John Deere 14SB

natenkiki2004

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I'm thinking about purchasing one of these mowers that seem to be highly rated. The owner says it needs repair, something about the blade coming off and the shaft snapping. I'm wondering if anyone is familiar with this mower and could shed a little light on this. I'm wondering if the mower is destroyed, if the owner hit something hard enough to snap the shaft, there's probably engine damage as well right? Or is it one of those higher end models that is belt driven and the shaft can be replaced? The owner wants $50 for it and it has the bag. I was thinking about buying this for a project and possibly re-selling once I got it fixed up. I'm not sure if it's worth it now.
 

xp14629

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The shaft could be part of the blade brake clutch. Or it could simply be the crankshaft inside the engine. On those machines the clutch is a press fit on the bottom of the crankshaft. Then above that is the pulley for the transmission drive. At their time they were the best mower money could buy. They haven't been made in quite some time so it will be up to ur judgement if it is worth the 350.00 for the clutch or even higher to replace the crankshaft.
 

Rivets

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If you have an extra $50 send it to me. It will not give you a headache and that all it will cost you. Buy the JD and you will have a big headache and you will be out more than $50.
 

natenkiki2004

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it will be up to ur judgement if it is worth the 350.00 for the clutch or even higher to replace the crankshaft.

Ouch. I've heard that these would sell for $200-$250 I was originally hoping it might be a carb and fuel line problem or perhaps some belts as well... It doesn't sound like I could fix it and make a few bucks. This might be an interesting project if I had $$ to blow and needed a mower but I was just looking for a project.

Thanks for the replies guys but don't let this stop anyone else from replying. I'm open to input :)
 

natenkiki2004

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Not sure what happened but the seller that posted on Craigslist just bumped it up to $200 from $50... Definitely not going to get it now.
 

SONOFADOCKER

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Common issue with the mowers - spend 600.00 and hit something hard like a kids baseball or dog bone and the shaft bends .
 

RuhRoh

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John Deere 14SB shaft replacement

Hi All- Figured I would post here instead of starting a new thread. I have a 14SB that I purchased used and damaged. The shaft is bent as a result of hitting a sprinkler valve cover (metal) not only did it destroy the blade clutch, but it did bend the shaft coming out of the engine. I have a donor/parts 14SB that I can use that has a good shaft and would like to pull the shaft off of that one and put it on the damaged one as the engine from the donor motor is toast after being used for 10+ years by a lawn care company. (smokes, stutters, choke is bad, carb is shot) The damaged shaft engine still runs just fine and has less than 5 years worth of use on it, just the bent shaft issue. I feel comfortable taking the blade clutch off and removing the engine from the deck, however after that I am clueless as to how to get the lower engine cover off to remove the shaft. Any tips/suggestions?
 
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