John Deere X300 Rebuild

Are the blades on my mower mulching blades? I think so.

 

Yeah that’s a mulcher. I like the gator blades for mulching if I can get them.

 

Thanks for the confirmation. Just learned/realized that without a bagger typically means a mulching blade.

I'm considering getting rid of the lawn maintenance people. I know - I don't really have a lawn - but they are there mostly for the fall when we literally get about 9,055,343 leaves as the property used to be a tree nursery. White oaks, red oaks, shagbark hickory, and a ton of japanese maple.....Non stop. They charge $100 a month during non-leaf season and come twice a month. For these parts I think that is super cheap. They trim around the property and mow the little grass I have. But I think I can take that money and buy a nice trimmer and after year 1 I'm in the money. Of course, that entails doing the yardwork in the fall which can be challenging. I do, however, have a busted up Br600 that I think I can bring back to life. It wasn't running right and the PO just told me to get rid of it.......so I maybe just keep the tractor, get rid of the landscapers, do the yardwork myself, and another tool (string trimmer) in the process, and save money!

 

From Nov-13-2021. So as you can see, we get a lot of leaves.

 

Maybe if I can find a bagger for the x300........and use the backpack blower first....and get the leaves into a more open area....no way the x300 with a bagger is going to fit between my wood stacks.

 

MasterMech what do you think about my mulching kit insert on the 42" deck here? It has some damage on it - the plastic has definitely been worn through.

I want to remove the chute because it's bulky and blocks my view and I think I could even double up the mulching set up by getting the mulching plug and just leave the insert as it is.

Now I'm thinking about just mulching the leaves......and/or blowing them onto a tarp and dragging the tarp with the tractor to the street where the municipality will pick it up.

Or I could mulch it and make a ginormous compost pile.

 

thats what i do too

 

makes it break in quicker....

 

I would change that filter

 

Over the winter I cleaned off my deck and sprayed it with this stuff:

CRC Heavy Duty Silicone Lubricant, 11 Wt Oz https://a.co/d/30cHI7F

not the be all end all but it is better than nothing for corrosion protection keeping the deck clean

 

That OCD you mention I have it too! Well I thought it would affect the performance.....and it turns out it does I think. I mowed my neighbor's lawn today and had to make multiple passes. The first pic shows what it looked like when I just did the outer edge of the lawn. I had it set to 2.25. Does that translate directly to 2.25"? In any case, I noticed quite a few clumps and longer strands of grass and ended up making several passes (I want to say 5) over the areas that needed it. The cut lawn was fine, it was just the mulching wasn't really there.

Related to that was the fact that I nicked the gas shut off valve which I thought I would clear.....and obviously did not. So that did not help performance either!

In the middle of mowing the lawn maintenance guys for my neighbor showed up and I had to explain I live across the street, just got the mower, and was just testing it out having spoken already with my neighbor. I don't think they really understood me at all.

Before I post the rest of the story, I'm going to post the pics I took of the lawn. I did the main front yard and the little strip in the back.

I ordered the Gator 592-615 blades for the 42" deck for a few reasons. Primarily I saw videos and reviews touting how awesome they are with leaves. That is my primary function for the tractor at the present unless I sell it. Secondly I think they will do a better job with the lawn with that nice long cutting edge. Third the insert is broken and grass was getting caught up inside the insert so it would be a real pain in the azz to clean. I was able to clean it today only because I removed the deck in order to remove the insert, replace a zerk fitting, and remove the blades in anticipation of the new blades.

Thanks for the suggestion! I have some graphite dry lube as well as wet silicone lube....but I may consider using some automotive corrosion stuff (Fluid film, Krown, etc.).

Pics below. I took some video too.

So here's the first test cut around the curb. It needed to be cut but I have no idea how tall the grass actually was.



This was after I was done.



Backyard strip



Mower dirtiness




HOC 2.25



One zerk was not taking grease. Went to the dealer and bought 2 for $0.73 each. They love me there. But it turns out there was grease past the zerk so it wasn't the fitting. Tried cleaning it out, tried blowing a 12V compressor pump in there (it was definitely clogged as the PSI gauge got pegged) and would not unclog. The bearing/shaft seems ok because it spins just fine. I just have to add grease from the bottom of the deck instead of the top. I may change that out eventually. We shall see.



Here's the mulch insert. See that gap between the black plastic and the bracket for the chute deflector? Grass was definitely coming out of the chute so it wasn't blocking it completely. The mulch plug I ordered for $30 will block that opening 100%.



Blade damage.



Mulch insert damage and new zerk. Waste of $0.73.



So while the mulch kit insert does reduce the volume of the deck slightly it I initially thought it cut down the volume by getting rid of that triangle. Once removed I was surprised to see metal already there on the deck. So it doesn't really reduce it that much. I think the combo of the Gator blades and the mulch plug will work out for me, especially since I'll be focusing on leaves. My neighbor is in his 80s I think and I am going to offer to do his lawn for free. His brother whom he lives with can't stand up straight and has been in the hospital for several months now. So if it saves them a few bucks I'd be happy to do it.



I had the GoPro out there on the tripod but silly me forgot to put a fresh battery in there so it died....But I got some decent footage. Unedited you can see me hit the gas shut off valve literally 30 seconds after starting.

But please let me know what you think of the pics of the final product. I know I gotta work on my technique and approach but for the first time in 30 years I call that a win!

I was also using the PTO On/Off switch quite a lot. Since it's a manual leg lift for the deck I thought that would be easier than trying to step on that pedal. Is that how you guys do it on mowers with a manual lift?

Here's the video.

 

It should, yes. That is really low though...if I go below 3.5" most of my grass looks scalped...same at work too, we mow at 4" in the spring when the grass is heavy and growing fast.

The air will do nothing for a clogged grease passage...a good grease gun can force as high as 10,000 PSI...somewhere in the passage the grease has gotten old and hard...usually takes disassembly and open up/clean out with a drill bit. There are tools made to force oil in there with a hammer too...that sometimes works.

Taking on a gas valve will do that, but just FYI, when you sharpen it, don't make it "knife sharp"...they'll lose their edge even faster if you do. Oh, and if you have the blades nested together (after cleaning) and they do not lay together nicely, one is bent...that can leave scalping or uneven cut.

 

I don't think it was too short. Did you watch the video? Does that seem too short to you visually? I walked on it barefoot in the evening when my neighbor got home. He liked it a lot and it felt great on my feet.

Yeah I've seen that tool that you fill with lubricant and then tap. I doubt the PO ever greased it even once. For $40 you can buy a set of new shafts so I'll think about it.

I will keep them less than knife sharp going forward. That's a good tip putting them nested together. That just happened by accident today but makes total sense.

 

I didn't...its hard to tell from pictures though I think...but you were probably lower than it is normally cut, or you would have cleared the gas valve.
Different types of grass, and the height its "used to" being cut at can vary a lot...honestly, my 3.5" cut height here means nothing to you...

 

I don't think so. The first pic with my test cut on the edge shows the lawn as it was compared to the mower. The video also shows the difference which is not tremendous. But anyways, I see people cutting at 1.5, some at 1. And some at 3.5 and 4. So it sure varies. And that gas valve is kind of on a hump and is sticking up and out from the ground. I will avoid that area the next time around. As I said I don't have a string trimmer but I will have one soon.

 

Looks like it's cutting good. The mow height has to do with the breed of grass. Around here tall fescue is the only game in town, so I mow as high as I can get (3.5-4.25 depending on the mower).

The gator blades are def worth it. I have noticed better performance cutting overgrown grass and the blades are much sturdier (i.e. less likely to get bent). I haven't used them on leaves yet but I've heard good things.

 

Got myself a tube of 3M Dp402NS (non-sag) 2-part epoxy. Got the $20 applicator gun because stupid me didn't realize the 50ml cartridges require a small set of pistons to dispense......

Repaired (hopefully) the snapped off stems from the front grill and the green cover as well. I also used it for the long joint between the inner air deflector for the engine and the outer shell. I don't want this sucker to break again. The entire design is just silly to me - it was designed to fail.

 

Thanks for taking a video! Feels so great to get something going again for the first time! You will get the rest sorted. BTW the Harbor Freight small tire changer finally showed up, haven't had a chance to try it. Thanks for the heads up on that!
Brad