Looking for a John Deere!

esnb74 · May 4, 2010

Here is pic.

papa_smurf73 · May 5, 2010

Wow.. That 318 looks fantastic.

...

I test drove the 318 I was looking at yesterday. Everything worked as expected. It was a bit scratched up, but the guy seemed willing to come down from his $2000.00 price tag.

What would a new engine cost for one of these mowers anyway?

I will say that my heart is really swinging towards a 425. I found 2 more, but without AWS. They both have about 1400 hours on them, and he is asking about $2800.00 for either of them. They both do have the AG tires, and from the pictures look to be in cherry condition.

blantz2 · May 8, 2010

Go with the 445 over the 425. The fuel injected 445 uses less gas than the 425.

papa_smurf73 · May 10, 2010

Thank you for all the replies. I called the guy who has that 425 back. He is not finished with it yet.

I'm pretty sure this is the mower I want. However, I'm just not sure about the price. He is offering 30 days of maitenance, and asking $3200.00. The mower has 1200 hours on it already. He did say the price was firm.

The good news is he seems to be very thorough. He found a leak on the 4 wheel steering tranny, and is repairing it (said it just needs a new gasket), he is replacing the reflectors that were missing, he's fixing the gauges that do not work. He said it is all simple small stuff, but overall the mower operates perfectly fine.

What do you guys think? Is $3200.00 high for a mower with that many hours, but with a 30 day garuntee? Sorry to ask so many questions. I just want to be sure that I get the best I can for the buck.

Cheers! :trink39:

papa_smurf73 · Jun 11, 2010

Hello all. Sorry for the delay in response to this. I finally purchased my Deere... I ended up with a 1997 JD 425 AWS model. It was all the way in Wooster Ohio (coming from the Milford/Blanchester Ohio area)... It only had 417 hours on it, but the owner accidentally left the key in the on position, so it apparently racked the hours to 447 or something like that. The mower starts, mows and drives amazing. I never thought in a million years I would enjoy mowing my yard... (I'm kinda young... 28 YO... I always dreaded mowing.) I talked him down from $4,000 to $3,700. Not a huge leap, but I think the mower was worth it, considering its condition, the attachments and service records.

The mower also came with a metal trailer, and a bag that sits on top of it to collect grass... Maybe it's called a grass catcher?... In any case, it is a belt driven device... The thing smokes like a train when it gets clogged though. Any suggestions on how to keep it from clogging?

Here are some pics I took of the mower: http://picasaweb.google.com/muhstuff/Deere060610?feat=directlink

Enjoy! Let me know your thoughts!

PigBear · Jun 11, 2010

Looks like it's in good shape, congrats - that's a nice tractor!!

Wasper · Jun 11, 2010

Nice Tractor!

I just bought a 445 a few weeks ago.. I love it! These 400 series are great if you ask me

Its funny, my tractor is also missing the left side yellow reflector (see pics in this thread). It must be some kind of conspiracy to steal John Deere left side reflectors!! alert the government! lol

Some questions.. whats that cable coming from the back and hanging over the right-side fender? Also, what are you pointing to in that one photo? Just curious, lol.

Enjoy your new toy...er, I mean tool!
Wasper

papa_smurf73 · Jun 12, 2010

Wasper said:
Nice Tractor!

I just bought a 445 a few weeks ago.. I love it! These 400 series are great if you ask me

Its funny, my tractor is also missing the left side yellow reflector (see pics in this thread). It must be some kind of conspiracy to steal John Deere left side reflectors!! alert the government! lol

Some questions.. whats that cable coming from the back and hanging over the right-side fender? Also, what are you pointing to in that one photo? Just curious, lol.

Enjoy your new toy...er, I mean tool!
Wasper

Thanks man.

I'm not particularly sure what that strap was used for... Maybe the grass catcher. I left it on there in-case I needed it. (It's a feature.)

I need to pick up new tail light housing + lens for that side of the mower. Any suggestions on where I can score that? I found one on e-bay...

In that picture I'm pointing, there was a piece in the inside of the hood that came unglued. I'm not sure what type of glue to use to put it back in place. So I took a picture to illustrate the problem.

Your mower looks awesome! I saw the pictures of you pulling that rock. INSANE! That made my day haha.

I went from an old 42" 14hp B&S Poulan to the new deere, and what a difference. I mowed my yard twice today. haha...

RDorffer_JD445 · Jun 12, 2010

papa_smurf said:
Hello all. Sorry for the delay in response to this. I finally purchased my Deere... I ended up with a 1997 JD 425 AWS model. It was all the way in Wooster Ohio.

Hmm, right in my neck of the woods.

papa_smurf said:
The mower also came with a metal trailer, and a bag that sits on top of it to collect grass... Maybe it's called a grass catcher?... In any case, it is a belt driven device... The thing smokes like a train when it gets clogged though. Any suggestions on how to keep it from clogging?

MC519 with a Powerflo. You will love this set-up if you need to collect grass clippings and/or leaves.

What smokes? The belt drive?

papa_smurf said:
I'm not particularly sure what that strap was used for... Maybe the grass catcher. I left it on there in-case I needed it. (It's a feature.)

That cable appears to be the cable that attaches near the right side of the seat on top of the fender and attaches to the cart. When you dump the cart, it causes the upper cover to rotate up while the cart dumps.

papa_smurf said:
I need to pick up new tail light housing + lens for that side of the mower. Any suggestions on where I can score that? I found one on e-bay...

Check the dealer first, you might be over paying on eBay.

Regards,

Rich

papa_smurf73 · Jun 12, 2010

RDorffer_JD445 said:
Hmm, right in my neck of the woods.

MC519 with a Powerflo. You will love this set-up if you need to collect grass clippings and/or leaves.

What smokes? The belt drive?

That cable appears to be the cable that attaches near the right side of the seat on top of the fender and attaches to the cart. When you dump the cart, it causes the upper cover to rotate up while the cart dumps.

Check the dealer first, you might be over paying on eBay.

Regards,

Rich

Thank you for the response!

Yes when the grass is even slightly damp, it clogs the plastic chute. When the chute gets clogged, I see smoke coming from the belt drive. It would be great to fix this problem because I get leaves EVERYWHERE during fall season, and not to mention would love to see my yard without any grass clippings.

RDorffer_JD445 · Jun 13, 2010

papa_smurf73 said:
Yes when the grass is even slightly damp, it clogs the plastic chute. When the chute gets clogged, I see smoke coming from the belt drive. It would be great to fix this problem because I get leaves EVERYWHERE during fall season, and not to mention would love to see my yard without any grass clippings.

Well, if the chute is clogging, the impeller is probably stopping and if stops and the deck is still running, something has to give and I assume the belt is slipping, hence the smoke. You need to find out why your chute clogs easily. Does the chute have an impediment? Is the impeller in good shape, what about the impeller bearings? Is the belt slipping even before the clogging starts causing the powerflo to operate inefficiently?

A proper operating system works very well, the powerflo can pull/push a lot of grass through the chute.

Regards,

Rich

papa_smurf73 · Oct 21, 2010

RDorffer_JD445 said:
Well, if the chute is clogging, the impeller is probably stopping and if stops and the deck is still running, something has to give and I assume the belt is slipping, hence the smoke. You need to find out why your chute clogs easily. Does the chute have an impediment? Is the impeller in good shape, what about the impeller bearings? Is the belt slipping even before the clogging starts causing the powerflo to operate inefficiently?

A proper operating system works very well, the powerflo can pull/push a lot of grass through the chute.

Regards,

Rich

Rich! Thank you soo much for responding. I apologize for the insane delay here... To answer some of your questions...

The chute doesn't have any impediments that I can see.
I was able to clear most of the leaves from my back yard by leaving the deck height all the way up. However, when I removed the chute it appeared as though a good majority of the leave clippings were still sitting in it.

Is the impeller in good shape?... Well from a visual inspection, it doesn't appear to be in 'bad' shape. How can I tell if the bearings are indeed bad?

The belt slips when the impeller gets clogged. Otherwise, it seems to function appropriately.

In any case, I have plenty of leaves down. I'll try to take some pictures of the setup I have. Perhaps it might help solve the problem. I appreciate all your help!!

RDorffer_JD445 · Oct 22, 2010

papa_smurf73 said:
Rich! Thank you soo much for responding. I apologize for the insane delay here... To answer some of your questions...

Yeah, that's a pretty long delay...

papa_smurf73 said:
The chute doesn't have any impediments that I can see.
I was able to clear most of the leaves from my back yard by leaving the deck height all the way up. However, when I removed the chute it appeared as though a good majority of the leave clippings were still sitting in it.

Alright, something is wrong then, if the chute isn't clogged or have some large impediment when first starting up, the impeller isn't properly spinning. You can test this by removing the chute completely and running the powerflo and the deck with no collection system and see if the impeller is operating properly or not (I assume not based on what you have said so far).

papa_smurf73 said:
Is the impeller in good shape?... Well from a visual inspection, it doesn't appear to be in 'bad' shape. How can I tell if the bearings are indeed bad?

You should remove the belt and then you can reach in and spin the impeller by hand. How does it move? Any slop? Any sound from the bearings? Does the impeller spin easily/freely?

papa_smurf73 said:
The belt slips when the impeller gets clogged. Otherwise, it seems to function appropriately.

Is the belt routed properly? Does it have the tensioner properly set-up?

papa_smurf73 said:
In any case, I have plenty of leaves down. I'll try to take some pictures of the setup I have. Perhaps it might help solve the problem. I appreciate all your help!!

Very good, talk later.

Regards,

Rich

Looking for a John Deere!

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