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I just purchase a used John Deere LX172. It starts & runs fine for about 10 -15 min....then the mower deck stops working. If I shut it down (cool down) it will work again. The seat switch seems to be working ok.....any suggestions ??

If IT HAS AN ELETCRIC PTO IT MAY BE GOING BAD, CHECK OUT THE WRING,THAN CHECK CHARGING SYSTEM TO BE SURE IT IS CHARGING ENOUGH TO RUN PTO.IF ENGINE WILL RUN WITH OUT PTO ON YOU HAVE BAD PTO.

Stan Phillips said:

I just purchase a used John Deere LX172. It starts & runs fine for about 10 -15 min....then the mower deck stops working. If I shut it down (cool down) it will work again. The seat switch seems to be working ok.....any suggestions ??

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Chances are it's not the PTO. If you have an electric Pto it draws or runs off the Battery that's the reason it runs for 10 to 15 minutes after that the battery doesn't have enough left to keep it the pto running, the pto will be the first thing to stop. Depending on the motor and its age either the Kohler on some and the Kawasaki on some of the newer models you'll have a stator or an alternator that charges the battery and chances are it will have to be replaced. I just went through the same process with my Kohler 20 hp, If I shut it down the battery would recover enough to start the mower and engage the pto and it would again run for a short period of time and stop.

i had a similar prob on my Homelite/jacobsen i looked at everything i could think of at the time i even changed my stator and batt .. It had a relay that was bad changed it worked after that ..Not saying thats the prob but i would look there also ..Ric's info is correct also could be your batt or your stator or it could be the PTO clutch its self i have seen them get so hot they stop let them cool and they will go again then stop again ....PTO probs can be very frustrating

If you can monitor the voltage ... see if it drops off just before it quits...
You cam really damage an electric clutch allowing it to operate on low voltage... $$$
If the voltage is dropping below 12 volts, or if the ground resistance is excessive, repair it before the clutch burns up.. :smile:KennyV

Thanks for all of the advice....it's been raining everyday here (Pa) for the past 4-5 days, so I really haven't had time to mess with it.
I did take the battery out & gave it a good charge.....we'll see if it happens the next time that I cut the lawn.
Where is the best location (web or otherwise) to get manuals on the JD's.....I have a feeling that I will be needing one (especially if it turns out to be the stator).
I've never had\worked on riding lawnmowers before....decent weekend mechanic on vehicles....shouldn't be that difficult.

Stan Phillips said:

Where is the best location (web or otherwise) to get manuals on the JD's.....I have a feeling that I will be needing one (especially if it turns out to be the stator).


I've never had\worked on riding lawnmowers before....decent weekend mechanic on vehicles....shouldn't be that difficult.

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You can find them at,
Operator's Manuals for John Deere Equipment
and also on Ebay,
John Deere LX172 manual items - Get great deals on Home Garden, Business Industrial items on eBay.com!
Either original or reprints, even CD or pdf... Read the description, so you will know what your getting...
:smile:KennyV