John Deere D125

[mobilnissan1991]

Picking up this John Deere D125 with 218 hrs on it from a friend for $150, deck is rusted out but its perfect for what I want to do with it, move small trailers around the property and other stuff. Is this the Intek engine that is known for head gasket failures? They made these mowers from 2014-17, I plan on changing the oil with M1 15W50, new plugs, air filter and fuel filter, also removing the TuffTorq hydrostat to drain the fluid and put fresh fluid in. Ive read anything from M1 15W50 to john deere low viscosity hygard can be used.

Also just for fun, if possible, can the engine pulley be swapped out for a smaller one to make it faster? Looked on youtube but not sure if its possible with a hydrostat transmission.

 

[Bighorn2500]

Yes, 15w50 for your climate in the rear end should be fine. TT spec is probably 5w50, used to be 10w30 for mine I believe.

15w40 in the engine is probably all it needs as JD oil is typically a 10w30.

Not sure about the pulley, then you’d have custom match a belt length I suppose as well. My LX188 does about 5mph, enough for yard work duties.

 

[mk378]

Doesn't that have the problematic TT47 transmission?

In any case fitting a smaller engine pulley would cause the load pulley to turn slower.

 

[Astro_Guy]

Picking up this John Deere D125 with 218 hrs on it from a friend for $150, deck is rusted out but its perfect for what I want to do with it, move small trailers around the property and other stuff. Is this the Intek engine that is known for head gasket failures?

No - you have a V-Twin engine there. The head gasket problem is common on the larger single cylinder engines.

 

[meep]

For more speed, you need a big pulley on the engine and/or a smaller pulley on the transmission. I don’t think I’d want to try more than 50% more, maybe 7.5 mph tops?