John Deere 100 Series owners help!

[eoghan]

OK I have a 2006 JD 135A hydrostat belt drive driven. After mowing I always wash then run it for a bit to dry it off before putting on the cover. While I was sitting there letting it dry off it started making a grinding type of noise and the brake peddle starting making vibrations. When I step on the brake the noise stops, when I let the brake off it starts again???

There is nothing binding or broken that I can see. This just started with no warning out of the blue after a problem free normal mowing!

Could this be something with the drive belt? I have not had that belt replaced and it is the original belt. I never had any issues with the machine moving or with how it mowed. This is the first time I ever had any problems with this machine at all.

If it is that main drive belt just how hard is that to replace?

If it does not sound like the main drive belt then just what could it be? Would the transmission be involved?

I just can't figure out why it would start doing this with no warning or apparent reason while I was just sitting there parked with it running.

 

[JTK]

All JD lawn and garden tractors use Tufftorq transaxles. All the Tufftorqs that I'm aware of have internal brakes. I'm thinking that even though you're feeling vibs thru the brake pedal, it's actually your trans drive belt chattering because of a failing tensioner. I know several manufacturers have deck wash systems. I own such a system on my Cub 2544 but never use it because of the mess it makes and the fact it gets everything wet. These things are not designed to be soaked with water on a regular basis.

Joel

 

[Brett Miller]

Joel's right, you have a bad idler pulley on the transmission drive belt. Same thing happened to my LT160 a couple years ago.

 

[rclint]

I'm not so sure it's the idler, however I would agree it has something to do with the belt drive line. I agree soaking with water every mowing is hard on any mower... invest yourself around $200 in a good air compressor, I prefer the bigger bulkier slow belt driven pump type compressors compared to the small pancake, or tube type that are so cheap to buy. You could probably look around, and pick up a nice used name brand unit made in the USA as opposed to a new china throwaway loud obnoxious junker. Use this to blow the driveline, engine, general moving parts, and machine off. A once or twice a year washing would be much better.

 

[JTK]

I scrape the underside of the deck with a scrap piece of wooden molding or a 5gal bucket paint stirrer, then blow the whole thing off with a leaf blower. Compressed air works well too, but for my conditions, I can get it done in 30sec with a gas leaf blower.

Joel

 

[eoghan]

Originally Posted By: Brett Miller
Joel's right, you have a bad idler pulley on the transmission drive belt. Same thing happened to my LT160 a couple years ago.


any idea how difficult it is to replace the belt and or pulley?

I suspect that belt since it is the original one.

I replaced the belt that drives the blades but I have not replaced the main drive belt and it is now 4 years old.

This machine sees moderate to hard use all year round as I plow snow with it in the winter too.

It also sits outside all the time too. I do use the cover over it but it has now lost any water protection that it had as it is now 4 years old as well, it mainly just keeps the sun off now and perhaps keeps the machine from fading in the sun.

 

[JTK]

Transaxle drive belts can be a pain on electric PTO equipped machines. You typically need to remove belt guides and the PTO which will probably be rusted onto the crankshaft output. The drive belt rides in a small pulley stuffed above the PTO. On some tractors you can loosen the engine and slide it backwards to slacken the belt. I'd search online for a service manual for this specific model. You'll get step/step instructions to do this. I wouldn't go thru the hassle until you diagnose exactly what the problem is.

Joel

 

[TexHill]

I'm the service manager for a John Deere dealer in North Texas. What you are describing is caused by a bad idler pulley on the traction drive belt. There are two idler pulleys and I recommend you replace both of them as well as the drive belt in case it was damaged or stretched by the failed bearing in the pulley. You'll need to drop the deck to make the repairs.

Here are the parts you will need:
GX20287 - idler
GX20286 - idler
GX20006 - belt

 

[JTK]

You da man TexHill!! Funny, some of the Cub 1000 series are effected by the same exact issue.

Joel