The seller delivered it tonight. He knocked $25 off because I thought the rear tires needed tubes or Slime. They aren't flat, but have a slow leak. Man, those L118 rear tires are WIDE! I learned that he bought it form the JD dealer instead of the big-box store, and that he bought the service plan from them. The dealer did all the service for the first 3 years. It is in excellent condition, with minor scuffs on the body. It runs like a sewing machine. The 20HP V-Twin feels stout when running the 42-inch deck. I LOVE IT!!! I love this L118!

i have a 425 jd . carb. 20hp. ohv. k series 583 hours. last year the motor started missing and then it cutoff .the jd dealer installed a time delay module. on it. it ran good for nov 2 2006 to nov 29/2007 now it has been in the shop 2 more times for this problem. dealer told me they do not know what is wrong. things i have done to it myself the past week . 1.new air filters both of them 2.new fuel filter 3. checked and gaped plugs 4.cleaned raditor fins and screen this mower has been very well taken care of. if anyone has had this problem please e/mail me . also just got my tractor back on sat.26/2008 dealer said they replaced time delay module again . if they did it still will not run

I have a L130 - similar - same front axle. My axle (mowing 2 acres country plot, snow blowing with 48" blower) has snapped 2 times. I tried nickle rods to weld it first time, but at about 50 bucks it was too much work to do and did not hold. I just ordered the 2nd axle, but will probably make my own axle soon from square tube steel. Should not be too hard to do, and probably will cut off the spindles and weld them into the tube. The rest is just drilling. Might line the pivot hole with another steel tube too. Anyway, the cast iron used is pretty close to pot metal, and is about as cheap as it comes. I think Deere only makes the axle and the dealers actually claim their Cast Iron axles are stronger than average lawn tractors. Ha ha ha. My old Sears and Murray had tube steel axles which never had a problem in years of use at the same property. I wont bother talking about eh TuffTorq tranny - another too little and too light thing deere did to make more money on this tractor. This shows what kind of management Deere has, and personally I would never buy another deere. I sure dont want to put 10,000$ into a green lawn mower just because its supposed to be good. For 10k$ I could have a machine shop make me one that is actually good. Sorry about my rant, but this lawn tractor has to go.

The biggest thing is the bearings and they are all over the machine, every pulley, the deck spindles etc. Easy spinning bearing mean everything works less to get the job done, and that makes thing last longer. A 2 dollar bearing is a good deal. Your transmission should be the TuffTorq K46 sealed design, so nothing to do there if its working. The belts get replaced every so often, they do stretch with use but generally no need to mess with what is not broken. If you have the resources, I would simply have it serviced, and those components you mentioned inspected and repaired. Those mowers often have parts that wear such as front axle bushings instead of bearings, and they are easy and inexpensive to replace. I would suggest cleaning and painting it here and there as necessary. As to how long they last, the tranny is a big deal as a new one costs around 700 and obviously the motor, but your care is keeping the motor in good shape. The tranny though has a Funny (squash plate) plate where it compresses oil for power, and when the tolerances wear and become larger hydro pressure is lost, assuming it is an automatic of course. If you want to sell it, it should be able to drive, and those hydro transmissions usually weaken well before failure, symptoms of which are things like not pulling a hill as well or not going as fast as it might have new.