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If you ever think you might buy a lawn tractor take the time to read this story about my service experience with John Deere concerning my lawn tractor (model LA120).

Long story short, I screwed it up. I bought a plow to push snow around, and in order to install the plow you have to take the mowing deck off and put on some mounting brackets. Well, about a month ago, I took the plow off and put the mowing deck back on. This is quite a project, and I did it on a cold barn floor with lighting that wasn't so great. Well I put something on upside down without realizing it, and although everything worked fine at first as soon as I hit an uneven patch of ground I heard this terrible grinding and sparks a flying. Turned out when the deck hit something this upside down attached thing-a-ma-job would get bumped up into a fly wheel causing the sparks.

I live 15 miles from the dealer, they come out and pick it up and bring it in to the shop free of charge. They look at it, see what went wrong, and when I ask if it's covered by the warranty they tell me that "we can figure something out" even though it really shouldn't be covered under warranty. Not only the labor to fix my screwup, but hauling the thing back and forth from my property. Covered.

If anyone is ever in the market for a lawn tractor - consider John Deere. For a comparably optioned and built tractor, you will pay a bit more for it. I worried I was paying for the green paint and logo, but because of my situation I really wanted to have service that I could count on. Trust me, it's worth it. And do NOT buy the tractor from a big box store(Home Depot and Lowe's now carry these), find a local dealer and buy it directly from them. I'm not saying you won't get good service if you do get it from the big box, but why not just go straight to the dealer and give him your business and get that relationship started? They will take care of your warranty info etc.. Plus, when I bought through a dealer I got a free ball cap, and who doesn't want a JD ballcap?

This is actually my second dealing with their service - I had a bad seat sensor that they came out and fixed promptly as well. And last fall when I couldn't figure out something when I was installing the plow, a quick call to the dealer and they got a guy on the phone who talked me through a step. Why didn't I call them when I was re-installing the deck?

Anyway, big time rave to John Deere and especially the folks at Horizon Equipment in Westby, WI. You just don't see many companies treating their customers like this these days. It's pretty easy to see why JD gets customers for life, I think they just got another one today.

You just don't find outstanding service like that much anymore.

I can't confirm this Jim, but I have been told that the models of mowers/tractors at the big box store aren't of the same quality as the dealer anyway, plus the local dealer is much more likely to give you the better service than a 6.00 per hour employee at your national retail stores.

Now if only I could afford a JD.

Spider - they are the exact same thing at the big box. These are the lower end models, actually next time I'll probably step up to the X series but this will do me for a while.

The thing is that this particular dealer dollar wise probably does 90% of it from farming operations. I'm a pretty small fish in that pond, yet they have treated me like I'm actually valuable.

Imagine that.

I bought a 30 year old John Deere riding mower from a guy for $500 and the thing is built like a tank. My local Deere dealer still treats me like a loyal customer whenever I need a part. If they don't have it in stock, they'll get it in (typically) by the next day with no shipping charges to me. I doubt I'll ever own anything else but a Deere.

My dad has one. Not sure what model. There's a dealership just down the road from where he lives in Virginia. I'll have to ask how he likes it one day.

Richie Allen wrote:I bought a 30 year old John Deere riding mower from a guy for $500 and the thing is built like a tank. My local Deere dealer still treats me like a loyal customer whenever I need a part. If they don't have it in stock, they'll get it in (typically) by the next day with no shipping charges to me. I doubt I'll ever own anything else but a Deere.

I really debated buying an older one. My choice would have been to get the X320 which runs about $4500 before attachments, add a bumper and a snowblade and I was up to $5,000. Mrs. jim didn't understand why a lawn mower would cost $5,000, she called my bet by pointing me to a Murray she saw at Walmart for $500. Doh.

It came down to a new 100 series which is in the $2,000 range or a used X series for the same price. If you talk to some folks they will tell you that the 100 series is not the same quality as the older models and the 300, but it's still a reasonably well built machine with a cast iron front axle and a one piece welded frame. Mrs jim sometimes doesn't like used things, I was on the fence between the used model and a new 100 but she really wanted the newer one.

But bottom line for me is that I'm well on my way to becoming a lifer.

My father in law in Germany has a total man crush on anything John Deere. Truly. Not sure why. Anyway, they don't need a lawn mower for their property so he bought some sort of John Deere ATV which allows him to tow stuff around. Their entire village (maybe 100 people?) fell in love with his ATV and they now borrow it all of the time. He even has American flags (car size flags) flying on the back! It's quite a site to see in this tiny, Germany village.....

Simbagal23 wrote:My father in law in Germany has a total man crush on anything John Deere. Truly. Not sure why. Anyway, they don't need a lawn mower for their property so he bought some sort of John Deere ATV which allows him to tow stuff around. Their entire village (maybe 100 people?) fell in love with his ATV and they now borrow it all of the time. He even has American flags (car size flags) flying on the back! It's quite a site to see in this tiny, Germany village.....

They have done a good job with their marketing. They are the Norman Rockwell of companies. The local hardware store sells all sorts of toys, signs, temperature gauges, rain gauges and other assorted JD stuff. People actually collect JD stuff. If you lived in Germany and wanted something truly American, I could see why you would go with a JD.

jim wrote:Spider - they are the exact same thing at the big box.

No they arent.

You sound lucky im rather pissed off at my JD dealer right now. I dont know how many 10's of thousands of $'s we spend there every year and they still try to pull some BS every few years and i have to put them back in their place. That day came yesterday i got what i wanted but they still shouldnt be trying to pull that [expletive] in the first place.

Diddy wrote:

jim wrote:Spider - they are the exact same thing at the big box.

No they arent.

You sound lucky im rather pissed off at my JD dealer right now. I dont know how many 10's of thousands of $'s we spend there every year and they still try to pull some BS every few years and i have to put them back in their place. That day came yesterday i got what i wanted but they still shouldnt be trying to pull that [expletive] in the first place.

The 100 series of lawn tractors are the exact same thing you get in the big box. You can't get the 300 or 500 series at the big box, but there is absolutely no difference in the 100 series at the dealer vs big box.

I'm just telling you my experience, and my dealer has stood on his head for me and my dinky $2K lawn tractor.