# John Deere 212



## Thomasaun (Mar 15, 2021)

My wife and me are in the process of buying 6.5 acres and it’s 3/4’s an old cow pasture. It’s over grown now mostly with thorns and for the most part it’s so over grown that it’s killing itself out so most of it is thick but dry and brittle. My main question here is does anybody have any experience with mowing stuff like this with a 212? And how do they mow uphill? I found one for 600 and I was hoping to use it to clean the fields up some and to tighten fences and all that. Can it handle it and do the job? I have a newer cub cadet and I know the tranny just will not handle it. Sorry for the long post. Thank you!!


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## pogobill (Jan 31, 2012)

Welcome to the forum. That Deere sounds pretty tough, and has a gear tranny.


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## Thomasaun (Mar 15, 2021)

pogobill said:


> Welcome to the forum. That Deere sounds pretty tough, and has a gear tranny.


Gear tranny ?


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## bontai Joe (Sep 16, 2003)

WELCOME to the forum! The 212 has a manual transmission with gears. Not hydrostatic like most new machines. The 200 series also has a vari-drive system that uses a variable sheave and belt system so that you can change speeds withing each gear. It's a pretty good system that Deere used for a long time and it is strong enough to do more than mowing. A 212 can pull a plow thru soil, till, plow snow, run a snowblower, etc.


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## Thomasaun (Mar 15, 2021)

bontai Joe said:


> WELCOME to the firum! The 212 has a manual transmission with gears. Not hydrostatic like most new machines. The 200 series also has a vari-drive system that uses a variable sheave and belt system so that you can change speeds withing each gear. It's a pretty good system that Deere used for a long time and it is strong enough to do more than mowing. A 212 can pull a plow thru soil, till, plow snow, run a snowblower, etc.


So you think with a good set of blades it could cut through some good brush and handle mowing up and down slight inclines? I do have plans if I get one to try and find the plow attachment and the tiller. Thanks for the reply as well and the knowledge!


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## bmaverick (Feb 20, 2014)

Thomasaun said:


> So you think with a good set of blades it could cut through some good brush and handle mowing up and down slight inclines? I do have plans if I get one to try and find the plow attachment and the tiller. Thanks for the reply as well and the knowledge!


It's a mere 1-cly 200 series. Going up hill may taxi it from getting thru the thick brush with a belt driven deck. Now a Deere 285 gasser or the 322 diesel or a 335/345 gasser would have no issues. The 4XX Series is very strong as well. A 318 is nice, but those are greatly sought after and people list them for just too much.

Depending on the hill slope going up/down, I would recommend wheel weights for both traction going up and to avoid bouncing going down. Front weights may be needed if the slope is great.


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## Thomasaun (Mar 15, 2021)

bmaverick said:


> It's a mere 1-cly 200 series. Going up hill may taxi it from getting thru the thick brush with a belt driven deck. Now a Deere 285 gasser or the 322 diesel or a 335/345 gasser would have no issues. The 4XX Series is very strong as well. A 318 is nice, but those are greatly sought after and people list them for just too much.
> 
> Depending on the hill slope going up/down, I would recommend wheel weights for both traction going up and to avoid bouncing going down. Front weights may be needed if the slope is great.


Thank you for all the info! I will look for all those models as well! It is not a crazy incline I just wanted to make sure trying to mow dry old brush was even feasible with a 212 since I couldn’t find a video on it. I won’t really need a big tractor of any sort after all that’s done and one of these would be perfect. My goats will be taking over most of the pasture once I’m done cleaning and we move onto this land.


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## bontai Joe (Sep 16, 2003)

I'm more concerned about what size brush you are trying to cut than the slope s you might be on. Stuff less than 1/2" dia. would be about the max I'd attempt with any garden tractor. If you have brush approaching 1" dia or larger, I'd hire out the first cutting to someone with a big tractor with a brush cutting mower (commonly known as a brush hog in my area). And since this has been neglected for an apparently long time, I would most definitely do a walk thru the whole area looking for old tires, cement blocks, and other nasty trash that can hide in the weeds, but really damage a tractor if run over. I remember an afternoon that I spent unwinding 100 feet of steel cable from around the spindles of a Gravely mower. No damage except to my hands.


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## Thomasaun (Mar 15, 2021)

bontai Joe said:


> I'm more concerned about what size brush you are trying to cut than the slope s you might be on. Stuff less than 1/2" dia. would be about the max I'd attempt with any garden tractor. If you have brush approaching 1" dia or larger, I'd hire out the first cutting to someone with a big tractor with a brush cutting mower (commonly known as a brush hog in my area). And since this has been neglected for an apparently long time, I would most definitely do a walk thru the whole area looking for old tires, cement blocks, and other nasty trash that can hide in the weeds, but really damage a tractor if run over. I remember an afternoon that I spent unwinding 100 feet of steel cable from around the spindles of a Gravely mower. No damage except to my hands.


Yeah I had all ready basically set that as a max I would be using anything other than a brush hog to cut but most of it is all ready basically knocked down, dry and brittle from the sellers grandkids four wheeling through there as well. We’ve walked it twice and found nothing concerning other than old fences and a crap ton of barb wire we plan on cleaning up and taking out before we do anything else. I just really wanna do the work myself and do it how I want. But I’ve also found a 285, and a 314 for a good price I will probably get instead if there still around when I go to buy something. I couldn’t imagine unwinding all that steel wire. I’d be cursing up a storm. I also found a an old wheel horse 318-2 that looks very interesting.


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## Thomasaun (Mar 15, 2021)

Thomasaun said:


> Yeah I had all ready basically set that as a max I would be using anything other than a brush hog to cut but most of it is all ready basically knocked down, dry and brittle from the sellers grandkids four wheeling through there as well. We’ve walked it twice and found nothing concerning other than old fences and a crap ton of barb wire we plan on cleaning up and taking out before we do anything else. I just really wanna do the work myself and do it how I want. But I’ve also found a 285, and a 314 for a good price I will probably get instead if there still around when I go to buy something. I couldn’t imagine unwinding all that steel wire. I’d be cursing up a storm. I also found a an old wheel horse 318-2 that looks very interesting.


312-8, sorry! Haha


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## Thomasaun (Mar 15, 2021)

Thomasaun said:


> 312-8, sorry! Haha


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## BigT (Sep 15, 2014)

Howdy Thomasaun,
I would hire a man to bush hog that first. It's too much for a riding mower. Once you get it cut down, you can keep it cut off with a 212. 
But 6.5 acres is a lot of mowing for a little 212. I would look for a mower with a 60" deck or a 72" deck, and lots of power. Have you ever tried a zero turn mower? Once you get hooked on a zero-turn, you'll never go back.


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## Thomasaun (Mar 15, 2021)

BigT said:


> Howdy Thomasaun,
> I would hire a man to bush hog that first. It's too much for a riding mower. Once you get it cut down, you can keep it cut off with a 212.
> But 6.5 acres is a lot of mowing for a little 212. I would look for a mower with a 60" deck or a 72" deck, and lots of power. Have you ever tried a zero turn mower? Once you get hooked on a zero-turn, you'll never go back.


I’ve always wanted a zero turn but my goats will be getting a lot of this property... they’re just so expensive. That’s why I’ve never got one but I may have to invest some day in a smaller toro version maybe so it’s not so expensive and cut mow times down


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## bmaverick (Feb 20, 2014)

Thomasaun said:


> Thank you for all the info! I will look for all those models as well! It is not a crazy incline I just wanted to make sure trying to mow dry old brush was even feasible with a 212 since I couldn’t find a video on it. I won’t really need a big tractor of any sort after all that’s done and one of these would be perfect. My goats will be taking over most of the pasture once I’m done cleaning and we move onto this land.


Nice. We have 5 goats now.


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## bmaverick (Feb 20, 2014)

Thomasaun said:


> View attachment 71505
> View attachment 71506
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OUCH. 

I cleared out land like that before and it was actually hard work for a 30Hp diesel YM2610 with a JD261 3PT PTO behind the tractor. 

This will get worse come Spring when it all starts to grow back. Yep, the goats are not going to eat the stubble sticks. 

BigT is right, no riding mower will get this cleared.


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