John Deere 214

[dp in nd]

I am looking at a John Deere 214 garden tractor, and was wondering what some of the pros and cons are,(engine, tranny, steering,) could be. I have not seen it or heard it run yet. Don"t know how many hours are on it. It does have a 42 inch deck, tiller , snowblower, weights and chains. Any info would be helpful. Thanks in advance, Doyle

 

[JT]

Doyle,
They are built very tough, a nice tractor, it is a gear drive transmission, has a varible speed in it, and the biggest issues with that machine is the variator sheaves and bearings will get worn, and then it does not function correctly. will need a few hundred dollars to fix it if it is worn. The decks are a weak spot, they do rust and the bearings are sealed, cannot lube them. It has a Kohler engine, that is a very good engine, but it needs proper care, if it needs to be rebuilt, figure about 6-700.00 to have someone do it for you.
So, with that in mind, check it out, if it all works, and runs good, you will have a good tractor.
Jim

 

[GoJDpuller]

Ive got 214 its a awesome tractor takes alot of abuse. Ive had mine for 10 years and its been perfect until my dad put deisel in it now it starts kinda hard. And I need to replace the bearings in the deck. Other than that its 25 years old and still hold in together really strong I use it for snowblowing, mowing and pulling things.

 

[IA Leo]

I have (2) 212's and a 214 and manage to keep two running at the same time. Bought for future with triplet grandchildren! 47 inch decks welded manytime,reinforced, new spindles (tough to get the bolts out) but the workiest thing is to clean and lubricate the variator sheave yearly otherwise you might drive up the garage wall when you push the clutch in...usually you know its needing attention. Slickest, toughest little tractors. They start out slowly, not big jerk due to the variator, also nice to quickly slow down for a patch of heavy grass. Have mowed weeds taller than the tractor in granny gear. Leonard