Mowing JD X300 transmission problems

[tomplum]

Perfect! If you ask nice they may send the belt along with it. I would think that your rider would be due for another traction belt by now- if it hadn't been replaced. They changed the spec slightly on them since yours was built anyways.

 

[Redlands Okie]

Well spanner makes me wonder how a person would set expectations of what item in a "range of products" provides what range of expected use out of said item. Description i see on X300 line of mower in question says it for 3 or 4 acres size jobs. Is that based on 10 or 17 years of use with x amount of mowing per year? Is it based on being able to mow that acreage in a half a day ? Pretty interesting lack of information on the products we all have to buy and deal with.
Best of luck with your swapping out the parts and many more years of mowing with your mower.

 

[bmg88201]

I mow 3.5 acres of mostly flat terrain, no steep slopes or hills, I never pulled anything behind it, never used any kind of attachment, I mowed often so I wasn't cutting a hay field. Here's how I took care of my mower, during the mowing season I would grease the chasis and deck often, kept the deck adjusted correctly, deck height set at 2.75 inches, always used non-ethanol premium gas, would clean it completely after use and store in the shop, kept the tire pressure correct. sharpen and BALANCE the blades often. In the winter I would change the oil and filter, clean the plugs or replace them, new air filter, grease it, sharpen and balance the blades, clean it completely, fill it up with non-ethanol fuel up to the top of the tank, remove the battery and bring it in the house out if the freezing weather on put it on a battery tender, I made adjustable stands to put under the mower to take the weight off the tires so it would not sit in one place on the tires all winter. Guess what, the only thing I could not service and is one of the most expensive parts is the transmission.

I too, hope this almost new transmission lasts, it seems the rest of the mower is made well. Too bad this transmission is not made as well as the old STX Deere I bought used in 1990 for 200$ and drove it till 2010 with only a few minor repairs but never any transmission issues.

 

[jenkinsph]

bmg,
Since you will be swapping the transmission with only 25 hours or so I recommend you make a modification before installing in your mower. Find the k46 thread on servicing the transmission and change the oil to synthetic oil. This is recommended by the transmission manufacturer and will prolong the life of the transmission.

Tuff Torq also has an upgrade kit you can add to the k46 which adds a filter and other parts to upgrade this to a k57 transmission. Tuff Torq the manufacturer of the transmission has a good site and has been very helpful in resolving issues with their k46 transmission. You can rebuild one or in your case you can do a few things to make sure the new one last a lot longer. I strongly suggest you change the oil at a minimum.

 

[RBLapham]

Here is a thread I made changing the trans oil in a X300 - K46 oil change with pictures
PS it was a 2010 X300

 

[plowhog]

RBL, That is a great writeup regarding the K46 fluids. Very timely considering he has to remove and replace the trans anyway.

 

[bmg88201]

Thanks to several you that posted good advice for me and support concerning my transmission failure. I now feel like I can bring my X300 up to standard again and will no longer look for a different mower all together. Yes, I am still mad at JD, but hopefully this one major part failure will soon be a distant memory and I will continue with my, somewhat obsessive, maintenance rituals and use this mower for maybe the next decade and beyond.

 

[RBLapham]

Thanks to several you that posted good advice for me and support concerning my transmission failure. I now feel like I can bring my X300 up to standard again and will no longer look for a different mower all together. Yes, I am still mad at JD, but hopefully this one major part failure will soon be a distant memory and I will continue with my, somewhat obsessive, maintenance rituals and use this mower for maybe the next decade and beyond.

Just make one of your maintenance rituals to change the K46 oil about every 100 to 150 hours

 

[hosspuller]

For good or bad ... Everything is built to a price point. The problem as I see it is the lower price points want the same features as the high end stuff. So the manufacturers put those features on but skimp on the features that insure longevity. Synthetic oil, replaceable filters, needle bearings, large gears, etc. I have a 30 year old Deere mower with a hydrostat transmission. It's been used and abused but still mows. It was a commercial mower, a new equal type mower was quoted at $18,000 last week. I'm replacing a drive shaft on it now.



I was shopping for a new car early this year... So many of the new models have CVT's instead of conventional auto transmissions. I expect to hear a lot of similar displeasure in a few years after the new car warranty ends.

 

[RBLapham]

BMG - when you pull your old K46 out take a picture of it and drain the oil in it and describe it like black white etc. We can be objective on possibly why it went bad.