2003 John Deere LT160 - 550+ hours on the clock.
Has been bullet-proof, nothing but routine maintenance (oil and air filter changes, greased every spring), has been rode hard and put away wet - not babied at all.
While mowing the other day it just stopped moving forward accompanied by a loud grinding noise from the transmission. Dropped the tranny and as suspected, the v-belt pulley on the input shaft of the tranny is spinning. The splines on the pulley are shot. Transmission is a Tuff Torq K46 - many stories about early failures on the internet so guess I have been lucky.
Have ordered a new pulley but as the splines on the input shaft are in pretty bad shape this is a very temporary solution at best.
The quandry:
1, Try to find a used tranny - no way
2. Rebuild kit for the tranny is $300+ and am not positive I can even get a new input shaft so this may not even be an option.
3. New transmission will run $700+
4, Buy a new mower and try to part out the LT 160 (Kohler 16 HP, tires, etc.). Am looking at a new JD X-300 or Husqvarna YT42XLS.
The Husqvarna appears to be the equal to if not better than the JD X-300 and is quite a bit cheaper (JD is really proud of their stuff). Anyone have any experience with Husqvarna lawn tractors ?? I know their chain saws, etc. seem to have very good reputations.
The problem child:
