My JD D-140 lawn tractor with about 200 hours struggles on modest hills, but the rear drive wheel is spinning. I am wondering if this has more to do with the tire traction rather than a problem with the much discussed threads about transmission problems. Is it possible that i just need to add wheel weights or weight in rear to get the traction the mower needs? It seems to run slightly better if I lean back on the seat so that is why the problem can be solved by adding weight to the rear wheels.
What pressure are you running ?
most run around 10 psi in the rears
Nearly every mower that come in for service is closer to 20 psi
It makes a massive difference
#3
StarTech
And would agree it is a traction problem. First as Bert make sure the tire are near 10 psi and equal to both sides. This gives the tires a flatter profile then tires at a higher pressure which gives you the maximum contact area with the lawn surface. Then if you still traction problems then there are several options to increase including adding wheel weights. I not a fan of adding weights to the frame due to most transaxles of uses bushings instead bearing for the axles.
Most JD mower use the S profile tires which have fairly good traction with minimum lawn tear up. There are more aggressive tires available but the trade off is more lawn damage.
