LA115 questions

   / LA115 questions #1  

leonz

Super Member
Joined
Sep 9, 2008
Messages
6,406
Location
NE USA
Tractor
JD LA115, WH 244, Troy Built Horse 8 HP
After doing more repairs to the LA115 yesterday and then traveling to purchase
a new mower belt today I need a second opinion again.
The mule has 185 hours on it and I am not sure how well the piston pump
in the transmission is doing.
I had the mower raised up to the 4 inch mark to mow the lawn as it has not dried
out enough to mow until now.
It does not seem to have a lot of power when climbing a low angle slope and
it is slow to travel in reverse and the tires are fine.
I did have the drive belt replaced last fall and I used it for a total of an hour this
winter when the snow blower died during winter storm Stella and I ended up
clearing more than 3/4 of the whole driveway with my Toro Snow Pup with the
power curve paddle to clean the broken up black top I have.
I know I have been dragging the perpetual black cloud around me with this thing
for years now and I need to use my towed pick up flail mower to pick up all the grass
I cut with the LA115 only because the flail mower was not ready to work-It will be
ready tomorrow if there is no rain more rain of course.

Any thoughts on this are welcome.
 
   / LA115 questions #2  
Thoughts are maybe time to trade up.
 
   / LA115 questions
  • Thread Starter
#3  
Hello beenthere,

I have been thinking along those lines for a couple of years now too as I want to stay way away from the big box stores.
I have no objection to traveling to save money on a purchase for sure.

I looked at the John Deere X series the other day when I purchased the GX20072 mower belt and even though one of them has 4 wheel drive I really do not want a machine that is still dependent on belt drive for the mower and or the transmission.

If I do anything its going to be a small mule only for lawn mowing and Yamaha YS1032J track drive for snow removal that I can use all over the place.

Thinking 8 or 9 years ahead my other option would be a new or used 4 wheel drive ATV or RTV and purchasing a motorized front mount flail mower to go along with the Yamaha YS1032J.

My wouda, couda, shouda, moment should have been buying the JD 2305 with the loader(and praying the rear axle did not snap) and a one ton dump trailer rather than the two ton trailer I bought for hauling all the wood(33 full cord)I inherited. I could have gotten away with the one ton but I would have made double the round trips to bring the all the wood home.

I added 8 tie down loops to the bed of the trailer with the help of a close friend and its been a godsend for hauling the tractor to the dealer when I needed to. I also use it to bring my coal bagged coal home too. I put all my bagged coal ashes
in the trailer and take it to the transfer station when its full to get rid of my coal ashes and other garbage when I need to.


Anyway all I can do is hope and pray it does not crap out on me for now.

Thanks much
 
   / LA115 questions #4  
I looked at the John Deere X series the other day when I purchased the GX20072 mower belt and even though one of them has 4 wheel drive I really do not want a machine that is still dependent on belt drive for the mower and or the transmission.

My X series has a PTO drive shaft to the mower deck, and direct drive shaft to the tranny. Maybe the newer X series has belt drive, other than the one connecting the deck spindles.
 
   / LA115 questions #5  
I think the Cub Cadet X3 series has a conventional driveline and differential, but I've never seen one in person. I ended up with a Husky GT48DXLS. It has a manually locking differential, which was my #1 requirement. I DON'T want to have a direct-drive mower deck on my rider mower. My terrain would beat it into submission in a short time.
 
   / LA115 questions
  • Thread Starter
#6  
Hello beenthere and Teachu2.

Before I walked into the TSC to look for a mower belt I saw the largest hydro cub cadet(MTD?) with the horizontal air cooled Kohler engine in it at the local Tractor Supply-$1,999.00 +tax+extended warranty and delivery charge and then I looked at the mower deck and just shook my head-I think I counted 5 or 6 pulleys in total. The Mott mower hanging under the the old style cub lowboy with the side seat was much less complicated.

The rear mounted 3 point hitch flail mower and a Reist series 1000 rear mounted snow thrower using a 540 RPM PTO shaft are much easier to deal with.

I have changed 2 driven V belts on the 44 inch snow blower almost every year that we have heavy wet snows at $120 plus I have certainly gotten sick of the expense as I have a limited income. Hopefully the Gates Series 1 A116 V belts I bought to replace the expensive JD V belts will last me at least one season-they were $22 and change plus frieght when I bought them this year.

If I get mad enough I will just take the cross piece that sits inside the snow blower frame and cut it in half vertically with my sawzall to make it easier to change belts the next time by just removing half of the center plate if needed by unbolting three bolts-the two bolts on one side that hold the plate and one of the two bolts that holds the sealed bearing in place for the large O.D. driven pulley and shaft.

I have to go and bring up the lawn genie and get it ready to mow now.
 
   / LA115 questions
  • Thread Starter
#8  
I still have to check my lottery ticket haha. SO.......
 
   / LA115 questions #9  
In the current JD lineup the Dxxx, X3xx, and X5xx series tractors are belt drive and the X7xx tractors are shaft drive.
 
   / LA115 questions
  • Thread Starter
#10  
:(I guess I am going to have to just wait as I do not want another mule with belt drive for the transmission and the attachments as this one has given me more than enough grief. Its pretty bad in the scheme of things when the local Deere dealer tells you that the low end lawn tractors are not built well.


:(
 
 
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