catman81056 3 #1 Posted March 29, 2008 Hey Terry in MO, my grandson just got one of these and I want to get it ready for spring mowing. I know you are the JD guru of the site and I wanted to pick your brain alittle. Can you tell me: How much and what type of oil to use? The correct spark plug? And I want to check the deck spindle bearings, is there anything special about taking the deck off? It does have an oil leak, (I'm assuming its the bottom crank seal) but its not that bad. Just in case it has to be changed, is this a simple job? I'm looking for an owners manuel and hoping to find a downloadable one, if possible. Thanks for any help. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
T-Mo-(Moderator) 4,315 #2 Posted March 29, 2008 Tim, I had two 111's, and a 108 and 112L which are almost basically the same as the 111. The 111 was made from 1979 through 1985, and the original engine was a Briggs 11 hp engine. They came in either 5-speed shift-on-the-fly Peerless gear drives or had an Eaton light duty hydro in them. All 111s had 38 inch 2 bladed deck. The decks aren't too hard to remove, but not as easy as a Wheel Horse deck. There should be a little lever on top of the deck that you move to release tension on the belt. Then just unhook pins and turn the front wheels to the left and slide the deck out from the right. I did had owners manuals and a service manual but one owner's manual went with a 111 I sold and I then sold the other owners manual and the service manual a few weeks back. The crankcase maybe hold a quart and a half, so buy a couple of quarts and add one quart and then just add until the dipstick is full (unless it's an older 111 as it has the little plug for a oil fill). Any JD dealer will have the spark plug, it's JD part number AM37145 or Champion RJ 17LM. The old 111's had the fuel tank under the hood, the later ones (1982-1984) had the fuel tank under the fender deck. The 111 with the fuel tank under the hood had the oil fill plug and the later ones had a dipstick. 1979 111s had a mechanical pto clutch, the rest electric clutches. They a very good lawn tractor, but just a lawn tractor. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
T-Mo-(Moderator) 4,315 #3 Posted March 29, 2008 Oh, btw, there is no downloadable manuals. You can order both the owners manual and a service manual from Deere, in either paper version (expensive) or in CD versions (about half the cost of paper versions). You can access the parts catalog on line by going here: JD Parts Online Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
catman81056 3 #4 Posted March 30, 2008 Terry thanks for the link. Looks like I can get parts 14miles down the road. Got the deck off, no problem. Both spindles need bearings, and now I need a spindle hub. Tried to press the shaft out and ended up breaking the bottom of the hub. Oh well, just $30.00 . The bearings aren't bad at 6.95 apiece. Now I have to get bearings for the deck on my D, only 1 set though. Thanks again :thumbs: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites