240 GT bad/broken drive belt.

[joea99]

Might go look at a JD 240 GT that I'm told has a bad or broken drive belt. While the price is not bad, I'd rather not buy something with a locked spindle or bad transaxle. I do expect to have to put some work and cash into it, probably a deck rebuild, but don't need a boat anchor.

Any way to get a reasonable read on it without actually installing a new belt and test driving it? I liked the one I had, but left it when I sold the old house. I should have kept it as I knew what I had there.

 

[tomplum]

This is a gear drive transmission, correct? One would think that if the transmission shifts easily enough, locks in gear that it is likely fine. It could that an idler pulley seized and took the belt out or it just had never been replaced. Most came with the 2 blade 38", I think some of this series were 46" which were good decks. Hopefully no rust through or bad deck spindle bearings. I have a customer with a 245 that won't let it go for nothing.

 

[joea99]

Thanks. I had one with a 46 inch deck that I replaced bearings on. Great machine.

You don't like the 38"?

 

[tomplum]

Actually, it is a great deck. Poor wording on my part. Strong spindles and housing. Bagged well too.

 

[joea99]

Someone elsewhere suggested trying to push it and seeing if one rear wheel turned and the other skidded, why not "in bypass".

I don't recall properly, would that only apply to hydrostatic and not gear units? This is a gear unit.

 

[tomplum]

Correct. If in gear, I wouldn't expect this to push at all, unless missing a wheel key.

 

[beenthere]

Take a jack along and jack up the rear end to see if the tranny moves okay.

Not sure what the limitations are for looking at it further. Maybe buried in debris either outside or in a packed building.
Pics would help with suggestions that are helpful to you.

 

[Richard001]

This tractor has a 6 speed manual shift transmission. If you put the shift lever in the neutral position, you should be able to move the tractor quite easily.

You can then put the transmission in the highest gear and then push it again, if the transmission is working, the transmission input gear will rotate.

These manual transmissions have a flaw, 99% of them have the input shaft at the top of the transmission. It gets very little oil there and unless it has ball bearings on that input shaft, there could be a lot of wear on the housing allowing the input shaft to be very loose.

If you can access the input pulley, try wiggling it from front to back. If it has a lot of play, (1/2") the transmission is useless.

Richard

 

[joea99]

Take a jack along and jack up the rear end to see if the tranny moves okay.

Not sure what the limitations are for looking at it further. Maybe buried in debris either outside or in a packed building.
Pics would help with suggestions that are helpful to you.

Thanks for all the info. Attached are some pics from the ad. Don't think they tell much, but it looks clean. ish.

 

[beenthere]

As I see it, looks to be sitting in a used lot and I'd just have the dealer show you what works and what does not. Thought this was a home owner selling who may not have a clue. To me, the onus is on the seller to show what does and doesn't work.
But the price and your interest will determine what you do with it. Good luck.