John Deere LA140 Tractor

   / John Deere LA140 Tractor #1  

cats

New member
Joined
Apr 22, 2012
Messages
1
Location
new windsor, ny
Tractor
John Deere LA140
John Deere Tractors Poor Quality no Service
In May of 2007, I went to Home Depot to buy at the time the new John Deere LA140 Tractor. I wanted a larger tractor with a 48èŠ*ower deck. I always heard John Deere made good quality equipment that last a lifetime. So I spent over $2000 for this tractor figuring it would last a lifetime. The first week I had it, while cutting my lawn the tractors engine didn稚 sound right and didn稚 have much power. I stopped the tractor and called John Deere to come over and take a look at it. The tractor was still under warranty and they found that the rocker arm was off the push rod. They fixed it. No charge.

Then small things started to go on it, springs, the arm to raise the mower deck, one of the mower decks pulley wheel ball bearings came out, had to replace that. Last year I had to replace the middle mower decks spindle. Now I知 saying to myself, this thing isn稚 going to last a lifetime and if it does I値l go broke.

Now, all the transmission fluid has leaked out of the axle. Called John Deere and they said that the entire transmission has to be replaced as a unit, that they can稚 just put in a new seal and add fluid. The transmission alone is about $700 with labor to install it about $1000. John Deere is aware that there are serious problems with the, K46 Transmissions that are in many of their tractors. There are thousands of complaints online, you can read some of the complaints at: Consumer complaints about John Deere or John Deere Hydrostatic Transmission Fix . I do not want to put the same transmission (K46) in only to have the same problem happen again. You can buy an upgrade K66 transmission between $1500 to $1800, but you have to put it in yourself.
Thatç—´ it, after 5 years my imitation John Deere is useless, who is going to spend $1800 to fix something thatç—´ was $2000, 5 years ago. So I did some investigating and found out that the LA140 tractor may not have been made at John Deere. It may have been made at MTD for John Deere. Sill trying to find out if thatç—´ true. If so, thatç—´ not what I paid over $2000 for. I paid for a product that was supposed to be made by John Deere. I was never told this when I purchased it at Home Depot. I was misled. I would not have purchased this tractor knowing this, nor would anybody else if they knew. I want everyone to know that John Deere is aware that there are serious problems with the, K46 Transmissions and are doing nothing about it. John Deere is not going to help you in anyway.
 
   / John Deere LA140 Tractor #2  
Welcome to TBN. :)
 
   / John Deere LA140 Tractor #5  
Welcome to TBN :)

I moved your thread to the John Deere Lawn & Garden Forum.
 
   / John Deere LA140 Tractor #6  
Cats, welcome to TBN. If you ever post more than one post, you'll find that what you bought was not the premium John Deere. Your mower is indeed made by John Deere (not MTD or AYP). It is a cheap mower made to compete with other mowers in the same price range. Unfortunately, it has all the same ills as any cheaply made mower. The truth is, you can't get a Caddy at a Chevy price, even if you paint it green. $2000 is not the price of a quality lawn tractor in today's market. The lawn tractors that made the great reputation for JD are for sale at JD dealers and range from $5000 to $10,000 or more.

I own a LA145 mower and it has been a high maintenance mower like yours, but I've not had transmission failure. I use mine strictly for mowing and have about 150 hours on it. My suggestion to you is that you scrap your mower and rethink your cost for a quality mower. If you spend $2000, you'll be taking a chance with any brand. You might be lucky or you might get another lemon.
 
   / John Deere LA140 Tractor #7  
Please don't tell my two X300s or my former LX178 you have to spend $5000. for a real JD. If taken care of and used within the parameters intended the X3** series will be just fine. Of course there will always be the occasional exception. I paid $2600. in '09 for my X300 w/ 38" deck and $4000. last fall for my X300 w/ 44" snowblower.
 
   / John Deere LA140 Tractor #8  
Please don't tell my two X300s or my former LX178 you have to spend $5000. for a real JD.

Nobody said you have to pay $5000 for a "real JD." At least I sure didn't. However I DID say that $5000 to $10,000 was the price of lawn tractors that "made the great reputation" for JD. Even your lowest priced X300 was $2600. Although I don't believe that the X300 was/is a reputation builder, it is still far more money than a $2000 LA140 or any 100 series.

All I'm asking is that you don't take my post out of context or misquote me. There is nothing wrong with your X300 if used for its intended purpose, but the higher end X3xx series approaches $5k in price.
 
   / John Deere LA140 Tractor #9  
John Deere Tractors Poor Quality no Service
In May of 2007, I went to Home Depot to buy at the time the new John Deere LA140 Tractor. I wanted a larger tractor with a 48闃*ower deck. I always heard John Deere made good quality equipment that last a lifetime. So I spent over $2000 for this tractor figuring it would last a lifetime. The first week I had it, while cutting my lawn the tractors engine didn遞 sound right and didn遞 have much power. I stopped the tractor and called John Deere to come over and take a look at it. The tractor was still under warranty and they found that the rocker arm was off the push rod. They fixed it. No charge.

Then small things started to go on it, springs, the arm to raise the mower deck, one of the mower decks pulley wheel ball bearings came out, had to replace that. Last year I had to replace the middle mower decks spindle. Now I遏・ saying to myself, this thing isn遞 going to last a lifetime and if it does I蛟、l go broke.

Now, all the transmission fluid has leaked out of the axle. Called John Deere and they said that the entire transmission has to be replaced as a unit, that they can遞 just put in a new seal and add fluid. The transmission alone is about $700 with labor to install it about $1000. John Deere is aware that there are serious problems with the, K46 Transmissions that are in many of their tractors. There are thousands of complaints online, you can read some of the complaints at: Consumer complaints about John Deere or John Deere Hydrostatic Transmission Fix . I do not want to put the same transmission (K46) in only to have the same problem happen again. You can buy an upgrade K66 transmission between $1500 to $1800, but you have to put it in yourself.
That逞エ it, after 5 years my imitation John Deere is useless, who is going to spend $1800 to fix something that逞エ was $2000, 5 years ago. So I did some investigating and found out that the LA140 tractor may not have been made at John Deere. It may have been made at MTD for John Deere. Sill trying to find out if that逞エ true. If so, that逞エ not what I paid over $2000 for. I paid for a product that was supposed to be made by John Deere. I was never told this when I purchased it at Home Depot. I was misled. I would not have purchased this tractor knowing this, nor would anybody else if they knew. I want everyone to know that John Deere is aware that there are serious problems with the, K46 Transmissions and are doing nothing about it. John Deere is not going to help you in anyway.

In a way, it's unfortunate that JD chose to get into the box store lawn tractor market. In order to compete with the machines made by MTD and AYP, JD had to cut some of the same corners those other companies do in order to be cost competitive. I'm sure there are thousands and thousands of satisfied L/LA/D series customers. They use their lawn tractors as intended, service them regularly, and get a long productive life out of them. But there are also some who abuse them and don't service them. I'm not saying the OP is in the latter category. Everything mechanical will fail eventually.

You say you spent $2000 on a tractor and expected it to last a lifetime. Did John Deere promise you that?? Do you think it's reasonable to expect a $2000 yard tractor to last as long as something that cost 2, 3, 4 or even 5 times (or more) as much? Ever hear of the term "You get what you pay for"?

As for the "imitation Deere", I won't even bother to respond to that. All it takes is a simple Google search to put that to rest.
 
   / John Deere LA140 Tractor #10  
IIRC the new x310 lists for about $4000, and this is the smallest model with the k58 tranny. So I think Jinman's post of $5000 to 10,000 is pretty accurate.

Research, the average homeowner with a wife and kids to feed is behind the 8 ball all the time. Not everyone can spend the time to read the threads here on TBN. Those that do can avoid some mistakes on lawn equipment or atleast tell us what didn't work out.
 
 
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