JD D100 series

RayFromOntario · Jul 7, 2011

jenkinsph said:
Did some research to check on the transmission used on the D120, I found that the D120 uses the TuffTorq T40 transmission. The D160 or D165? and larger (through the x304) use the TuffTorq K46. The K46 is the transmission that alot of us have had problems with. I have no experience with the T40 transmission so I have no opinion on it.

Thanks, I appreciate the input. The D120 is sounding better by the minute. :cool2:

jinman · Jul 7, 2011

RayFromOntario said:
. . .Could you elaborate on what spindles you are talking about. Not sure I follow exactly.

Ray, the spindles are the mounts for the blades. The blades bolt to the spindle on the bottom side and they have a pulley on top where the belt drives from the engine's PTO. These spindles have a grease zerk on the side (on topside of the deck) so you can grease them. You want to put probably 6 to 8 pumps of a grease gun into these spindles for every 10 hours of mower use. The Owner's Manual says every 25 hours I think, but I have found they come from the factory with too little grease and you need to "load" them initially and keep them greased. They are very inexpensive to buy, but a pain to replace if they go out. Don't worry about overgreasing. The grease just oozes out the bottom side by the blades and works like a dam to keep out dirt.

The idler pulleys are flat pulleys that direct the belts to the spindles. One of them is about 5-1/2" in diameter and is mounted on an arm with a spring to hold tension on the belt so it doesn't fly off when the PTO is engaged. The idlers have extremely cheap bearings. The whole pulley is only about $8 to $11 each depending on size. On my LA145 that has a 48" Edge Cutting System deck, I've replaced all these idlers one time and some twice because the bearings dry out and the pulleys start to bind up. If they freeze up and quit moving, you will burn up your belt. My dealer told me spindles and idler pulleys are the most replaced items on these decks in their mower shop.

RayFromOntario said:
. . .Here's a question, I know this is a no no, but is there any way to disable the (RIO) button, which would allow me to mow in reverse without pressing it down each time.

Ray, bypassing he RIO switch is a snap. Open your hood and look up under the dash. You can see the RIO switch back side. It has two spade connectors. Simply pull off the spade connectors and put a jumper wire between them. Just let them hang with the jumper and don't reconnect to the switch. The jumper simulates having the RIO switch pressed all the time and you can mow forward and backward with no more hassle. If you ever want to hook the RIO switch back up, just pull the jumper and hook up the wires. It doesn't matter what terminal you put which wire because the switch just shorts between them like your jumper did.

RayFromOntario · Jul 7, 2011

jinman said:
Ray, bypassing he RIO switch is a snap. Open your hood and look up under the dash. You can see the RIO switch back side. It has two spade connectors. Simply pull off the spade connectors and put a jumper wire between them. Just let them hang with the jumper and don't reconnect to the switch. The jumper simulates having the RIO switch pressed all the time and you can mow forward and backward with no more hassle. If you ever want to hook the RIO switch back up, just pull the jumper and hook up the wires. It doesn't matter what terminal you put which wire because the switch just shorts between them like your jumper did.

Gee thanks soooo much for this valuable info Jim. I'll definitely be taking a close look at the spindles and pulleys.
Now please don't laugh, but what the heck is a "jumper wire" ???? I can see the the spade connectors on the underside of the dash for the RIO, but I don't have a clue on how to do the jumper wire thing. However, I'm willing to give it a try if you can explain in detail the procedure to do it. Sorry for sounding so stupid, I'm just new to this. However, if others have done it, I'm sure I can too, once I understand it.
Thanks again so much for your help. I owe ya. :drink:

jenkinsph · Jul 7, 2011

Simply connect the two wire terminals together and insulate them. There are terminals which are piggy backed which would make this very easy to do.
If nothing else a 3/4" long strip x 1/4" wide strip of sheet metal to insert between the wire terminals would act as the jumper above.

Please make sure children, pets and bystanders are kept away from the mower when in use.

RayFromOntario · Jul 7, 2011

jenkinsph said:
Simply connect the two wire terminals together and insulate them. There are terminals which are piggy backed which would make this very easy to do.
If nothing else a 3/4" long strip x 1/4" wide strip of sheet metal to insert between the wire terminals would act as the jumper above.

Please make sure children, pets and bystanders are kept away from the mower when in use.

But to connect the wires together, I'd have to cut off the spade tips..right ?
Kids have all flown the coop, and no animals (except for neighbors cat at times...DOH !) Plus I never cut the grass when my grand kids are here. Still, I welcome the warning and heads up.
Thanks.

RayFromOntario · Jul 7, 2011

Ok, I've checked under the dash of the tractor, and I'm noticing that there are 2 places in line where the black and white wires are connected to the RIO switch. One is right under the RIO switch, the other is about 6 or 8 inches away. So do I cut off the black and white wires from the closet spaded switch or the furthest ? And once I cut them, are you saying I should just connect the black and white wires together ?
Once again, sorry for being so dumb about this, but I just want to make sure I cut the wires properly, and that I can reattach them if need be down the road.

RayFromOntario · Jul 7, 2011

Problem solved. I cut out a piece of sheet metal, from an old duct pipe, cut to the size you mentioned, and made a U shape of it, plugged it into the spade plug...and Voila ... Works great !!!! No wires to cut, and I just taped it all up and now I'm good to go. Now I can cut backwards without having to press the annoying RIO button each time. At least now I can turn around and see if there is anything behind me while I mow backwards. So now I know how to make a jumper. :cool2: Thanks for the all the help guys. :thumbsup:

jinman · Jul 7, 2011

Sorry I didn't get back earlier, but in a way this worked out much better. When you were talking about cutting the connectors off, I was sayin', "No! No! No!" to myself. Then I read your last post and breathed a sigh of relief. You did just the right thing. Well done!:thumbsup:

BTW: Auto parts stores, Tractor Supply, and even Walmart have terminals in their automotive section. You can buy crimp-on spade male and female connectors. If you had a short 2" piece of wire with the insulation stripped off about 1/4" on each end. You put each end of the wire into the crimp socket of a couple of connectors and squeeze with a big pair of regular pliers or a pair of Visegrip pliers. A crimp tool is better, but Visegrips work great in a pinch.

RayFromOntario · Jul 7, 2011

jinman said:
Sorry I didn't get back earlier, but in a way this worked out much better. When you were talking about cutting the connectors off, I was sayin', "No! No! No!" to myself. Then I read your last post and breathed a sigh of relief. You did just the right thing. Well done!:thumbsup:

BTW: Auto parts stores, Tractor Supply, and even Walmart have terminals in their automotive section. You can buy crimp-on spade male and female connectors. If you had a short 2" piece of wire with the insulation stripped off about 1/4" on each end. You put each end of the wire into the crimp socket of a couple of connectors and squeeze with a big pair of regular pliers or a pair of Visegrip pliers. A crimp tool is better, but Visegrips work great in a pinch.

Yah, I realize that now. I didn't have any crimp-on spade terminals, so when I read your response on the sheet metal jumper, it all made sense, and I realized I didn't have to cut any wires to get this done. I had a nice piece of insulated wire but like I said, no crimp-ons, so.....however, I will buy some now, and maybe I'll get to use them for some other application someday.
Thanks again for your help and patience.

RayFromOntario · Jul 10, 2011

Here's another question for you. As you know I have a digital hourly timer on my D120. Come time for winter storage, I'll probably do like I did with my old 160, and remove the battery, and store indoors over the winter and give it a periodic trickle charge once a month, until spring arrives, then put it back into the tractor when it's time to start mowing again. So, by removing the battery from the tractor, will that not erase what my actual accumulated hours on the tractor ?
Thanks.
Ray