John Deere Z225 Not Wanting to Start

Hey all,

First off, I'm new to this site and mowers in general. I just moved into a home last year and my landlord wanted to do the mowing but has not kept up very well so I went out and bought a used John Deere Z225 with 251 hours on it. It was used for professional landscaping and when I was shown the mower it worked perfectly. I know that used products need work, usually, and this one is no different. The question is - how much work does it need? Here's the problem:

"Mower started as normal the first time this morning, but the engine never fully got to speed. I drove it slowly but it died when I pushed the button to engage the blades. Engine cranks, but does not turn over. New spark plugs and battery have been installed".

Any help would be appreciated. I'm taking it in for servicing soon and just want to know what I'm dealing with before I get told a price that might be shocking. I also bought a fuel filter and air filter for it (Neither have been installed). I was shown the oil at the time of purchase (it looked good) and he said he had it changed about 10 hours prior.

Most professional shops today charge around or close to $100/hour for labor. So the "amount of work done" may not correlate to what you think you'd be charged, especially if some very simple or cheap part is replaced for example, or a simple adjustment made. I have no dog in that fight.

A basic engine (this model came with a few different ones apparently) could probably be had for easily less than $600 if you install it. If that sounds high, it may not be if something's seriously wrong with yours or requires more than a few hours for someone to play with it.

You probably realize most issues are electrical or fuel related, but isolating it requires you to get dirty and probably research.

Example: If it has spark, look at fuel. (We'd initially assume there's no mechanical failure related to engine timing.)

And so you can verify if the plug(s), when removed from the engine but with the plug wire(s) attached, creates spark when held against the engine. If not, see if new plug(s) spark. If you get spark, you can probably move on to fuel. If you don't get spark, work backwards until you do.

BEfore we go gar gars with this old thread, it is double post.
The original reply seems to have sorted him out as he never came back again.
I guess he bought the manual and is now the neighbourhood mower go to guy .