John Deere X748 vs X758: 7-Iron vs 60 High Capacity Decks

Comparing the 60" 7-iron deck available on the X748 and the 60" HC deck available for the X758.

[MichaelTJD]

I am very impressed with the overall build quality of either of those decks. The flip-up/removable spindle covers are probably my favorite feature of them all...the 48" deep deck on my X570 has the flip-up covers and they make cleaning and greasing the deck so easy. Almost makes me want to design some kind of spring-loaded covers for the older decks on the 300 and 400 series...

[ryanabbate]

When I worked for deere, I was one of the people who influenced some of those deck design changes on the HC decks. At world hq we were having terrible issues with stepping when mowing steep side hills. They changed the tire design and went with a more heavy ply tire but also lowered the gauge wheel setting( wanted them closer to the ground, wanted to even say close to a 1/4 inch) this was to reduce the flex of the deck on the down hill side of the mower. When they came back with a redesigned deck they added those fine notched wheels as well as made them grease-able in order to prevent that stepping affect. They also changed the hanger design like you mentioned and when we ran them hard we were seeing cracking in those hangers (at the point of the drilled hole on the center few even split in two) hence why they went back to the solid hanger. I know ROPS regulations played a lot in the red design of the 758. They went to a smaller fuel tank and put holes in the frame in order to stay below that magic number.

[whatscoldoing]

Excellent content and well presented. I particularly liked the outtake at the end. That is much more like reality. I typically spend 15-20 minutes on my 748 7-iron deck installation!🤪

[shaunkanary]

I have the 48 inch convertible mower deck from a 2002 John Deere GX325.

[Lilfarmrboy]

Trust me if you run over that wheel it will not tell that mower anything. I ran over a 5/8 chain that was about 8 feet in length that someone left in the yard. My X758 sucked it in the left side & spit it out on the right. Didn't even bog the motor down.

[jgbedford]

Great videos! Thank you! I have a X758 and the 60" 7-Iron deck on it. I bought my tractor used this way. The guyt hat sold it to me indicated the 7-Iron was an upgraded deck. Overkill for my property, but nice to have. I had my tractor in for service the other day and asked them about some convenience accessories. My deck leave crazy widrows if I let the grass get too long before I mow it. I inquired about a mulching kit and said it would not work on this deck. It's the fall now and leaves are starting to fall, so I also inquired about a bagger to help clean up my property. I was also told tha the bagging system would not work on this deck. I've done a fair amount of research on the web and get conflicting information. Do you have any experience with your 7-Iron and mulching or bagging options? Help?

[RCALivingStereo]

You did just fine I think
Takes some time to learn new equipment
I just bought a new x738
Mine has the auto connect. Even with that it took me a few mins to learn it

[shanepipkin]

whats different on pulleys and redesign of belt any benefits?

[mackbsx]

Does anyone have a blade option that would increase the vacuum of the deck? I have 54HC and I have a continual problem with leaf pickup using a cyclone rake collection system. The leaves just blow out the front right side of the deck or they blow away from the deck before reaching the deck. The leaves are whole not chopped when they blow out the front. I have used varying cut heights, deck is set up correctly and I am using standard blades. I have also used the export baffles to close the open front of the deck all with no improvement. It’s like it has little to no vac. This occurs in light, heavy or windrows of leaf cover dry and wet conditions, leaves, and pine needles and straw.

[TheMidwestPatriot]

Do you think the metal style drive over deck ramps could be put on an older x720 deck without a whole lot of hassle? Thanks

[danielcrafton]

Just out of curiosity....I assume you don't like the auto connect decks? May I ask why? What are the down sides to the auto connect feature? Thanks for the video. I too love the "pop off" drive over ramps!

[Luke_van_de_Rest]

Are you at idle when you drive on and off the deck? My X748 needs a bit of throttle to do that..

[joesiegert]

The optional anti scalping roller is worth it on uneven yards

[WillieWonkaD]

I know you can put the 7 iron on the new X700s by changing out the draft arms to the older style, so I'd imagine you can put the HC decks on an older X700 the same way.

[chrispearson]

When leveling a 60" 420 mower deck front to back witch way do you turn the front draft arm yokes to lift the front up? Thanks..

[derek]

The 7iron deck vs the HC deck. They look the same height. Does the HC have different baffles in it or is it mostly just rebadging/renaming the 7 iron deck to a new name also because its 9 gauge now as well.

[jimbennett]

Will that tractor lift the deck high enough for the casters to fall out? Hard to tell from the video but it doesn’t look to me like it would. Install and removal of the deck is sure nice compared to my old 455 with the 60” which is a real man killer job haha

[andylong]

the 60 HC on our x758 is not setup for reliability. the rear mount tabs are so thin. and we have cracks in the deck too. my x748 with 62c is a little better. you are right the decks i had on the x595, 425 and 455 were better. i would like to try a 7 iron. that or we may have to switch colors.