The transmission problem appears to be a fairly common with this mower. I have 3 14SBs and 2 of them have had the transmission go on them. I have even taken one of the trans apart to see if it was just a broken gear, but I was never able to diagnose to specific problem. While $300 may not seem bad for the trans, also beware of the clutch and belts. You may find yourself spending another $200-$300 there.

• John Deere 14sb Lawn Mower For Sale

I also just had the lower part of the handle snap in half last weekend for no apparent reason. With three mowers I have tried to cobble parts from one, so it hasn't been terribly expensive. The Kawasaki engine is great and I have had no problems there.

If you only spend $300 and the mower runs great for another 5-10 years you probably made a sound decision. If you have to put an additional $300-$400 into it for miscellaneous things you may wish you bought a new one. Ask the repair facility if they will give you a 1 yr.

Warranty on the trans. Hindsight will always be 20/20. You know your mower, just go with your gut.

Fishdude: Sounds like you are doing some commercial mowing. Were your 14sb's sold as a commercial walkbehind mowers? Also, how many different operators do you have using these machines? I know the new JX75/85's are sold as a residential WB. Different operators have different habits. Also, be aware that the rear wheels are driven by the transmission, i.e. The rear wheels are coupled by gears to the trans output shaft.

If you bounce the unit on the ground accidentally while loading/unloading subsequent transmission damamge is not considered normal wear and tear & is not warrantable. I've owned mine for 14 years and feel that i've got my $600 worth, rather than the cheap junk mowers that need replaced every 5 years. I've replaced my wheels several times, and now ordered the rear wheel gear spurs that are stripped.

Two handle bars broke also. Do not hose down the deck or the blade clutch will go bad, if you do then run the mower to expell the water. I did replace the self-propel cable a few times, then found out I installed it wrong. I've also replaced the blade twice and ordered the john deere mulch blade so i hope it lasts longer, i do sharpen it twice a year. The rear wheel bolts needed replaced also. If the wheel spurs fix my problem, i may keep it, but i'm thinking about getting a honda next time for better maintenance.

Posted by james/seattle WA on Thu, Jun 9, 11 at 2:52 I first posted this as a 'followup' on another thread started some years back (with some recent responses). Not sure if that is 'correct' so thought I'd start my own new post. Thanks to anyone with advice!

I have a well-used John Deere 14SB silver deck walk-behind mower. It's been a good mower but perhaps not maintained so well (my neighbor gave it to me when he had trouble starting it). A couple of cables rusted/corroded/froze up from outdoor storage and after some work with some WD-40 I got the drive gear working again, except now it's constantly in drive and you have to fight it to pull it backwards, turn corners, etc.

I can live with that for my home mowing, but the latest: hard-starting (I got the manual and tried some choke/throttle adjustments and cleaned the air filter). NOW the problem is that when I try to engage the blade the motor dies. Just by my description (not actually seeing the machine)the local lawn mower repair shop said the motor is prob. Dead, that even just a cable replacement wouldn't be worth the price (they quoted $60-80 just for a cable and said you can NOT retrofit anything else to work).

If I could just 'get it to mow' I'd be happy. Any suggestions? Before you toss the unit or spend excessive money why not do a simple compression test. There are a multitude of issues as simple as decarbonizing the engine, to rehoning and rings to reboring and oversize piston & rings to valve relapping or replacement. If the unit is Genuine John Deere than as RB has suggesteed it may well worth a rebuild indeed, since a comparable replacement would be well more of an investment.

Is the Chassis and Wheels etc other than the cable in fair to good condition? By all means save this Mower with the Kawasaki engine! I've just saved ours, and when I got to looking into engine wearout, I was shocked to see that the valve adjustments held steady for 15 years, and are within.0005 of what the spec is!

That is unbelievable, even cars don't hold tolerances that well as they undergo a lot of wear and tear. Your problem is probably the same exact same one that I had. It throws you for a loop for sure. MOST LIKELY it is your carburetor MAIN JET, that you need to actually unscrew and clean with nylon Fishing Line. My Jet actually looked great, with my eyesight, it had a very round opening and didn't look like any junk was blocking it. There was uniform build-up of gasoline residues, that I was able to rough-out, but using fishing line and just running it through the jet maybe 10 times, and when I saw the opening getting larger, I knew I was onto something! The Fishing Line won't damage the soft brass jet, so don't worry about enlarging the opening too much.

John Deere 14sb Lawn Mower For Sale

But once you get this back in, and your Carb back on, you will be amazed! As you throttle-up and then Engage the Blade Clutch, the Engine will pull strongly and NOT Stall-Out!!! Oh - There is NO replacement or rebuilt carburetor available, so treat it well, you can probably re-use the same gaskets, and maybe a little bit of gasket sealer -Automotive type is fine.