Mower deck Mower deck not cutting grass on John Deere hydro 185

caryannw

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I have an older John Deere hydro 185. I am a woman so I admit up front that I know nothing about small engines. However, I am a do it yourselfer and will try to fix things if I can do so. Recently it would not start, I was told that it needed a new starter and battery and I changed these out myself.

Now the mower deck pulleys and belt are very slow to turn so it won't mow. They will start out turning fine when I flip the PTO switch on, but then they slow down and eventually stop so I can't mow anything at all. Someone told me that it was the PTO switch, so I replaced it. It wasn't the switch apparently, because it still does the same thing. I start it up, turn on the switch, I can see the pulleys and belt turning but then they slow down and stop altogether.

I am desperate to get my yard mowed. It is knee high now. I can't afford the high landscaping prices around here and I would rather use that money towards getting my mower repaired. I am unemployed so money is tight.

Any ideas on what it could be? Someone said it was the mower deck pulleys but there are quite a few of them on the mower deck, so how would I determine which one is not working right? I am not that great a fan of taking the mower deck off the mower and putting it back on. As a woman, it is too heavy for me to handle on my own.
 

SonOfLiberty

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If you can see the PTO pully, is it still engaged (turning) after the blades stop and the PTO switch is still in the on position? If so, I would suspect the tentioner pully has a bad, unhooked, or missing spring. It is also possibly a stretched belt.
 

mullins87

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Does the engine bog down when you engage the blades? If not, then you don't have a nearly locked up spindle or idler pulley. A spindle or idler pulley that has gone bad, i.e. about to lock up, will pull very hard on the engine and will get very hot. Check the tension of the deck belt. Just grab it, obviously with the engine off, and see how much slack there is. It should be fairly tight and have no more than a couple inches of movement in it. If the belt is tight, then you either have a bad or out of adjustment PTO clutch, or....you don't have enough voltage getting to the clutch to make it engage properly. If the belt is loose, then either the belt is worn and needs to be replaced, or you have a broken or stretched idler pulley spring. I am assuming that your mower deck uses an idler pulley on a pivoting bracket that uses a spring to apply tension to the belt to keep it tight.

Let us know what you find out.
 

BKBrown

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From the description, it sounds like there may be a shear pin or bolt broken (sheared) so friction starts the blades turning and then they stop. Is it possible to take the cover off the mower deck and hold each pulley while turning the blades by hand (with the belt off the drive clutch pulley). If the blade turns and the pulley does not there may be a pin sheared (shear pins save the deck from more severe damage when something is hit) they sometimes shear just from stress over time.
Lucky it is close to fall / winter so there will be time to figure it out. This may not be the problem, but you will at least be able to eliminate that as an issue.

Could be (as mentioned) just the deck belt tension.
 

caryannw

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If you can see the PTO pully, is it still engaged (turning) after the blades stop and the PTO switch is still in the on position? If so, I would suspect the tentioner pully has a bad, unhooked, or missing spring. It is also possibly a stretched belt.

Thank you! I looked and noticed that a spring was loose so I tightened it. I started it up and everything seemed to work fine. Unfortunately, I noticed one tire was flat so I turned it off to get the air compressor out. Once I aired up the tire, the mower would not start !
 

BKBrown

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Probably something as simple as a safety switch - seat switch (operator present), mower clutch switch off, neutral, -- just found that a neighbor with a NEW Husky lawn tractor already had mice chew through a safety switch wires - re-connected the wires for her and everything is fine.
 

SonOfLiberty

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I have days like that all the time. Check to make sure the PTO switch is off. Possibly you accidently disconnected a safety switch while you were tightening the idler pully spring? Good luck.
 

Bison

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Now i aint familiar with the hydro 185 .

is the deck drive engagement with a manual or electr clutch or is it driven with a orbit motor?
 
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