John Deere JM Series

Starts first time but chokes on catching – Super reliable engine, takes a little while to get used to the momentum system. It ends to get stuck in drive and you need to drag the mower backward at the end of a run. Simply cannot use this mower with a catcher. Poorly designed chute and catcher is way too smalll. Clogs in seconds.  Show details

Poor Fuel Filter desogn – Bought from Pittwater Mowers, Terrey Hills 4 years ago. Nothing but trouble - motor kept cutting out. Was told that I was using bad fuel. Have other machines using same fuel with no trouble. After 5 trips back under warranty they told me to p..s off and don't f.....gwell come back. Took it to Eastwood Mowers in Mobbs Lane, Epping. Charged me $40… Read more

and he said that it was a poorly designed fuel filter. Whatever he did I have had no trouble until now, with what appears to be the same problem. Will sell it and buy a new mower - definitely not John Deere.

A great machine! Streets ahead of the competition in the price range – I bought the JM36 about 12 - 15 months back after a GMC mower had continually let me down by being impossible to start. Actually it turned out that it was my fault; when I had layed the mower over to sharpen blades one time - I apparently had done this the wrong way - allowing sump oil to bleed into the combustion chamber! Sheesh! Anyway - I… Read more ·  1

bought the JM36 for about $549 at the time, a great price for a self propelled mower with mulching capability. I'm nowhere near as fit as I once was, so the MowMentum (self propelled) system is great. All you do is unlock the handle bars and push them forward slightly and off goes the mower at a nice fast walking pace (this is controlled by how far forward you push the handle bars).

The machine has the capability to: Mulch, Catch or Side Discharge. Personally I find the catcher is too small and the throat blocks fairly easily, especially if the grass is a bit damp or longer than say 7-10 days growth.

Mulching is likewise - you need to mow basically once a week or you'll find it struggles and the grass is not well mulched. The machine has only 2 x blades (and they're not very sharp) - I think that a 3-4 blade sytem would be better for mulching; either that or a redesign of the blade cutting faces to make them sharper. Side Discharge also does not perform perfectly - I had grass yesterday that was 2 week old Spring growth about 100 mm (4 inch) high and had quite a few chute blockages.

I've also noticed that after ANY mowing the grass tips are ragged, suggested it was "dragged" or slashed rather than cut - refer to my comments above about blades.

So to wrap up - I use the machine for mulching mostly, and always try to do that weekly to avoid the problems with choking that I've mentioned earlier. I really like the machine, but if I could I would make a few modifications as above. Inexpensive, Self propelled, Wide cut. Poor grass handling with long or damp grass, Slashes rather than cuts.