John Deere Reviews

My John Deere L130 automatic lawn machine loses power after running for 15-20 minutes, and on a slight incline, it will go dead and stop moving.

I bought a BB4296 Frontier blade. I used it behind a John Deere 5525 which is a 90 hp. The dealer was Quality Equipment in Burlington, NC. Within the warranty period, the first issue was the scafiers falling out. The cheesy keepers wore a little bit and the shanks would fall out up or down. This blade has a hydraulic scafier bar. Joe with Quality first recommended driving a bolt behind them and took one of the keepers with him and I never heard anymore about that. Second, the mast for the top link tore loose from the tube while panning dirt. There was a cat 1 pin hole in the top link. This is an 8-foot blade, cat 1 is a little light, pins were a problem and caused some top link damage. The dealer told me I was turning left with the shanks in ground and caused the damage and there was no warranty coverage.

I purchased a Gator 825i from Quality Equipment in Burlington, NC. Gator was a lemon and had transmission problems. The dealer wasn't able to fix the problem and John Deere and Quality Equipment would not allow me to trade the unit for another, and did not fix the unit for me. I took a $4,000 loss on unit in a one-year period. The dealership owner/manager told me he couldn't find anything wrong with the unit; John Deere wasn't going to put any more money into the unit; and that I didn't know how to drive the Gator - this was my third Gator and the other two I had not had any problems. The person who purchased the Gator had the same problem with it as I did the first day he drove the Gator and Quality was able to fix the unit for new buyer by putting a clutch in the unit.

I bought this mower from Lowe's for my mother about 4 1/2 years ago. It worked great. A few days ago, the bearing assembly fell through the deck because all 4 mounting holes were wallowed out. No warning at all. John Deere claims it is because we hit something. The real problem is a design flaw. The bolt head flanges are too small to support the torque. I took it to the local dealer. They sent it in to John Deere and they denied any help due to hitting something. I called John Deere myself again. They review it and called me back. The woman I spoke with told me they were not going to do anything, not that they could not, they would not. It was not a design flaw, did not even want to hear the solution I had, that I saw on another lawn mower to avoid the problem, and was very condescending to me. After telling me they were giving me no help, she hung up on me.

Smoking from the front of the tractor (Fire Hazard John Deere Model 345 lawn tractor) and upon inspection, there was raw gas shooting out in a stream 3 to 4 inches hitting a plate mounted above the muffler. Investigation on the internet produced numerous accounts of these tractors catching on fire as a result of this leak in the fuel pump mounted directly over the muffler. JD could not find a recall notice on this, but several internet sources claim there was one. Since my serial number was partly rubbed off from implements hitting the decal, JD claim there was nothing they can do since I am not the original owner. After some additional discussion, apparently my referral has been "passed on". This is a serious issue and the potential to cause personal and property damage.

I have complained so many times in your agency which is nearest to me, but they have not responded on my issues. So I am complaining to you to take my issues seriously. I have purchased a tractor from your company (model no-5038). Before one year, it is showing problems in hydraulics. When I give a command to the hydraulic to be in up condition, it automatically goes down slowly. So please pay attention on this, make this a top priority, and send a technician to resolve this problem. Thanks and regards.

John Deere walked behind mower model JS28 - buyers beware! Do not purchase this mower. We used it on 1/4 of good quality with turf grass for 8 times between June and August. The mower died in the middle of mowing. It will not start. We emptied gas, changed oil, checked filters, checked and cleaned spark plug but no effect. The worst is the response by John Deere company - they couldn't care less. They said to take it to a repair shop in another state. Maybe it will be warranted and maybe it won't. The only reason I paid a premium for John Deere brand was that I assumed it would be a quality product! Not so - don't be fooled! Not good quality at all. By the way, the mower was stored in a clean dry basement with a dehumidifier running and used in a careful manner. Premium gasoline was poured from a new gas can.

I bought this year's John Deere riding mower model, D120 series. Unfortunately, it has been to a John Deere dealership twice now for engine repair. When talking to the John Deere Co., they basically will stand by the warranty for repairing but once the warranty is up, well, it's good luck. I feel that this particular lawn tractor has issues. If it continues to break down, it should be replaced with another mower. The John Deere Co. says they will not do that. So much for standing by your product!

I bought a JD5060E. I’m happy it is a very good tractor but there is one problem I have seen and that my tractor lift switches are not working. I checked the tractor in JD Agency but they cannot solve my problem so please take an action. Thank you.

The x748 4-wheel drive and 4-wheel steering transaxle broke loose from frame and just about destroyed the unit. $14,000.00 including attachments is a good chunk of money. I take care of the VA Grounds here and the unit gets a lot of use. I understand wearable parts skids cutting blade etc. But the frame cracking is beyond the normal wear and tear.

I bought an X300 42" Select Series in October 2009. The mower as of today has 225 hours. I have replaced "every" pulley on the mower because of failure. I've replaced the drive belt once and the mower deck belt 3 times because of problems with the deck or pulleys. I’ve gone through 2 batteries on the mower (one of them with 30 hours). The mower came with a mulching kit installed by the dealer. The mulching baffle came loose and was chopped by the blade, making it useless with only 25 hours of use. I brought the mower to the dealer 2 times in Conroe, TX on North Loop 336 with only disappointment. They never covered anything and said it wasn't under warranty.

I bought a John Deere belt buckle a couple of weeks ago from TSC in Cortland, New York. I brought it home and put it on my belt to support the John Deere Company because I am a fan of John Deere. But the John Deere belt buckle broke and it's not fixable. I lost my receipt and they won’t take it back. So, I would like something done about this because it is not right that they won’t replace this.

Piece of junk - I bought new JD 2305. I have had nothing but trouble. It was in the shop more than out. The mower deck won't engage, a total rip-off. The gears won't engage and were chewed up. I only put 500 hours on a $20,000 machine. I have paid a lot out of my pocket to move the tractor, have it looked at, etc., etc., etc. It is a lemon!

I have a John Deere 2009 X300 that was bought in September 2009 with a 44" snow-blower. Today, the tractor has 230 hours on it and the only things that were replaced on warranty were the seat that has a crack and the PTO clutch that’s causing the main bearing to be noisy. But my only complaint is about the weak K46 transaxle that cannot be serviced by a regular oil change like Tuff Torq (the builder of the transaxle) recommend. With the recommended oil change (first one at 50 hours and every 200 hours after that), this transaxle will perform for many hours/years if not abused. It's too bad that John Deere decide to not add the drain plug that Tuff Torq designed for; it's not a secret that all K46 were designed to have drain plugs (2). Overall, I'm satisfied with my purchase, except for the transaxle. For a $3000-plus machine, it's a shame that two drain plugs at $0.99 can make so many unsatisfied customers.

My L120 mower has been a constant drawing on my wallet due to bad design and manufacturing. My mower deck had spindles that could not be greased and therefore they seized up. This could have injured the rider. The repair for this was 2 weeks and a few hundred. Then, the rear wheel had the weld around the center hub fail. Another two weeks and a couple hundred. They have taken a good brand and totally ruined it in my eyes. I will not buy another JD.

The pulley locked up and twisted the bolt off from the deck. This mower is kept clean, not abused and this happened in the middle of my yard. No limbs, debris or rough yard. Of course, John Deere dealer said, "This happens all the time on these models. No way to grease the pulley. Give me $80.00 to $100.00 and we can fix it." I have them service the mower when specs call for it and it's 3 years old.

I bought this John Deere JS25 piece of crap at Lowe's. If John Deere is just looking for a quick buck, good job. I've had this for 16 months. Among all the little faults, four weeks ago, the front axle broke. It was a bad weld at the factory. Last week, the real axle hanger broke. The welds on both the left and rear side were very poorly done. I just received the $54 replacement and neither side has proper welds. You have to take half the mower apart to replace the carrier.

I bought the John Deere lawn tractor X540 from the dealer with a hydraulic tiller and snow blade as an off the floor demonstrator tractor with a few hours on it in 2008 and a full 4-year warranty; the attachments were brand new. Since then, it has had multiple repairs all before 90 hours of use.

Bought the John Deere mower in 2010. It stopped running after 30 hrs of use. I bought it at Home Depot. I took it to Maple Mountain Service where it was kept for 1 month, returned and worked for 30 min. then stopped. Back to MM for repair for 3 weeks, it came back and still worked for 1 cut then dies. I took it back again to MM and they couldn't find problem, returned mower stating it worked fine. Brief winter came and went. Now, the mower doesn't run gain. So, a total hrs 30 hrs was spent with start and stops of repair. Horrible product, horrible service.

My dad and I both purchased a John Deere L130 from Home Depot. Before the 90-day return policy was over, my dad had already taken his back and swapped for another one. We have had nothing but problems from these mowers. They are in the shop every year. They eat belts, eat blades, front axle broke in half on one, it is always something. The front tires on mine are now toeing out. I figure it is only a matter of time before the axle breaks on it also. Keep in mind that I only mow an acre or less. I will never ever buy anything else from John Deere. I asked the local dealer if he had anything besides a John Deere I could trade this piece of junk in for. Of course, he only sells John Deere. I told him, being a Christian prohibits me from telling him how I really feel about John Deere products. Heaven help you should you use John Deere to service the thing for you! Please get an estimate before agreeing to let them do any work. I wish John Deere would man up and make this right. I think I am just going to sell it and buy a Gravely Zero turn mower, which is what replaced my dad's John Deere.

We contacted Larson's Tractor, John Deere dealership in West Plains, MO, to trade a used Lx279 for a JD push mower. We are moving and no longer need a large riding mower. On the phone, Larson's stated that "sight unseen we would even trade for a Honda push mower" around $600. After arriving at the store, the manager stated that they would not do that because "there was no ID sticker on it and those were bolted on" and we are thieves and we stole that mower. I have never been so mortified in my life! But they would only offer half of their original offer ($300). We drove home, found the ID sticker with the PIN number and the owner's manual. I am not sure what our next step is, but I know we will never ever be John Deere customers again!

My story is sadly similar to other complaints about JD transmission problems. I have a five year old LA140 riding mower, less than 100 hours on the odometer. The transmission failed to drive the mower after running 20 minutes. The local JD dealer replaced it for $850. My extended warranty expired the previous year. I wrote John Deere corporate a polite letter asking for help with half the cost of the repair. They eventually responded "no, but here's a discount coupon for future parts". My recommendation; do not buy John Deere riding mowers. Their transmissions are unreliable and expensive to repair.

Last Thursday, I was attempting to park our John Deere 757 zero turn mower, which was idling. I had backed it up almost to the carport door, which was down at the time, when suddenly it started flying backwards out of control. I was hurled into the carport door from the back and it was curling around each side of me as the mower was going backwards at a high rate of speed. I was bending my head and neck down into the mower trying to protect myself. Then, just as suddenly, it started going forward and the carport door was hung on the rollover bar. This jerked the mower into a standup position with me still in the seat and pinned into the carport door. Finally, the carport door came loose from the bar after ripping out all of the bolts from the frame of the door and slammed the mower to the ground. I turned the key off and went into my house hysterical. I was shaking and trembling so bad I could hardly talk, along with hyperventilating and throwing up. I went to the ER in Oxford, MS where x-rays showed no broken bones; only bruised muscles, sprains and strains. I was given an injection of Morphine and Phenergan for pain, and a prescription for Lortab and Flexeril for pain and muscle spasms.

I purchased a John Deere 190C in April 2006 at the Big Box stores for over $3,000. I put 119 hours on it and last year the k62v transaxle went out. I sent it down to the local JD supplier whose sticker was on the machine, only to find out that for $1,800, they would replace the transaxle. I inquired if it could be fixed and was informed that it was a sealed unit and they could not work on it. I researched and found the transaxle was from Tuf Torq with the parts diagram. On top of that, the majority of the tractor was, in fact, only parts put together and called a John Deere. I paid $3,000 for a name. Buyer beware, if they had called it a mutt and priced it accordingly, I wouldn't have called it a John Deere.

I paid $2,500 for a John Deere LA140 tractor that lasted only 200 hours (3 years) before the transmission went out. If you go online, you'll find John Deere had lots of problems with this tractor. How can I feel good about buying American even if it is a "Home Depot version" of a John Deere?

I purchased an X320 lawn tractor on late 2009. It mowed one season and then the mower started throwing the main drive belt. Then the idler tensioner went out. I tore the lawn mower down and took parts to Bridgeport EQ Marietta. I gave them tensioner. Altogether, they gave me back a bag of parts with no diagram and said they did not have one. Then I called one of their mechanics and told him the problem I’m having. He said he can only give me half the parts and to come back and he would get parts from my old tensioner. That was the third trip to dealership and I have to drive 25 miles. After getting the mower back together, I accidentally spun the main blade belt. I went in the 4th time and talked to the manager and told him what I have done. I asked if he could help me out. He said John Deere pays for all warranty work. I wasn’t doing him any favors by working on it and he would not help me at all. I have purchased three new tractors. I will never purchase another one. The manager said he didn’t care either. What a day.

This mower (JS25 Self-Propelled Walk-Behind) was purchased in September of 2009, and I believe it was a lemon. I am very dissatisfied with this product. I purchased this brand because I thought it was a quality product and will never buy a John Deere product again. The mower constantly loses momentum and stalls. I cannot use it any longer because it loses power and slows down, and will not do the job.

I purchased a John Deere. I walked behind the self-propelled mower from Lowe's last year, and it hit a small stump in my yard and the shaft that the blade is attached to was bent. The mower cost $350. The estimate to fix was $275 to $300. Bending a shaft on a lawnmower is a common occurrence and used to cost about fifty cents to fix, as all you had to do was replace a small metal piece that connected the motor to the shaft. It took about 5 minutes to fix. Keep in mind this was not a "massive" type of accident; any fix to the shaft would cost almost the entire cost of the mower to fix.

I purchased a Deere LA130 tractor four years ago and currently only have 260 hours on it, and very dissatisfied with the quality. I performed the maintenance as required, but it didn't appear to help. First, I had to replace the front wheel spindles as they were severely worn even though I greased them as required. While doing so, I noted the front wheels have bushings rather than bearings. Another poor design. At the least, you would think the bushings should wear before the spindles, but not the case.

My 2005 L108 get the "spring maintenance special" every year. This year, upon its return a month after pickup, there was an immediate smell of gas fumes. I stored it in the basement, where the HVAC system is. Lo and behold, the smell permeated the house. I moved it up to the garage and the smell still made it into the rafters, then down through some old HVAC vents (which apparently were not sealed when they should have been). I inspected the tractor a number of times. No visible leaks. I washed it 4 times in 2 weeks, thinking they spilled something on it when they replaced a gasket during the servicing. It still had bad gasoline smell. I had to keep the garage door open all day to try to keep it from making us sick.

I have a John Deere 5425 front axle that eats the front tires. It had 300 hours and tires were worn out. I had it in shop, AG Power in Mt. Pleasant, TX, several times and shop foreman said there was nothing wrong. I started taking it to shop with only 50 hours. They said I would have to just buy tires often. I now have 410 hours and have my second set of tires and they show a lot of wear. I called John Deere Corporate Office and they said they had never had a problem like this. They said I must be turning in one direction. I said no. He asked if I drove on highway all the time. I told them no. I was told there was nothing was wrong with my tractor and John Deere was not doing anything about it. I don't know how a company can stay in business selling a bad product. I will never buy another John Deere.

John Deere LA140 - This will be my third transmission if I chose to buy it. I e-mailed John Deere only to get the runaround . Finally a supervisor named Kimberly called to say there's nothing they can do unless a dealership looks on it. Well that's $80 to tell me what I already know, not to mention they want over $100 to pick this junk up. I don't have a truck to haul it there. My mower has less than 175 hours on. It's a good waste of $2400. Don't buy John Deere, you'll be paying for it later.

I’m on the 3rd transaxle on my LA175. The first was replaced under warranty. After that, I'm on my own. That’s $2200 out of pocket on a $3400 machine. To make matters worse, the John Deere mechanic on a forum questioned me on my weight and if that was the problem. I got angry and told him I am 200 pounds and it may include a beer in the cup holder, but that's it. What ticked me off was his response that I was probably lying and that I probably am overweight and that I should cut back on the beer. What a ** idiot. I was so upset. I know I would've choked him if I met him. The engine is fine—it's those useless transaxles and spindles they use. That being said, I will never recommend or purchase a piece of trash like this to anyone, guaranteed. Steer clear of John Deere folks—just read the reviews is all I can say. The hours on the unit were 100 on it and it seems that the transaxles survive only that amount.

The mower is 6 years old and is rusting badly on the body work. Big (1-2 inch) flakes are coming off the body. There is so much rust on this thing that I'm sure all the paint will be gone within a few years. Where the paint has not come off, it is bubbling from rust underneath the paint. Keep in mind I live in Central California and all that I do with this JD is mow about a half acre of grass!

Z910 commercial mower, brand new, blows gas from the exhaust - I bought the Commercial Z910 mower new on a Monday and brought home and put in shed. Saturday, I went to mow and all the gas I had put in on Monday had leaked out. I tried to start it and the gas blew from the exhaust. Also noted was rust on top of motor and rust in and around the roll bar. I called AG Power and was told there was nothing they could do on a Saturday. A $10,000 piece of equipment, brand new and ran only to unload from trailer to shed and there is nothing you can do. Your customer service, Sherman, TX and especially McKinney, TX, is horrible. I want them to pick this up and reimburse the gas I put in it but not sure if they will.

I bought a J.D. L130 new several years ago. Within two years of normal yard use the spindles for the cutting blades began to seize up. I come to find out they had no zerk fitting, no way to lube them. Lo and behold the new ones that I bought had fittings. The most recent problem was when the gas pick up tube fell of inside the gas tank. So far there is no known fix, except to replace the tank at the cost of about $60 on eBay, not to mention the time to dismantle and replace a good bit of the tractor in order to remove/install the tank. If you haven't bought a John Deere, don't.

I have had an l165 for three years. It ran good till one day I changed the oil and got interpreted and forgot to add oil. I ran it awhile a week later and realized my mistake. Motor gave no sign of being out of oil. No noise like what you would suspect. This motor is also known for low oil due to filter leaks, I was told. I called John Deere and asked why the motor didn’t have a low oil warning system like most of other brands have. There were no answers. Three thousand dollar mower and too cheap to put in a $25 part. John Deere told me, sorry it was my mistake. The motor is set up for a shut off device but Briggs doesn’t put them in. I have a 1948 Gravely with oil pressure gauge, a 2001 five horse Honda trash pump with oil alarm and many other motors that warn you for low oil. Told them it would be my last John Deere. What ever happened to customer was always right?

You (John Deere) ought to be ashamed of yourselves. Your instruction manual failed to inform me of the proper maintenance procedures. The K46 transmission on my L130 is ruined. It would not be ruined if proper instructions had been given for transmission maintenance. I bought it from an Alaska John Deere dealer with a Snow blower attachment. The Dealer (John Deere), should know that snow removal is the hardest work, the L130 could be used for. John Deere should have known that without additional maintenance, it would not be up to the task.

I bought a John Deere tractor 5310 on April 3, 2009 from your dealer Dheedsa Tractor Company in Iqbal, Singh. Upon starting the tractor, it spit smoke and would not work properly. We said to him to check the engine. He replied that it’s not a problem, you continue your work. By saying again and again, he checked the nozzle and he advanced the time and said now it works properly. By saying this he wasted our 2-year warranty and he said you take your nozzle and check it from Agra Desil service Ludhiana. He said your nozzles are dead. One of them is totally dead. He asked money for changing the nozzles. Our tractor worked only 1200 hours. The tractors of John Deere do not work properly. Please cooperate with us and help us. We are very thankful to you. Model 5310. Engine no.: py3029d193189. Chassia no.: py5310so36466.

Living on a "John Deere" farm my whole life growing up and seeing the constant problems with these vehicles makes me wonder--how many times can one fail and still have a business? The tractors all have something wrong with them and cost hundreds if not thousands of dollars to fix. Would a car company still be in business if it sold cars that have one out of 3 working in 5 years? Maybe if dumb farmers bought them. Unite against this company. Who cares how many years you and your dad have drove these piles of trash? Time to change. I don’t care what to, but John Deere has to go.

I purchased a brand new lower belt for the S-110 tractor in Feb. or March of 2011. The old one broke or split. We paid $40-$50 for the new one. My husband used the traqctor5 only one time after it was installed. He used it only once this year 2012 and it split again. He took the belt in with him and they could not tell us if it was a defective belt so now we have to pay for a new one again. I think that is wrong. It was only used twice.

I purchased a John Deere Go Kart as a Christmas present for my son. It cost us e650 and after a very short while the wheels at the front didn't engage to go around at all. I brought it at the shop in Longford, Ireland where it was purchased to be told it was rust and it cost e60 to get repaired. The shop assistant asked if it was "driven into a lake." It was stored in a shed when not used. After getting it fixed and keeping it covered when not in use it is not working.

LA115 with 110 hours. The mower sat while I was ill. The engine quit and needs to be replaced. I tried to speak with Shatiqua at John Deere, who said we should bring it to a dealer and see if they can help with repair costs. New engine will be over $800. I already put $500.00 into it when the mower was one month out of warranty. Add the original cost of the mower, the $500 and now another $800—this is costing us a fortune. We cannot afford to put anymore money in this piece of garbage. In reading these complaints, it sounds like Shatiqua is pacifying everyone by telling them they will help pay for repairs, but when it comes time to deliver they are not delivering. I read that the primary cause of engine failure is the ethanol blend of gas.

My husband was unloading our John Deere LX255 mower. In backing up, it flipped off the trailer. Thank God he was okay, but the hood was ruined. After looking at it, it’s nothing but green plastic and a little plastic grill and headlight. We could get a new one. **!!! $650 for three separate parts. This is Chinese cheap plastic. Also, the mower deck has been welded three times in 18 months. Garbage. We are not getting a new hood. We will use it until it's done and buy anything else but a foreign made John Deere! After reading many of the complaints, how sad that what was once an iconic part of USA's history has become a joke.

I visited a local John Deere Dealer in March 2011. I intended to purchase a new X324 or X500. The salesman "helped" me decide by telling me that they had a slightly used X324 with only 85 hours on it. He said that the owner traded it in for a new X500. He said nothing was wrong with it and these mowers will last 2-3 thousand hours with normal maintenance.

2000 John Deere 345 garden tractor - fuel pump issue! Purchased tractor, used smelled raw gas, (next day) later discovered it was coming from the fuel pump old design which squirts the raw gas right on the muffler. A new fuel pump has a tube on the vent directs it to the ground!

My John Deere LA175 has less than 150 hours on it. It has been a solid grass cutter for the past 2 years cutting my 2 acres. Out of the blue, I couldn't make it up a slight incline on my property. I called Lowes and as luck would have it, my warranty expired 2 months ago. They passed me on to John Deere. I spoke and gave all info to customer service. I was told to bring tractor to dealer to access what was needed and perhaps John Deere could help.

I'm on my second LA 175 in two years. There are problems with the bracket on the belt tensioner pulley, breaking three times on the first mower. Lowe's gave me a new mower last fall. I only have 57 hours on this one, and now it's having the same problem. It must be some kind of design flaw. It's a good thing I bought extended warranty. I don't have much faith in these mowers.

We bought a JD x340 "lawn & garden" tractor back in 2009. We went with JD because of their "g-r-e-a-t reputation" and thought we would have a piece of equipment that would do what we needed it to do and would last us maybe not a lifetime, but a good many years from a long standing company that stands behind its name. That was our first mistake...thinking. We should have done some research first.

Like many, I was online trying to find a good price on a PTO clutch for my John Deere, L-130. Most of what everyone has written happened to mine. My JD is five years old, with only 150 hours on it; the second year with less than 75 hours on it, the mower deck bearings failed. I called the JD customer service. I sent emails only to get a rude email back from the customer service saying, “Sorry, out of warranty”. No help was given.

I own a LT190 with 400 hrs and the transmission is toast. I have been told that my only option is to replace it at a cost of about $1000.00. I would have expected something better from John Deere than this. I do have a second option, can you say Husqvarna?

I have a John Deere LA175 Mower. Wow in the "out-of-warranty" service expense column I have over $1300.00 in this thing. I did the research, checked the reviews but sadly, this mower is a lemon. I have placed a call into John Deere Customer Complaint Department and they are working to see what they can do. My hopes are not high.

Hood components were of a substandard design. The use of plastic on the hinged front bumper was not sufficiently engineered to withstand use. Hood failed at front hinges. Further damage resulted which caused the upper hood to crack due to vibration. John Deere charges over $400.00 for replacement parts. Due to the number of mowers on the market with similar problems, this would be a candidate for a product recall or even a class-action lawsuit.

On the third day after delivery of a new L130, the engine would just stop while mowing but restart was instant. I should have recognized that there was an underlying problem. Now with 300 hours, engine is surging and I took it to James River Equipment. I was charged $161.00 to be told that it couldn't be repaired without a new carb ($200.00 out of their parts dept). Now estimate is up to $500.00 + for a dirty carb. I brought it home without repairs. This machine has given me problems of all sorts from the beginning. An independent will probably be able to take the carb apart and clean. I have replaced numerous parts since the new one. Sorry guys, no more. This is junk. The problems are constant and no end in sight. I am now told I need a deck rebuild for an additional and outrageous sum. The shop put 3 deep scratches in the hood. I will probably be reminded that my $3000.00 didn't buy a BMW but I was, for a short time, very proud of my Deere. The love affair didn't last long. Fortunately, I have a Cub Cadet that was actually built in March of l962. This piece of equipment has never been in the shop. A class action suit would be appropriate.

I bought a Deere LA145 mower in 2009 and have had trouble with it since day one. It is the most poorly designed riding mower I have ever owned in all my 71 + years. I have replaced the mower spindles and numerous blades (it wears out blades 3 to 1 compared to my Toro of the same size). The wheel spindles have been replaced and the grease fittings are facing the inside of the machine! I have removed the old spindles to put in the new ones and now, I have the grease fittings facing out; however, it is a task to get to them.

I have a L120 lawn tractor bought in 2004 that has had the following problems: The seat spring broke, the spring underneath broke (twice), the front wheel bearings had to be rebuilt, both front control rods had to be replaced, the front axle broke, the forward nut holding the deck fell off at least three times, and today the clutch to activate the mower has apparently failed. It's just a piece of Chinese junk.

Just for tracking purposes, here is another John Deere lawn tractor with a bad transmission after only 160 hours. It's a $125 that I purchased a few years ago. After this happened, I started doing a little internet research and discovered that this is a very common problem. What are your options? First, pay the John Deere guy $700 to replace it with a transmission that will, in all likelihood, god bad again in a few years. Second, pay $1500 (just shy of the cost of the tractor) for an upgraded transmission (from a k36 to a k66) that you have to do yourself. Next, pay $1800 for a new tractor that will, undoubtedly, have the same issue. Either way, we're screwed. I bought John Deere because I thought it was quality equipment. I will not buy another one. Look at the internet. There are literally scores of similar stories out there just like mine. John Deere should make this right. This has to be a class action suit waiting to happen.

I purchased a John Deere L130 with the extended warranty. While under warranty, the steering gear wore out. Now it has failed again just two weeks after the extended warranty expired. After research, I have found and verified by the local dealer in Matthews, North Carolina that this is a design flaw and was identified over a year ago. However, I never received any correspondence from John Deere that I had a mower with a design flaw. My mower was at the Matthews location a couple of months ago. Again, it was not mentioned. At that time, I could have been updated with the correct design replacement part. This is very deceptive of John Deere. They at least should offer a discount on the repair, but this was refused also. I will follow up with the Better Business Bureau. And like so many other people having trouble with this mower, I think a class action lawsuit will eventually be crafted.

I have owned John Deere lawn mowers for 30 years and I have never had any problems; just small thing that I took care of oil changes. It has never been in the shop. My next door neighbor has had Craftsman mowers and he has bought four. I only bought two but could have only bought one but liked the looks of the newer ones. Thanks for the best damn mower in the world. I looked at all of them and just come right back to my John Deere.

We bought a John Deere LA150 and have had nothing but problems with the belt coming off the mowing deck. We have replaced the belt several times and the man at John Deere shop said that we bought a throw away from Lowes. I said, "Are you kidding?" He said, "They're junk." What the **? Their name is on the back of it. I thought John Deere was a good choice but now I wish that I had made another choice.

John Deere L130 Complaint - Long story short, John Deere sells poorly designed equipment now. John Deere has completely taken advantage of their brand name by building an inferior product (L series lawn mowers) and selling it to mass consumers (you and I). I bought an L130 48" Deck 23 HP Kohler in 2005. Currently, it has 250 hours. Here is a list of repairs since I've owned it:

I was given a lawn mower, John Deere Model L130, by my brother whom had bought it new several years ago and serviced it regularly. After 9 hours of mowing (409 hours total) over a 4-week period, the front axle broke in half while I was riding on the mower. I fell forward and bruised my ribs on the steering wheel. If I was not a big guy, my ribs probably would have been broken. I had to have it fixed myself, thinking it was a freak occurrence. When I heard from the man who fixed it for me that the axle was in stock at the JD dealer, I started smelling a rat. Axles are not things that lawn mower dealers keep in stock. Some rudimentary investigation on the internet tells me that John Deere knows they have a design problem here. There were way too many people having axle and front steering problems. I was able to fix the problem for $140, but the bruised ribs are just getting better now after a week. I asked JD for assistance with the repair bill but was given the runaround, being told that the mower was too old, etc. Axles just don't break from normal use. John Deere needs to make this right.

We've had to replace all spindles on the deck bushings. Now, the ** clutch needs to be replaced. This is only a few of the things that have happened. This has happened every year that we have owned it. We keep it in good shape. And it seems like every time we go out there, something else tears up. We have spent a fortune on this piece of crap of a lawn mower. We always have to go borrow someone else's to get my grass cut. It's **! I think a law suit should be filed or money reimbursed.

I think we all need to file a class action lawsuit against John Deere. They are selling junk and not standing behind their two-year warranty. See my comments below where I explained what happened about a week and half ago.

I bought a 2006 John Deere Gator HPX. I put it away in my shop one night after feeding my horses and it caught on fire. Burned my shop to the ground. It started on the exaust manifold.

In December 2009, we decided to take advantage of the tax bonus depreciation and buy a new piece of equipment. Carl ** from Standard (now Jesco) located in Middletown, DE came out to our job site to see the type of work we were doing and what John Deere machine would work for us best. After watching our men at work (we have pictures of Carl on our job site), he recommended the John Deere 332 Skid Steer Loader with rubber tires. We purchased this machine for $36,000 (also $18,000 for the milling head and $6,000 for the broom). The machine sat in our garage until our paving season started back up in March of 2010, the machine was overheating from the start.

I purchased an LA135 Lawn Tractor in April of 2010 from Lowe’s. I was mowing a couple of weeks ago and the mower started chugging like it was running out of gas. I got off the mower and walked back up to the house. After a few minutes, I turned around and looked down where I parked the mower and there was a major fire going. I called the Fire Department and luckily they responded in minutes.

Growing up in the south, I've always heard how great John Deere products were and the reliability of those products. Just to let you know, I'm currently on my second attempt in finding that quality and reliability in the L Series Mowers. My first attempt was an L-100 Series mower, which failed after one summer’s use and their local service center couldn't figure out how to fix an oil leak on the motor. After 4-5 attempts of failed repairs by their local service center (James River Equipment), Home Depot actually refunded my money back.

I asked of the durability of the engine, (JOHN Deere turbo tuff) transmission,o and and if it was sufficient to mow 1 to two acres weekly for years and what maintence would be expected.

I bought a John Deere LA140 48" deck 4 years ago and have had to replace the steering gears 5 times now at a cost of almost $100.00 each time. I am so fed up with this that I am going to sell this thing and buy a Cub, Sears or anything but a Deere.

I live in Foxborough MA 02035 I always had John Deer Lawn Mower for last 30 years

i bought a john deere commercial lawn mower 3 months ago from prairie coast eqt, and i has broken 7 times now, it has a 2 year warrenty. all i would like is to return it for my money back.

Hydro oil leak. I was mowing and it started spraying out transmission fluid that went all over mower. I shut it off immediately and took it to get checked at the place mentioned above where I purchased it. They replaced the line and sent the old one home with me. Total bill was 209.26, which is ridiculous.

I have a John Deere ZTX 31 and the blade stopped moving. I turned off the motor and when I went to check under the deck, the spring suddenly released and snapped back cutting thru my finger and bone.

I have a ZTR445, which at 78 hours, was starting to have problems. I called Plains Power Equipment in Seward, NE (where I purchased it). The problem was while mowing, there was a black soot which covered my left leg. Glen **, manager, told me it was from mold. Shortly after, the mower started running rough. I took it in for an oil change. I was told it was low on oil. It ran 20 more hours and after 98 hours and seizing up, I was told it ran out of oil and I needed a new engine. I purchased a "used" $1,200 engine from Plains Power Equipment in Seward, NE. After 113 hours and it not being able to start, I was told it needed a new starter ($198). I picked the mower up and took it to a private small engine repair shop. He replaced the starter and it still does not run. This gentleman does a lot of business with Plains Power and expressed his dissatisfaction with how they handled my situation.

I just want to let people know that before you buy a John Deere tractor, you will need very deep pockets to keep it up. I bought a new 3120 hydro stat drive tractor and front tier equipment last October 2006. The tractor has 325 hours on it and it is in the shop with a $1600 repair bill, to this point on the trans. This tractor is out of warranty and is still like new, but it is in the shop with trans problems. If you are considering buying a John Deere, try to rethink it.

I bought a $360 lawn mower (John Deere). I used it 4 or 5 times, stored it dried. When I used it this spring, it blew up on me after 15 minutes. I was told warranty will not cover it as it was my fault (some screws got in and damaged it and caused it to be blown) or $424.00 to fix it. Lowe’s says there’s nothing they can do. I bought it through them and they told me only 30 days not unless I buy insurance, but have a two year warranty. So $360.00 just for using it 4 or 5 times. I am so mad.

First year we had it, I was mowing a small incline and the wheel fell off.

We bought John Deere 5310 on January 27th 2011. Now, we are facing starter problems and clutch plate problem.

I purchased a John Deere JS25 self-propelled lawn mower on July 6, 2009 from Lowe's Home Store on 75th & Dodge St. in Omaha, NE. I also purchased a Lowe's 4 year Service Advantage extended warranty. The mower was the floor model and already had oil in it.

My JD L120 has less than 300 hours on it and has been serviced regularly. Every time I mow, it throws off the drive belt. I first thought it was the PTO, so I quit going in reverse at all. Now, it only goes in reverse. Also, I thought the drive belt needed to be replaced; but no, it's leaking trans fluid.

I would like to start out by saying I am a John Deere man. My grandfather was a farmer and ran John Deere. My father and two of his brothers were farmers and they ran John Deere. Both of my brothers (one has passed away) and both of my sisters run John Deere. All of My cousins run John Deere. My Uncle (Melvin **) left farming in 1962 to buy into a John Deere dealership. The name of the dealership was Eichstaedt Implement. After years of being in partnership, and several partners, my uncle bought all shares and went on his own. He ended up with stores in Whales, Watertown, and Hartford Wisconsin. The plates on his town car read **.

I have the la 145 riding mower with 114 hrs on it. I use it to mow and plow the driveway in winter. I noticed loss of power when climbing hills and thought the tranny was bad. The belt was cracking and I purchased new belt from dealer. While removing old belt, I noticed it was using left side brake linkages as a type of idler. At first I thought, surely this is not the design; it must be just tangled up during assembly. So I cut out the old belt, installed the new one up the middle of frame rails as you would think. The tractor ran okay but still power is lost on steep hills. I was ready to concede to buying a new tranny. I decided to route belt like it was. A huge pain in the ****. I had to drop pedals, remove battery, etc. but sure enough, it must be done this way. It climbs like a mountain goat. I've seen so many threads complaining of tranny problems, I hope this isn't their problem. Good luck.

I owned a John Deere L 35. I purchased it in April 2006 from Lowe's of Uniontown, PA. I bought a 3-year extended warranty that did not extend the warranty to 5 years. It started on the purchase date. That's the problem. Now after 160 hours on a well-serviced garaged mower, the transmission is gone. I contacted JD via email, then by phone. Both responses were: "Sorry, you are not happy," and "We sell a great product." They also said my transmission is isolated. I informed them that on several complaint sites, there were possibly 1000 having the same issues as I have.The person on the phone said, "No way." I gave him a few of the sites as well.

The transmission on the John Deere Model LA145 riding lawnmower went out after 30 hours of use. The local John Deere dealer said if the grass isn't perfectly flat, the transmissions always go out on the 100 series riding lawnmowers. I'll never buy John Deere again.

I purchased a John Deere L110 about 4 years ago. From day one it was a lemon. The belt on the mower kept on coming off. I took it back and they worked on it some more. But it still got the same problem, also after a short while when the warranty holes started to come in the deck. My yard is a regular yard with no thick grass. This kept on until after the warranty ran out. To make it short, John Deere refused to make mower deck right. The rep said there was no paperwork on where it was worked on during warranty. He did not look that hard because I kept the copies of the work that was done. I did have to carry the mower to another dealer. It's because from where I brought the mower, the part manager and I had words. And the store manager thought it would be best if I took it to another dealer. So, I took it to Colquitt JD dealer. I brought it in Donalsonville, GA JD dealer. After the rep told Colquitt dealer that I make copies of the work order and give it to them at Colquitt JD, nothing came out of it.

Bought our John Deere la125 expecting the quality of a reputable company. After 82 hours, the tractor threw a rod and is now worthless. We followed the maintenance schedule exactly as directed and was asked by the dealer if we had ever changed the oil! Well we had; after the first 8 hrs and then at the beginning of each season(2).

I purchased a John Deere 42" cut riding mower from Home Depot approx. 4-5 years ago. It had normal use mowing an acre of lawn and all maintenance and oil changes were done as recommended. Recently while mowing, the engine blew up. My local repair business said the engine was destroyed and could find nothing that I did to have caused it. They also found the brackets holding the mower deck were severely cracked and ready to break. I also found that the mower belts would routinely come off the pulleys and could not be fixed. I spent approx. $1500 and found a high end name like John Deere should not have a catastrophic failure after only 4-5 years of use. I have never have any previous mowers ever blow up like the John Deere and have to spend $2000 to buy a new one and it was not a John Deere.

Our tractor had issues with the front bearings on the right side on two different occasions. Recently the tractor buckled in half. John Deere does not stand behind their product and openly said we pulled the tractor in half.

We purchased 2 John Deere LA105s about a week apart. We use them at our primary home and our lake home, about 30 miles apart on similar lots. One is fine, the other is a piece of junk! Amongst other problems, the mower deck literally rusted off and peel on the garage floor when we got it out to mow the second year! Huge chunks of paint are bubbled up-on the top and bottom of the deck. John Deere wouldn’t replace the deck under warranty! They only said it was an "environmental issue", but wouldn’t explain what was meant by that term.

I have the exact same problem that has been reported already! I have a John Deere self propelled walk behind lawn mower JC63C with a 6.5 H.P. Briggs and Stratton engine. My mower has had two fuel tank replacements of tank part number AM134926. The original tank and the replacement tank have leaked at the mid seam and another location on the bottom of the tank. The tank leaked gas all over my garage and the fumes came into the house. My whole house could have caught fire! There should be a recall on these tanks. I am just having a third tank installed now. I think the tank is manufactured by Briggs and Stratton but I buy it from John Deere.

I have a John Deere L110 from HD. It cuts great but the quality is terrible. After two years, the seat looks like it was left out in the weather for 10 years (the mower is stored indoors). The spindles had to be replaced, no big deal. The new spindles have grease fittings. Too bad the originals didn't have these fittings. I've had problems with broken chutes on the grass catcher. Now, the famous transaxle is howling. I bought a replacement and now have almost enough money in this junk that I could have bought a Kubota. John Deere sure cheapened their name. I'll never buy another of their products.

I purchased a JS36 walk behind mower in March of 2010 from Lowes. While mowing the motor slowed and eventually stopped. I called John Deere customer service and was told to bring it to a local JD Dealer, they informed me that the engine had no oil and that it wasn't under warranty since it was my fault. It would cost $350.00 to fix.

I purchased a Maytag washer from Home Depot a little over a year ago, and it has broke down on me 3 times and nobody wants to help me with this situation. I'm about to take the piece of ** and throw it in the river and be done with it! I will never buy another Maytag product again or recommend this product to anyone I know! And their repair service, A&E Repair Service are a bunch of idiots that can’t keep their records straight, but it’s on my dime! What kind of company are you all running?

I bought my new JD LA175 with a 54" deck figuring I would not need another mower for a long time. Man, I was sadly mistaken. The unit has 300 hours on it now and it is ready for another transaxle. This being the 3rd. First one replaced under warranty but this one I will have to replace at a cost of $1000. Why should I replace a weak transaxle every 100 hours? I have heard of so many issues with the K46 TuffTorq transaxle that I am surprised that a class action lawsuit has not been initiated. Thoughts anyone? I have also heard of a 200-pound rider limit. What the hell is that? I weigh in at 190 pounds, maybe I'm too close to the "threshold"?

I own a 2320 swather with a 135 twin draper platform. I am having trouble with the variable speed pump pulleys/sheaves. I am looking to replace/repair these pulleys and John Deere has discontinued the pulleys part numbers (AE32321 and E53990). Without these, I may as well as junk the header. Apparently they also do not list an upgrade pump, pulley system.

I bought what I thought was a true John Deere at Home Depot. I used it for one summer and then the motor went out. It is an L130. When I checked with John Deere, I was told it was not a true John Deere but another brand that John Deere merely stamped their name on. Since it was a fairly expensive mower, I found this to be very deceptive. Guess I paid for a name and that wasn't even real.

I own a John Deere LT 110 and it is a junk. The seat shredded in two years. The catcher is poor quality. I spent the money to rebuild the deck. Now, the K46 transmission has gone out. The mower handles nicely, but the quality is very poor. I will never buy another John Deere. To get JD with a better transmission that will hold up, you need to spend $5,000. I will be heading to Sears for my next mower. The new transmission is $605 plus labor. Because of the poor quality, the mower isn't worth fixing. My mower is six years old.

I purchased a L120 JD in March 2003. For the first four years, the tractor worked flawlessly and I even bought a snow blade for the driveway. Since 2008, I have had nothing but problems with my L120. I've had to replace all three mower deck spindles. The bracket that holds the PTO clutch in place broke which allowed the whole thing to spin and destroyed the wiring harness.

I have my John Deere for a while. It has 106 hours on it and it won’t go uphill. I checked and found that this is a common thing. It is a $1500 thing.

We bought our first and last Deere four years ago. We mow once a week during the summer and have logged 175 hours on the $1700 machine. The transmission is shot. Upon internet investigation, this seems to be a common and costly problem. What a disappointment. I have contacted Customer Service at Deere on several occasions and have been assured that someone would return my call which no one has.

In 2004, I purchased a new tractor, mower, bucket and gator. I have had the mower worked on twice and the mechanic and salesman tell me that JD realizes there is a problem with this mower so I need a new gear box and it will cost me $2000.00. I have already spent $1800.00 on it in 2008. Now, the gator has always been hard to start so we asked about it and they said it is because I have a Kawasaki engine and they are cold-natured, so there is nothing that will help except buy a new one. If this were my car it would be recalled and fixed free. None of the problems with this equipment is my fault but JD won't stand behind their equipment. Don't buy John Deere.

I was attempting to drive tractor up small grade. Unable to climb hill. Checked with dealer to find transmission (L111, 5 years old, 100 hours) needs to be replaced. Cost to fix is over $1300.

I contacted a local dealer through John Deere dealer finder. I spoke to a sales person about which vehicle and attachment to purchase to fit my needs. It was understood I’m a first time buyer. I picked up the $11000 vehicle with a $3000 blade to use for pack dirt removal and grading. I bought $250 ramps to put in the bed of the pickup truck. Here come the unforeseen problems; cracked utility vehicle fender and scratches from being in and out of pickup truck bed. Bent the pickup bed a little too, but fixed it. This was not a problem, but I asked Jim ** not to recommend buyers ever to put a utility vehicle into a pickup bed because of potential damages. I took responsibility for being a dummy in doing this and just asked them to not allow a new buyer to do that again.

Email sent to the manager of the John Deere Dealership on Hwy66 in Longmont,co. This tractor has 150 hours on it. No respond back from them after 2 days. I felt like I needed to let you know what my experience has been at your dealership since I am about to flood the web with it.

I have a lot of similar problems with my L130 48 inch cut John Deere riding mower. I bought it used at Lowe’s. It’s a mistake. I have had to take it for service a few times since I bought it. I had a pulley replaced and deck re-leveled and steering tightened. The guy before me had to replace the gas tank. Now I got the diseased Deere back in the shop again. The deck needs to be re-leveled again. The steering is loose again at the wheel. But they told me that was normal this time. Also, I need to replace all my spindle bearings.

In Brief this is what happened:

We bought a LA175 John Deere tractor mower with a K46Ac transmission that went out after 202 hours. We like the mower features except for transmission problems that will cost approximately $1,000 to replace. We were mislead at the time of purchase as to the capabilities of the machine. It is now just out of warranty, but low hours. John Deere should stand by their inferior products that are being sold at box stores. We are out approximately $1,000 on a 2-year-old machine.

I bought a John Deere 4600 Walk-Behind Mower in April 2010. The reverse has never worked good and if you are not aware of it, the machine will lock in forward and you have to stop the machine and pull it away from the object you are mowing close to or just pull the machine with wheels locked in place and this leaves marks on your yard. I am constantly tightening the handle down as the knobs on the handle are always loosening up. Recently, mowing (I have only used it eight times), and mowing as I always have, the blade struck the ground and bent the shaft. I noticed the deck was lower in the front left corner and the handle was extremely loose.

I purchased my John Deere in 2008 from AG-Power in McKinney, TX. I was told by numerous people that this brand was a very reliable mower that would last years. I purchased the mower and had no problems the first couple of years. I maintained the mower to the specifications provided on my own having the representative next door to me. He would bring the packs and I would maintain the mower. I purchased this mower for about $1600.00 which may not seem like a lot to many, but to me it’s a lot.

I bought an L130 John Deere. We have had nothing but problems: Front wheels and spindle, deck not level, bearing in pulleys. Most of all, it just does not cut well at all. If I would have tried this mower, I never would have purchased it. I agree with most that this certainly is not a quality John Deere product.

I am the owner of a commercial lawn care company and I recently bought several John Deere zero turn mowers from their largest dealer in South Florida. I am not happy with these mowers. I have used Toro's for the past ten years and I will tell you that they are superior. One of the mowers burned up the engine after three hours of operation. We took it back and the dealer had the nerve to suggest that there would be a cost to repair. The dealer checked the oil filter and realized that the wrong one was installed. He then called us and suggested that we replaced the filter and the replacement of the engine would not be covered. What nerve.

I bought a John Deere Riding Mower l130 and payed $1500.00 for it last fall. I used it a couple of times and its in the shop for repairs. It has to have a new clutch, wire harness, front wheel spindles, new deck bushings, new belt. It looks new and it's a pile of junk. I am retired and I am 74 years old.

John Deere "Nothing runs like a Deer Runs." Great, so far. The problem, it is more work keeping it working than it does! It is a moving pile of crap! It is nothing but junk from the deck down! The blades do not (have never) cut evenly. The deck will not stay level. I think it was made from memory yarn every time you straighten the deck it goes back to the original form. The bearings wear out every year.

I have a 2006 John Deere X300 with 95 hours on it. Recently while mowing, I heard a snap and the tractor stopped moving. I have been informed that it needs a new hydro unit which costs $1,100. I bought this when I retired because my old JD, although a good little tractor, had a deck that was very hard to attach. Up until last week, I was happy with this unit. Now, I think I would have been better off with a cheaper, disposable tractor. My brother recently had to buy a new deck for his 3-year old, 100 series JD. Deere's quality has gone.

John Deere L120 Riding Mower 300 Hours. Engine rebuilt $500. Mower deck spindles replacement, factory installed had no grease zurks $400. Clutch bracket broke & ripped all undercarriage wiring out $300.00. Underbody where rubber foot pads rusting out $200. Purchased because dad had John Deere, also when new, I talked two of neighbors into buying. Nothing but John Deere garbage.

I purchased a mower three or four years back from Home Depot and I work on it more than I cut grass with it. I have to pull the push rods and straighten them back almost every time. I need to mow and JD will just give you a line of **. They will not fix the problem or make it good. They wasted my time and I had to pay someone to cut my grass every time. I don't have time to pull the parts off to get it running again.

When I bought a John Deere, I thought I was purchasing the most well known name representing quality. That is the farthest from the truth. I think JD has a great Marketing department, but they make junk. My LA145 only has 46 hours, and the majority of those are from having to mow my lawn twice! It leaves a trail of uncut grass when I mow, and I have to go over it again. It takes twice as long. I thought it was the blades so I put new ones on, but that didn't change the results one bit.

I purchased a JD L120 about 5 years ago. It has 147 hours on it. The fly wheel (which is made of plastic) cracked in half and is worn down. You would think that something that has teeth should be made out of metal. I am not an engineer, but it looks like they designed it to fail. It costs $137.50 for a new one. I bought a JD because I thought I was buying quality. I was wrong. Also, why is there no way to change transmission fluid? I will never buy or recommend JD ever again. I have not been able to mow my lawn in weeks. I will have to hire my neighbor ($150) to cut everything down to a respectful height.

I bought a G100 in 2004 for $4200; it now has 315 hours on it and is useless. The local dealer said they would give me $200 for it, so much for Deere's holding their value. At about 300 hours it had trouble going uphill, and now it goes nowhere. The hydro is history, $800 to a $1000 to fix it. That comes out to about $700 a year to mow my lawn. The dealership says they never heard of a hydro going bad, did I just get lucky or what?

I bought a walk behind mower from Lowe's in may of 2009. By fall the mower wouldn't disengage the drive system to let you back away from a tree, fence or wall. In April, John Deere instructed me to take it to their service center Jernigan's. They told me on three different occasion it was fixed. Each time the mower went back to locking the rear wheels up and you couldn't pull the mower back away form the object. John Deere had them put a new gear box in so they said. It's back to doing the same thing now John Deere says that's the way it's designed.

As a former John Deere C & CE dealer who closed down shortly after the lawn tractors were placed in Home Depot I have a unique perspective on the quality of the products although the models I dealt with are a little dated. First off, by my JD sales representative's own admission, the L series is designed with a 5 year life expectancy.

I bought a John Deere Zero-Turn Mower (Z850A) in August of 2008 from SunSouth in Samson, Alabama. The first time I used it the belt came off and tore up. They put a new belt on it and again it came off and tore up. They came and picked up the mower and took it to the shop. They held on to the mower there for about 6 weeks. That’s right, around 6 weeks. They did bring me another mower to use (not the same model). I also made almost 2 payments on it till I finally got to use it. I came to find out that they were having a lot of problems on these models with 6’ cutting decks. They added some things to the deck that wasn't originally there. The deck has never cut right since they did all of the work to it.

We bought a John Deere G100 and have put a little over 400 hours on it. Recently, it would not go more than 2 feet and stop. It also made a loud grinding noise. I was told by the local John Deere dealer that the transmission was shot and it would be $1800 to fix it! I paid a little over $4000 for this mower thinking it would last forever! I have now been told that this particular mower has transmission issues and John Deere is aware of it but does nothing about it. I bought a new mower, a Toro. I will never buy John Deere again!

Transmission was replaced on the John Deere LA 135 lawn tractor after 290 hours. It would not go up hill.

Bought a Deere L125 Lawn tractor, the engine seized and I had a friend's engine from his LA145 put into it. All's well until now. My tractor won't go up hills of any size. I had to pay my friend $600 for the engine from his and another $400 to the dealer to put it in. Now, unless the ground is level, I can't go anywhere.

At only 200 hours operation, the fuel tank on my X475 developed a crack and started spraying fuel under the tractor. This crack in the fuel tank is obviously a very dangerous condition. Since JD no longer had the exact replacement tank (I wonder why?), I had to pay an additional cost for a new fuel sender + harness + labor. So bottom line, I had to fund their design mistake. The total was $670.00! I've logged a complaint with JD. We'll see what they will do for me. I also intend to file an official complaint with the US Consumer Product Safety Commission. JD should own up if they have an issue. Every company can have an issue. It's what you do about it that matters. $670.00 in unexpected repairs, ruined lawn where it was spraying fuel over an area of about an acre.

We purchased a John Deere LA 135 the day the warranty ran out I was mowing didn’t like the cut or the chatter from the mower deck. I pulled the deck off thinking the blades were bad but they looked good and sharp. I removed the guards from around the mower deck blade pulleys. I found cracks around all the bolts that fastened the pulley to the deck. Could not get a satisfactory answer from the dealer so I repaired it. Low and behold the other side has the same problem.

I purchased a John Deere L120 from the previous owner of my home. I asked him how he mowed the 1+ acre yard which was very steep and he said the riding mower worked fine. I should have researched this site first. The mower ran up and around the yard 1 time and then refused to move.

I bought a John Deere 100 series tractor 3 years ago at Lowes and have 150 hours on it. It has the 48 inch deck and I paid around $3000. It will no longer pull a hill after it warms up. I have found out this is a common problem with this series of tractor. I also was told from a John Deere dealer the tractor was not worth fixing. Upon talking to other mower repair places, they have 12-14 tractors in with the same problem this year. I also was told it is around an $800 repair to fix the transmission. I can't believe John Deere can't and won't stand behind their problem. The problem is I don't have money lying around just to buy a new tractor. So, John Deere saying it wrong is like a deer should say it runs like a deer that’s been shot.

Two years ago, I bought a used LT190 from a local dealer (non-Deere) who took this mower in on trade. I ran the serial number through our local John Deere dealer and found that there had never been any problems with it. It had 155 hours on the meter. I started noticing that after the mower was warmed up, it had difficulty going up inclines, however small. I now have 259 hours on it and the problem is getting worse. I've since learned that this is a common problem with the Tuff Torq K-46 transmission. Since Deere has put this same transmission in several models over the years, knowing full well by the number of consumer complaints that there is a problem, it seems reasonable that they should be held accountable for this. 259 hours is not a lot of time! I cannot afford a new mower or $1,000 to buy a new transmission. I was buying a Deere based on name and reputation.

I have always liked John Deere. I have had several big tractors over 80HP, they were great. In fact, I still have an 85 HP that has never failed me. So when I saw the L series lawn mower at Home Depot, I didn't hesitate to buy one. I did ask about service on it and the clerk pointed out the sticker of our local dealer on the mower. So I purchased a 2002 L120 with the 48-inch deck. The rest of that season, it did fine, was a little hard to start, but nothing to cry about. The second season was when things started happening. The deck spindles started failing. No grease fittings. When I talked with the dealer, I was told the replacement spindles had the fittings but that mine was not covered by any warranty since it was over a year.

I bought a new John Deere LA130 mower 3 years ago. I paid $2,300 for it. The transmission went out. I'm trying to get enough signatures about this issue to bring a lawsuit against this company. What happened to the phrase, “Nothing runs like a Deere?” My wife and I used our savings to buy this and now we have nothing. How can Americans be treated like this, thinking we're spending our hard earned money for something that's suppose to be the best in the world and ending up with nothing.

I've been reading a lot about buying from a John Deere dealership, instead of discount stores. I have a 6 year old L120 with 318 hours that I bought from a local JD dealership a year after my father in law bought the same model from Lowe's. Which he has over 400 hours on? Both of us are mechanics and have taken excellent care of them. However I have had numerous problems with mine, and he hasn't had any problems thus far. So much for that theory. It started when the electrical plug on the PTO started breaking. Little did I know that the bracket holding the clutch from spinning had worn out, (faulty) and that in turn allowed too much play in the PTO, which eventually took out the clutch, and put excess pressure on the main bearing, which in turn caused the main seal to leak oil. I will probably purchase another mower verses repairing this one, due to the cost. However it will not be a JD!

We have owned our riding mower for 2 years and maintain it well. It is stored in winter. We are finding large pieces of paint peeling off around any area that has an opening. The paint is bubbling and dropping off. We notice it is starting to rust where the paint is gone. Who or where can we get something done before we have an old rust bucket.

I purchased a l165 lawnmower from this dealer. It had 8 hours on the clock. I asked why it was returned to the dealer and the salesman said it was too small for the man yard - red flag. I asked, "what type mower did he buy?". He didn't, he got a refund. I have owned this mower for almost two years and I have got to use it about three are four times. It will not crank. You run the battery down trying to crank it. After several trips to the dealer and several calls to John Deere, I'm stuck with a mower that mostly in the way it has fourteen hours on it now and I cut my grass with a Murray mower. I waited along time to get a John Deere. Now I wish I bought something else.

My dad owns a John Deere 757 Zero Turn Mower. He has changed the oil every season and keeps it clean. While cutting a small yard (about an acre), I did not have any problems. When I loaded it on the trailer and drove about 30 minutes down the road to cut my parent's house, it sounded different on start up. I tried to turn on the blades and it did not have any power. I shut down the engine and noticed the left side was not getting any gas.

John Deere L120 engine would run for about 1/2 hour then quit. I changed filter several times, kept doing same thing. Noticed when I changed the filter, I heard a gurgling sound in the gas tank. We re-drilled the small breathing hole in gas cap. It had fumed over and plugged the small hole. It runs fine now. Now, the mower deck belts keep jumping off.

What is sad is that I just junked my John Deere 110 from 1970. I used if for 12 seasons and only broke one belt and re-did the deck bearings. The transaxle seals were shot and the old Kohler 181 series engine needed $500 in parts and machine work. After reading up on newer tractors, I see that the entry level 1970 quality tractor cannot be purchased at any price. I'm looking for a new old John Deere.

I bought a John Deere L118 riding mower from a JD dealer who is no longer in business. After 4 seasons and about 100 hours the transaxle is bad. I have a rolling lot of about 1/3 acre which I was told by the dealer was no problem and even sold me a blade for pushing snow off of the driveway (I used it 2 times). I have read many complaints of these mowers with the K46 transaxle failing and being undersized for the mower. When I called the dealer I was told they could replace the transaxle with the same type for $800-$1000. This is half the price of the mower and the dealer told me that this repair actually totals out the mower and to buy a G300 which is a much heavier model and is about $5000. I feel that the transaxle should be replaced because they are undersized, evident by the numbers of complaints. I bought a John Deere because they are supposed to be awesome and even bought at a dealer to avoid "box store" lower quality merchandise.

I purchased an L120 riding mower in 2003. What a piece of junk! Lets start with the electrical system, first the dealer replaced the PTO wiring, then the reverse safety switch. When that didn't work, they then replaced the entire wiring harness! Ever since then, the tractor will not recharge the battery. Then the deck. I have replaced every spindle because the original spindles froze up. Then the deck broke and had to be welded. Also the springs which engage the blades has been replaced three times. Now for the steering! Each spindle bearing has worn out and needs replacing.

John Deere g100 transmission went out after three years. I bought this new.

Custer County ImpI purchased a z445 zero turn riding lawn mower as a mulching mower from John Deere expecting it to be the best because of name and price but am I disappointed. The local dealer has picked up my mower so many times, I gave them a key to my garage, trying to fix the problem. I purchased this mower strictly for its mulching capabilities and brand recognition, hoping to have the best. Wrong! I have to mow every other day with a height of no less than 3" and go over the yard at least twice. The dealer that sold the tractor to me has increased the rpm to above record standards which will probably reduce the life of the engine. I am so disappointed and helpless because I do not believe the local dealer is at fault but I don't know what to do. I have not received what I paid for.

I bought a 100 Series LA115 in June of 2009. The tractor currently has 19 hours on it and the crank is burnt and the rod is broken. I filed a complaint with John Deere and they claim it was consumer neglect due to lack of lubrication (not true) and will not cover a new motor under the warranty. I purchased this tractor from Lowe’s and if I had read this forum before I purchased it, I never would have bought one. John Deere looks for any excuse not to cover their product under warranty. I paid $1600.00 for this tractor and it’s less then a year old and all I have now is a piece of **. They want me to pay $1000.00 to have a new engine put in. Not happening. I also had a craftsman mower for 16 years and did not have any issues with that. From now on I'll stick with Craftsman. I would be very interested in a class action suit if anyone can get one started.

My problem is the same as John's from Faribault, MN. I bought a new John Deere L120 mower and this is the beginning of the fourth season and the hydrostatic transmission is shot. I thought the name John Deere meant quality but, boy, was I wrong! The warranty is expired and the cost to repair is almost as much as the purchase price and not many people work on John Deere mowers. Very disappointed and angry! I can't decide to get it fixed or replace it with another brand. I hear that if I get it fixed, it won't last long before it happens again. What a rip off!

I purchased a new John Deere L120 from a dealer and have had nothing but problems with the hydrostatic transmission. It was replaced once under warranty but has failed again (warranty now expired). As I have seen with the other complaints by other owners, this problem is not unique to me. I wish something could be done about this. The repairs are almost the same price as the original purchase price of the unit! What a screw job!

I own a John Deere X320 and pull a 850lbs lawn roller with ease and this tractor is built like a tank. I think the problem that people are having is due to using too small of a tractor or mower for the job they have to do. There will always be issues with any brand and that is what a warranty is for, so get the extended warranty when making a large purchase and the extended warranty is very inexpensive to buy. Also, you can't just abuse or mistreat a machine because it's a Deere and they need maintenance too. My X320 comes with a 4-year 300 hour warranty and I expect that it will live long past that even with the heavy work load that I ask of it. My advice to anyone buying a mower/tractor is do some research on what machine you will need for your specific yard/work before buying, not overworking a machine then complaining about it.

My lawn mower is 12 yrs old. Never had a problem with it. Mowed my entire lawn, parked it, took my daughter to her art class, was gone for 10 minutes, came back and lawn mower was up in flames. Totally gone. The whole front of the engine melted to nothing, hood, etc. Had to put out fire. Junk. Burnt ground around where it was sitting.

I bought a John Deere Gator new, and from day one, it has had a knock in the rear end that got louder and louder. Also, it brakes on the front end slap and makes noise. I was told John Deere didn't know how to fix them. I got a man to fix the rear end, and it was going bad. But John Deere would not do anything about it but came and got it every time and charged $80.

Both of my John Deere is dealer bought lawn tractors about $6,000 each. The transaxle on the one is a joke, I was told it that the tractor was designed for a person less than 200 lbs when I started to have problems, but nothing was said by the same dealer when I was looking and bought the tractor that there was a weight limit of the operator of 200 lbs. The hoods are like egg shells after a couple of years, one cracked when a cold can of soda was placed on the hood. The gasket for the gasoline tank cap doesn't hold up and you have to buy the $15 cap instead of the gasket. So the ones you buy at the dealers must be same low quality that Lowes and Home Depot sell. When I was at the dealer last week ordering a new hood they had the same model number on the sale floor as Discount stores. So JD must also stand for Junk from Dealer. The costs of the hoods are over couple hundred plus each.