John Deere's lie
I purchased John Deere LA115 6 years ago. I ordered the tractor they suggested from there web site.
I took it to the dealer twice. After 312 hours it has a blown head gasket, all the pulleys are worn out, the belts worn out and one wheel is in poor condition. The service department told me the tractor was built to compete with the low end tractors at Lowes and that it was supposed to last just 500 hours. It will cost $1,000 plus to fix this $1600 tractor.
I contacted John Deere to see what they would do. They said the dealer would offer me special incentives to stay with John Deere and they would contact them. This did not happen either.
Goodbye John Deere. Moving on to another brand.
Reason of review: Bad quality.
Monetary Loss: $1000.
Preferred solution: Let the company propose a solution.
John Deere Pros: Web site.
John Deere Cons: John deere corp will not work to gain a fair solution.
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Comments
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I've come accross a lot of head gaskets on smaller cheaper tractors : clean the fins around the head regularly and your head won't heat up to the point of warping : bonus, 300 hours is pretty good for those machines they are cheap...
Don't give up on John Deere products. The LA115 is, indeed a cheap machine but it is definitely not designed to last only 500 hours---whomever you talked to just gave you an off-the-cuff reason lacking in any evidence.
If you buy another brand you most likely won't be happy with it. I mow 10 acres of grass and have had many different brands of mowers. The Sears brand was junk from the start and the Murray ones were so cheaply built it was pathetic. Only the John Deere ones are still going strong, and I now have three of them of different sizes.
The key fact to owning and operating these things is to take care of them! A blown head gasket can happen but worn belts and pulleys are a matter of good routine maintenance. Don't fix the LA115, just put a sign on it and dump it for whatever you can get---guys buy machines like that for parts, etc.
Then, take a real, close look at how you maintain your machines and then decide which brand to buy after you thoroughly look at different brands. Good luck.
I've been a small engine Tech for 13 years I rarely see these units with over 500 hours on them not worn out :