John Deere X300 Rebuild

So I got this ride on mower for free from my neighbor just down the block. A bunch o' problems with it but I'm down to tinker. John Deere X300. Has a hydrostatic 17hp twin-v engine.

1. Rear tires flat.
2. No oil
3. Half a tank of old yellow varnishy stinky gas.
4. Front fascia that holds the lights has 4 broken clips (was held in by gorilla tape)
5. Dead battery that won't charge.
6. Key rusted.

Tried to siphon the fuel out but failed. I think I'll just disconnect the line at the fuel filter and drain that way.

My plan is to get 'er up and running and then figure out if I'm going to sell it or buy a used snowblower attachment for it. I'm getting kind of sick of the walk behind snow blower but I don't have a 300ft driveway to do either.

There was blue tape all over the valve stem of one of the rear tires. I may need to replace both tires. Also it was left outside in the elements (hence the rusty key) and the paint is all faded and mildewy. If I'm keeping it I'll paint the thing with U-pol rapor truck bed liner, the same stuff I used on my step rails on my Tacoma. I think it will look sick.

The fan was all caked up with crap. I put the washer on the wrong side - I'll fix that. For now I can get a battery at Home Depot for $40, a fuel filter, put some oil and gas in her, and see if she fires up.

 

It's a 2006 with only 118 hours on it. Took a closer look at the engine cover and it's cracked at the pegs which are built into the plastic. Stupid design. Fascia also cracked. JB weld may do it. Not sure.

 

Hard to believe. Looking at that mower I would have never guessed 118 hours...

good luck with the rebuild, should be a useful piece of equipment once it's running.

 

This is what happens when you don't take of your equipment and just leave it outside. I think he let his kids drive it and they probably smacked it right into a tree.

 

+1

I keep all my OPE indoors.

 

Only 118 hours? Wow! That thing was used hard and not taken care of. I'm looking forward to future posts on this. Hopefully you can make it right for cheap and have a really nice lawn tractor.
Brad

 

I wish I could but I have literally the world's smallest garage. It's terrible. So I'll have to get an outdoor cover for it.

Got it up and running! The fuel stank and I thought I would need to drain it....but it really does purr like a kitten. There was no oil in there so I flushed it with a little fresh oil and added 1.8 quarts (or so) just to see if it works.

Battery was dead so I jumped it with the Mini. I didn't move it yet because the rear tires are shot but I think we're in good shape here.



This is what came out when I opened the oil drain.



And the air filter looks almost brand new.



Dry rot on the tires. It's bad on both rears. I'll have to replace them for sure.

 

Tires are shot. And this was the good side lmfao. Valve stem leaking like a sieve. 2 holes from dry rot.

20x10. Anyone here ever replace them yourselves?

Watching this video. I wish I had a slap hammer thingy.

 

Removed both wheels. Removed both tires. One had an inner tube, the other did not.

I don't know the transmissions work in these hydrostatic machines. But when you turn one axle it spins the other one in the opposite direction. I'm not sure how the parking brake works either as it doesn't seem to prevent me from spinning either wheel.

That was the first time I ever removed a tire from a wheel. I did ding up both rims when I smacked it with a sledge to get the bead to unseat. Oops. I'll try and un-ding them.

 

Got a new 350CCA BCI U1 12v battery for it at Napa. New fuel filter. Aw yeah!

Local dealer wanted $89 for the JD battery. This one was $74. Perfect fit.



Short video of it with the new parts.

 

Great score! I have a 15 y.o. X304 which is the same mower, but with 4-wheel steer. Go ahead and fix it up and you will have a great mower for yourself or a great return on investment if you ever want to sell it.

 

Those small tires are the worst! Give me a car tire any day. I usually end up tweaking the bead of the tire and getting it to seal after that is a problem. Glad you got it running!

 

I love seeing equipment like this rehabbed!

If you’ve already done this, apologies in advance. Pull the shroud off the engine and make sure that critter didn’t build another nest or remnants of the nest didn’t migrate. Or, maybe the critters remains are still in there. I lost a Briggs engine once because a mummified mouse was in the shroud; then grass packed behind it and blocked the airflow. Piston seized in the cylinder, crank snapped and cracked the block.

 

Thanks! I plan on using it more for firewood and snow removal methinks. I shall have to see if it works in the first place....but I can't really tell until I get new rears.

Yeah those suckers were both leaking out of the sidewalls and had massive dry rot and had been sitting flat for a very long time. Out of fairness to myself and the possible next owner I'll definitely have to get new ones at least for the rear. 20x10-8 is the size I need and saw this great video talking about the different treads one could get.

Yeah that was the first thing I did and yes there was a bunch of debris in the fan. Took a few minutes to pull the 3 torx bolts and then vacuum and blow out the junk. It wasn't that bad but there's a pic of it in my first post. I saw a video of Andrew Camarata where he picked up an old Craftsman ride on mower and there was actually a live mouse still in there! Timestamped to the action.

 

Nice! And Andrew has a great channel. He’s got some good content for sure.

 

Save yourself a lot of anxiety and potential rim/tire damage and just have them mounted by a tire shop. The cost will be minimal and it will be done correctly. Agree with Dok440 , the small lawn tractor tires are a real PITA to,deal,with! Another suggestion is to run the tractor some on your first oil change, maybe only a hour or so and then drain and refill. Any sludge or other stuff that may have been in the bottom of the oil pan should have loosened up and you will flush it out. Another new filter then as well. Good thing about the JD machines is that parts are normally still available from your local JD dealer, though you may not like the price. Best of luck, looking forward to your progress!

Oh, and there is a forum for these small JD mowers/tractors: Weekendfreedommachine.com. Lots of helpful information there.

 

gotta love that v-twin purr

 

Yeah it's no fun at all! And I was thinking the same thing re: oil. Need to make sure the mower moves properly first. And was considering buying the rim and tire combo just for the convenience....

Thanks for the link.

Yeah it's sweet as heck!

 

No need to purchase new wheels unless there is one damaged. The wheels are well made and you probably don't want to know what a replacement will cost from mother deere. Get the numbers off your front and rear tires and go to a few good tire shops in your area. They will fix you right up properly! Really helpful folks on the weekend freedom machine site, whatever you run into someone's been there before. I have completely restored a JD 214 Tractor made in the 70's, and rehabilitated a JD 630 two Cylinder from the 60's and they saved me a ton of aggravation and money too...sometimes you can find the parts you need like bearings at a bearing distributor saving the price from JD. Don't get me wrong I like my JD Tractors, I have 3 of them and have a good relationship with the dealer and parts people but some things are less expensive other places. Have fun with your project

 

PS...I would recommend using only belts fromJD you will have a greater service life and they just work better..