JD Z525E zero turn mower

[rickwest2]

I bought a JD Z525E zero turn mower about 3 years ago. It currently has 52 hrs on it. It stays in the barn and out of the weather and looks brand new right now. My wife uses it to mow around the house. I use a 7 ft finishing mower to mow the main part of the yard of about 7 ac.
This mower has been a problem since day one. When it had 2.2 hrs it would not start. I dropped it off a JD, 2 1/2 weeks later they called and said to pick my mower up. Upon arrival, I was handed a bill for just under $300.00 for the rebuilding of the carburetor. I hit the ceiling. Well, I was promptly shown where JD "Does not warranty" anything to do with the fuel system. Remember it only had 2.2 hrs on it at that time. I spoke with the owner and he told me I had two choices, pay my bill or he would have a mechanics lien on it. There has been a couple of small items I just corrected myself.
This past week my wife was cutting with it and all of a sudden it just starting turning in a circle. The left-hand handle would not do anything regardless of where you moved it. I took it to a local gentleman and received a call about an hour after I got home. He said the left drive gearbox had come apart on the inside. He said he called JD and a replacement gearbox will cost me about $900.00 for the gearbox along.
The hell with JD and this lawnmower. Remember right now this thing only has 52 hrs and really looks new.
Cutting my losses and buying another mower. NOT JD.
Thanks for allowing me to vent. Just remember this when considering a new machine.

 

[Richard001]

Certainly not an endorsement for JD.

$300 to clean the carb, wow

 

[bigtiller]

What is the name of the dealership? I'm sure a lot of people in your area would like to know.

 

[Deere Dude]

I am a JD fan, but that would really tie my undies in a knot. Luckily in 45 years I never had a problem like that while owning many low hour JD garden tractors etc. Must have been one made overseas on Monday.

Edit; I did have cylinder seals on my 3720 at 400 hours and on a X740 a steering cylinder later on in life. Still was not expected.

 

[beenthere]

And we may not know the entire story here.. just sayin.....

 

[MoKelly]

That mower is available at Lowe’s.

Was it bought there or at the dealer? If bought at Lowe’s and taken to the dealer, it isn’t all that surprising the dealer wanted to be paid to diagnose and fix the machine.

If bought at the dealer - shame on the dealer.

MoKelly

 

[shooterdon]

I got abused by my JD dealer when I had my 855 tractor,

I am looking for a ZT mower and will not step in there. This is not a bash of JD, but some dealers do not deserve our business

 

[bigtiller]

And we may not know the entire story here.. just sayin.....

You're probably right, it's been a full day now since the OP posted his vent and he hasn't been back.

 

[o2batsea]

I am fortunate to have an amazing dealer here. Whether I was buying $500,000 worth or $5000 they stand behind every sale. I think that makes a world of difference in the "user experience".
That said, something in what the OP says in his post doesn't add up. There is no such "left gearbox" in a 525e. There's one transaxle and drive to the wheels is by valves that open to drive hydraulics. Either he is taking the unit to people who know nothing about how to fix it or he's just JD bashing. I don't believe the story about the carb. There are no listed JD dealerships in Gaffney. Closest is Ag-Pro in Spartanburg, which is a large dealer. If he bought it at Home Depot and then took it there for service,,,well even then Ag-Pro wouldn't have strong-armed him.

Full parts listing for that mower are here:

https://partscatalog.deere.com/jdrc/navigation/equipment/63878

 

[3Ts]

I bought a JD Z525E zero turn mower about 3 years ago. It currently has 52 hrs on it. It stays in the barn and out of the weather and looks brand new right now. My wife uses it to mow around the house. I use a 7 ft finishing mower to mow the main part of the yard of about 7 ac.
This mower has been a problem since day one. When it had 2.2 hrs it would not start. I dropped it off a JD, 2 1/2 weeks later they called and said to pick my mower up. Upon arrival, I was handed a bill for just under $300.00 for the rebuilding of the carburetor. I hit the ceiling. Well, I was promptly shown where JD "Does not warranty" anything to do with the fuel system. Remember it only had 2.2 hrs on it at that time. I spoke with the owner and he told me I had two choices, pay my bill or he would have a mechanics lien on it. There has been a couple of small items I just corrected myself.
This past week my wife was cutting with it and all of a sudden it just starting turning in a circle. The left-hand handle would not do anything regardless of where you moved it. I took it to a local gentleman and received a call about an hour after I got home. He said the left drive gearbox had come apart on the inside. He said he called JD and a replacement gearbox will cost me about $900.00 for the gearbox along.
The hell with JD and this lawnmower. Remember right now this thing only has 52 hrs and really looks new.
Cutting my losses and buying another mower. NOT JD.
Thanks for allowing me to vent. Just remember this when considering a new machine.

That said, something in what the OP says in his post doesn't add up. There is no such "left gearbox" in a 525e. There's one transaxle and drive to the wheels is by valves that open to drive hydraulics. Either he is taking the unit to people who know nothing about how to fix it or he's just JD bashing.

I have a Z525E. There are 2 deck sizes, the narrower seems to be sold by JD, the wider by Lowes or HD. There is no transaxle. Each wheel is driven by an independent hydraulic pump and motor. The attached picture is of the right hand drive. There are 3 versions of this drive unit and the 1st 2 seem to fail fairly quickly (as in less than 50 hours). The OP's write up is very similar to my experience except I've not had the fuel problem. The drives are actually pretty easy to drop out and replace with a new one. They are expensive though, $900 actually isn't to bad, my left hand drive was $1300. I've not been able to find a repair kit for them.

I have a JD tractor and JD attachments. Trying to buy the Z from them (even though they carry them) was so difficult I gave up and went to Lowe's to get one. I suspect the OP bought one from Lowes or HD as well and had one of the earlier drive versions. Unfortunately, he will probably have to replace his other drive in the near future. I have ~55 hours on my machine and a little over 3 years which is beyond the 2.5 year warranty period.

Correction: JD calls it a transaxle. But, I've not been successful in obtaining parts for them. JD will sell the assembly but not the individual parts. But even then, by the time you buy the parts you've spent enough to buy the entire drive.