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A nicely fixed-up 300U (new engine, new paint, but not a lot of fancy cosmetics done) followed us home a few months back. We used it with a 6-foot light-duty rotary mower
for pasture maintenance during the warm months
in PA. It was a vast improvement over the little
John Deere 855 we had been using. I think it even
turns tighter than the green baby. The mower deck ends up doing a lot of duty moving
heavy or bulky items from here to there, as well. The 7-foot blade is now on, awaiting the snow. 3-point is the 'prong' type adapters, might be a pain if you changed implements daily, but quite nice if you change seasonally. We have a 12-volt conversion with the little Jap alternator in the box, but have failed to locate a round tuit as of yet. This weekend, after two weeks off and a cold snap, she wouldn't start. Found the hot wire
to the solenoid loose (by the smoke). Tightening
twisted off the copper stud, probably due to galvanic corrosion between the ferrous nut and the copper stud. Local Deere dealer had an exact
replacement in the Napa box. Starts are more vigorous now, but she's also on the trickle charger. Chains from tirechains.com went on this weekend.
That's almost like work! Those tensioners they
sell are a 'must.' If I had infinite time and funds, I'd want a new steering box with no play, and all new throttle bits with no play, and all the stainless
placards, etc., in place. But we all work for a living. Including the 300U. Very satisfied with the machine, particularly
having independent PTO and live hydraulics. To me, the 300 utility has 90% of the vintage
panache of, for example, an H. But it has 95%
of the 'utility' of a modern tractor (save
perhaps for power steering, which I really
don't find that I miss that much for our uses).
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