John Deere JS25 lawn mower catastrophic failure

[finiteguy]

Not sure if this is a good group to gripe about this, but 2 years ago I bought a John Deere lawn mower Model JS25. I always thought that JD equipment was decent quality. This is junk. The blade keeps loosening up, no mater how tight I make it. It finally catastrophically failed. The blade jammed and the release lever that shuts down the engine when you let go didn't work. It finally jammed and shut down. I re tightened the blade and now the engine wont start. I refuse to pay for a repair. This is clearly a defect and very dangerous. If JD doesn't fix it then I will dump it off in front of LOWES where I bought it.

[finiteguy]

Not sure if this is a good group to gripe about this, but 2 years ago I bought a John Deere lawn mower Model JS25. I always thought that JD equipment was decent quality. This is junk. The blade keeps loosening up, no mater how tight I make it. It finally catastrophically failed. The blade jammed and the release lever that shuts down the engine when you let go didn't work. It finally jammed and shut down. I re tightened the blade and now the engine wont start. I refuse to pay for a repair. This is clearly a defect and very dangerous. If JD doesn't fix it then I will dump it off in front of LOWES where I bought it.

["<<<]

The LOWE'S part tells it all ... John Deere, as well as most of the other major manufacturers build their items for the big box stores to the request of their customer's ... some of the models available at LOWE'S/H.D./ACE don't even exist at the name brand dealers. It's simply a way of tricking the public into buying brand names instead of quality. SEARS kind of started the trend, and look where it got them ... they are now wholly owned by K-MART who, not too many years ago was in bankruptcy themselves.

[dpb]

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The _REAL_ JD green _is_ good (but much more expensive) than the homeowner (aka "Cheap") stuff in the Sabre line sold by the box stores.

It is, I agree, a shame even JD resorted to letting the name go onto some second tier merchandise...

I've never bought (and never would) any of that line (but the farm is essentially all green) so don't have any idea what the service for the stuff that the dealership doesn't sell is as far as any warranty repair or policy. If it is, indeed, a fault in a design or similar, there would likely be a service bulletin; JD does them routinely on ag equipment and other lawn and turf gear.

[EXT]

My neighbor bought a JD from Home Depot. When he couldn't get the grass pick-up to bag the grass, he asked me to look at it and try it, as I have a JD mower purchased at our local JD farm dealer. His was a piece of junk, the blades didn't have enough lift to push the grass in the the bagger, the belt clutch was grabby, the controls were awkward and hard to operate, the clutch pedal was positioned that my size 9 work boots got stuck on some framing when I tried to release the clutch.

Bad design, lightly built, won't last. My last JD mower ran for 22 years, and then I sold it for more than I got for a 12 year old Oldsmobile wagon. What most people don't realize, if you go to a JD dealer, they assemble it, test it and deliver it free, plus they don't charge any more than the big box stores. Best of all, they service the warranty without just palming you off to the manufacturer.

[Pat]

Blade is probably out of balance. Simple fix but now you have probably caused a larger problem by continuing to operate the mower.

[A. Baum]

Bought a JD LT155 in 2000. Mow time is 2 hours on my property. Put fresh oil and filter each season. Washed the air filter (foam) over paper. Greased the zirks on the deck bearings, sharpend the blades 3 times.

So far I have replaced the deck belt and battery after 9 years. I guess there might be a quality issue buying from a dealer which I did over a retailer like Lowes of Home Depot but I don't see why. My LT155 one of the cheaper models has been perfect.

[dpb]

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'Cuz the Sabre line that OP bought is only sold in the mass market box stores; not by JD dealerships.

[Joe]

Sadly, you have the special low cost model made just for 'volume' sales. Many commercial operators use JD mowers, but I doubt that they are box store models. Next time, try a Simplicity, usually sold at Farm supply outlets and dedicated dealers. Other commercial-oriented brands may be good value as well.

Joe

[aemeijers]

The Lowes here, all the JDs have a sticker on them saying you have to go to the JD dealer for service/warranty work. Hint- if you take a big-box mower to an equipment dealer, tell them you bought it used off CL or something.

[hrhofmann]

ajphn adeere quality has gone downhill really badly, my neighbor has had a lot of trouble with her John Deere mower also.

[dpb]

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Don't see that in general, certainly...of course, our "green" equipment is mostly much larger than residential mowers (it's green too but quite long in the tooth by now)

I noticed in another unrelated url while looking at something different that it was stated that JD has pulled the plug on the Sabre line entirely. I haven't researched that at the official JD site. It would, imo, be _a_good_thing_ (tm) if so.

[jamesgangnc]

One of my neighbors has a jd from jd. I was not impressed. Seemed similarly constructed to other major brands when I helped him fix it once. Same issues, sheet metal rusts, plastic ages and cracks, etc.

[dpb]

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Don't have any new JD lawn equipment; doesn't look bad on the floor and County still uses them which is about as much abuse as can give a piece of gear and they're not in the shop much...

Certainly there's no discernible quality problems w/ the current ag gear (other than those concomitant w/ the EPA expanded requirements on diesel that is a real bother and some operational issues)...then again, the price tag is just a _little_ higher than the average poster on ahr has or is willing to part with... :) Then again, weighing 18000 lb and standing 12-ft tall w/ turning radius of 20-ft makes them a little clumsy in the backyard around the swing set, too... :)