Bill:
I only buy JD belts for my mower. I mow a lot of grass... lot more than 2 acres per season. I maintain my deck properly. I take it off in October or so, clean and lube it for winter storage in the pole barn. Still oxidizes.. so I lube it again in the spring. This is my 3rd or 4th belt for this particular mower. The first 2 years that I had this Dealer model, Signature our JD dealer did all the maintenance on the mower with their Ready, Set, Mow program. $100.00 a year. Kinda expensive...... so now I do my own maintenance. A parts catalog and service manual would really be nice to have .. pretty pricey -- almost $90.00 just for the two of them either paper or cd. Sure wish I knew someone who had a cd set
Found one problem with my deck, the lift mechanism left the factory with a crack at the weld. You can see the paint, rust and fresh steel on the broken piece which tells me this was a manufacturing defect. Caused some problems. Spent the last 3 days getting parts and redoing the deck. Got most of it done now and with luck everything will be right. If not, after I get the first cut done will redo what I find amiss. My Lord what a PITA to work on... cheap push on fasteners instead of washers and pins, everything is made for tiny hands not meat hooks like mine.. and of course got no knees so that makes it really painful.
Got in 6 hours of mowing today/tonight ... I was behind the 8 ball on grass and it was almost a foot high. Not exactly the kind of grass one should be cutting with a ride on .. but kept the deck up high and took little cuts. Eventually got the front lawn and the side yard mostly cut. Still have about another 2 acres to mow and that probably gets me to the back of the pond maybe.
Getting some whining it seems from one of the spindles. Darn things are sealed so you can't grease em. At least they are not $100.00 a pop like the Roper/Craftsman ones. This will be the second spindle I replace. So far this year just in parts never mind consumables like oil filter, air filter, oil and such I probably have over $200.00 into it. I don't skimp and since we purchased it in May of 2005 it has been a real good mower.
I think the lift lever break probably has been causing much of my problems with the deck. I had to get new gauge wheels along with a spring, lift lever linkage, double hair pins, thrust washers, new mulching blades and of course the new belt. Last years belt no longer engaged properly -- stretched.... not sure why but it was about an inch or so longer when compared to the new belt.
Gonna keep doing what I am doing, maintain and then this fall I am going to strip it completely, pop it in the big tank and electrocute it then prime and paint. I am not sure why, but the powder coat is peeling off the deck and the platform. Oh well ...
And yes, even though it is green and yaller, I do like my L111 a lot.