Howling Idlers - LA145 48" deck

[jinman]

Well, it was time for spring maintenance on my LA145 last Friday. I replaced the 3-yr old battery that had ceased to hold a charge and pulled the deck for maintenance. I put on a new set of sharp blades and checked the idlers. Sure enough, one was getting loose in the bearing as I suspected from hearing it howling before pulling the deck. I replaced it with a ready spare and greased the deck good before putting it back on. It's ready for another cutting season.

That makes my 4th small idler replacement on this deck that has two small and one large idlers. I replaced the large idler last year and have a spare on the shelf. Since this was my last small idler, I ordered a half-dozen new idlers from an eBay vendor and also a half-dozen new blades. One can never have too many spare idlers if you own a LA145. Even the local JD dealer is keeping a dozen or so of these idlers in stock. He told me they are the #1 complaint on this mower deck, right before the main spindles which are the #2 complaint. This deck reminds me of the old Harley-Davidsons. You have to keep a set of tools and spare parts handy because you're gonna be fixin' it a lot.:laughing:

 

[rayikeo2]

I have the Paranna 44", now 11 years old. I replaced only 1 idler and "NO" spindles and am still on the first original blades. I work this deck hard, mowing rocky land on my LX279. I don't pick up sticks either, I just mow over them. I love this machine, however I did have to re-design the undercarige of the deck by removing the ABS housing that dirrects the grass flow because sticks were clogging it up all the time. The first battery lasted 9 years. Just the luck of the draw I guess. Now after bragging, the outfit will probably all go to pot this year.

 

[jinman]

I have the Paranna 44", now 11 years old.

The Piranha decks are definitely much better built. The LX series of mowers is surely a whole step above the 100 series. The reason I'm posting my troubles is to chronicle how these lower-end JD mowers must have an expectation of constant maintenance. For someone who checks regularly and does constant maintenance, they can be okay. But for someone wanting to buy a long-lasting mower with minimum maintenance, these would not be my choice. Cost of parts is low, but so is the quality of those parts. However, only the deck seems to be problematic. The rest of the mower has been pretty reliable with the exception of the carburetor float needle valve sticking on the B&S engine.

 

[90cummins]

To extend the life of my idler bearings on occasion I put light (thin) oil on the bearing if the pulley sits flat and let it set between mowings to allow it to slowly enter the bearing. Prior to using I wipe what is left off.
Most bearing have only 1 seal and this usually works. Or better yet with oil sitting on the bearing seal use a very small screwdriver or similar tool and push the sealing edge back to allow the oil to seep in.
If the pulleys are vertical I remove them and lay them flat.
I've been doing this for quite a few years and it certainly has helped keep the bearings (HAPPY).
I don't worry about the small amount that (MAY) get on the belt.
Tim

 

[joecdeere]

they make a needle attachment for your grease gun that will let you poke through the bearing seal and inject more/new grease into the bearing

like this -

Amazon.com: Plews 05-037 Grease Gun Injector Needle Nozzle: Home Improvement

 

[mjncad]

The problem with any Big Box Mart price lawn tractor is that they definitely aren't engineered to be rugged like their big brothers.

Since you have a 48" deck, I'll assume you have an electric PTO for the deck. Wait till the clutch and switch puke, then you're in for some relatively expensive fun.

Check out https://picasaweb.google.com/jtpyo.mjn/JohnDeereL130Misc#5382692278412032866 this picture and later for the fun I had with only 56-hours on the clock.

 

[jinman]

Since you have a 48" deck, I'll assume you have an electric PTO for the deck. Wait till the clutch and switch puke, then you're in for some relatively expensive fun.

Yep, when one spindle cratered on our mower, it put such great torque on the electric clutch that it broke the metal strap holding the clutch in place. You'd expect on a well-engineered product to have the clutch slip instead of hold firm and self-destruct, but that's another story. Anyhow, the clutch spinning ripped out the wires. I still had a good connector and was able to splice in connectors in the middle of the harness to put it all back together. I got a new strap and also put a heavy spring inline to help the strap and keep it from being fatigued. Anyhow, I avoided buying a new clutch. I just checked this morning and the cost of a new clutch has gone up to $210. I think you said in your photos that you paid $150 for yours. The price is going up.:thumbdown:

 

[whateg0]

When I have a part that is continually failing, I start looking at alternate ways of repairing it. Not sure what the deck on that mower looks like, but it seems like it should be pretty easy to fit a better idler to it. Heck, you could probably even press the bearings out and get a better replacement from a bearing supply house.

Dave

 

[SandburRanch]

When I have a part that is continually failing, I start looking at alternate ways of repairing it. Not sure what the deck on that mower looks like, but it seems like it should be pretty easy to fit a better idler to it. Heck, you could probably even press the bearings out and get a better replacement from a bearing supply house.

Dave

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That's what I do. On the idler in question, if the rivets are drilled out the idler pulley becomes two haves and the bearing falls out. I use pop rivets to re-assemble with a quality bearing inside.

 

[mjncad]

I just checked this morning and the cost of a new clutch has gone up to $210. I think you said in your photos that you paid $150 for yours. The price is going up.:thumbdown:

$210 for a piece of crap clutch! Good grief, they used to be around $135 before mine puked. The Deere parts guy told me those clutches are crap and they are nothing but pure profit for Deere since so many puke.

I think if my clutch and/or trans craps on me this year, I'll junk the L(emon)-130, and get something heavier duty; though I sure as heck don't need to spend the money on a new rig; but throwing good money after bad on a Big Box Mart special is not wise either.

 

[jinman]

Yep, as several of you suggested, I could take apart the idler and try to find a better bearing. What I've done instead is to buy the Oregon brand of replacement idlers instead of John Deere parts. I just received three idlers from an eBay purchase and they look to be a bit better than the JD parts. It's easy to change the idlers and I can hear them howling when they are going bad, so it's more of an irritation than anything else. If you are handy, it's minor, but if you had to have your mower picked up and worked on at JD, it would be a major pain in the patoot.

Another thing that is weird about this deck is the way the idler is mounted. In the photo below, you can see the small idler on the right side of the photo. This is the idler that fails most. It is also the first thing on the deck that gets power from the PTO. When you pull the PTO switch and the electric clutch engages, it delivers all the shock load to this first idler. If the idler had even 1/2" of movement against a spring, it would keep that instantaneous shock from being totally absorbed by the bearing. As it is, all the shock is felt by this idler until the deck comes up to speed. The large idler in the photo is the last thing before the belt returns to the PTO clutch and it has a spring to hold tension on the belt. I replaced this idler one time because it was getting a little loose, but it seems to last 3 times as long as the small idlers, or perhaps, even longer.

I tested an X320 and X324 mower earlier this year. When I energized the PTO on those mowers, it was a nice gentle engagement that seemed to be engineered to eliminate the instantaneous shock. The difference between that mower and this 100 series model is stunning. It's obvious that JD wanted to get into a low-cost market and compete with the $2000 crowd of mowers on the market. I really don't think they are doing themselves any favors with these low-cost mowers. Who knows, maybe they are making lots of money in sheer volume and keeping their service departments busy.:confused2::confused3: However, mjncad and I will be sure and keep everyone aware of how lousy these low-cost products are. I've noticed that JD seems to change the model number designations on these mowers every few years. They are now calling them the "D100" series. Perhaps they are doing that to keep buyers confused.

 

[rayikeo2]

Looking at your picture, I don't see any grease zerts on your 3 main spindles. Can you grease them? My deck has zerts on each spindle and I grease them several times per year. I had a Sears with no zerts and replaced spindles twice. No more Sears for me. Your deck looks too fragile to last. No wonder the idlers wear out due to poor routing.

 

[mjncad]

I've noticed that JD seems to change the model number designations on these mowers every few years. They are now calling them the "D100" series. Perhaps they are doing that to keep buyers confused.

The "L" stood for "Lemon", "LA" for "LemonAde", and the new "D" stands for "Dud."

Looking at your picture, I don't see any grease zerts on your 3 main spindles. Can you grease them? My deck has zerts on each spindle and I grease them several times per year. I had a Sears with no zerts and replaced spindles twice. No more Sears for me. Your deck looks too fragile to last. No wonder the idlers wear out due to poor routing.

I think later model decks got Zerk's for the spindles. Mine doesn't have them.

 

[jinman]

Looking at your picture, I don't see any grease zerts on your 3 main spindles. Can you grease them?

Yes, I would not buy a mower without zerks on the spindles. I grease my spindles every 8-10 hours. They are currently tight and spin freely, but I did have one crater on me early last year. The replacement was less than $60, so it is cheap compared even to a MTD spindle that is normally around $125. However, "Cheap is as cheap does," might be a good Forrest Gump quote about these spindles.

 

[pennwalk]

Fyi there is a thread over at MTF where vando grinds the rivets holding the big idler halves together and replaces the bearing. He posted pictures. It's titled "Idler pulley bearing replacement' in the JD forum.

Chris

 

[jinman]

Yep Chris, Vando said he spent $4 on his bearing and he also spent time grinding the old rivets out and replacing them with new ones. His price on the idler is more than here in the USA where you can just about pay anywhere from $8.00 to $15 for them depending on your source. I buy through eBay, but here is an Amazon source where the large and small idlers (GY20629 and GY20067) are the same price, $7.99. Heck, you can even buy a whole assembled spindle for around $36. It's really hard for me to spend as much time and effort as Vando did to save $4. In the time he took grinding off his rivets, I'd have my idler replaced and be mowing grass while he was still putzing around with pop-rivets.:laughing:

 

[stang]

Just what I was planning on doing. It would be well worth the effort if the replacement bearings are of a much higher quality than the originals. I would drill out the spot welds (mine are welded) and plug weld them back together again to make sure they didn't fly apart. Cheap rivets won't hold up in my opinion.

Stang