How to Choose Between a John Deere and a Kubota Riding Mower
Choosing between a John Deere and a Kubota riding mower is rarely a question of which brand is better overall. Both build good machines. The real decision is which machine fits your lawn size, your hours per year, the attachments you will actually use, and the dealer you can realistically reach for parts and service.
Work through the six steps below in order and the choice usually becomes obvious before you get to the price list.
Step One: Work Out Your Real Hours Per Year
Multiply the area you mow by the number of cuts in a season, then think about how many hours that actually is. A half acre residential lawn cut weekly through a six month season is a modest total, and a residential lawn tractor from either brand will handle it for many years. Two or three acres cut weekly, or a property where the mower is also doing towing and clearing work every weekend, moves you into a different duty class entirely.
This number determines everything else. It decides whether you need a residential or a commercial duty machine, whether a petrol or a diesel engine makes economic sense, and whether the extra cost of a fabricated deck will pay for itself.
Step Two: Match the Machine Class to the Job
| Property | Machine class | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Up to about 0.5 acre, flat and maintained | Small lawn tractor | Enough power and width, cheapest to buy and run |
| 0.5 to 2 acres, flat to gently rolling | Lawn or garden tractor with a hydrostatic transmission | Comfortable, tows and takes seasonal attachments |
| 2 to 5 acres, mixed ground | Garden tractor or a diesel machine | Heavier frame and transmission, better at higher hours |
| Slopes above about 15 degrees, or rough ground | Tracked remote control mower | Low centre of gravity, operator stands clear of the machine |
| Large open areas, few obstacles | Zero turn or a wide deck machine | Productivity per hour is the priority |
Step Three: Decide What the Machine Has to Do Besides Mow
List every job the machine will be asked to do, because this is where the two brands separate. If the machine will tow a cart, pull a spreader, aerate, dethatch or clear snow, the attachment catalogue and the towing capacity matter as much as the mower itself. John Deere's attachment range is broad, which is a genuine advantage for a mixed duty machine. Kubota's strength is at the commercial end, where the machine is primarily a mower and the value is in the frame, the transmission and the diesel engine.
Step Four: Check the Dealer and Parts Position
A riding mower is a machine you will own for a decade or more. Before you buy, call the dealer you would actually use and ask three questions: how long a common wear part takes to arrive, whether they hold the belts, blades and filters for your class in stock, and whether they do warranty work on site or require you to transport the machine. A brand with a slightly better specification but a dealer two hours away is usually the worse choice.
Also ask about the parts that cost real money over the machine's life: the hydrostatic transmission, the deck spindles and the drive belts. Their availability and price tell you more about ten year ownership than the purchase price does.
Step Five: Sit on Both, Then Look Underneath
Specification sheets do not tell you whether a machine fits your body or your shed. Do this on the dealer floor:
- Sit on the seat and confirm your feet reach the pedals comfortably and your sightline reaches the front deck edge.
- Operate the height adjustment and the deck lift through their full travel.
- Ask how long the deck takes to remove, and whether it can be done without tools.
- Look underneath at the frame thickness, the spindle housings and the belt routing.
- Measure the machine and confirm it fits through your gate and into your shed with the deck fitted.
- Start it if you can, and listen to the engine and the deck at idle and at working speed.
Step Six: Judge the Used Market Too
Riding mowers hold value differently depending on the brand and the class. A well kept machine from either name will sell, but the pool of buyers and the prices they pay vary with region, so the resale value is worth checking before you buy new. Look at what two and three year old machines of the class you are considering are actually selling for, subtract that from the new price, and you have a rough depreciation figure. That number, divided by the hours you will use, is the true cost of ownership per season.
Common Buying Mistakes
- Buying the widest deck available and then finding it will not fit through the gate into the garden.
- Buying on monthly payments without checking the price of a transmission or a spindle replacement.
- Choosing a residential lawn tractor for work that is really commercial duty, and wearing it out early.
- Assuming the attachment catalogue you saw online is available in your region at the same price.
- Using a riding mower on a slope it was not designed for, which is the single most dangerous choice on this list.
If Your Ground Is Rough or Steep
Neither brand's residential range is the right answer for steep slopes, heavy brush or overgrown land. For that kind of ground the safer and cheaper category is a tracked remote control mower, which holds slopes where a wheeled machine will slide, and which keeps the operator clear of the machine. You can see what that looks like here: machine collection. Two models worth comparing are the 550A remote control crawler lawn mower and the SYGC-800 tracked remote control mower.
