Another John Deere bites the dust

[Jim_M 178]

A friend of mine called the other day and asked if I would take a look at his 2002 John Deere L120 Automatic. He said it was only running on one cylinder.

He dropped it off today after work and within a few minutes I had found the problem. The 20 hp Briggs Intek engine with only 325 hours had a connecting rod let loose on the right cylinder.

He takes good care of his stuff and the oil was clean and right where it should be on the dipstick.

I started looking up parts and found out that for not a whole lot more money I could buy a brand new engine with a 2 year warranty. He'll have about $875.00 in a new engine and labor. He opted to go that route and I hope the new engine lasts a little longer. If you have to spend $875.00 every 325 hours that's some expensive mowing!

I guess now I can say "Nothing runs on one cylinder like a Deere" !

[TT-(Moderator) 1,128]

Should we blame this on Briggs & Stratton?.....

:WRS:

[Jim_M 178]

Should we blame this on Briggs & Stratton?.....

I think we can blame the engine failure on Briggs & Stratton, but we also have to blame John Deere for putting the Briggs & Stratton on the tractor in the first place. :D

[T-Mo-(Moderator) 4,345]

Unfortunately, it's the market that's to blame. To sell tractors at a cheaper price, manufacturers have to put in less expensive engines, transmissions, etc. And to give some testimony to B&S, there are several hundred L120s out there still running on both cylinders. I think you will find that for the most part that engine has been somewhat reliable. :whistle:

[linen beige 14]

there are several hundred L120s out there still running on both cylinders. I

In that case, we need to blame it on Briggs OR Stratton. But which one?

[Jim_M 178]

In that case, we need to blame it on Briggs OR Stratton. But which one?

In the case of this engine, Briggs is still running good but Stratton isn't pulling his weight.

[TT-(Moderator) 1,128]

In the case of this engine, Briggs is still running good but Stratton isn't pulling his weight.

Now THAT'S funny ! :WRS:

[PetesPonies 0]

I haven't been happy with the B&S engines being produced lately. I just bougt a new push mower and I insisted on it being a Honda engine. I do say shame on Deere for putting a B&S engine on that machine.

[linen beige 14]

[CasualObserver 3,406]

:whistle:

[dgjks6 6]

Here is another JD L120 story. I had a lawn service for a while, and let my father in law use my wheel horse. He did not like it. Went out and bought himself the cheap john deere. This year would not start. After several hundred dollars the dealer fixed it. Tractor without even 100 hrs on it. Meanwhile, no matter what I do to my 312 - it keeps going and going.

[T-Mo-(Moderator) 4,345]

In the case of this engine, Briggs is still running good but Stratton isn't pulling his weight.

I think it's Briggs' fault. Stratton is probably pulling his weight, but Briggs is too busy buying out other companies, i.e. Murray, Simplicity, etc. and shifting more work overseas. If Stratton is at fault in any of this, it's he's overworked trying to make good engines out of inferior metals. :whistle:

[Jim_M 178]

The replacement engine says "extended life series" on the valve covers.

I take that to mean, "oops we screwed up on the last design, but this one is a little better".

That entire tractor is put together with self tapping bolts, not a threaded hole on it anywhere. I got out the air tools and had the engine changed and running in an hour.

[rustbucket 4]

now here may be a dumb question. was the john deere bought from a place like home depot or from acctual john deere place? cause there are like model named tractors under the john deere name but the home depot and lowes ones to include certain other places are to be honest tin ghosts but a true john deere from the true john deere service center and sales is a much better machine and isnt all plastic and self tapping bolts. the home depot john deeres are made by mtd i think if not mistaken under license agreement with john deere. and well they are just junky.

[Jim_M 178]

It came from Mutton Power Equipment, the local John Deere dealer and cost him a pretty penny. It's not the John Deere Sabre, that's the Lowe's/Home Depot John Deere.

[rustbucket 4]

mkay still realy odd it used all self tapping bolts. ichies ah well if it works it works.

[HorseFixer 2,012]

Last year I ran into the same kinda deal. I purchased a Toro super recycler and purchased it from a Toro dealer. Home depot had a cheaoer deck and only offered the mower in a tecumseh there were a couple other things that were better from my local Toro dealer in South Bend. Incidetially he is one of the first Wheel Horse dealers in South Bend.

Duke

[wheelhorsepuller 1]

The V Twins seem to work pretty good... we have some in the club making tons of power with stock parts and take revs over 6000 rpm..

I guess this person just got a Monday or Friday build

[T-Mo-(Moderator) 4,345]

now here may be a dumb question. was the john deere bought from a place like home depot or from acctual john deere place? cause there are like model named tractors under the john deere name but the home depot and lowes ones to include certain other places are to be honest tin ghosts but a true john deere from the true john deere service center and sales is a much better machine and isnt all plastic and self tapping bolts. the home depot john deeres are made by mtd i think if not mistaken under license agreement with john deere. and well they are just junky.

Let's get one thing straight here - the less expensive JDs that are sold at HD and Lowes are the same machines sold at the dealers. But HD and Lowes are only carry the less expensive LA and Z-tracs while the dealers will carry those and the more upscale models like the Select series (X300, X500 and X700) and the higher end Z-tracs. One other thing, HD and Lowes can NOT discount the JDs they have unless it's a return. The deal they made with JD is that they will sell them at the same price the dealers to. So there is no incentive or price advantage by buying them at HD or Lowes and there is a greant incentive to shop at the dealer instead.

Sorry for the rant, but I see too many HD and Lowes salesmen telling customers that they will sell these cheaper than a JD dealer will. It's simply not true. :whistle:

[CasualObserver 3,406]

Terry, I think it's only fair to point out also that None of these models that you're talking about are made by MTD.... JD has not sold out to them....yet.

Toro did sell out the rights to MTD for a lawn tractor, same as Cub ... that's why if you go and look at those your local home improvement store... the Toro, the Cub, the Yardman, the Yardmachine the White and the Bolens... are all the same. And it's also important to recognize the difference between a LAWN tractor and a GARDEN tractor....The JDs however are still all made in a "green" factory. There was an article recently in a home improvement magazine I get, that compared a few models of lawn tractors, which I found amusing.... and then at the end had the contact numbers for the brands that were in the article.... about 7 out of the 12 or so names were the same phone number!! MTD. Wonder how many people out there caught that? :whistle:

[T-Mo-(Moderator) 4,345]

Jason,

So true. That's another myth going around - that either AYP or MTD makes the HD and Lowes JDs. You're right, those models are made by JD in JD's plant in Tennessee. The other JD's are made in JD's plant in Horicon, Wisconsin.

Sad, though, is the fact that Toro has contracted MTD to make their latest lawn and garden tractors. Very sad, also is that Toro has let Lawn Boy become just a mire image of their former glory. We probably can blame the EPA a little on that one, but still Toro could have done something to keep the image up.

Another sad fact is that every brand is a mire image of their former glory, Cub Cadet, JD (even the upscaled models), and maybe Simplicity, who bought Snapper. I noticed that Sears is carry some Snapper lawn tractors. Sad. :whistle:

[linen beige 14]

There was an article recently in a home improvement magazine I get, that compared a few models of lawn tractors, which I found amusing.... and then at the end had the contact numbers for the brands that were in the article.... about 7 out of the 12 or so names were the same phone number!! MTD. Wonder how many people out there caught that?

If that was a Handyman club member's magazine you're talking about, it was 7 out of 23 (I'm a life member.) I had to laugh out loud at the opening paragraph. It said that once upon a time there were only riding mowers and for attachments you could maybe pull a small cart! Claimed that now there are machines out there that can handle all kinds of tools. Even made a big deal out of some now having electric PTOs! Obviously, the writer has not been exposed to our beloved machines.