John Deere X520 review.

I have a John Deere X520 garden tractor with the 54'' mower.

I have had this machine from day one and it has never given me any trouble.

Likes
Engine
The X520 uses a liquid cooled Kawasaki V-twin with 26 horse power and 44 ft-lbs of torque. This engine is good on gas at the tune of 5 hours or 10 acres per tank of gas (5 gallons). The engine starts easily in the cold and warms up with in 5 minutes of starting in cold weather. The coldest I have started the machine in was 19 degrees Fahrenheit. The engine started on the 3rd revolution. The service intervals for this engine is oil every 100 hours and coolant is ever 400 hours. Valve adjustments if needed are every 200 hours.

Transmission
The X520 has a single speed hydrostatic transaxle. The transaxle is a TuffTorq K72B. This transaxle makes 400 ft-lbs of torque at the wheels. This transaxle also has a locking differential to pull through the tough spots. I have used the diff lock to go places I can't go with my other machines. This is a well like feature of this tractor.

Frame
The frame is made of 3/16 in steel. It is very strong and does not flex when going trough ditches or rough spots. I have had this machine on 3 wheels and the frame did not flex.

Fit and Finish.
The fit and finish of the machine is excellent. All the panels line up and the paint quality is excellent.

Comfort and ease of use
The machine is very comfortable. I have spent many hours mowing with this tractor and when finished I felt just as good as when I started.
The seat is very comfortable. The seat is adjustable from the front to the back for different sized operators. All the controls are easy to use and under stand. Every thing is within reach of the operator.

Mower
My tractor is equipped with the 54'' extra edge mower deck. This deck is heavy duty and very well made. The deck has 3 grease points which are easy to get to. This deck is a 3 blade deck that cuts tall thick grass with ease. The 26 horse Kawasaki has no problem running this mower.
The deck has 5 anti scalp wheels. These wheels are adjustable. They also turn 90 degrees to help when removing the 250 lb all steel mower. Removal of the mower requires no tools and takes less than 5 minutes. Installation takes about the same time.

Tractor with mower removed.