John Deere LA120
The John Deere LA120 lawn mower is the upgraded and more powerful version of the John Deere LA110, while it’s not quite as strong as the John Deere LA130 lawnmower. The JD LA120 gets it’s power from a 2 cylinder Briggs and Stratton engine. This gasoline (petrol) engine is 0.75 liters in size (44 cubic inches). Before mixing with the gasoline in the combustion chamber, the air intake is first filtered through a paper and foam air filter that clears the air of all possible impurities that may disrupt the combustion process. The engine itself produces an impressive 21 hp that drives both the wheels and the mower deck. The engine is started electrically via a 12 volt battery that is charged by a 9 amp alternator.
This Briggs and Stratton engine sits in 4X2 2WD chassis. As the John Deere LA120 is not a particularly massive garden tractor, it comes with a open operator station as standard, which makes operating it during the winter quite difficult if you are living in a particularly cold region. The JD LA120 uses a hydrostatic transmission which makes the lawn mower an automatic with no need for gear changes. Instead of a gear stick, it just has one pedal for going forwards and one from reversing. You can control your speed depending on how hard you press down on the pedal.
While the John Deere LA120 was superseded by the John Deere LA135 in 2008, it is still a highly popular machine that offers a huge amount of options to people who need their lawns cut as well as take care of other residential jobs from clearing snow to raking leaves. If you are someone you owns a JD LA120, then please feel free to leave a review of it below to let others know what they can expect from owning one.
Return to John Deere Lawnmowers from John Deere LA120
Return to John Deere from John Deere LA120
Have Your Say! Leave A Review Do you love or hate this tractor? You can have your say below by leaving review.
For the most part, this mower has been a pleasure to own & operate. But the defective hazardous 2-piece molded gas tank is so dangerous, I could never recommend this JD LA120.
I’ve had it since 2008!! It has been great and reliable!! Cuts nicely!! 2015 I gave it a tune up and they didn’t really see anything wrong!! Wish JD had like a schedule maintenance webpage we could follow.
reliable
Easy to service, good power from the Briggs. Have only replaced standard maintenance items to date, but I keep the spindles well greased and change the oil in the engine regularly. The deck belt jumps off of the drive pulley if you disengage the blades too quickly. I also tried to use synthetic oil (mobil 1) and it leaked like crazy – went back to the Briggs 30 weight and no leak – that had me scratching my head.
This unit uses a Tuff-Torque 40 transaxle that is a sealed unit – cannot (easily) change the trans fluid (30 weight oil). You can install drain plugs, there is a kit for it, but you do have to remove the transaxle to do so (google Taryn fixes all on youtube – a good video showing the process). All that said, the tuff-torque has been really good – my previous house had a nice flat yard, and now I am mowing on a fairly steep slope in the rear of my new property. We will see how it goes, but I have had this mower for 12 years and I have gotten good service from it.
Have bought craftsman and simplicity mowers and this mower was the better mower by far. Would buy another one when this one finally croaks.
Starts and runs well, drives good o relatively level ground however the last couple of summers the tractor won’t climb the sloped ditch that it used to climb easily before. I changed the drive belt and no difference. It will only now climb the ditch on an angle not straight up like it used to from new. Not sure what the issue is, or if there is an adjustment on the drive belt or not will have to investigate. Have found nothing on this issue on youtube, I haven’t had a heating problem that I know of as it has never stopped driving while driving.
I’ve had this unit 7 seasons and the trans-axle overheated and stopped the second week of ownership. The dealer changed the oil in the trans-axle and all was well for a few years until it overheated and stopped again After being turned off It will start again in about 30 minutes and run for a while longer until it overheats again. According to what I have read on the net, many many people have had this same problem with the unit. JD will do nothing about the problem as it is way out of warranty, but my feelings are that since many owners have the same problem, that it is like a car recall and should be handled the same way–replace or repair.
Based on the unit and the lack of understanding from JD, I will not buy another of their products.
Can’t reach under the deck to lube the joints that are recommended by JD,