What's happening to JD???

[snoiger01]

Jack Squat,
With further review, it appears as though your mower and mine are the same unit. Your's is just newer. I was thumbing through my manual again and noticed the warranty is supplied by Befco!!! So, guess what I did?? I called up Befco. They immediately gave me a number to call. Guess who it was? My ol' buddies at Frontier. I have gone full circle, still no blades. Although the general concensus of all the folks I've had the pleasure of talking with has been that the bolts that hold the blades on are standard left to loosen, right to tighten threads, although they are metric.
I think I'm going to call the local dealer one more time, tell him to order the blades he thinks will fit and if they don't then at least HE gets to pick up the chase. This dog is tired.
Oh and AWESOME farm you have! My wife is begging me to get some miniature horses. I have enough trouble taking care of 3 boys, 3 geese, 300 catfish, and 2 dogs....oh and one grooming mower with bad blades.

 

[Birdmayon]

Snoiger,
Also take a look at this site:
ROTOMEC USA - Products - Finishing mowers
Pretty sure our Befco mowers are supplied by Rotomec. I read that elsewhere, and after taking a look at the site, and the owner's manual on that site, I'm pretty sure they are the same mowers. So, you can try them for parts too. BTW, looking at the parts manual, the bolts are all metric, which further leads me to believe these are made by Rotomec.....which is an Italian company.


Sfish,yeah, milky color does indicate water which is why I changed it out. The gearbox does not leak at all, so I'm not sure how a bunch of water could get in there unless it's just from condensation and moisture via the breather cap. The old fluid was still quite thick (not watered-down per se) and slippery.

 

[Jack Squat]

I have the part # - off the blade and I also see it is in my manual. It is near the back. It is BP000-6641 Standard blade medium lift (5' mower).

Well I will be preparing for this job and thanks everyone here for the input and suggestions on this post.

 

[Jack Squat]

Oh and thanks Snoiger on the farm - it is a dream place and we enjoy it in a big way. The minis are really cool and 3 to 4 = 1 big horse in food consumption.

 

[snoiger01]

Ok final post on this issue. I went by the dealer Friday to check on the blades and to see if they had antifreeze. Nope, basically have to order anything you want. But they DID recommend I check next door (across the parking lot) at the BIG tractor JD dealer. Last time I do business with local dealer.
So anyway, today I was at the local farmer's supply picking up some tomatoe plants and noticed they sell some tractor stuff. I ran home, borrowed my neighbors air wrench (I hate borrowing tools or else I would have done that in the beginning) and popped the old blades off like butter, and ran back to the farm store. And YEAAAA they had blades. He asked me if the mower by any chance had "Woods' anywhere on it, and I said yes as a matter of fact, the gearbox has Woods on it. Problem solved. 3 Woods blades that fit perfectly (just finished mowing the grass) set me back $46. Not bad.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Moral to the story...If you want to take off your own blades, get an impact.

 

[exiled]

Ok final post on this issue. I went by the dealer Friday to check on the blades and to see if they had antifreeze. Nope, basically have to order anything you want. But they DID recommend I check next door (across the parking lot) at the BIG tractor JD dealer. Last time I do business with local dealer.
So anyway, today I was at the local farmer's supply picking up some tomatoe plants and noticed they sell some tractor stuff. I ran home, borrowed my neighbors air wrench (I hate borrowing tools or else I would have done that in the beginning) and popped the old blades off like butter, and ran back to the farm store. And YEAAAA they had blades. He asked me if the mower by any chance had "Woods' anywhere on it, and I said yes as a matter of fact, the gearbox has Woods on it. Problem solved. 3 Woods blades that fit perfectly (just finished mowing the grass) set me back $46. Not bad.

Brother I'm not getting on my soapbox. I'm just making a statement neighbor to neighbor. I think John Deere has left Alabama. You being in The middle of the state yall might still have a "John Deere" Dealer up here in North Alabama we only have Tri-Green as far as I can tell. I have'nt made it to Arab yet but short of that they stink. I've been using TSC and AFC to buy my stuff. Man if it is'nt much simpler. I dont know what the deal is but you can'nt get a straight answer out of John Deere.
Glad you got your blades straighten out.

 

[snoiger01]

Exiled,
You are correct. We do not have a true "John Deere" place....its called Sun South and to be honest, they stink. I drove to the store in Tuskegee once to buy fluids and while they were still Sun South, at least they were polite and acted like they wanted my business. I've also heard good things about the Sun South in Clanton. About an hour north of me, but well worth the drive to get service. We don't have TSC in this area, but we do have a locally owned farmer's feed service (similiar to the Co-op) that carries alot of stuff, except fluids.
I guess I'm not saying the Sun South franchise as a whole stinks, but the one in Montgomery sure does....of course thats not the only place in that God-forsaken town that has an odor.

 

[RollTideRam]

Y'all make me more thankful for my small family dealer every time I read a post like this. My dealer does not have the big shop or always the best mechanics, but they do care and try to keep me smiling. I went in last week with my father. He got blades and home maint. kit for his gt235 and I got new blades for my 62c deck, oil filters for my mower and tractor. I also asked about the little rubber cover that fits on the tractor pto shaft, I had lost mine. The young fellow behind the counter, could not find my part on the computer. He said he would not give up, but instead of making me wait, he went and got one off a new tractor. I have been to Tri-Green in Huntsville, and Decatur. They are nice places and have more space and people and more to look at, But I love my small dealer that fusses at me when I don't bring my 3year old son in to play on tractors. JC

 

[exiled]

I guess I'm not saying the Sun South franchise as a whole stinks, but the one in Montgomery sure does....of course thats not the only place in that God-forsaken town that has an odor.

Its a shame thats for sure. My brother-in-law and I where talking yesterday about this and we came up with the idea that the John Deere pickers and big tractors has been the "main" line of big agri-machines in Alabama that JD Has gotten relaxed on their customer relations. kinda like they are just coasting on their rep. Theres a big change in the Agri-busness. If Ethonal takes off here in our part of the country row cropping will find a whole new face. Face it the fuel boys will take over and they know busness. They got us paying $4 gal for diesel. If JD dont get ahold of their busness down here we might see some other big colors out in the field other than green.
What am I saying? The goverment last year wanted more corn so they upped the price. Everbody planted 35-50% more corn last year. Aight we where in a drought but we still had a heck of a harvest. The fuel guys and farmers are'nt going to set around and wait for a equiment company to get their eggs in a basket. Because of raise in "fuel" crops we saw a decrease in wheat for the last few years. But this year they raised the price and every body is growing 50% more. Agri-busness is on the move here in Ala. I hope JD dont get swept under the rug.