Continuing LA145 high maintenance issues

   / Continuing LA145 high maintenance issues #1  

jinman

Rest in Peace
Joined
Feb 23, 2001
Messages
21,008
Location
Texas - Wise County - Sunset
Tractor
NHTC45D, NH LB75B, Ford Jubilee
160 hours and I have to replace my fuel tank. This morning while mowing, I noticed a strong smell of fuel/gasoline. I stopped the mower and checked the engine for leaks and looked at the hoses and filter closely. Everything was fine, so I just figured it was vapor leaking out of the gas cap due to our very hot weather. My grandson and I finished mowing the grass without incident, but he also complained of smelling gasoline. When he was finished, we looked at the fuel tank. There was the problem. About 2" down on the fuel tank (visible from under the operator's platform in back) we saw a 6" crack across the fuel tank. Nothing whatsoever has pushed in at this point. It has to be a failure from vibration or other fatigue. I didn't get a photo, but will post some when I replace the tank.

JD parts has a tank for around $104. I found one online that is supposedly OEM for $89 and $5 UPS shipping. I won't start tearing down the mower until I get the tank.
 
   / Continuing LA145 high maintenance issues #2  
Jim,
You sure have had a lot of problems with this mower. If I had the prblems you have had I wouldn't care for Deere near as much.
 
   / Continuing LA145 high maintenance issues
  • Thread Starter
#4  
Well, one of my reasons for posting all my repairs is to reinforce that you get what you pay for. Deere's cheap mowers are cheap mowers. In today's world, it's very hard to build a large mower with 48" deck and electric PTO for just over $2000. If you don't have any problems with them, you are surely lucky. This year has been relatively problem free with regular deck greasings at 8-10 hour intervals. I'm also now getting the platform paint flaking off in big chunks, probably due to poor cleaning of the base metal before powder coating. My grandson peeled off a chunk of paint yesterday about 1' long and 2" wide. There are several places it is bubbled. However, the plastic hood (that I really like) is as good as the day it was new.

I see X3xx tractors on craigslist used for around $2000 and am very tempted. However, there is a glut of 100 series mowers always. I want to make sure that I do all I can to discourage folks from buying the 100 series and spend a little more money if they can.
 
   / Continuing LA145 high maintenance issues #5  
Jim,
I try to take good care of my equipment but admit to not doing much maintenance on my L130. Mine is a 2005 model with 282 hours as of Sunday, I have change out blades twice the last set being bagger blades this spring. The rest of the mower deck has been cleaned about three times and washed with a hose when the blades were changed. I have greased the mower when I changed blades but as far as greasing every 8 to 10 hours that hasn't happened. My cutting is always dry grass so I don't have any clogging issues to clean out. I suspect over cleaning with water causes more problems than it helps, as I am still on original belts, bearings and spindles with only blade a couple of blade changes. Most of the paint is in good shape except for a few minor scrapes and scratches and this mower has been outdoors its whole life.

I have changed the electric clutch once, replaced the existing fuel pump with an electric pump, replaced the front tires due to dry rot and I am on the tail end of my third battery. The electric fuel pump from NAPA makes starting dependable and instant in that it fires up with a bump of the starter. Right now I need to rebuild the tranny as the mower is getting really slow.

Right now the x749 is picking up the slack mowing my own lawn and working with the landscape grading and lawn start ups. Since my own lawn areas are complete and finished the L 130 should be able to handle the easy mowing conditions I have. I figure if I can get 50 to 75 mowings at home with the rebuilt tranny it will pay for itself. I plan on rebuilding it myself for about $250.
 
   / Continuing LA145 high maintenance issues #6  
What's the purpose of the deck greasing? So the grass won't stick? Mine wouldn't even move a few weeks back, it was so packed with grass. Pulled it all out and it was good. What kind of grease?
 
   / Continuing LA145 high maintenance issues
  • Thread Starter
#7  
What's the purpose of the deck greasing? So the grass won't stick? Mine wouldn't even move a few weeks back, it was so packed with grass. Pulled it all out and it was good. What kind of grease?

Suzy, I'm referring to greasing the spindles where the blades are attached. The three spindles each have a grease zerk nipple for a grease gun. I believe JD's recommended interval for greasing is every 25 hours of operation, but I grease every 8-10 hours and that seems to produce better results. In the photos below, the first is a photo of the bottom of the deck. That's a normal amount of grass and I don't worry about removing it if it doesn't build up more than that. The second photo shows the spindles from the top and third photo shows the grease zerk on a new spindle. If you have a failure of a spindle, the replacement from JD is only about $60. Other mower's spindles are often $140 or more, so this is a good deal.

Feel free to ask any other questions about these mowers. I'll try to answer truthfully with as little hyperbole as possible.:)
 

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   / Continuing LA145 high maintenance issues #8  
I am one of the lucky ones, my 2007 LA120 still runs and almost looks like the day I got it. All the original parts including the belts. The only thing I have changes are the plugs, filters, blades and oil.
Knock on wood!
 
   / Continuing LA145 high maintenance issues
  • Thread Starter
#9  
I hope nobody else has the problems I have, but I doubt that I am the only one with similar problems. I bought this mower in April 2008. It has been covered with a mower cover and parked under our deck until last year when we built a bathroom addition on the deck in it's parking place. It's been out from under the deck quite a bit until this year when I found another place to put it. Since it was parked under the deck completely out of the sun, I have not put the mower cover on, so when it rains, water drips down from the deck. The photos below show the footrests areas. The first shows how the paint has just peeled up from the left footrest. It's even peeling for about 1/3 under the instruction decal as seen in the 2nd photo. The third photo is the right side platform. and how it is starting to bubble. The final two phots are the visible portion of the fuel tank from behind the mower. To see this, you have to get down and look up under the operator's platform. Even if the mower were sitting out in the sun, this is so well covered and so low that you might get 1/2 hour of sun in this area if the back was pointing west and the sun was setting. I just don't think this is from UV ray damage.

I started removing the deck because I've received my new tank from UPS. I had other things to do yesterday, so I still have the new tank to install. I'll snap a couple of photos of it and the installation as I make progress. To lift the platform, you have to remove two bolts under the seat springs to disconnect from the frame and there are 6 ea, 10mm bolts to remove where the dash cowling (black plastic) mates to the platform and frame. To easily get to the bolts, I had to remove the battery and it's shelf plus clean out all the grass clippings collected in the area. It's not a hard job, but it is pretty tight in this area. I'll try to post photos of this too.
 

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   / Continuing LA145 high maintenance issues
  • Thread Starter
#10  
I finally got the old gas tank out of my LA145 this morning. To get the operator's platform to raise up enough, I had to remove the lower part of the cowling below the steering wheel (photo 1). Once I did that, the platform raised easily to expose the tank (photo 2). The tank is not bolted-in in any way. It just sits inside the rear frame on supports. I removed the hose and lifted the tank out (photo 3). Looking inside the frame you can see the tank support pads on either side at the rear and the front of the tank has supports that sit on top of the cross-shaft for the deck lift mechanism (photo 4). Finally, the new tank compared to the old one just before installing it into the mower (photo 5).

I'll take my time buttoning up the mower, but I just can't see spending a lot of time and effort on this machine. I'm thinking that as soon as I get 250 hours on this machine I'll offer it as free stuff on craigslist and let the 1st person who shows up have it. At 250 hours, this mower will have cost me a bit over $10 per hour to buy and maintain (not including fuel). Of course, that's assuming I make 250 hours.:rolleyes:
 

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