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My wife was mowing today with her z235 and everything was fine until she turned it off. She told me the battery was dead because she kept starting the engine which would die as soon as she engaged the mower. I thought maybe something was wedged in there but there is'nt. I charged the battery and thez235 fired right up. I drove it around the yard a little and it ran fine until I pulled the knob up to engage the mower. The engine died. It didnt die like it was shut off , it died like something was holding the blades from turning. I know this mower has an electric clutch that engages the mower but do the blades have a brake system of some sort that might be malfunctioning? Any information would be greatly appreciated.

74 views and no responses. I was afraid of this. I apparently have a unique problem. I'll take the belt off wednesday, on my day off, and find out if its the electric clutch or not.

It turned out to be a frozen spindle. with only 18.3 hours of use on the machine I figured john Deere owed me a new one. I called the shop where we bought it and they agreed and gave me a new one. The book said to grease them after 50 hours of use but I dont think any grease was in it when we bought it. I made sure the new one had grease and hopefully it will last a long time. These spindles look different then any others I've seen and I'm not sure they can be rebuilt. I just hope its a hell of a long time before I really need to know.

paqrat said:

It turned out to be a frozen spindle. with only 18.3 hours of use on the machine I figured john Deere owed me a new one. I called the shop where we bought it and they agreed and gave me a new one. The book said to grease them after 50 hours of use but I dont think any grease was in it when we bought it. I made sure the new one had grease and hopefully it will last a long time. These spindles look different then any others I've seen and I'm not sure they can be rebuilt. I just hope its a hell of a long time before I really need to know.

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Glad you figured it out.

paqrat said:

It turned out to be a frozen spindle. with only 18.3 hours of use on the machine I figured john Deere owed me a new one. I called the shop where we bought it and they agreed and gave me a new one. The book said to grease them after 50 hours of use but I dont think any grease was in it when we bought it. I made sure the new one had grease and hopefully it will last a long time. These spindles look different then any others I've seen and I'm not sure they can be rebuilt. I just hope its a hell of a long time before I really need to know.

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The spindles for that small a machine new aren't that expensive. $40-$60. So you prob can't rebuild them.

Hello
The smaller Zero Turn mower's made by John Deere are offered at Lowes and Home Depot. They are a Lighter made machine than the one's marketed by the john Deere dealerships. These Lighter made Mower's allow Home Owner's to Purchase them at a Much cheaper price. The frame's as well as the deck's and their component's are made at a much less cost as well, so their durability is Not Near as good as the Heavier made model's sold through the John Deere dealerships and Often Home Owner's find this out soon after they buy them. I have a good friend that has a Z-245 John Deere zero Turn mower that he purchased at Home Depot that I service for him. It has the 24 Horsepower Briggs & Stratton twin cylinder engine in it. I have had to take off the engine cowling twice to clean up the flywheel magnet's as well as the coil face's due to Rust and it did not want to start good. He Park's it inside so I have no idea where this rust is coming from as he does Not wash the engine either ? This past year it kept starting then dying. I located the issue to be a bad Fuel Bowl sensor it is Located in the bottom of the Carburetor fuel bowl. It cost me $65.00 for this sensor to replace it and it was misserable to work on as the entire engine Intake has to be removed from the engine to work on the Carburetor as they bolted the Carburetor onto the intake from the Rear of it where you can't get at the bolt's unless you remove the entire intake. I have Placed two Mowing Deck spindles in his machine as well. They have Grease Zerk's in them which he hit's often with his grease gun, but the bearings still went bad. I asked the John Deere mechanic why these bearings fail so often ? He told me that one the cheaper made machines Marketed by Lowes & Home Depot that the deck bearings are China made, which are Very Inferior to The Heavier made machine's sold through John Deere dealerships that have U.S made Bearings in them. I was not surprised at this, I Guess you get what you pay for, and I suspect I will be working on this machine in the very near future again as it has had several issues with it since it was bought new....Hammerdown