Export thread

I have a 2 year old John Deere LA 115 and has never cut even, Have adjusted the deck numerous times, get it perfect on the concrete and it stills cuts uneven. Just got it back from the dealer and have the same results. Has anyone else had this problem with their John Deere?

Hey there - WELCOME to LMF!

I moved your thread to the John Deere Forum. :smile:

Briana said:

Hey there - WELCOME to LMF!

I moved your thread to the John Deere Forum. :smile:

Click to expand...

Thanks, thought this was the JD forum.

I'll go for the really easy stuff first. Are all your tires at the correct and equal pressures between the 2 fronts, and are the 2 rears at equal and correct pressure? Check to make sure that your blades are straight, then measure the blade(s) end height, rotate the blade 180* and measure again. Measure from the blade down, not the deck. It may be something as unusual as 2 different mandrels installed on the same deck. If your tires and suspension are all up to snuff, and your blades are cutting an equal height off the dirt, there isn't too much left. Be sure to take your blade measurements with the deck at your desired cutting height.:biggrin:

Thanks, I'll try again.

everything checks out, am going to replace the blades. Has anyone used gator blades on their LA115? If not, what do you recommend for mulching.

csmlet said:

everything checks out, am going to replace the blades. Has anyone used gator blades on their LA115? If not, what do you recommend for mulching.

Click to expand...

I'll be waiting for the reponse to that one. Mine tends to skip a strip right in the middle, especially going around curves. If I slow down it does okay, but who wants to do that! I need to check the deck timing, but also want to investigate new blades.

I'm running an LT155 with 42" Freedom deck.

You say the deck is even but it cuts uneven ignore the deck measure from the floor to the blades.

Also make sure the floor is level even garage floors have a slope for drainage so make sure you are getting the correct measurement.

If it cuts uneven it is because it IS uneven.

Black Bart, I totally agree with everything you said, The deck is ignored, I check with the JD deck leveler from both tips of each blade and it will be perfect. After a few cuts I notice unven cuts. What am I doing wrong? Took it to the local JD dealer and it was worse when I got it back. I love my JD except for the uneven cuts. As I stated earlier my old murray hardly ever needed to be leveled, but now It seems I need to level before each cut and I usually cut about every 3-4 days.

csmlet said:

Black Bart, I totally agree with everything you said, The deck is ignored, I check with the JD deck leveler from both tips of each blade and it will be perfect. After a few cuts I notice unven cuts. What am I doing wrong? Took it to the local JD dealer and it was worse when I got it back. I love my JD except for the uneven cuts. As I stated earlier my old murray hardly ever needed to be leveled, but now It seems I need to level before each cut and I usually cut about every 3-4 days.

Click to expand...

I have not looked at a 115 before so can not say as to how it adjusts but something must be moving I have not adjusted the deck on my 180 in 25 years.
You are using the correct method to adjust it so look for what is changing.

As the dealer not getting it right that don't surprise me this spring I bought a new ez trak from Mutton in Ft Wayne this is a big place they sell one hell of a lot of JD'S and when I got it home the deck was not adjusted right,, I had to do it myself.

Makes me wonder what it would be like if I hired them to do technical work

Black Bart said:

I have not looked at a 115 before so can not say as to how it adjusts but something must be moving I have not adjusted the deck on my 180 in 25 years.
You are using the correct method to adjust it so look for what is changing.

As the dealer not getting it right that don't surprise me this spring I bought a new ez trak from Mutton in Ft Wayne this is a big place they sell one hell of a lot of JD'S and when I got it home the deck was not adjusted right,, I had to do it myself.

Makes me wonder what it would be like if I hired them to do technical work

Click to expand...

I agree. I called the local JD dealer and spoke with the parts and service guys to ask where all the grease zerts were. They both said they had no idea without looking at a manual. You would think that a couple guys who work on mostly the same equipment day in and day out would have an idea where to look for zerts. Geez.

While this comes so many months later, I just want to echo the concerns and solutions listed in this thread. I have changed blades, changed blades again and then changed them some more--including GatorBlades. I have used a laser level, checked tire pressure and then repeated. Still, I get uneven (sloping cuts), a centre swath still standing and piles of grass. Grrrrr. I have gone fast, gone slow and allowed for uneven terrain. What I do next will probably involve hiring someone. And all this with a Recommended rating from CR.

As a final note, I plan to cover over the side discharge vent in hopes that there might be a difference. Has anyone tried this?

Roger C

Wow, hate to hear you are still fighting that. Only time I fought that problem when everything checked out with the deck is when I had a rear tire with low air pressure. You might check the pulley/shaft assembly on your deck on the side with the problem - could be loose on the deck which would allow the belts tension on it to make the assembly lean. Or the deck could be bent in the area where the pulley/shaft is bolted down to which has it cocked one way or another instead of straight up and down. Good luck!

Did you buy your John Deere from a place like lowes?

DealerDeeresHere said:

Wow, hate to hear you are still fighting that. Only time I fought that problem when everything checked out with the deck is when I had a rear tire with low air pressure. You might check the pulley/shaft assembly on your deck on the side with the problem - could be loose on the deck which would allow the belts tension on it to make the assembly lean. Or the deck could be bent in the area where the pulley/shaft is bolted down to which has it cocked one way or another instead of straight up and down. Good luck!

Click to expand...

Thank you for the suggestions. Frustrating isn't it? It was just yesterday that I dropped the deck, greased the pulley shafts and checked for bearing/shaft play. All was well. As for a deck that is out of alignment I couldn't honestly say; however, I can say that I haven't had an encounter that would produce such a result--to my knowledge anyways.

redfish9 said:

Did you buy your John Deere from a place like lowes?

Click to expand...

Home Depot, in fact. However, you cannot leave with the mower as it is sent to a local dealer and prepped. This took almost two weeks thanks to demand! Who knows if the shop actually does anything but, one can only hope.

I'm late to this party :laughing: The deck would have to be really out of whack to produce a noticeably uneven cut. The more likely culprit(s) are the speed you're cutting at and/or a clogged deck. The blade tip speed on these light duty residential mowers is not great so keeping the blades sharp, cleaning out the inside of the deck and making sure the deck belt has proper tension is critical.

csmlet said:

I have a 2 year old John Deere LA 115 and has never cut even, Have adjusted the deck numerous times, get it perfect on the concrete and it stills cuts uneven. Just got it back from the dealer and have the same results. Has anyone else had this problem with their John Deere?

Click to expand...

My 115 having the exact same problem. Tried everything, air pressure, (even changed tires), deck level (1/4" lower in front), blades leveled and balanced, spindled checked and 1 questionable replaced. I got mine from Home Depot also. I have 172 hours on mine. It's the almost uncut strip in the middle that befuddles me the most. I wind up having to cut the front yard two ways, perpendicular to each other (one complete cut of the lawn from front to back, then another from side to side). Frustrating. I don't know what to do next other than try to sell this and buy a ______________? I'd hate to do that, I like the mower in every way except that.

Any other suggestions?

Just for fun mow I line going backwards.

Don't pitch the front down so much.

When you level the deck go from the blade tips not the deck.

Run a straight edge on the deck see if it is bent.

Maybe some day people will see that JD mowers are the bottom of the food chain

(( cowboy up and get over it ))

Carscw said:

Just for fun mow I line going backwards.

Don't pitch the front down so much.

When you level the deck go from the blade tips not the deck.

Run a straight edge on the deck see if it is bent.

Maybe some day people will see that JD mowers are the bottom of the food chain

(( cowboy up and get over it ))

Click to expand...

Well, The LA series anyway ( ya I drank the coolaid also)