John Deere LT166 Transmission

[kirknancy85]

Has anyone else had problems with the hydro on this type tractor? I have had it for about 5 years and mow 1 acre part of it on a incline. About a year ago it would start making a whine noise after mowing while coming up the hill. I asked the dealer if there were any reported problems and he said he had not heard of any. Well my buddy's mower tranny went out last year and mine died yesterday and blew oil out of the top of it. The dealer told me last year it was a throw away with no repairable parts in it. I am dissapointed a John Deere (my first) only lasted 5 years. Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated.

[kirknancy85]

I contacted John Deere via email and they said they may be able to give me some out of warrenty assistance. I won't know anything for a few days but I will post what I find out.

[FeartheDeere]

Hey bud,

I have an LX188 that was bought in 94 and do have tranny problems, yet they're my fault. I actually tried to drain the fluid in the tranny which for some reason shouldn't be done on the smaller lawn tractors and screwed the whole bottom end up...anyhow, I also stripped the threads when putting the bolt back in, so I had to get the whole bottom end replaced. I don't know what the deal is now, but now the mower has problems. It will mow for a good half hour without any problems, just as fast as it was when it was new. But once it is warmed up and stuff, it seems like the tranny starts to slip or the belt is slipping or something! I don't know, and that's why it's in the dealership right now. we've got the right sized drive belt on there for sure, but don't know what the prob is.

I hate to see a dissapointed John Deere customer, but sometimes it happens. I hope that your dealer treats you right. I do believe that I'll never have a JD lawn tractor again, because they just aren't heavily built...they're designed for the homeowner that has a smaller, smooth lawn w/o any large hills or such. The larger tractors are much heavier built though.