Repairs D140 Transmission Replacement Labor

Hey Everybody,
I broke something on the left rear axle of my D140 when I went through a grassy ditch more quickly than intended. The day after mowing I found a considerable amount of tan oil under the mower and oil and dirt on the inside of the tire and wheel where apparently some leaked while I was finishing. A local repair technician told me the repair kit for the damage I did is about $500 and a new transmission is about $700 and he recommends the new transmission as my mower has 97 hours on it. I found a JD dealer on eBay who had three MIA10910 transmissions for $550/free ship. I bought one and am curious as to how many hours labor should I expect to pay to have it installed? I don't know if this is a two hour job or a six hour job and need some coaching. I posted a medium rez photo in case that's of any value. Thanks for the help. I'm a "weekender" as a builder buddy likes to call amateurs but have learned a lot on topics posted here an appreciate the time you guys take to post and respond.
Hope everybody has a Merry Christmas,
Steve

Steve, I don't know about the D model but I have an LX and an STX and I have changed both in less than an hours time on each and that was never changing one before. There are only 4 bolts holding the transaxle to the frame and you disconnect the linkage to the gear shift and to the brake and take off your belt and disconnect some wires and that is it. I'm sure some of the other guys on here know a lot more about it than I do and can help you better than me, but this should help you out some....Bob:confused2:

Should replace transmission because of 94 hours...? I say sell the machine and buy a better one

Good ole junk Deere.

After 97 hours it should not have broke even if you used it to jump over a house.

I would have found a $100 used donor mower.

As has been said very easy to replace. Just take a good look at how it sits in the frame and you will see there is not much to it.

Those mowers should have come with a 2 year/200 hour warranty. Are you outside the 2 year period?

mullins87 said:

Those mowers should have come with a 2 year/200 hour warranty. Are you outside the 2 year period?

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I'm not the original owner. Excellent thought. I appreciate the suggestion.

sdsra said:

Steve, I don't know about the D model but I have an LX and an STX and I have changed both in less than an hours time on each and that was never changing one before. There are only 4 bolts holding the transaxle to the frame and you disconnect the linkage to the gear shift and to the brake and take off your belt and disconnect some wires and that is it. I'm sure some of the other guys on here know a lot more about it than I do and can help you better than me, but this should help you out some....Bob:confused2:

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Boy you are fast.

lenolaroad said:

I'm not the original owner. Excellent thought. I appreciate the suggestion.

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Luckily I've never had to make a warranty claim on anything other than a small electronic device or an automobile. Isn't the warranty transferrable? Do you have to provide proof you are the original owner? The LA175 listed in my stats had a bad battery when I bought it. I didn't buy it at the JD dealer either. I took the battery and serial number to the dealer, they ran the number and handed me a new battery, no questions asked and with no id. to prove I was the owner. The service center can simply run the serial number to get the in service date of the original owner, and the hour meter shows how much use it has seen. Hopefully one of these factory reps here can answer these questions.

You definitely sent me back to the warranty documentation in the slim hope I'd be covered but it says original purchasers for 24 months or 120 hours on the 100 series.

The comment about being able to jump the house and it not fail is pretty painful because the incline on the ditch in my front yard doesn't seem like it would inflict that kind of damage but I must have hit it just right. I go about 250 lbs and apparently had just enough speed and mass to break a seal when I went from driving down to driving back up the other side. I'm using the push mower in the ditch from now on. I got a great deal on the tractor but this tranny repair is going to cost me half the mower cost and I've already had to replace idler pulleys earlier in the summer. The kick is I take really good care of my vehicles and small engine tools and just got a bad break on this one. I'm hoping I can get the original transmission repaired and resell it to recoup some of my dough.

As far as the labor goes I sent notes to three guys on Craigslist who represented themselves as Deere technicians to get quotes. We'll see what they come back with over the next few days.

Thanks again to everyone who posted in an effort to help. I appreciate your time and contribution.

Merry Christmas,

Steve

How can anyone quote a price to repair something or know what parts it needs without taking it apart. I have been doing this work for years now and I will tell I can't do it. Just maybe a snap came off the axle end and the axle came out. Cost less then 1 dollar + labor. It sure looks to me like someone wants to get into your shorts.