As I continued to search for the answer, I have found certain listings written as such:

"V-twin, air-cooled John Deere iTorque� Power System by Kawasaki"

Hopefully, this means that Kawasaki makes all John Deere engines labelled as "iTorque"

Sounds like a consortium effort by John Deere, Kawasaki, and Apple :^)

JD and Kawasaki have partnered for quite a while ion the upmarket JD garden class tractors.

I believe the reference to the iTorque is to recognize the latest class of Kawasaki engines which meet the latest EPA requirements in 2011.

If you go the the JD web site anf punch up the operator manual for the 2011 X500 it clearly shows:

Engine - iTorque Power System
X500, X530 and X534

Engine Make: Kawasaki

Model Number: FS730V

Bore 78 mm (3.07 in.)

Stroke 76 mm (2.99 in.)

Displacement 726 cm3 (44.3 cu in.)

Cylinders V-Twin

Cycle Four

Cooling Air Cooled

You can Google the model # FS730V and look up anything you want to know about the engine.

Thanks for the added info.

I'm trying to convince myself that I'll be ok with the base x500 model...rather than one of the 2000 series tractors. I'll just hire out the kinds of work that I might need (lots of fence post holes, some clearing of trees, etc.)

So are these Kawasaki made FS730V engines well regarded by those who know about these things???

Thanks

I'll simply say this... among all the brands of residential lawn and garden tractor there is no manufacturer who warrants their products for anywhere near as long as JD warrants the Select Series (X3xx, X5xx, and X7xx) which use Kawasaki engines although there are some diesel X7xx models.

Also, you will rarely see any other manufacturer using the same class Kawasaki engines in their products as JD uses. May be a contractual thing or it may be that those engines cost more... who knows ;)