John Deere LX178

[krismoriah72]

A buddy of mine is selling this mower for $450. New belts, blades and gone thru from JD dealer recently. This model has the kawi liquid cooled engine. The hood is missing, from what i gather they were plastic and its hard to find one with a good hood. I think it is about 12 years old or older..unknown hours etc. But runs and cuts good and is in great shape except for the hood. I am not familiar with the LX series where these in box stores or dealer only?


Would u..buy it or put that money towards something else?

 

[Eddie]

With the JD dealer maintenance you describe, I jump at it. This [censored] of box store or dealer only, is a Joke. John Deere is a proud company and they don't sell a junk box store mower that is not sold by dealers. Some id10t started this rumor years ago, like someone started the OCOD. Ed

 

[gman2304]

Originally Posted By: krismoriah72
A buddy of mine is selling this mower for $450. New belts, blades and gone thru from JD dealer recently. This model has the kawi liquid cooled engine. The hood is missing, from what i gather they were plastic and its hard to find one with a good hood. I think it is about 12 years old or older..unknown hours etc. But runs and cuts good and is in great shape except for the hood. I am not familiar with the LX series where these in box stores or dealer only?


Would u..buy it or put that money towards something else?


1998 was the last year for the LX178 and LX188. The serial # at the rear, near the hitch will tell you the year model. I bought a LX188 new in 1998 and paid $4,500 for it. It was available only from a JD dealer. They have the Tuff Torque K61 transmission and is almost bullet proof if serviced regularly. You can get the 2 piece hoods from Deere but they are pricey, about $600 the last time I checked. Mine is broken, but is held on with a bungee cord and doesn't look too bad. If that LX was near me, I would jump on it for $450! My son just bought a new e170 Deere last week, and I wouldn't trade my 20 year old LX188 for it!

 

[FowVay]

I have an LX178 and been mowing with it forever. I don't remember how old it is but it's been with me for at least 20 years. You can buy a new hood if you desire but keep in mind that the hood, decals, grill, and hood hinge all come separate and will set you back a very pretty penny.

The ONLY problem I've had with mine was the drive pulley on the hydrostatic transmission stripped out. The pulley is aluminum and the transmission shaft is hardened steel so after 20 years the pulley finally just wore down and started spinning on the transmission shaft. I just replaced the fan, pulley, new belts and all associated hardware and off it went.

Mine came with the 44" piranha (mulching) deck but I swapped it out for a 38" deck to make it easier to load into my truck bed. I think I paid about $3000 for it brand new but it has been such a fabulous mower that it owes me nothing. I change the oil once a year and the coolant every 4 years and keep my air filter clean and it just goes and goes. Buy it, restore it and enjoy it. John Deere offers full support for these old things and all parts are readily available.

 

[WyrTwister]

I would try a google search or ebay search for the hood .

 

[philipsearcy]

I had a 1997 JD LX188 with the Kawasaki liquid cooled engine and 48" deck and 42" snow blower. I liked the tractor, but the tuff-torque hydro trans failed at 250 hours, then was getting ready to fail again at 500 hours, so I traded it in. Get the trans and fluid to operating temp, get on a slight incline, and go up hill in both forward and rearward directions. Feel if there is any cavitation when doing this. Good luck!

 

[jeepman3071]

They are good machines, but those hoods are terrible. I've only seen a few that weren't cracked or damaged in some way. I have a John Deere G110 from 2005 and the plastic hood is extremely fragile and surprisingly expensive.

Check the mower deck for rust/rot. I've seen quite a few decks where the owner never scraped off the grass underneath and it made pin holes. If the deck, transmission, and engine are solid and you don't mind the missing hood I'd offer $400.

 

[JTK]

Yep, like said, if the deck is in good shape and it runs, drives and mows, $400-450 is a good deal.

I know there were some issues with the water pumps on vertical shaft Kawasakis some years back, but I don't think it effected ones of this vintage.

 

[cronk]

A friend of mine has a LX178 I have performed some service work on (oil change and sharpen blades).
It has been a great machine, he bought it used almost 10 years ago and has needed nothing other than routine maintenance.

 

[Rand]

I just upgraded my 212 to a 316

long live the old tractors...(or pay $5000+ for a new one)