New to me John Deere 425

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Just bought this home last weekend, sort of a hand-me-down from my wife's grandparents. They have had it for about 10 years and only used it maybe 10 hours a year It was too big for mowing around all the trees in their yard, so it only got used for snow removal. Before that it was used for maintaining a graveyard. It has the Kawasaki 20 HP engine, 54" mower deck, and 46" snowblower. I
gave the snowblower a good workout with our surprise dumping of 20" on Wednesday.



I figure I better go over it good, since very little use also means it had very little maintenance.

The engine will be getting Rotella T6 and probably a P1 filter.

I'm not so sure on what to use for the transaxle/hydraulic fluid. Looks like it requires a J20D fluid. Anyone know where to find this? I checked Fleet Farm and Tractor Supply, they have J20C but no J20D. I don't really want to pay JD dealer prices, but I guess I will if I have to.

Since the mower deck was already off and hasn't been used in 10 years, gave everything a good shot of grease and made sure everything is spinning freely. I still need to change the oil in the gearbox before putting the deck on. Looks like that just takes a GL-5 gear lube, which I have plenty of. Blades and belt look to be in good shape.

I'll probably change out the spark plugs and fuel filter just because. Air filter looks like brand new.

Any tips would definitely be welcome. This is my first time owning a real garden tractor, and a huge step up from the little Craftsman rider I have been using to mow our 2 acres.
 
Go to the deere dealer and buy the fluid that deere recomends for the trans. I would guess that is should have low viscosity hyguard (john deeres brand of hydraulic trans fluid).

Most deere dealers don't rip you off on fluids and filters because they know you can get it else where. I just changed the trans fluid in my 318 and low vis hyguard cost just as much or a little less than type f ATF(the owners manual also says type f is fine). I think I paid 17 for a gallon of it. Your best bet is to go to a dealer that sells large farm equipment. The dealers that cater to the homeowner hobby farms tend to be higher priced on everything.


These mowers are well built. The 425 445 455 replaced the 318 322 323 420 430. Keep the radiator and trans cooler clean. There is a removable screen in front of the radiator.

On the trans on my 318 I finally did change the trans fluid but that is only cause it still had the factory fluid in it with some type f and hytran and whatever else my father in law put in it over the years. Normally I just change the trans filter once a year and top it off.
 
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WOW what a beauty!

Yep, Like jh- said, keep the radiator and trans clean, especially if it sees dusty/dirty mowing. Assuming it's a liquid cooled Kawi that is.
 
Having had more JD tractors than any other qualifies me as a fanatic about them. You just got my all time favorite JD tractor. It has all the bells and whistles that make a tractor great. Shaft drive, shaft deck, water cooled gas engine, foot hydro, power steering, disc brakes, deck height indicator, yatta, yatta, yatta. Those are one fine tractor, and I hope you have many years of good use from it. Your granparents chose wisely grasshopper!
 
I've been using one of those all Chicago winter, for snow removal on campus.

It has been neglected and beat to pieces over the years, has about 900 hours on the engine (unless it has rolled over). But still starts and runs every time. It smokes on start up, but it won't die. I think it is finally getting scrapped this summer due to rust issues on the body.
 
Besides all the oil and fluid changes already mentioned....invest in a good quality blade sharpener, and always keep your mower blades sharp and balanced. Your lawn tractor or mower as well as your grass will like you for it.
 
The only thing that would have made it better is if it was a 445. Those have fuel injection and a little more horse power.

The bad thing about the 425 is that while it is carbureted it still has an electric fuel pump. My brother in law had one that like to have the pump go out about once every couple of years. I don't think it was cheap or easy to replace.

Still a good mower though. Deere still makes essentially the same mower today.
 
Thanks everyone for the input! I got it mostly ready to go yesterday. I stopped by Walmart for a few things, so I grabbed a Fram Ultra filter for it while I was there. Got the oil changed, gave everything a good shot of grease, changed the gearbox oil on the deck, took the snowblower off, and put the deck on. I'll have to stop by the JD dealer this week and pick up some of the Low Viscosity Hy-gard and the filter for the trans.
 
The trans filter is very expensive, but as noted above HyGard lowvis is the correct fluid and you should be able to buy it by the quart.
 
Originally Posted By: roadrunner1
The trans filter is very expensive, but as noted above HyGard lowvis is the correct fluid and you should be able to buy it by the quart.


How much does the filter run at a Deere dealer? Looks like I can get a Napa Gold for $8, and my local Napa has it in stock.
 
Originally Posted By: KD0AXS
Originally Posted By: roadrunner1
The trans filter is very expensive, but as noted above HyGard lowvis is the correct fluid and you should be able to buy it by the quart.


How much does the filter run at a Deere dealer? Looks like I can get a Napa Gold for $8, and my local Napa has it in stock.


The trans takes a hydraulic filter not an automotive oil filter. Or are you saying that Napa Gold also comes in hydraulic filters ?
 
Originally Posted By: FastGame
Originally Posted By: KD0AXS
Originally Posted By: roadrunner1
The trans filter is very expensive, but as noted above HyGard lowvis is the correct fluid and you should be able to buy it by the quart.


How much does the filter run at a Deere dealer? Looks like I can get a Napa Gold for $8, and my local Napa has it in stock.


The trans takes a hydraulic filter not an automotive oil filter. Or are you saying that Napa Gold also comes in hydraulic filters ?


Yep, I found the Deere part number is AM131054, cross reference to Wix is 57103 or a Napa Gold 7103.

http://www.napaonline.com/Catalog/CatalogItemDetail.aspx/Hydraulic-Filter/_/R-FIL7103_0006473371
 
See if you can find the year of manufacture of your 425, early models have a plastic cam gear that will fail. Your dealer should be able to determine if your 425 was made after they switched to a metal gear.

My neighbor has a 445 that the cam gear failed at about 700 hours.
 
Originally Posted By: 4Kings
See if you can find the year of manufacture of your 425, early models have a plastic cam gear that will fail. Your dealer should be able to determine if your 425 was made after they switched to a metal gear.

My neighbor has a 445 that the cam gear failed at about 700 hours.


This. And congrats! This series of tractor is on my "wish" list. Someday, someday.
 
Originally Posted By: 4Kings
See if you can find the year of manufacture of your 425, early models have a plastic cam gear that will fail. Your dealer should be able to determine if your 425 was made after they switched to a metal gear.

My neighbor has a 445 that the cam gear failed at about 700 hours.



I saw this come up a few times while doing some research on Google. II'll have the dealer check the serial number when I go in to get the trans fluid and see what they can tell me. I believe it's a 1999, and it has just over 700 hours on it.

Edit: Looks like they switched to the steel gear in 1998, so if it is a 1999 I should be good there.
 
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Originally Posted By: KD0AXS
Originally Posted By: roadrunner1
The trans filter is very expensive, but as noted above HyGard lowvis is the correct fluid and you should be able to buy it by the quart.


How much does the filter run at a Deere dealer? Looks like I can get a Napa Gold for $8, and my local Napa has it in stock.


That would also work if they are closer/cheaper. I doubt the deere filter will be to far off of that.
 
I have the 530 which takes a different hydraulic filter. I haven't been able to cross it to anything else, and its around 40 bucks.
 
Originally Posted By: roadrunner1
I have the 530 which takes a different hydraulic filter. I haven't been able to cross it to anything else, and its around 40 bucks.


Ouch, that is one spendy filter. I actually found that Rock Auto has the Wix 57103 to fit mine for 5 bucks and change. I had planned to order a couple things from them anyway, so I'll probably just add a couple of those filters on to my order.

I haven't made it to a dealer yet, but I looked up the serial number on Tractordata.com and this one was actually built in 2000, so I shouldn't have the plastic cam gear.
 
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