Mickwhitt 4,624 #1 Posted February 9, 2020 My local park have a John Deere LX277 ride on mower sitting in their storage unit. It was bought 2nd hand 5 years ago and never used. Apparently they were scared if they showed it off it would get stolen. They have asked me to look it over to see if it's worth keeping. It has a flat and damaged battery and a flat rear tyre. I got it running with a spare battery and everything seems to work. Is this type of machine more for larger regular fields than ornamental borders in a park. Is there anything I should be looking for to tell them to get rid of it rather than hang on to a money pit? I read that the transmission can be expensive to fix. I suspect it has not been well looked after. The hour meter says over 2000 hours but I'm not sure of its age yet. Mick Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
c-series don 8,707 #2 Posted February 9, 2020 C’mon Mick you know we like pictures! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stormin 9,981 #3 Posted February 9, 2020 Can't really pass judgement without them. One thing is certain, it'll not be as easy to work on as a WH. John Deere spares are expensive so I've been told, by farmers I know who have JD agricultural machinery. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wfrpalm 218 #4 Posted February 9, 2020 I bought a LX 277 new in 2003 and it has been flawless. It has about 300 hrs. on it and the original John Deere battery didn't need to be replaced until the beginning of last season. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bc.gold 3,403 #5 Posted February 10, 2020 We purchased a used LA175 that had 500 hours on the clock, I'm not particularly fond of the reverse lock out button. Other than that it does a pretty good job of chewing up the grass and leveling mole hills. The oil drain plug is a joke, we all know what happens to plastic as it ages. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WHNJ701 4,165 #6 Posted February 10, 2020 10 hours ago, bcgold said: We purchased a used LA175 that had 500 hours on the clock, I'm not particularly fond of the reverse lock out button. Other than that it does a pretty good job of chewing up the grass and leveling mole hills. The oil drain plug is a joke, we all know what happens to plastic as it ages. In addition the cam shafts on the briggs are garbage too, I have an LA120, it cuts drives and cuts real nice. the compression release part on the cam is a very poor design. I replaced the cam at 330hrs, 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
T-Mo-(Moderator) 4,496 #7 Posted February 12, 2020 The LX200 series were top of the line "lawn" tractors in their day. They came with either a Briggs Vanguard or a Kawasaki engines, some were liquid cooled. The LX277 had the Kawasaki engine, and some were built with AWS. The LX277 was made from 1999 to 2003. If maintained properly, they are great machines. They had a K62 Tuff Torq transmission, cruise control, etc. Good machines. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bds1984 1,429 #8 Posted February 13, 2020 This looks like the little brother to my mom's GT235 that has cut grass for twenty-one years and over 2K hours on it. The best part of these JDs is the two pedal hydro system known as the "twin-touch". That set-up is so much easier and faster to use than the heel-toe on the majority of hyrdo units out there. If I HAD to purchase a new mower, that feature is the make-it-or-break-it point for me. I want to adapt a twin-touch set-up for my 520H but the linkage part is the killer; perhaps a heavy-duty cable similar to a choke/throttle cable will work. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oliver2-44 9,752 #9 Posted February 13, 2020 I have a 2003 LX150 that I bought used in 2009. I've changed oil yearly or more, but last year the Briggs started smoking. It has a 15hp briggs and I found a used "guaranteed non-smoker" 16 hp Briggs (same block) and did the swap. The Tuff Tork transaxle in them is non-servicable per the manual. However I've seen several videos on youtube where people have drilled out a place in the casting that is for a drain plug on a different model (that uses the same casting) I haven't added the drain plug as I there is a fill location, but you have to pull the transaxle to get to it. (and I don't see a good way to clean out the drill and tap shavings. My transaxle still works great, but it is a throw-away transaxle. So check which tranxaxle the LX277 has! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
briankd 817 #10 Posted February 13, 2020 7 hours ago, oliver2-44 said: The Tuff Tork transaxle in them is non-servicable per the manual. However I've seen several videos on youtube where people have drilled out a place in the casting that is for a drain plug on a different model (that uses the same casting) I haven't added the drain plug as I there is a fill location, but you have to pull the transaxle to get to it. (and I don't see a good way to clean out the drill and tap shavings. My transaxle still works great, but it is a throw-away transaxle. i'm a subscriber of a you tube channel called " Taryl fixes all " go to that you tube channel he is a mower dealer and they are serviceable he has videos there on rebuilding and servicing them 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mikey the Monkey 697 #11 Posted February 14, 2020 Love taryl, he has a lot to offer Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
