steering and I am considering a GX335. A nice machine with plenty of options.

This was a month ago, in-law health issues have kept a final purchase on hold.

Last Friday, I stopped by the local Simplicity shop. I thought that they deserved a chance of making a sale. This is a small place with a husband/wife team. I drove everything and I really liked the Prestige 23/54. This is cheaper than the GX335 with the same capabilities.

Can some GX335 owners tell be all of the good/bad about thier mower. I could go either way.

What really has me concerned is the quality of the JD L and G series lawns in my area. They really are pretty clumpy. Granted we have had a wet summer but the other lawns look so much nicer with single pass cuts. These are older JDs and variuos generic low cost mowers.

I know that the box store mowers are not as good as the rest of the JD line, but are the decks that much different?

 

[guest]

4 acres.. i own a prestige 20/50 when i was looking.. i compared it againsts a gt245. I liked the prestige; metal hood, locking diff, ACT, power steering, bigger gas tank & groundspeed.

what tranny does GX 335 have? it may be the same as the prestige: k71


the gx335 is a lot more money than the prestige... for the same $$$ you could almost go to the 2wd legacy.

in my opinion: jd make a great gt, but for less money, you can get more options and still great quality with a simplicity..... plus the 'legendary' simplicity cut.....

 

[Chipmaker]

Well I have a GX 335 which I purchased last Septemeber or so, and have over 100 hours on it already. IMHO, the simplicity while it may be a good tractor, can't be compared to this model JD. The Deere so far has done everythng it was aksed to do and more. I only have two complaints with my GX 335. One is the belt / pulley guards on the 54C deck suck as they trap debri and make it hard to clean trapped debris under them...I removed mine and it really does not present any safety issues IMHO. The other complaint is and this is much more important to me is the seat...........It lacks arm rests Why have a Cadillac of a L & G tractor and install a Ford Pinto seat on it......With the adjustable steering column, and seat, a pair of arm rests would be all it needs to cut grass in 100% comfort.

Maintenance is straight forward, and I think the deck removal system the GX 335 has is heads above any other system.Less than a minute and deck is off and out of the way........SIMPLE task.

Steering is effortless and manuverability is great. The material the hood and other major panels is made of is virtually indestructable. I routinely run mine under brances of pines etc and it always comes out looking fine, and any scratches are easily removed with a lick of polish.....I cut 5 to 6 acres of grass, most of it Bahai grass, and it handles it as well as heavy underbrush fine. The deck is 10 ga and has some real beefy reinforcements and forms where it needs to be. It will take a lot of abuse to tear up the deck without going out of your way to do it. Fuel; consumption sucked at first, but the manual spelled it out in plain english. Fuel consumption will decrease as the motor gets broken in, and mine went from about a full tank to mow my stuff each time to about 3/4 tank now......It used very little oil initially during breakin, and now it uses none........Greasing mower spindles is easy as its all done from topside. The GX335 s a serious working tractor be it in the garden or cutting grass or just hauling a trailer around.

The tractor has very few places any debri gets trapped or accumulates other than the guards over the mower deck spindles, and like I stated previously, its a easy matter to remove them. If I had to do it again would I buy this same model JD...........yes I would. Just looking at the specs on the simplicity they are basically the same as the JD is, and Simplicity does make a great tractor.......and I have never seen a Simplicity in the flesh.......and odds are if there was a decent dealer in my area I may be driving a Red tractor right now instead of Green and Yellow.........I don't think your gonna go worng with whatever one you choose. A Deere may hold its resale value longer perhaps, and support may be better to some extent, due to Deeres large network of dealers as compared to others. What is the warranty on the Simplicity as compared to Deeres 2 year warranty?

 

[guest]

chip, simple has the same; 2 year warranty.

one issue that i liked about the prestige was the kohler engine. the deeres have kawasaki motors and although they are great motors... i wanted an american made motor... the kaw may be made or assembled in the us... but kohler is an american company.... to me.. this was important..

 

[fouracres]

Thanks guys,

I am going to get both a GX335 and a Simplicity Prestige out here for a trial on the yard. One pass mowing today with the Sabre, no clumps on my yard. You know, the quality of the newer model JD lawns in my area is the only thing that keeps me from making up my mind. Hopefully a home trial will help me make up my mind.

 

[Chipmaker]

The Kawasaki was on of my biggest factors governing my choice in a JD. I have a Kaw powered water / trash pump, and my old JD 180 had a Kawasaki, and they were used hard and piut up wet lots of times and I never ever had som much as a glitch out of either of those engines. Never used oil or smoked etc and they just ran and ran. Not selling a Kohler short, but I bought a brand new Horse model tiller from TB, had the Kohler magnum on it, and it was nothing but trouble..........numerous trips to dealer and problem never resolved, Troy even washed their hands of the machine.......I sold it, broke even, and then the fellow I sold it too tells me he found it to have a broken cam shaft in it that caused the missing and skipping. Was like that since day one.............I had a gas powered welding machine / gen. After about 100 hours it started to use oil so bad and smoke it was mor pleasant to stand inthe fumes from the lectrode burning than it was to be around the engine with it running....................and thn I also had a Kohler powered pump which gave up the ghost before it was off warranty, and then was refused any service on it as they told me it was used improperly in the distance I was pumping water...duh! All distance is gonna do is reduce flow and capacity of water supplied.....Funny, my Kaw powered pump is actually less HP, less GPM but its been doing this job of pumping water for many many years now, and it is theoretically outside the operating parameters as well........but it never complains. Wheeeeeeeeew, all that said, Kohler makes a good motor, as does B & S but Jap design motors have always been superior to american made or designed motors from day one.............and that Kawasaki is one hard motor to beat. Yes, I know all about Kawasaki problems with plastic camshafts IIRC, so good and bad is availaable from all makers at all price and entry levels.........with one exception.Tecumseh.......most famous makers of junk known to man................at any price or entry level. So with the above experieince with Kohlers, I was not in a hurry to get back in line and own a Kohler if a Kaw could be had..

Looking at the Simplicity and JD it seems like the two are almost twins in what they have and what they spec out at, except for price. Nice to know they have a 2 year warranty. Thats a big plus in anybodies book.

At one time I also felt th way you do, "American made, American Owned" as the only way..I see things a ot different anymore, as most americanmade stuff can't hold a candle to import stuff such as what the Japs and a few other countries produce today...........The Japs pay more attention to details and longevity, and also factor in price.........americans seem to factor in profit first and then cut corners anymore to make sure that profit margin is not jeorpardized, and let John Q. Consumer get caught with the incidentals.

 

[guest]

Originally posted by Chipmaker
as most americanmade stuff can't hold a candle to import stuff such as what the Japs and a few other countries produce today...........The Japs pay more attention to details and longevity, and also factor in price.........americans seem to factor in profit first and then cut corners anymore to make sure that profit margin is not jeorpardized, and let John Q. Consumer get caught with the incidentals.

good point.. Chip...sad but true...

4acres let us know what you think of each... good luck...whatever choice you pick both are real nice machines....
one nice bene of the simple it has an 18" turning radius... I think the 335 is 22" that may be helpful if you have obstacles...

let us know how they both do...

sj

 

[Chipmaker]

I would imagine that 18" radius on a Simplicity is nice......I know th radius on my JD (22" I think) is great as compared to what my old JD180 was. Its nice tobe able to sneak and sort of crab the deck in close and wrap it around. Aftyer a bit of use and getting ujsed to it, you know exactly what portion of the deck you want to place near an obstacle first to get the most one step cutting out of it......But it can get you in trouble too, espcially if your pulling a vac cart.......

 

[fouracres]

The Prestige turning radius is a plus, we have 30 cedars along part of our property line. Kind of a chore on the Sabre doing the shalom run. The difference in turning radius does not sell me on the Simplicity, so far the price (with power steering) has me really thinking.

The price with the power steering, that is the kicker. The quality of cut is TBD with the trials in the next week or so. We live in the country (75% natural growth). I know it is a mixture but we get a lot of seeds blowing in the wind across the place from the hay fields and you can not really control what grows. It's green and we like it to look good when it is cut.

The difference of engines is not that critical. The in-laws have a 25hp Kohler on their Ferris ProCut21, a good engine. I don't have any first hand experience with the Kawasaki engines but I don't recall reading a lot of bad posts. The Kohler backfire on shutdown might be a trait of the beast, even with a 5 minute idle period before shutdown, the Ferris will backfire most of the time. Kind of like the Lincoln in the movie "Uncle Buck". If it does not backfire, something might be wrong.

Friday was an interesting day. I first spent 3 hours on the Ferris then 2 hours driving the different Simplicitys and TOROs. This was followed by 2 hours cutting part of my own lawn on the Sabre. Kind of wish I had followed up the Simplicity run with a trip back to the JD store.

The Sabre refuses to quit, change the oil and filters, clean or replace the sparkplug, grease where you can, sharpen the blades and 10 years later it still cuts better that the new entry JD products. Other than my questions about quality of cut, I might be sold on the GX. Price and quality of cut, thats the ticket. They will both last a long time.