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In this video, I go over the best Lawn Tractors according to Consumer Reports. Timestamps 0:21 Cub Cadet XT2 SLX50 1:57 John Deere S170 3:48 John Deere X350-42 6:22 John Deere S240-48 8:22 John Deere X354 Want FREE Shipping With Amazon Prime? Get a 30-DAY FREE TRIAL by signing up here http://www.amazon.com/tryprimefree?tag=thechrisreview-20 DISCLAIMER: This video and description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. This helps support the channel and allows us to continue to make videos like this. Thank you for the support!
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If you're dropping thousands of dollars on a riding mower, then you better know which ones
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are actually worth it. And Consumer Reports put out their ratings, so before buying something you
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might regret, make sure to check out this list. There's 13 mowers, but today we're going over
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the five best tractor riding ones. And if you find something you like, I'll leave links to all
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the tractor riding mowers in the description below. First up is the Cub Cadet XT2 SLX50
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which got an overall score of 80. And this thing is kind of hard to argue with. Consumer Reports
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gave it perfect fives across the board inside discharging, mulching, bagging, evenness, and
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handling. And that almost never happens. And for machines sitting at $3,799, that's a pretty
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compelling case right out of the gate. It's running a 679cc two-cylinder engine with electronic fuel
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injection, which is something you usually see on higher-end machines. And this is paired with an
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automatic drive system and electric PTO. Now the deck is 50 inches wide which is
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the biggest on their list so if you've got a large yard this is built exactly
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for that kind of job. Now in terms of features you're getting cruise control
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LED headlights, a fast attach a blade system that makes swapping blades way
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easier than the old-school way and the washout port to clean out the deck and
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there's also a comfortable high backseat with armrests. It's not a bare bones
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machine by any stretch. Now where it gets a little interesting is the
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reliability score. Consumer Reports members gave it a predicted reliability of 56 out of 100. Owner satisfaction came in at 63 so the performance and
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testing is elite. But real-world long-term ownership is a bit more of a
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mixed bag. And that's worth keeping in mind if you're planning on running this thing hard for years. Now that said, when you stack it up against the other
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tractors that scored anywhere close to it in testing, the price is actually
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pretty competitive. And Consumer Reports didn't find a single discernible flaw in
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its cutting performance. And for a lot of people that's gonna be the whole ball game
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Next is the John Deere S-170 which got an overall score of 80. And this one is
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really interesting because it comes in at $3,300 which is $500 less than the
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Cub Cadet one and it's still pulling an overall score of 80. So right away you're
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getting comparable performance for less money and that's where John Deere starts
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to make a really strong argument. In testing it scored perfect fives on the
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side discharging, mulching, cutting, even this, while bagging and handling came in at fours. So
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just a small step behind the Cub Cadet there, but nothing that's going to be a deal breaker for most
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people Now the deck is 48 inches so slightly smaller than the Cub Cadet 50 but it still a very capable size for a large yard Now under the hood you looking at a 724cc Briggs Stratton engine with 24 horsepower and a hydrostatic transmission
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which keeps operations smooth and simple. Now it's got cruise control, a washout port, a high backseat
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and one thing worth mentioning is that it can cut in reverse, which is actually pretty useful when you're working around obstacles
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Now here's where the John Deere really separates itself. predicted reliability came in at 71 out of 100 compared to the Cub Cadets 56
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and owner satisfaction is sitting at 87 out of 100 which is a big jump
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now John Deere has built a reputation over decades for a reason and their owners tend to back it up when surveyed
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if long-term ownership and peace of mind matter to you those numbers are hard to ignore
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the one thing that does give a little pause is the warranty you get two years compared to three or four on most of its competitors
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For a machine at this price point, that's a bit stingy and it's really the only knock
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Consumer Reports had on it. The one thing worth noting is that it's loud. Consumer Reports flagged
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it and actually recommended wearing hearing protection while operating it. So if you're someone who's going to be on this thing for a while, then that's something to keep in mind
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Up next is the John Deere X350-42 which got an overall score of 83 and this one is sitting at
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$4,100. It's the most expensive one we've covered so far and it's actually got the smallest deck of
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the three at 42 inches. So why does it score an 83 overall? And that's because of the engine
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Instead of a Briggs and Stratton like the S-170, the X350 is powered by a Kawasaki engine and that's
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a huge upgrade. Kawasaki makes one of the most respected small engines in the outdoor power
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equipment world known for being smooth, efficient, and long-lasting. And you're not just paying for
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a name here. There's real engineering behind the price difference. In testing, it scored perfect
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fives on side discharging, mulching, evenness, and handling. Bagging came in at a 4, same as the S-170
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and noise was a 1 like everything else in this category. So again, we're the hearing protection
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But the cutting performance across the board is excellent. What really sets the X350 apart
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is the feature set. You're getting a dial to adjust your deck height instead of a lever
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which sounds like a small thing but makes a noticeable difference in day-to-day use
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And there's also a full instrument panel giving you fuel level, battery status, hours of operation, and a tachometer
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Now on a lawn tractor, that kind of information actually matters, especially if you're doing regular maintenance and tracking service intervals
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Now this also has cruise control, a washout port, cuts in reverse
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and it comes with a four warranty which is the best coverage of any machine we looked at so far Now the reliability and owner satisfaction scores match the S170 exactly 71 and 87 which makes sense since they both John Deere products with the same track record behind them
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Now there is one Quirk Consumer Reports flag that's worth mentioning. The foot pedal used to
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raise the deck is positioned close enough to the brake that new people can mix them up. Now it's
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not a deal breaker, but it's the kind of thing you want to know before you're navigating around
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a flower bed for the first time. Now the 42 inch deck is also something to think about. If you got
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a really large property this is going to take you much longer to mow than the Cub Cadet or even the
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S170. So where the x350 makes the most sense is if you have a medium to large yard with a lot of
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obstacles, trees, garden beds, tight spaces and that's because the smaller deck actually gives
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you more maneuverability in those situations while still delivering premium performance everywhere
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else. If you want the most refined feature-rich riding experience of everything we've covered so far and you're willing to pay for it, then the
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X350 makes a very compelling case. Next up is the John Deere S240 48 which got
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an overall score of 84. It comes in at $4,000, so $100 less than the X350 we
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just talked about. But you're getting a 48 inch deck instead of 42 which means
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more ground covered per pass and less time on the machine overall. Now it's
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scored perfect fives in side discharging, mulching, bagging, and evenness. The Cub Cadet we started
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with also did that, but this is John Deere doing it, with that same reliability and owner satisfaction
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track record sitting behind it. And that combination is pretty hard to beat. Like the X350, it's running
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a Kawasaki engine, so you're getting the same smooth, dependable power that Kawasaki is known for
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in outdoor equipment. It pairs with a hydrostatic transmission, electric PTO, cruise control, and a
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washout port. Now the high back seat is comfortable for longer mowing sessions and overall the feature
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set is solid without being overly complicated. Handling came in at a 4 out of 5 which is still
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pretty good and the noise scores actually came in at 2s instead of 1s which might not sound like a
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big deal but in this category that's genuinely better than average. Still not quiet by any means
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but a step ahead of most of what's out there. Reliability and owner satisfaction are the same
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as the other John Deere models, 71 and 87, which at this point tells you something consistent
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about the brand. These owners are happy and the machines tend to hold up
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The one thing to keep in mind is the warranty. Three years is respectable, but it's one year shorter than the X350's four year one
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So you're paying slightly less and getting a wider deck, but giving up a year of warranty
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protection in the process. Whether that trade makes sense really depends on how much the deck size matters to your specific yard and how much weight you put in that extra year of coverage If you want maximum cutting performance Kawasaki power
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John Deere reliability, and a wide enough deck to handle a serious property, then this S240-48
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is honestly one of the strongest all-around values on this entire list. Finally at number one is the
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John Deere X354 which got an overall score of 84 and this is the most expensive machine we're
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covering today at $5,100. And before you react to that number, let's talk about what you're
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actually getting here because the score backs it up completely. Perfect 5s across every single
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performance category, side discharging, mulching, bagging, evenness, and handling all hit that top
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mark. The S240 we just talked about dropped to a 4 in handling and the X350 dropped to a 4 in
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bagging. Now this X354 didn't drop anywhere. It's a clean sweep and Consumer Reports said straight
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that in performance, it's near perfection. And it's also running a Kawasaki engine
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like the other higher-end John Deere models, and it's paired with an automatic
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drive system and electric PTO. But what really makes the X354 feel like a
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premium machine is the details. There's a fuel level gauge that you can read
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right from the seat without leaning over and getting off the machine. The mode
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changing system is called mulch control and lets you switch between mulching
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inside discharging incredibly easy, which sounds simple, but if you ever had to
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mess around with a manual deck plugging the middle of mowing, you'll appreciate how much that matters
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Cruise control, washout port, high back seat, all included. And it comes with a four-year warranty
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matching the X350. Reliability and owner satisfaction are the same strong John Deere
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numbers we've seen throughout 71 and 87. And Consumer Reports specifically called out that
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John Deere is the only lawn tractor brand to earn excellent scores in both those categories from
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their members. And that's not a small thing when you're spending $5,000. Now the honest conversation
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here is the deck size. At 42 inches you're paying the most money on this list for the smallest
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cutting deck width along with the x350. If you got a sprawling property you're gonna feel that
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in mowing time. That's just the reality of it. Where the x354 makes the most sense is for someone
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who wants absolutely no compromises on cut quality, wants the best reliability backing in the category
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and has a yard where maneuverability and precision matter more than raw width
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So if you can stretch the budget and long-term ownership experience is important to you
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the X354 is the one consumer reports testing points to as the closest thing to a perfect long tractor on this list
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And that's all for today. I hope this list helped you choose the perfect riding mower
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And if you find something you like, don't forget to check the description to find links to all the riding mowers mentioned in this video
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Thanks for watching
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