ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

The John Deere Lawn Rebel

Updated on June 29, 2011

The John Deere LA 175

Where can I find a "Lawn Rebel"?

I first heard this essay on The Onion Radio several years ago. "It was last week that I had withdrawn a hefty sum from my pension account and made haste to the Eastgate Plaza Lawn & Garden Place to pick out the finest riding mower known to man—the John Deere Lawn Rebel, featuring high-impact Euro-style wheels and nine-position fingertip height adjusters. I climbed right onto the patented Comfort Cushion(TM) seat and grabbed hold of the deluxe, seven-speed gear shift, and drove her right out of the store and down Grant Avenue toward home, waving to everyone I saw." -- Joseph Marty, from The Onion.   Ever since, I've looked far and wide for a JD "Lawn Rebel" and after years of searching, have come to the conclusion that it doesn't exist.  

Vintage John Deere Circa 1940

Tractors of My Childhood

In 1958, a John Deere tractor's engine produced a distinctive "pop" and stutter constantly.  It was running fine, but sounded as if it would sputter and die with the next gasp.  My father and his brother who farmed together always used Farmall tractors from International Harvester and I liked the confidence of the consistent roar of their engines.  Both of those distinctive sounds now reside with the memories of my childhood, growing up on a cotton farm in North Louisiana.

An I-H tractor is a rare sighting these days with Kubota, Husqvarna, Massey Ferguson, Troy-built, and others enjoying higher visibility.  The green machines of John Deere are still around and enjoy perhaps their greatest popularity ever.  Several years ago, I needed something green for a St. Patrick's Day parade so I went to the John Deere dealership in Winnsboro, LA, and purchased a green John Deere cap.  It has a special place in my closet and I dig it out and wear it every March 17, with a couple of shamrocks attached.  

Classic Farmall - The "Super M"

This tractor and an "H" model were what my father and his brother were using when I came along.
This tractor and an "H" model were what my father and his brother were using when I came along.

There's a coupon on my desk waiting to be used. It will get me a free John Deere cap. The coupon came with my new John Deere LA 175 lawn mower. It's a great piece of machinery built in Greeneville, Tennessee. It isn't a full sized tractor, but it has that famous John Deere reputation and a fifty-four inch cutting deck that really comes in handy on our two-acre farm.

So, for me and my money, the LA 175 will have to do.

We live in the mountains of Western North Carolina near the base of Cold Mountain, about fifteen miles from the nearest Lowes.  It just wasn't practical to drive my new LA 175 home from their store.  It was a red letter day when the delivery truck pulled up in front of our recently restored 92 year old farm house.   I even took a personal day off from work!  The two delivery men slowly rolled the Green Monster onto the Tommy Lift and eased it down onto my driveway.  Oh man! What a deal!  Filled with anticipation and excitement, I carefully climbed into the gold "Comfort Cushion" seat -- it was better than a Barcalounger!  After adjusting the choke and depressing the brake, I gave the key a turn. Bam! First try, the Lawn Rebel roars to life.  Aaaaahhh, what an awesome sound!  I drove my baby from the driveway into some grass that had been waiting for the arrival of the Deere, dried by the morning sun, and waiting to sacrifice it's overly long blades to the 54" wide tornado inside the  mower deck.  With a firm grasp on the "Attachment Engagement Switch", I unleashed the fury of the three factory-sharpened mower blades, the likes of which this ancient lawn had never seen!  Any one of these three fearsome slicers would put the steel of a samurai's sword to shame.  

54" CUT !!

Driver's View

Buy related products here!

Even though we live in the mountains, our two acres have enough near-level land that numerous long straight runs are required, especially in the back yard. Just the right place to try out the Lawn Rebel's cruise control. I love this feature on my pick-up truck and couldn't wait to try it with my new John Deere. Another WOW!! I settled back in my comfortable lounger, pointed the front of the mower in the right direction, set the cruise control and enjoyed the ride. And what a ride it was! The extra large Carlisle Turf-Saver tires and the famous "twin I-beam" suspension made the ride comfortable even over the "washboard" area near the rocks next to the mountain stream behind our house. I'm sure I'll enjoy many hours of pleasurable lawn maintenance with this great investment.

Nothing runs like a Deere!

What's your favorite brand of tractor?

See results
working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)