John Deere 185 questions

Herd.... You can have those questions !! He knows these front to back.
The bone yard is called E Bay

"Herd" is a member here? Yep, e-bay has a lot. I just have a hard time waiting for the bid to end!

Reefer, yes Herd of Deeres is a member here, he's very knowledgeable on the JD's, does'nt seem to be online at the moment, but keep checking in, hopefully he or someone in the know should be along to help you out .

In the meantime, a great bookmark for you is the JD Parts Catalog, provides part numbers and diagrams of your machine :fing32:.

Reefer said:

Hi everyone

I just joined and am looking for help. I hope someday I can help others.

I just picked up a 185 hydro. I couldn't pass up the deal. Engine is good with great compression and runs great. I have a few detail questions:

When I push the hydro lever into forward it goes great. But the lever doesn't stay forward. It slowly works its way back. How do I fix this?

The deck lift lever rubs against the hood. Can this be adjusted?

There's a small silver knob just under the front of the seat. It looks like some sort of fine adjustment. What is this for?

The deck attaches to the front of the frame with a long shaft that's held in place with cotter pins. Is this supposed to be bent or straight?

Are there really only three wheels on the deck?

Any good boneyards for these tractors?

Thanks for any help! I REALLY appreciate it!

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Ah!! Herd is taking too long.
1. Herd will tell you how to adjust it
2. It must!! my 2 175's don't nor does the 160 basically the same tractors
3. Gas shut off !!!!
4. the shaft that runs across should be straight
5. Yes only 3
6. Most of them you don't have to wait there usually is a buy now price

the knob under the seat is simply a gas line shut off,the rod on the front should be straight,the lift handle on these is actually a good distance from hood,i think yours could be bent in towards hood ,yank it out a little,...do you have a 38" deck or 46 or 48,the last two have 4 wheels and i think the 38 has only 3,i can't help on the hydro lever moving on you

38" deck. Just seemed odd to only have 3 wheels.

Thank you so much! You've already answered a lot! Appreciate having support out there. I look forward to hearing from Herd!

Other than JD brand hydro fluid, what other fluid brand/weight is okay?

i just changed my 175 and used universal hydraulic fluid,much cheaper than JD and even says right on jug,replaces JD hy-gaurd.i got it at the local Runnings or fleet farm type store

:sorry1: You posted past Herd's bedtime... Near as I can tell all your initial questions have been answered but :wwp:

Enjoy your 185. We inherited my in law's 185, which they bought new in 1988. It is still in great shape and used often...thanks to routine maintenance and a little care.:greendr:

Reefer said:

When I push the hydro lever into forward it goes great. But the lever doesn't stay forward. It slowly works its way back. How do I fix this?

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Not sure anyone got to this question. You need to look underneath the tractor and figure out how the transaxle input arm centering mechanism works. Sounds complicated but its not. The hydro lever you use to control the speed connects to another lever on the bottom of the transaxle that controls fluid flow and hence speed/direction. The transaxle input arm has bars around it that connect to the brake pedal so that when you step on the brake pedal the same linkage centers the hydro input lever to stop the tractor while also applying the brake. If this linkage is out of adjustment (or you are riding the brake pedal with your foot) it may create the condition you describe. So step 1 is basically just stick your head under the back (you may have to jack it up) with the ENGINE OFF and move the hydro levers and brake pedal to get an idea of how the linkages work.