JD 265 lawn/garden tractor is dead? Help

llmark01 · Oct 4, 2003

I think part of the problem with the starter was casued by others. Someone had the bright idea of letting a local "Mr Fix-It" work on the tractor at the start of the season. At that time the tractor was hard to start. Mr Fix It did a great job cleaning up the machine and sharpening the blades but failed to correct the hard to start problem. We think he and some others may have "cooked" the original starter (Ya know...if one cranks on it for a longggggg time they overeheat...and it was badly overheated). So we put a new starter on, but it turned out that the only problem was probably a dead battery. But since the original problme was not correctly identified, a starter was ruined also.

I have another question for you. We ahve a JD 445 with a 60" mower deck. Is there an easy way to change the blades without removing the deck from the tractor?

Molerj · Oct 5, 2003

The easiest way is to hoist the front of the tractor with a chain fall, cherry picker, loader of another tractor etc. or run it up on ramps. Use an impact wrench. If that isn't available, a six point socket & a breaker bar with a block of wood wedged between the blade & the deck so it won't turn.

llmark01 · Oct 6, 2003

Found out the starter has lots of little pieces of the borken magnets inside of it. Also found a local DENSO Starter repair shop that will try and order parts or sell me another unit. And at a much lower cost than JD. Reapir..if they can do it will be about $120.

llmark01 · Oct 11, 2003

Well....the starter cannot be repaired (like I thought) and JD will not let anuone else sell the DENSO starter except a JD dealer. Looks like another $450.

Important lesson...don't hit the starter with anything other than a feather!

MossRoad · Oct 11, 2003

Checked out any tractor junk yards, first? Might be worth a try. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

Molerj · Oct 13, 2003

What is the part number for the starter? I would like to do a little research for a replacement starter. What is the model numbers off of the Kawasaki engine also.

B2400 · Oct 16, 2003

My father in-law has a JD LX178 with the kawasaki 15hp V-twin and encountered a no start situation with it . Starter was around $380 for it!! Fortuneatly(sp?) it was only the $65 dollar ignition switch!
My father used to run a japanese motorcycle dealership for many years and I know that they are extremely proud of anything electric or electronic that they use on they're products. I would check for a rebuild shop who may specialize in japanese equipment. Good Luck!

jayhawkerroy · Dec 10, 2003

We own a JD 325 with a 48" deck. Assume the deck removal is similar on your 400-series (two spring pins left and right, one front attachment to remove, and untension belt. Have found it easier to remove the deck and service it than to put the tractor on ramps, etc and work from underneath. For one thing, when you remove the deck, you can clean everything that has accmulated off easier, remove top cover and clean out all junk around the pulleys, lube all zerks and change out the blades. We also own a Craftsman lawn tractor (18HP; 42" deck), and Sears does not recommend removing the deck to change/service the blades. After changing the Craftsman blades once, my wife served me notice that we will pay extra and get decks that can be removed easily for servicing. It was way too hard to get the job done on the Craftsman tractor, compared to the 325.