LoL Alex.... is it the enjoyment of discovering how neat it is to maneuver seemlessly around versus a rising mower! Haha, enjoy the ride! Mine is still running strong, btw with zero issues...

Hey thanks Gionti, it wasn't a big full featured detailed video but again I thank ya for at least taking something from it!

Sorry but thanks Dave...yea I love my acreage and even more after a fresh mow!

Good Evening Ian, Merry Christmas actually since that is nearing also! Yea I miss riding mine because I'm buried in the Northern Ontario wildscapes of winter right now! It's going to be a great ride come spring time for me and the smell of fresh cut grass again! I've found that I've chosen a great ride also, the machine has lots of horsepower to chomp through the heavy overgrowth down the sides of my long driveway to the road, doesn't leave grass strips and it just plain hauls the cut till finish!

Hey Ian thanks, yup I've been on mine finally this year up here in Canada and couldn't wait to see green grass again! I'm about to do an overhaul, pressure wash and oil change and check the blades out myself! Happy mowing bud!

@@RogerDiotte how durable does it seem? I cut about 30 lawns a week currently with a 61 commercial grade ferris and a 42 inch raptor that is now 6 years old. I'm looking for another 42 and would need something that can take a beating.

@@menwithven8114 30 lawns a week lol well...I can't vouch for that but what I can disclose is you'd likely not be impressed with having to fuel up so much as the tank isn't that big on this model! The fuel tank holds 2.1 U.S. gal. (8 L) of fuel so consider that as something since you do large areas! Otherwise from what I've seen of the Raptor to this there isn't much to say that the JD has more of! In fact your Raptor looked to have an Steel cutting deck whereas the JD has Stamped Steel. I don't know what to say...mine didn't need any maintenance or had issues if that helps?

@@RogerDiotte After I commented I did realize it was stamped which is not conducive for taking a beating lol. Thanks for the quick response though I appreciate it!

LOL at your story...in fact still laughing at the "other anatomical part"...so yea I have zero issues with um...belly bumper but I do know that other manufactures address this by just including the curved control arms right from the start where JD includes them only if you buy the series with the designated letter (I forget the trim package letter but I think it's your model R that has all the stuff on it like the foot lever and rubber mats on the floor). Anyways like you I bought the "M" series and slapped on the rear bumper and foot lever that controls the deck height rather than just the hand lever and the rubber mats for the floor. When I bought mine there were barely any around and I wanted the R model to save money on the components I listed above but bought em after anyways. I love the machine nonetheless it's a work horse on my farm. I do like how you addressed looking for a float gas cap though as they should have at least given us a reserve tank switch option for the moment I'm way down my driveway (1/4 mile) and run out of gas due to not seeing the low gas light. I'd love to see your modification though and how you fit behind your mod in a picture some time if you would...Anyways happy cutting as it's late in the season up here in Northern Ontario Canada and I just cut yesterday and there was ice crystals flying in the air lol but I want my grass cut one last time (or maybe a couple more times).

Can’t get the pics to paste sorry

My new Z345 R will be delivered today , May 12 . I will mount the ZGlide front suspension forks before first usage . First cut might be Saturday , May 14

Update. I still love it. I added the step & mulch kit. The mulch kit is amazing. Turns 6 in grass into green dust. Now the down side. I hit a rock on second use that didn’t leave a Nick in the blade but punched a hole clean through the exit gate on the mulch attachment. The only way to replace the part was to buy another over priced kit. This part on this model has no warranty. The dealer was no help either. Finally found an obscure mid-western JD parts distributor. Gave them the part number, paid $14 instead of $159 add shipping & got it in 2 weeks. A note on handling. I never had a zero turn before. I now live in Florida but driving this on wet grass reminds me of ice driving in New York during winter.

Yea I kind of get that but after a lifetime of owning other riders that pretty much all stop due to either a mechanism or by design of the steering wheel the first time you do it to one of these it's almost automatically in-grained to just "flip" it like I did and wham did it ever hit hard...No more now with that strap there! In fact it's caught other first time tire kickers (neighbours-family members etc) doing this also when they first looked at my mower LOL...so it's a good thing!

Agreed , but could have a strap to avoid hitting the frameworks

For sure Mike...I have a line (similar to aircraft turnbuckle etc) that I'm going to install to tidy the appearance of it up!

@@RogerDiotte How will that work ?

Thanks Wayne, put it through it's first year with really no issues but lots of long cutting hours and all were enjoyable! I still revel in how great the maneuverability is when you come up to edges, obstacles and trees! It's actually a little bit of art in fact how you adopt to control the machine and just gracefully whiz around things. Word of advice is just try driving a few rounds near things but don't pick things that you can damage lol..just pick a hedge or something and try to get up close and carve around the end of it as you will find you have to drive out a little before executing the turn otherwise your rear tire will cut in and well...you'll see...just remember that it's about where your shoulder is to the object when turning around things (edge of house-tree-etc) before you begin the turn with this model and the size of deck (42"). Regardless you will enjoy cutting grass as the mower does that very well...no strips left behind which is 100 percent the worst thing when buying a mower like I had happen on my previous mower...it always left 2 strips of grass no matter how I set up the deck and used various mower blades?

@@RogerDiotte Thank you so much for replying to me so quickly, Roger. Wow, thank you for such an informative “How to do“ before I get started lol. That is so kind of you! I will take all of your valuable instructions to hand and be as careful as I can…. I can’t wait to see how it goes cutting such a large amount of grass and not having to push a little push mower around lol 😂. Thanks again mate for your help….

@@wayneberry8703 You were pushing a little mower by hand! OMG your going to freakin love this ride on! Yea true that though do just take yourself for a spin first and manueaver slowly around stuff...Can't state that enough lol!

Mine will be delivered tomorrow ? May 12 . Then I will mount the ZHlide front suspension forks also before getting her out

Yea exactly...sure wish they'd just put something in or have an open area where you can see the tank like most other models. I've gotten somewhat used to knowing how much I can run now but at first I did run out sort of far out in a field lol!

@@RogerDiotte You could use a paint stirring stick as a dipstick in the gas tank to see how much gas is in there.

@@mr.courtney5703 Hah I'll remember this and in fact I'll leave one under the seat thanks Mr. Courtney!

@@RogerDiotte I used to work for a company that delivered fuel to farms and businesses. They used a yard stick to check tank levels.

@@RogerDiotte so approximately how many hours will the mower work on a full tank of fuel?

I never heard (guess I didn't know much about any previous) of the 225 but now I'm curious and will research it just because you have my curious. Of course I would love to have a tank that either has a gauge or sight hole any day myself and that's just something that should come standard in my opinion! Grass season is around the corner up here in Canada and regardless I'm sure I'll put in another fine season with what I have!

I could see the side of the tank and the fuel level at a glance. Great mower !

I actually see they're gone also where I bought mine and John Deere outlet near me said October is when they'd have stock also. Well regardless if you wait or not it would be a consideration in the many brands I'd still consider....

The reason is all because of the few little areas on the property like around the electrical horse fence and the potentilla plants that I have to weave out of and other little fussy areas. Anything more than 42" I'd have to head out after and spend another +hour weed-whacking! That's not going to happen everytime I cut which already takes hours.

Straight on you can do it like pretty much anything I've been on, if it's wet out it's like anything else you slip and slide. Now if you take that approach on an angle that's where the trickery comes into play. Because the unit has no actual steering and the wheels free roll then you quickly develop a feel of how to push more and less on each control handle to compensate for the lack of the front end to stick like say a traditional ride on mower does. I now take on slopes on angles because of knowing how the feel to compensate the amount power to either wheel as you traverse however know that it's not 100 percent again like a ride on mower. If you have an area that has a lot of hills like this and you MUST be constantly attacking them I'd seriously look for a dealer that allows a trial run first hands down!

Yes, you just pull back on the handles and away you go. The only time the blades stop is when you either get out of the seat while operating or you engage the blade stop button.

@@RogerDiotte Thank you for the reply Roger. I'm supposed to get mined next week, can't wait to get it. Have a safe weekend bud and thanks again.

@@66lwmorgan Nice, a new unit to spin around and cut with. If you've never ran a zero then take it out for a dry run and learn it's intricacies when turning and how to get close and around things minding the radius and rear tires especially if you get a 42 inch deck. You'll quickly see just at what point you can start to turn around corners, edges of obstacles to keep the rear wheels cleared of the strike zone. Anyways it's definitely a nice cutting unit enjoy!

@@RogerDiotte I've been on my brother's old Dixon and his Cub Cadet but only a few times and it's been awhile. I'll definitely drive it around for awhile and get used to it. Thanks for the tips, appreciate it.

@@RogerDiotte Hello Roger, just a follow up on my Z345M mower. It was delivered yesterday morning in the rain so unfortunately I haven't been able to do anything, its still raining again today to, go figure. Hopefully things will dry up in a couple of days and I can put it work. Can't wait to make my first run this beast, take care and stay safe.

Hello Alberto! The Z335E, Z335M, Z345M, Z345R 42" Zero Turn Belt Length is 118.6" long and fits 42" Accel Deep Mower Decks. Part Number is GX25628. La longitud de la correa de giro cero de 42" Z335E, Z335M, Z345M, Z345R es de 118.6" y se adapta a las plataformas de corte Accel Deep de 42". El número de pieza es GX25628.

@@RogerDiotte y cuanto es de lrgo la banda que ase traccion las llantas

@@albertodiaz7555 ¿La banda que sujeta los neumáticos? Si te refieres a la correa de transmisión que proporciona tracción a los neumáticos, ¡entonces no hay una correa para eso! ¡Los neumáticos funcionan hidráulicamente! ¡Impulsión hidroestática! ¡Solo se necesita una correa (banda) para esta cortadora de césped y esa es la que se utiliza para girar las cuchillas! The band that grips the tires? If you mean the drive belt that supplies traction to the tires then there isn't a belt for that! The Tires are powered hydraulically! Hydro Static Drive! There's only belt (band) that is needed for this mower and that is the one for turning the blades!

@@RogerDiotte es la banda que actiba las llantas que ase traccion cuanto es de larga

@@albertodiaz7555 ¡Entiendo lo que pides ahora, Alberto! La correa de transmisión y sus medidas son 1596,60 mm de largo, 8 mm de espesor, 13 mm de ancho. Número de pieza A-GX26401. ¡Perdón por la confusion! I get what your asking now Alberto! The drive belt and it's measurements are 1596.60 mm long, 8 mm thick, 13 mm wide. Part Number A-GX26401. Sorry for the confusion!

Sorry for the late response Mike! Anyways I'm lol still using the piece of electrical fence string you saw me use in the video! However as suggestions I would recommend taking something like a bungy cord(s) and securing them in place or a piece of wound wire like this type of cable from home depot www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-3-16-in-x-6-ft-Galvanized-Steel-Security-Cable-Wire-Rope-803182/203958878 Then just cut it to fit (you'll only need a few feet so 6 feet would be good). After you cut the wire then use these furrules to clamp the loop you make www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-3-16-in-Aluminum-Ferrule-and-Stop-Set-43264/205887743 Anyways I think that John Deere should just make it standard to attach a factory cable system to avoid having the seat flop totally right over like it does! Anyways if you attach or happen to have a sheathed dog leash made of wire already then leave the clasped end on it and then you can quickly unclasp the one end if ever needed to totally have the seat lay right down! Here's a dog leash run I'm thinking of for an idea! You can clamp one end and use the attached clip clasp to attach one end then just make your own end from the above ferrules to your custom length! www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-1-8-in-x-20-ft-Galvanized-Dog-Run-Cable-803192/203958752

@@RogerDiotteGreat ideas , but JD should have a tie down strap for this , like you mentioned . I will check this out

@@mikeswink1031 Thanks Mike for opening up ideas as I'm sure someone will heed this or offer their ideas. Yes though it's something expected you would think from a manufacturers stand point cause I know I honestly assumed there'd be a catch system there.

Hey sorry, it's still running very well actually...starts easy even after storage in winter! Going to do an oil change soon (guilty I've not done one yet). Otherwise it is used pretty heavy on this farm and yea...easily does this large acreage!

@@RogerDiotte thanks! :)

Yea I know when you see the whole layout I know. Here's the deal though, I have a few obstacles that I have to weave in and out of and I purchased a 54" deck which I owned for 6 years and had to manually finish up with trimming with a push mower and weed whacker which added a whole new dimension such as extra hour, more machines etc. In the end I started out years ago with the a 42" deck on a rider mower and through the years it was just much more streamlined to return to it! Hence why I love the 42" for a just a few more passes and its done in one foul swing plus I really enjoy buzzing around regardless of machine I'm on and cutting pleases my days off cause it's so nice here when it's cutting season that I actually itch to get on and RIDE!

Considering the Z355E 42" is $3599 in Canada I'm thinking yea that's fair to put it in that category!

Hey Paul...lol the Ponderosa!

I just wanted to point out the seat that flew forward really and few other little things as I don't consider myself an A to Z guy I guess and that is clear to me now lol. Now though that you mentioned this I'll either stray from making another or try to really get "hollywood" in detail on any others. Then again I just don't have that commitment so if I should do anything it'll likely be what it is.