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Picked up a project today

5K views 36 replies 14 participants last post by  Filter27e 
#1 ·
Well, if anybody remembers last summer I was trying to figure out what to do with my LA145. I ended up buying a used K71 and shoved it under the rear-end of the LA.

After using this setup to mow for a summer, I can say I was mostly happy with it, but I didn't exactly forget it was a big box store tractor. The foot pedal linkage was a constant battle also, with having to adjust it constantly so forward and reverse would work.

I had been keeping an eye out for some of the GT235 linkage parts to make a permanent fix for the LA, and basically it was gonna average $60+ and require some welding.

Then I found this on Craigslist for $100... a GT225 with a bad transmission that's "been sitting for a while." It also had a shattered hood (not repairable) and a seat that's seen better days. On the plus side, it came with liquid filled AG tires. Haven't had a chance to tinker with it much yet, but it looks like this is quite fixable with my good transmission!
 

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#4 ·
I wonder if the PO installed the front bumper after they wrecked the hood.
 
#8 ·
Well I'm excited anyways...

And it's not wood, it's fiberglass from an old repair attempt. The hood parts were just laid there because I have not decided if I need them for anything yet (like screws or clips holding the pieces together). When looking for used GT2xx tractors I usually find half of them have broken hoods, I think they're made out of recycled egg shells or something.
 
#11 ·
My question is "What's wrong with the trans?" The trans pulleys strip their splines occasionally. I would pull the fenderdeck and check it out.

Tip - on the transmission pedal linkage their is a hairpin clip just above the frame and just in front of the right rear tire. Pull the clip and push the control rod out of the lever and then the fenderdeck comes off. The norm for a first timer is to unbolt the control pedal plate from the fenderdeck which is unnecessary.
 
#13 ·
Thanks for the tip! I was hoping to have some time to mess with it today but I haven't yet. I asked the PO what happened and he said it failed suddenly and was told by the local JD dealer that it was "a sudden death" and not repairable. I was able to make it roll without the freewheel lever pulled out so I wonder if it's a hydraulic failure. No unusual sounds rolling it though. I plan on cracking it open to see once I get it all sorted out because a spare trans would be nice.
 
#14 ·
Awesome deal at $100. Swap in your good transaxle and run it. Cosmetic items are the easy things. Not cheap, but easy.
 
#17 ·
Filter27e; said:
was told by the local JD dealer that it was "a sudden death" and not repairable. .
Sounds like BS to me. I have been into several K46s and two K71s and there isn' much in there to fail instantly and still be able to run the motor and or push the machine around by hand.

The K71 I had to rebuild had suffered a failure of the ball bearing on the intermediate shaft of the final drive gear train. This allowed the shaft and gears to **** in the case chipping teeth, busting the lower case, deforming the upper case, abusing the output gear and locking the ring gear solidly to the case. The rear tires would not roll. This was a GX345 with 625 hrs. I bought a used trans out of a GT225 and swapped the hyd side of the GX trans into the GT trans.

The GX has external hyd lines exiting the lower case which the GT does not have. However, the GT trans cases are identical. The lower GT case comes with 2 rubber/metal sealing plugs in the ports for the exterior lines. Even the holes for the retainer plate bolts are drilled and tapped. It was a straight swap. Of course I didn't know this when I bought the GT tranny and was keeping my fingers crossed.

With 20/20 hindsight I should have bought a new tranny off Ebay. There was a vendor that had bought a bunch of surplus JD GX trannies and was selling them at reduced cost. The lowest price they ever listed was $569 + $100 shipping. This included the linkage damper which is $100 by itself. This tranny also had the locking diff which I badly need on my Mini Pro Gator project. Sadly, they sold all those trannies and I didn't jump on that low price.
 
#18 ·
Filter27e; said:
was told by the local JD dealer that it was "a sudden death" and not repairable. .
Sounds like BS to me. I have been into several K46s and two K71s and there isn' much in there to fail instantly and still be able to run the motor and or push the machine around by hand.

The K71 I had to rebuild had suffered a failure of the ball bearing on the intermediate shaft of the final drive gear train. This allowed the shaft and gears to **** in the case chipping teeth, busting the lower case, deforming the upper case, abusing the output gear and locking the ring gear solidly to the case. The rear tires would not roll. This was a GX345 with 625 hrs. I bought a used trans out of a GT225 and swapped the hyd side of the GX trans into the GT trans.

The GX has external hyd lines exiting the lower case which the GT does not have. However, the GT trans cases are identical. The lower GT case comes with 2 rubber/metal sealing plugs in the ports for the exterior lines. Even the holes for the retainer plate bolts are drilled and tapped. It was a straight swap. Of course I didn't know this when I bought the GT tranny and was keeping my fingers crossed.

With 20/20 hindsight I should have bought a new tranny off Ebay. There was a vendor that had bought a bunch of surplus JD GX trannies and was selling them at reduced cost. The lowest price they ever listed was $569 + $100 shipping. This included the linkage damper which is $100 by itself. This tranny also had the locking diff which I badly need on my Mini Pro Gator project. Sadly, they sold all those trannies and I didn't jump on that low price.
That's good to know that they swap! After acquiring my trans from a gt235 I wondered what parts would be needed to add the external hydraulics and diff lock. So if I ever find a busted gx transmission I might experiment.
 
#19 ·
I forgot to say that the GT225 tranny I bought had stripped splines on the drive pulley. The guy thought it was a dead duck and bought a whole nother trans when all he needed was a pulley.

So get out there and pull the fenderdeck and see what you got. You will have to remove the tensioner spring on the idler pulley plate to remove tension from the belt. Then undo the nut on top of the pulley and lift it up. { I'm assumeing you will figure out that you will need to lift up the gas tank and sit it on the frame just ahead of the trans opening ].

Oh yeah, to remove the deck cutting height knob just pull it straight out. It's held on by friction.
 
#20 ·
I want to second all the comments on how awesome it is to get a good machine for $100.....I'd also like to second all the funnies that can be and were had with that photo, it sure does seem he felt his way around the yard:sidelaugh:sidelaugh
 
#21 ·
I haven't had a ton of time to tinker with the project, but I did a little and came up with a question. The starter was free-spinning without engaging the flywheel, so after verifying I could turn the motor over by hand, I took the starter off and dissassembled it. The solenoid appears fine, but the starter gear is frozen onto the motor shaft by rust, couldn't get it to budge. From what I can tell, that section is replaceable, but I don't want to whack on the wrong part and completely mess it up. I did see on Amazon I can get a made-in-china starter for like $60, so I may do that. I'll post a pic with my phone in a second post (the mobile website is terrible for losing everything you just typed), but if anybody has had one of these apart before and can tell me where to hold and where to hit with a hammer, I'll give it a whirl.
 
#23 · (Edited)
Ok, today finally had enough progress to warrant an update.

So after my starter issue, I was able to free the bendix and reassemble the starter, but all that yielded was a starter which could lift enough to grind against the flywheel, but not engage it. I gave up and ordered a new starter on amazon for $59. The replacement was an exact match minus the Kohler logo and bolted right in.

I got the fender deck off no thanks to a rusted carriage bolt which spun in place near the foot pedal, which I had to grind off. The tractor was an absolute mess. I took it outside and power washed it, careful to avoid sensitive bits. Also took the shrouds off the engine and cleaned up the cooling fins and years of caked on oil. Found two oil leaks: the breather hose to the carb is split, and the rtv that seals the two halves of the crank case have a slow leak.

I changed the oil, new oil filter, fuel filter, and spark plug. Replaced the positive battery cable because the old terminal was jacked up. Also drained the old gas and put fresh in. I took the old traction belt off, and it was toast. Several chunks were missing from the belt. Idler pulleys will need to be replaced too.

Took it outside and it fired right up once new gas filled the fuel lines. Smoked for probably 3-5 minutes and cleared up.

So now that I have a running engine, I can move on to exciting things. I couldn't test the pto clutch though because I started it without the seat or anything on it. My shopping list:

- Fuel tank grommet
- Drive belt and all 3 idler pulleys
- bushings for front axle center pivot - feels loose
- vent hose
- new seat
- figure out front hood/bumper mess one day

About $125 for the get it working parts, another $120 on a seat, plus the $100ish I spent on everything else so far.
 

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#25 ·
I think I've seen one of your other posts where you mentioned that, which is good to know. Surprisingly, the battery which was in the tractor when I bought it (no idea on how old it is) took a charge and cranks strong, and hasn't gone dead in the couple of weeks since I charged it.

The only advantage that comes to mind for the larger battery is if you add a lot of electric components to the tractor, such as an electric lift on a johnny bucket, the larger battery would fair better.
 
#26 ·
So I for once have some free time on my hands but I am travelling so nowhere near the tractor. I have all of the parts except the seat and discovered the seat sensor is cracked, so I'll need to order one. Trying to decide what to do with the hood situation, I decided to have a "John Deere art day" and doodled what I would like to do on my iPad.

Basically I have always thought that the 140 is the best looking garden tractor and it is a relatively simple design to emulate. To put a 140-esque front end on a GT225 it would have diffferent dimensions so all of the parts would have to be custom made, but it would be pretty cool, I think.
 
#28 ·
I sure can't draw that good on my iPad! Nice Job its defiantly unique I almost thought it was a 140 at first glance!
 
#27 ·
A modern 140, huh?! Haha, Ill follow along...

Fiberglass isn't really all that hard, you could scratch build one fairly easily if you really wanted too.
 
#29 ·
Finally finished all of the work from my parts checklist except the new seat, hood and I have not replaced the front axle pivot bushings yet. I did find out that apparently K71Bs have two different case castings though. And not just something minor like an extra port or moving a drain plug, the casting around the axle is about 1/2" thicker on my transmission. The one I removed came with spacers to account for this, but I didn't realize it and tried to reuse the spacers. I then got really stumped when the front brackets didn't line up and it took me forever to figure out.

At this point my grass was getting tall and I was getting anxious so I put it back together and gave it a try. I was happy that even after sitting for quite a while since i started it the first time, it cranked right up and didn't burn any oil this time.

The tractor ran great, and my transmission did great with fresh fluid and a home in the proper tractor. Lots of torque, good ground speed. The engine seemed a little low on power but my old lawn tractor is 22hp so I guess I'm just used to that. The mower deck is probably the quietest deck I've ever used, I found myself looking down at the discharge chute to make sure it was running.

Now time to order a seat, don't underestimate how uncomfortable a hard plastic shell with no foam padding is. My wife also let me know it looks ridiculous without a hood so I suppose I will be working on that this summer.
 
#31 ·
Well when you say it that way... lol

No, I didn't test it. Previous owner told me a JD mechanic took a look at it and said it would need a new tranny. When I have the time I'll crack the case open on the old one and see what I find. I just decided to take his word for it on the assumption that it could possibly do more harm than good if there's metal floating around in there.
 
#34 ·
Thanks! I would say that in a previous life, based on what this machine was covered with, it was a bush hog during the week and taken mudding on weekends. Of course it's not like I'm any better... my lot is a total of 5 acres with about an acre as my established lawn, but I have a large level open area in the woods which I have been previously unable to reach with a mower because it is seperated from the rest of my property by a spring. Well today I was able to get across and mulch the past couple years of dried weeds to see what things look like down there. Usually I can't even walk around there come June. Might make a nice spot for a garden some day!

Did you take off the pulley ? It's common for them to strip their splines.
I have not removed it yet, but I did turn it by hand and it feels smooth but with resistance, kinda like I would expect for it turning the insides of the tranny instead of that metal stripped bolt kind of feel. I do wonder what is actually wrong with the thing though because the gears seem intact, and the tractor won't move without the freewheel lever pulled. I figure with the overall shape of it I would plan for tearing into it, cleaning it out, replacing filters, replacing seals, and seeing what else I find inside.
 
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