# Prestige 23/54 vs GX335



## fouracres (Jul 4, 2004)

I have my choice down to these two tractors. Will have a home trial of both soon.

Prestige 23/54 owners, please sing their praise for me. I can go either way but the price difference is substantial and there is that "legendary cut" to be considered. Anyone test one of these at home? Can you engage the blades without it turning into a "Demo" machine? The local dealer is quite small although fully outfitted for repairs. He only has one Prestige available, still in the crate.

Thanks,
Bill


----------



## guest (Sep 16, 2003)

You really need to test drive it to see how you feel about it.. the only bad thing ive heard about the 54" deck is that its very heavy... my 50 is pretty easy to pull off and get around but the 54 weighs a lot more than the 50" deck. 

any chance of finding another dealer that will let you take one for a ride? I test drove a conquest 1st.. it was not the same as my prestige.. but it was so good, i knew the prestige would be great.. i later test drove the prestige.. even if you have to travel a bit to get the test ride.. its worth it.. your gonna spend a lot of money and want to ensure you are happy with what you bought..


----------



## Chipmaker (Sep 16, 2003)

Don't know squat about how a deck removes on a Simplicity, but on a JD GX335 w/54C deck once you undo the lift links, you pull the pins on the 4 anti scalp guide wheels and rotate them 90 deg. Then lower deck to ground and disengage the lift arms links etc, and roll the deck out from under the tractor. Its a pretty neat and very usefull feature. Lots of tractors decks have to be pulled out with the wheels facing the normal operating directions and can be a real pain. 

SJ:
Does the wheels on the Simplicity rotate to aide in removing the deck? Inquiring minds want to know!

When I bought my GX335 I bought it site unseen, no test drive no nothing but a phone call to a dealer that had one and could deliver imediately. Up to that point all I had seen in the lines of JD were the L series and a GT model.........and I have not been dissapointed one bit, but its still a good idea to test drive em if possible. What tickles me is on a Saturday at Home Depot, they block off a section of the parking lot with lanscape timbers and pallets of JD L series, and potential customers are out there cutting the asphalt parking lot....... 

Guess its still better than Wally World not even allowing you to start it until you get it home.

Most all of the local dealers around here that sells various makes of L & G tractors do not have the first blade of grass anywhere.its all concrete or asphalt...........about the only ones with any grass or offering a potential to try a machine in the real stuff is the larger companies like Deere and Kubota etc. The Deere dealers actually want you to test drive the machines. They may not have the exact model, but the ones they have setup for a demo would give a good indication of how they work overall. I guess it could be a nightmare for some dealers to just let a customer engage the PTO on a brand new machine and test drive it........I know for a fact I would want one that was not used in a test drive so I would insist on a new out of the box machine..........eventually the test drive machines get sold, but if the prices are reduced I don't know. I would doubt it, especially if its a hot selling model.


----------



## guest (Sep 16, 2003)

> _Originally posted by Chipmaker _
> *SJ:
> Does the wheels on the Simplicity rotate to aide in removing the deck? Inquiring minds want to know!
> 
> *


The 54" deck has the rear guide wheels, mine(the 50 does not) 

the deck comes off in a snap though.. 
here is a link..

they make it look easier than it is.. but its still real easy to pull the deck.. under 5 minutes...link to pulling simple deck


----------



## fouracres (Jul 4, 2004)

Thanks for the nice mixture of replies. Good views and opinions. Simplicity does have rotating guide wheels although I don't remember if it was only on the Legacy. The only Prestige available for this yard test was still in the crate. He will assemble it today or tomorrow. I did get to drive the Legacy and TORO on a lawn nextdoor to the dealer.

The JD place has a good half acre lawn out front that is bumpy and thus similiar to our place. My wife fell in love with the X485SE, too much money for now. If she really wants it we will wait another month or so although I would really hate to buy something and have to park it until spring (late April around here!). I'm leaning more towards reality, the GX335...


----------

