i use my L130 with the K46 to mow some pretty steep slopes at our tower sites. the only time it groans is pulling a full 15 gallon sprayer on a 100 lb cart up the hill. i now spray everywhere around that poiint and save the steep part for when the spray tank is low. i am not sure of the grade there, but it drops 30+ft in less than 250 ft of run.

K46 is a light duty transmission and it is commonly sold on Sears Craftsman tractors that sell for $2K. For less than you paid you can get a Sears garden tractor with a K58.

If your JD is less than 1 year old and you want to stick with Deere, you should consider trading up, or else sell it and buy something that suits your needs a little better.

Any idea what an '06 155C is worth(either dealer trade or selling myself)? I think it has about 30 hrs.

davidandkasie in your case by recalling the mnemonic "slope equals rise over run", it is 30/250 = .12 = 12% gradient. That is approximately 6.8 degrees. keeferb is running a whole lot steeper than that. keeferb I would try the dealer first and see what he will give you for it but a near new Deere in a private sale I would guess you might get 80-85% of what you paid for it. Sometimes the dealer is easier even if they offer you less.

You will take a hit trying to sell it. I would just mow with it. I haven't heard of many K46's having troubles and there are thousands and thousands of them in use. 18 degrees isn't that far away from recommendations of other manufacturers (which are always conservative).

15 degrees is the maximum for safety reasons, it has really nothing to do with performance of the tractor or its ability to climb that slope or not. Forget the safety issue for now, and pretend it was only a 14 degrees slope, that is still way too much for a light duty transmission. If you plug it into Deere's own tractors selector "1.5 acres" to mow, "challenging terrain", it selects an X500.

Yep, I know I'm in the danger zone when I'm on that 18 degree slope. But it is manageable if you're cautious. I've actually mowed steeper slopes when I mowed 'semi-professionally' in my high school and college years. Of course that was a JD 910 front-deck...what a great piece of equipment that was!

It's a tough call. On days that mow the slope up/down, that's roughly 70 trips up a 20 ft slope of varying degree. Maybe the K46 will hold out, but I'm sure I'm going to shorten it's life expectancy. By how much is the big question.

If I were to look at upgrading, I'd have about $2k + whatever I get for the 155. That probably puts me in the 3500-4000 range.

By the way on the safety issue I am not meaning to belittle your choice of tractor here. I have a 3 cylinder diesel, hydro transmission with hi- and lo range, 4WD and a differential lock -- and I still would avoid mowing on an 18 degree slope. The tractor itself could handle the job no problem. But I would not want to.

But seeing as you are willing to assume the risk, now we are back to the question will the K46 hold out for long and I still have my doubts. I don't know what is the cheapest mower in the Deere line that has a medium duty K58 transmission or something better so I will leave that to the JD experts to answer. Maybe the X500 series -- I don't know their product line that well. But I think, unfortunately, the X300 series still comes with the same K46 transmission that you already have.

I think the X304 has the K58 transmission but maybe you better check first.

I would say that the K46 is not being killed by that slope - as long as it's not all you do.

15 degrees is the safety limit, but JD would not tell you to go ahead and mow up to a 15 degree slope (because it's safe enough), knowing that it will kill your tractor.

Remember that the slope is 2 deg. at the start, and grows to 18. At a steady rate, you go above the 15 degree spec., for about 40 feet in 1 direction. The other direction maxes out at 15. If it's so worrisome, why not mow that 40 feet with a push mower, rather than spend an extra $2000 on an X304.

Personally, if I was on a budget, I'd just use the k46. In fact - that's exactly what I did: 250 hours to date and no sweat.

If I knew it would hold up, I would prefer to keep it. I like everything about the tractor. What I'm worried about is a year or 2 from now having the tranny fail and have to spring for a new one. In that scenario, it would probably be cheaper to upgrade now.

I know there are no guarantees either way I go. That's what makes this so much fun! I do appreciate everyone's opinions too.

Beings you already have the 155 I'd go ahead and use it. Fluid in the rear tires will help tremendously, traction and stability, I'd highly recommend it for your application. If a couple years down the road the tranny does go--see the dealer and trade up, but worry about that if it happens. You've already got this tractor, it may surprise you and not give a nickles worth of trouble. But with yours that new I'm afraid it would cost as much now to trade up as it would a few years down the road.

Just out of curiousity, anyone have an idea how much it is to replace a tranny?

One of the things that I find funny about this post and several like it, is how the K46 suddenly became a bad transmission. When the K46 was more or less exclusive to John Deere they were considered a good, if not great transmission, but now that Sears, AKA Husqvarna, is using the K46 in most of their tractors, well it just isn't very good anymore.

That being said, I think you should keep the 155C. I too, would worry about it some, but you've already bought it and that particlar cat is already out of the bag. I think you would take a serious beating trying to sell or trade it now. I don't suppose it would hurt to talk to your dealer though, he may surprise you on how well he would trade for your machine to upgrade you to an X304 or X500, especially if he has a buyer ready for your 155C.
steve

If you have around 2K plus your trade I would definitely go back to a JD dealer and look into the X304. It has the K58 tranny with pump and AWS. It will do that job and some without any problem. I have an X304 and do a 25-30 degree slope up and down without a problem. Here's a couple of pic's to give ya an idea.{{gwi:326730}}{{gwi:326727}}{{gwi:322912}}

I love these grade and transmissions discussions. It seems like we get a few a week.

My opinion, if you have the money and you really want a new one get a new one. I know if it was me there would be NO way my wife would let get a new one. She would look at me and say, has it broken yet?

I think y'all worry too much. I cut trails with my L120 (170 hrs.) through my woods way steeper than those pics. I figure as long as I get traction I'm good to go. If I can't get back up the hill I get out the Come-Along.
When it comes to the Tuff-Torq, I worry more about hitting forward and reverse really hard when I'm in a hurry.

You can fix it if the k46 dies... few hundered bucks.... I have a K66 sitting on my shelf - as a spare. It bolts on, with some odds and ends. The K66 was $250. The odds and ends another $100, and 1"-shaft wheels from deere, another $100. This in effect would turn my L120 into a G110 (with a 48" deck - instead of the 54). Basically $500 total.

My K46 has 250 hours of "hard labour" pulling harrows, spike aerators, and trailers loaded with firewood up hills, and my all-time favorite: 4 yards of pea-gravel, 1-yard at a time - in an regular trailer. That's right: 1 YARD. Over 2500 lbs. Can you say: "You wanna hear the tranny moan?"... of course I did not pull that trailer up any significant hill (it would just stall out).

I changed the tranny oil at 150 hours... will again at 300.

There is no sign of the tranny getting weak, slowing down, etc... In a way I almost can't wait for the thing to break - so I can put the K66 in there sooner. In fact... I am itching to just do it.

I also have a used K46 sitting on the shelf too - but I am thinking of just getting rid of it.

Here is a link that might be useful: get your K66 or K62 here

sadixon49, I would say state it the opposite way: The K46 is still a light duty transmission, be it in a Sears, Roebuck tractor or in a Deere tractor. The only difference now is that it is a "commodity item" now, so Sears undercut JD on the price of a tractor with K46. My hat's off to you if you can keep yourself equipped with spare transmission on the shelf and know how to fabricate the parts to adapt them, and install it yourself when you blow the K46. Not many people have the skill or the spare time to do that, myself included. Most people don't have the luxury of just bolting on a larger transmission if they overestimate the first one and burn it out.

As I pointed out earlier, the JD "tractor selector" web page does not recommend using the K46-equipped tractors for anything other than level ground. So John Deere factory is telling people not to use one on steep slopes.

corn squeezer...I am only half way down...some of the slopes are only 15-20 ft long but rise close to 10ft...I thinks that is steep enough...sort of like a stairway to heaven(if ya go back that far for that song)..lol