John Deere 285 questions

[HNM]

Hi everyone,need the good or bad on a JD 285 lawn tractor.I know it's water cooled and 18hp don't know the hrs.Would like any info on how good the engine and hydro are and what to look out for.Neighbor has it and it seems to cut grass and blow snow good.Also what is a fair price as said it does have a snow blower and cutting deck.Thanks for any and all info. Neil

 

[Mike Van]

I;ve had one since the 90's, bought it used with about 1100 hours. Now has 2300, had to replace the ignition module, gasket on the bottom of the engine that caused a coolant leak, some spindle bearings, a few belts. When the day comes I can't make it go anymore, going to be a sad one. The newer ones do nothing for me. I bought mine from a dealer, don't even remember what I paid, around 2 thousand i'd say? Hard to say what ones worth today, depends on the machine, hours, etc - Kept under cover, leaks, etc.

 

[kencombs]

Early versions of that engine had a plastic timing gear. Known to fail around 1000 hours. If it is a later engine, or the cam and gear have been replaced it is a solid engine, maybe 2500hour life.

 

[Averie]

have a 285 the cam went out on replaced by a John Deere dealer several years ago little costly but have had very few problems with since, as far as the tractor hydro works great mowed a lot of lawn with it with very little work done to it on a scale of 1-10 I would rated it at about a 8.5 does a nice job mowing just a all around a excellent tractor.