By far the best retro lawnmower from jd. I have a 200 that I am in the processor “restoring” right now, but I wish I had a 111 because they are far more lightweight than my 200. Wish mine could look as good as yours.
Check oil every time you mow before starting, and see how clean it is on the stick. Keep air filter clean. Grease front spindles. Don't mow wet grass. Spindles/bearings last longer dry. Store inside - not outside. Both hydrostatic and manuals are belt drive. Both have dual idler pulley's to tension the drive belt. Your clutch pivots the pulley's and releases belt tension. From what your boss said, I'd check these pulley's. They are still available. I replaced mine. 50$ for a real JD is great!!!
The pulleys were tough. I used a 38" for the 300 series with new spindles. I think the newer decks are better. The 111 is a better tractor, but the OHV oil pressurized, oil filtered Kohlar in the STX is much better than the flat head, oil splash B & S in the 111. The Kohlar is better balanced too - its much smoother. Thanks for the comment Sir.
Love the Kohler engines, they just in my opinion sound better than the Briggs&Stratton engines. I have a 1985 John Deere 112L (same thing as the 111) which I have a 15hp Kohler in it.
Joe, if it will start, run, mow grass and not smoke it's worth $500.00. If the paint, seat, tires and belts are in good shape add another $500.00. If its a hydrostatic add $150.00. The decks take the most abuse. Loose sand and dirt sandblast the under side of the decks and they get thin, then they come through.
Nick, I got mine off ebay. The 111 and the 116 take the same seat, so you can search for either one. John Deere (I believe), still has this seat available too, and it would be of the the highest quality.
My local JD dealer identifed the deck so they could order the parts for me. Its an older series they call a 7 iron - thats John Deere language. Mowing is hard on decks. The blades pull up sand and dirt, which is hard on the metal. People run over & into things so its rare you find a good straight solid older deck. Most are rusted, thin & beat up pretty bad. Newer decks are thinner. I had to custom fab the arms and lift straps. Not to hard. It fit under the tractor. Thats what really mattered.
This looks awesome! I just found a John Deere 111 just like this and I have been restoring it up like new. Those lights were a great idea and I now want to add some on to mine . What’s the length of those because the size you have in there fit perfectly .
Was it hard to match up the pulleys when you swapped the motor out? What kind of mower deck did you use? Would you recommend switching the deck out? I'm currently looking for a cheap john deere in my area. The john deere dealership said I could get a stx38 or a 111 for my price range. I want to restore one with a newer more powerful engine. Any advice would be cool? Thank you. You did a great job. She looks bueatiful.
I just bought one of these for 50$ ...The story on that is my boss at my job said the rear end locked up and stopped the engine and the rear drive well thats not possible cause its belt driven not hydro-static so i brought it home and started it up and pushed both pedals down and boom it worked. so im real happy i got it ..there is nothing wrong with it. is there anything I should watch out for on these 111's and how to maintain it properly?
Was the deck from a older 300 series or is it off of the newer x300 series mowers. Yeah that deck looks a lot better than the original. was it difficult to put the deck on or did it just go right on no prob.
Exactly which 12.5 HP Kohler engine did you use? How does this engine exhaust? The information I'm coming up with says an OHV engine won't fit because of exhaust and oil drain.
I mounted a muffler in front of the engine and welded an exhaust pipe to it. The oil drains from the side on the O.H.V. with a shut off valve. There's room to accommodate it and I attach a drain hose to drain the oil.
i had to fix my pto, the previous owner didn't put the spacer in between the engine and electric clutch and wore the wires out. put a used one on and a homemade spacer works fine.
