John Deere LT160 4.70 star(s) (6)

Lawn Perfection
Model Year: 2005

I have Floratam grass that is easy to mow. I have always mowed at full speed. The LT160 is fast and rips through high grass with ease.The 16-horsepower Kohler has a lot of torque and the oil never seems to get dirty. The deck has had a few hairline cracks that I have had to weld. But l do grind a lot of sticks, pine cones, leaves, and rocks and it has never been in the shop for any reason. I'm looking at new mowers but l can't seem to find any lawn tractor to take it's place. They are all to slow. Two or three more years will be no problem. (love that mower)

Pros: Fast, reliable, handles well and has excellent traction in the ditch
Cons: Mows slower in thin tall grasses

LT 160 Owes Me Nothing - 15 Years
Model Year: 2002

I have done nothing to it other than change the oil and sharpen the blades annually. The front tires are bald now, and it still cuts and bags great.

Pros: Dependable and durable. Simple!
Cons: Too slow

LT160 John Deere Review - Walks
Model Year: 1995

New to forum. Looking for advice regarding my tractor's declining trans axle performance. My LT160 is supremely built but now I've found its Achilles heel: the transmission. This forum has excellent information and I'm feeling confident I can conduct repairs as shown by others.

Pros: Everything except transaxle.
Cons: Transaxle.

Still Mowing Its Share
Model Year: 2004

Our John Dere LT160 mows alone side our 1983 Kubota 3200. We mow our yard, the road going to the lake, around the ponds and road going to the barn which is a 1/2 mile from the house and the road ditch which is 1/4 mile. In all we mow about 8 acres every week from March to Dec. and the LT160 has held up great. The only problem we had is the hood hinge. All we do is sharpen the blades and change the oil and keep mowing.

Pros: HST.
Cons: None.

Inherited LT160
Model Year: 0

I have an LT160 that was left on my farm as part of the purchase agreement. It had 425 hours when I took ownership of it. When I moved to my 20+ acres, it was the only farm vehicle I had except for my Jeep. It did the duties that my ATV and tractor and ZTR mower do now. I really beat it up pretty good, using it as a bush hog to mow the trails in the woods, dragging a homemade drag, pulling a manure cart up and down some gnarly trails in the woods (and frequently getting stuck), taking the trash down in the utility cart, etc. I even used the lowered deck as a makeshift blade to spread some mulch and dirt. For a while during the winter, I took the deck off and it was used in the snow to pull buckets of water out to the horses when the water pipes froze (a particularly cold winter in Alabama). I've done routine care like battery, belts, blades, oil, filters, etc. I bought the parts to put the guard back on the deck (they had put the mulching plug in it. I've had various minor parts break and replaced them with parts I bought at the JD dealer. A part underneath the deck that was attached to the PTO lever broke and was a difficult fix. After being fixed, the PTO safety switch sometimes doesn't engage, so I rigged it with some washers which has helped. Right now it's attached to our ground-drive manure spreader, and it does a great job pulling it since it only goes 5mph and that's the max speed of the spreader. I've truly misused and abused this already well-used mower. Although it has lots of issues (newest issues are that the hood hinges broke, lights stopped working, and left headlamp lens cover is falling off). It still starts up instantly and does a good job mowing. I'll continue using it until it just falls apart or the engine goes. Since it has withstood the abuse I've given it, I consider it to be fairly reliable. If just used for a residential lawn and well-cared for, it may just last a lifetime.

Pros: Withstands abuse, hydrostatic transmission.
Cons: Very basic features.

Deck starting to tear
Model Year: 2003

Overall, I have been very happy with my LT160 that I purchased in May of 2003. Living in Northern Alberta in Canada, we only have to cut the lawn from June to October. Very short season........So imagine my surprise when washing the mower last week, I discover a 1 to 1 1/2 inch tear on each side of the deck right behind the motor. This is a machine that has only 154 hours on it. I am to say the least, a little perturbed about that. In no way has this machine been abused. That is what I'm basing my poor value on.

Pros: Quiet, easy to run, great on gas, love the 42" Freedom deck
Cons: Not happy with gauge deck material