I've read a few posts here and on other forums and pretty much everyone seems to be really happy with the 300R, but what concerns me is that my dealer initially talked me out of one when I bought the 300, and it sounds like other JD dealers have done the same. There wasn't any specific reasons, just basically "previous customers haven't been happy."

I am picking one up on Friday to try for myself, so I'll see if I like the bagging system. I'm just looking for any info I won't be able to learn in just a weekend of use. Is it easy to convert to mulching? Does it mulch well? Do the timed blades give you any problems? Any other issues that wouldn't be the same as on the 300?

Thanks for your help!

Random thoughts:

I haven't read too many negatives about this tractor, but the one I do remember is that because the blades are timed, anytime you hit a large stick or something else they might kick one of the blades out of timing, and you're going to have a problem. I looked under the deck and I really don't think these blades are timed - they are offset a little bit, but I don't think they overlap. I could be wrong, and I’ll have to look into this.

There is a large black backplate where the bagger mounts. That stays on whether you are bagging or not. My dealer is looking into exactly how this thing mulches, but apparently there is a tube that inserts into the chute from the back to plug it and a switch to turn off the blower. There is also a funny looking discharge chute you can attach to the back if you want to discharge. Looks kind of strange in the pictures, but it would probably work pretty well if you use a tow behind sweeper.

Positives:

As a bagging machine, the 300R blows away the 300 with the standard bagger. The ability to dump leaves/clippings without stopping is really nice. I expected it to be an improvement, and it works better than I thought. I either pull down to the end of the driveway and dump them (the twp picks them up) or I dump onto a tarp and when I’m done I drag that down to the road.

What I didn't expect was just how much the blower on the deck helps. There is almost no leaf blowout from the deck like there is on the 300. On the 300, I have to go around clockwise and work my way in so I can pick up all the stray leaves. Also, with the 300, I mow twice just to get everything up. With the 300R, you can mow in any direction without having the leaves fly everywhere, and I only needed to go over everything once. The other nice thing about the blower is that it packs the leaves in tighter to the bag. I estimate that I get around twice as much into the 300R bagger as I do with the 300 and standard bagger.

Also, there is a sensor that shuts off the blades and blower when the bagger is full and turns on a light on the dashboard. One of my biggest issues with the 300 and standard bagger is that when it does overfill, it is a real PITA to disconnect the chute, empty it out and put it back together. With the 300R, you just dump and go.

Another positive with the 300R is the fact that you can edge on both sides and it is much narrower without the chute sticking out of the side. I can easily fit through my side gate with the 300R where I’m not even close to fitting with the 300 and bagger. It’s also easier getting into my parking space in the garage.

Negatives:

The deck on the 300R is not as deep as the 300. Not sure if that means it wouldn't lift the grass or mulch as well, but it definitely is more shallow. The cut seems to be similar to the 300, but I’m just a little concerned about mulching. Anyone have input on this?

Another negative is that the turning radius is definitely not as good as the 300. I think the JD website says 19" on the 300R vs. 16" on the 300, but it is an obvious difference. The good thing is that they are both WAY better than my old craftsman.

The only other thing that I could think of that could be a negative is that the deck looks like it might be a headache to take on/off. With the blower and the different belt configuration, I can imagine that this would be more complicated. I will have to look at the manual to see how difficult it is.

OK, that was a bit long, sorry. I have both tractors parked in my garage right now, and I am leaning towards the 300R. I should point out that the 300R is slightly used (13 hours) but quite dirty, so I’m thinking if they were both new, clean, and with the same warranty left, I’d go with the 300R even without being able to try the mulching. The bagging is just so much easier and saves so much more time. After I finished mowing I realized I was kind of hoping there was more to do.

The only reason I haven’t gone with the 300R yet is the unknowns with the mulching. If anyone has any thoughts on that or anything else I’d really appreciate it!

I figure the X300R is pretty much a ground-up design, dedicated rear bagger which is much more popular in Europe than here for some reason. As you've found out they are great for trimming on both sides of the deck, and very easy to dump the clamshell bagger and keep going. If you have any significant hills you could have problems with the lighter duty hydro from what I've read, but can't confirm (I think its the K46). The whole unit is a little on the long side, but makes up for that by being narrow.

My father-in-law has one and I mowed with it the day it was delivered to him. The Kawasaki engine is very smooth and quiet....top of the line motor. It handled very well with easy steering and had nice controls. Hated the reverse safety control because I'm not used to it. He's been using it on an 1-acre lawn (no hills) for three years now with no problems. All in all, a very nicely put together and thought-out bagging mower.

I stopped by the dealer again this afternoon and he found some more info on the 300R. The bad news is that the blower has to stay on all the time, even if you are mulching. To mulch, you bolt a small plastic plate inside the deck across the opening to the chute. There is no switch to turn off the blower. Seems really strange to me. I don't like the idea of all those extra parts moving unnecessarily. Also, probably costs more to maintain. The good news is that they've sold 16 of these tractors over the past couple years and none have had any problems with the blower or anything else other than routine maintenance.

So I'm still trying to track down somebody who at least does some mulching with this tractor.

Where the JD 300R scores over all the other makes is in its use of the fan. That allows it to cut really long, wet grass and collect it without blocking. It's a very popular machine here.

I wouldn't regard it as anything more than a compromise mulcher though. There's no mulching technology other than stopping the grass from getting out. The blades are not timed, they don't have double edges, there are no deflectors or kicker plates, and the deck is nowhere near deep enough or domed enough to work on a simple recirculation principle. As mentioned above, the Freedom 42 had timed blades... and it was one of the best mulching decks I've ever used. But it was strictly single-purpose and nothing could have converted it into a collector!