New to site, LX188??

[Grunt0311]

Hello to all. I am new to the site, but have been reading a lot on here lately. I am looking a getting my first John Deere, after many years of mowing with subpar mowers. I have just under an acre, mostly wide open. The only hill I have Is in the front going from the road, through the drainage ditch (that doesn't have water). This hill is very tame. I can transverse it easily without any feeling of tipping or leaning.

I had looked at and almost pulled the trigger on a new X300 in the fall, but I was scared off by the fact that they only put a K46 transmission in them. I got lucky (or unlucky depending on how you look at it as I did not get a brand new mower), and now found out that the boss i.e. Wife has a bun in the oven. So now, no new mower as I have diapers to buy. I have done hours of research on all brands of used mowers, and I think I have talked myself into a little older mower with a good reputation. My local dealer, who is very reputable, has probably spent close to 2 hours sitting down with me and answering questions when I stop in, knowing that I wasn't going to be buying anything right away. I was impressed with that.

They have a 1998 LX188 for sale with a 48" deck. The mower looks to be in great shape, especially considering it is now 16 years old. The seat is not cracked, hood is not broken, and front bumper cover is not broken. These seem to be the most common cosmetic issues on these tractors that I have noticed. The deck looks to be in great shape, with no dents or abnormal scrapes/rust. They claim that before they resell anything they go through it and service it, change fluids, grease, level deck, and repair anything they notice that is wrong mechanically. They are asking $1195. I'm not sure what etiquette is when buying a new mower, and if you can hagle at all. The tires look like they are worn some, so I was considering offering about $1100 cash and asking if I could get the tires at cost. Does this seem reasonable? I don't want to offend them either, as they have been extremely helpful and patient with me while I have been looking.

My other question is are these mowers as well liked and respected as they seem to me to be? I know I am buying a 16 year old mower and that there will eventually be repairs that need to be made. I take very good care of any equipment/vehicle that I have. I love the thought of the Kawa liquid cooled engine, and the beefier K61 trans. Will I be able to service this transmission, meaning change the fluid regularly like the other fluids to try and prolong its life? I dont use implements, but do tow a 300-400 pound poly roller once a year around the lawn. Will it handle this? I see they do have a 38" or 42" blower for this model, and I have toyed with the thought of using that for my driveway which is about 2 car lenghts wide by 3-4 car lengths long, with a gradual hill. Would it handle this ok with weights/chains, that is to say would the mower hold up to it? I know that just because you can attach a blower/blade, it is not always a good idea to for longevity on some models (D1xx for example.)

I know this is a long post with a lot of questions. From what I have read on this forum, the members are knowledgable and honest, so I hope you will respond with any thoughts or advice you may have. I know a GT would definately be beefier, and is a great mower too, but they also have the air cooled motors. The liquid cooled I've been told is a great motor, and like I have said, I have diapers and daycare to pay for soon haha. And I do like the LX188 as long as it will do what I want which is mainly mowing, and hold up in the process. The same dealer does have a couple of GT235's but they are almost $1000 more, and to be honest do not look to be in as good of shape as the LX188.

Thank you in advance for responding.

 

[deerseeker001]

Welcome from Wisconsin

 

[jaotguy]

:welcome:

 

[jim98]

Hello to all. I am new to the site, but have been reading a lot on here lately. I am looking a getting my first John Deere, after many years of mowing with subpar mowers. I have just under an acre, mostly wide open. The only hill I have Is in the front going from the road, through the drainage ditch (that doesn't have water). This hill is very tame. I can transverse it easily without any feeling of tipping or leaning. I had looked at and almost pulled the trigger on a new X300 in the fall, but I was scared off by the fact that they only put a K46 transmission in them. I got lucky (or unlucky depending on how you look at it as I did not get a brand new mower), and now found out that the boss i.e. Wife has a bun in the oven. So now, no new mower as I have diapers to buy. I have done hours of research on all brands of used mowers, and I think I have talked myself into a little older mower with a good reputation. My local dealer, who is very reputable, has probably spent close to 2 hours sitting down with me and answering questions when I stop in, knowing that I wasn't going to be buying anything right away. I was impressed with that. They have a 1998 LX188 for sale with a 48" deck. The mower looks to be in great shape, especially considering it is now 16 years old. The seat is not cracked, hood is not broken, and front bumper cover is not broken. These seem to be the most common cosmetic issues on these tractors that I have noticed. The deck looks to be in great shape, with no dents or abnormal scrapes/rust. They claim that before they resell anything they go through it and service it, change fluids, grease, level deck, and repair anything they notice that is wrong mechanically. They are asking $1195. I'm not sure what etiquette is when buying a new mower, and if you can hagle at all. The tires look like they are worn some, so I was considering offering about $1100 cash and asking if I could get the tires at cost. Does this seem reasonable? I don't want to offend them either, as they have been extremely helpful and patient with me while I have been looking. My other question is are these mowers as well liked and respected as they seem to me to be? I know I am buying a 16 year old mower and that there will eventually be repairs that need to be made. I take very good care of any equipment/vehicle that I have. I love the thought of the Kawa liquid cooled engine, and the beefier K61 trans. Will I be able to service this transmission, meaning change the fluid regularly like the other fluids to try and prolong its life? I dont use implements, but do tow a 300-400 pound poly roller once a year around the lawn. Will it handle this? I see they do have a 38" or 42" blower for this model, and I have toyed with the thought of using that for my driveway which is about 2 car lenghts wide by 3-4 car lengths long, with a gradual hill. Would it handle this ok with weights/chains, that is to say would the mower hold up to it? I know that just because you can attach a blower/blade, it is not always a good idea to for longevity on some models (D1xx for example.) I know this is a long post with a lot of questions. From what I have read on this forum, the members are knowledgable and honest, so I hope you will respond with any thoughts or advice you may have. I know a GT would definately be beefier, and is a great mower too, but they also have the air cooled motors. The liquid cooled I've been told is a great motor, and like I have said, I have diapers and daycare to pay for soon haha. And I do like the LX188 as long as it will do what I want which is mainly mowing, and hold up in the process. The same dealer does have a couple of GT235's but they are almost $1000 more, and to be honest do not look to be in as good of shape as the LX188. Thank you in advance for responding.

Hello and welcome to the site ,,,,,
The LX188 is a good mowing machine , my personal preference is the older 300 series john deeres I currently own a 316 , a 322and a 330 they are all great machines I guess it's also personal preference but I think the LX188 would make a good machine for what you described you would use it for. I am not sure about the snow blower ( personally I prefer snow plows) but I'm sure the blower would be ok as long as the snow isn't really "heavy" . As far as price I would shop around before making any decisions . Check your local craigslist for some machines also. You may even take a liking to the older 300 series machines . Either way good luck and I hope I have helped you

 

[mrmagloo]

I had a LX188 / 48" deck / 38" blower for 17 years and it was a monster. Never had a warranty issue, and started instantly, and always ran perfectly. The LQ Kawi is a great motor. I did end up having to rebuild the K61 right before I sold it to the new owner as I noticed it starting to slip on hills so in good faith I wanted to make sure it was solid. But, I could not have been happier with the machine. As long as it starts right away, is smooth throughout the rpm range and the deck runs smooth, and it doesn't slip going up hills, consider it a solid machine. Yes the trans can be serviced with oil changes. I would however only offer $1,000.

 

[Grunt0311]

Thanks for the responses. Mr Magloo, how much did it cost to have the transmission rebuilt? I have shopped around including Craigslist. In fact I have looked at tractors all over the midwest. It seems like there is a big price difference on a lot of these. Does anyone know what they would have given on trade in?

 

[mrmagloo]

I rebuilt it myself. Mine was a '96 so I had a few updates I had to do to bring it up to date as well, so that added to the cost. The parts for me was around $500. With the newer models it would probably be more in the $350 range. I did a write up on the entire process on MTF, if you want a walk through. It was not too bad to complete. Just use full synthetic, replace every 200 hours and keep the housing and fan clean, and the K61 will last a very long time. Heat from built up gunk in the housing and fan is what causes the cylinder bores to go out of round, and loose pressure. Once that begins, it will only get worse.

 

[CinderSchnauzer]

I'm not familiar with LX188, but here is a site where you can check other prices and models:

http://www.tractorhouse.com/list/li...x=exact&bcatid=464&Pref=0&scf=false&HDROR=asc.

 

[Grunt0311]

I rebuilt it myself. Mine was a '96 so I had a few updates I had to do to bring it up to date as well, so that added to the cost. The parts for me was around $500. With the newer models it would probably be more in the $350 range. I did a write up on the entire process on MTF, if you want a walk through. It was not too bad to complete. Just use full synthetic, replace every 200 hours and keep the housing and fan clean, and the K61 will last a very long time. Heat from built up gunk in the housing and fan is what causes the cylinder bores to go out of round, and loose pressure. Once that begins, it will only get worse.

I tried searching for it and couldn't find it. Do you use a different name on there? What is the title of the post? Thank you!

 

[Grunt0311]

One other thing I have read while searching on here is that these mowers need to have their valves adjusted or could cause other problems. How often does this need to be done? Is this something I should have them do before I bring it home? Anyone have any idea how much they would normally charge for this?

 

[Egbert]

I've had an LX188 w/48in deck for years. Always starts, runs great ( except on ethanol, runs like crap ). At this point, if I was looking to buy, I would opt for a Zeroturn mower because they're fast

 

[mrmagloo]

I tried searching for it and couldn't find it. Do you use a different name on there? What is the title of the post? Thank you!

LX188 - K61 Rebuild Tips
http://www.mytractorforum.com/showpost.php?p=3564178

 

[Grunt0311]

Any ideas on the valve adjusting?

 

[mrmagloo]

Any ideas on the valve adjusting?

I never had a need to look into this. My engine always ran like a top. I can't help you there.

 

[Grunt0311]

LX188 - K61 Rebuild Tips http://www.mytractorforum.com/showpost.php?p=3564178

Great write up. About how long did it take you to complete this rebuild? Thanks for all the information!

 

[mrmagloo]

Great write up. About how long did it take you to complete this rebuild? Thanks for all the information!

As you probably noticed, I ran into a couple of hiccups with the rebuild. Firstly, there is no manual specific to the K61 so I spent alot of time documenting the differences and comparing schematics. Also, as mentioned in the article, one of the motor cylinders I received had minor pitting on the machined surface and I had to get that replaced. I also chose not to try and reuse the shaft bearings, so those had to be ordered separately too. Lastly, the axle bolts were back ordered for a while so all of this set me back.

That said, there was alot of idle time, but I already had my new x540 so I wasn't in a hurry. If I had to do it again after this experience, I would know exactly what to order, and that would save considerable time. I would say with everything in hand, and the deck off and ready to go, I could do the entire job in a day pretty easily. A lot of that time includes tearing down the tractor to get to the trans, removing it, cleaning the trans, scraping all of the old sealer off the halves, and afterwards waiting for the sealer to cure, and bleeding the system. The actual time to swap the parts once the trans is clean and on the bench is not very long at all.

I will however warn you to take your time, make sure you are meticulous with the cleanliness of your work area, and be very careful during disassembly. Lay all of the components out on a table with newspaper in the order removed. If you flip around anything by mistake, it could be a very expensive learning experience. I will say that if you are the least bit handy and are detail orientated, it's not a bad job at all, but you just have to do the job right to get the value out of your investment.

I hope this helps. If you have anymore questions specific to this job, it would be better to respond on that thread, as I don't monitor this site very closely.

 

[Grunt0311]

Well I went and looked at the mower today, and was going to test drive it. Armed with my research and the things members on here informed me of, I was ready to ask informed questions. I wanted to post back with a follow up, and too often people ask questions, and you never hear how things turned out.

It turns out the dealer had taken this mower in on a trade in. It was very clean. They had done the usual stuff such as oil change, but had also replaced the valve cover gaskets and PTO clutch. Knowing this did make me feel better as I feel that they really did try to repair things to put it in top running condition, not just to polish the turd so to speak to get it back out the door. Upon them test driving it after the PTO clutch repair, the transmission went out in it. Soooo, no LX188 for me. I suppose I could offer them what a parts only mower is going for, and then rebuild the transmission as mrmagloo did, but I am not ready yet to undertake that.

Some good info did come out of it for me. First, for once in my life I had some good luck. Usually on something like this I would have gotten it home and a week later it would have gone out. Secondly, like I said it made me feel a lot better about buying from this dealer. I am confident that they do go through their trade-ins and make them as close to functioning 100% as they can before they sell them. Just by the fact that they do that, instead of listing everything as "As Is" to get it back out the door, tells me that they do care about their reputation, and their customers.

The salesman did not try to push another mower on me instead, as I expected him to do. What he did do was take down my info, and what I was looking for, and promised that he would keep an eye out and call me if they had something come in that he thought I would be interested in. He also went as far as to say that if I found what I thought was a good deal on Craigslist or something, I could call him and run it by him and he would tell me what his opinion was on if he thought it was a good deal, someone trying to off load a problem mower, etc.

Bottom line, this dealer yet again impressed me. And in turn hopefully will earn my business if something comes in. Thanks to all for posting their opinions. If I find something else, I may just bend your ears again.

Bill