Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

I did a search and found a few references to this machine but no answers.  Any one have one of these?  15.5 snow max engine, heated hand grips, 30" wide.  I can't find a listing for auger diameter or impeller diameter.  I called John Deere and the guy that was suppose to be the snow thrower expert didn't know either. 

What is the Easy Steer drive system?  The literature says: 

Easy SteerŽ drive system giving continuous power to both wheels and auto speed adjustment

Is it similar to the Ariens auto differential? 

I've heard that the units are built by B&S which translates to Simplicity.  They do have cast iron gear cases like the Simplicity.  The chute control is different than the simplicity and so is the turning method so they are not exactly the same.  I'm trying to compare the Simplicity L1530E to the JD 1130SE.  Any help would be appreciated.

Rick

Mine is working 100%.  I will add the details for what I did later today.   No more drive problems!!!!!  

I too like the most of you picked up the 1130 SE JD from Lowes.  It was setup by the JD dealership. Like mentioned earlier, the cable was loose. I was pissed that it cost be $25  to get it home only to have to pay another $48 for a home service call.  I drove mine about 40' and it stopped. One thing I wasn't use to is all the leakage of snow dusting around the shute. It seems to fly all over the place. Power wise this thing throws my snow into the neighbors yard and sometimes onto their roof.  I ran an Atlas 22" for 15 years without doing anything to it really except shearpins, oil chages... Still has the original belts from 1993, and will run circles around the JD as far as drive goes.

My 1130 SE slipped in forward and reverse after 40' of operation, it remained motionless . I shifted it to higher speeds and side to side motions forward and back then it would start again, but usually only in the higher gears.  JD Dearlership came down adjusted the cable, cleaned off the disc wheel of spent rubber, and adjusted the linkage one spot. Not the way the manual says (3-3.375") of spring stretch. but it ran great while he was here. His testing was always just the drive. Not with the blower throwing snow... Is it possible the thing is forming ice on the traction plate?. How is snow getting in there anyway?  This should be a sealed environment in there anyway, except for maybe a weep hole... I did notice snow flying all around the units shute and thought this odd.  Snow was all over the engine.  This never happened to the old machine.  The dealership was told after the next storm, its doing that slippage again.  He sent the mechanic to change the friction disc.  Next storm,,, same thing. Called JD told him it still slips, mechanic came to house and fiddled with it and told the wife This machine will never drive like the power of the old 5 HP unit I use to have....WHAT!!!!! It sounds like hes throwing up his hands.  I was considering getting a JD tractor, but after this ordeal, I think I'll look to the Japaneese for quality products.  I only bought the JD because of the name, only to find out, they only painted the unit and apply the decals! They better come up with a realistic fix for this quick.. A class action lawsuit looks promising!

hvac_01453 wrote:

I'm knocking on wood as I type this because so far I haven't had this problem with my Ariens.  But if I did I'd get it fixed just so I could drive it over a cliff...then hire a plow service.

The snow blowers I used many years ago had a gear drive instead of the friction wheel.  One even had a totally sealed Peerless brand geared transmission.  They were reliable in any weather conditions. I could be wrong but I think that all North American companies now use the friction disc-o-matic drive these days.  Honda uses a hydrostatic drive but I have no experience with them.  All I know is that wet snow, blowing snow, icy snow or in a rainstorm...when one put their snow blower in 1st gear and engages the drive lever it's supposed to move forward. Period.

These units were shipped without all the hardware to seal the belts and friction plate.  As soon as some snow accumulates on it,  The unit loses it's drive.   Below is the list of the parts.   

1. Shaft Seal  1733898   http://www.lawn-parts.com/detail.asp?id=1733898   $1.95

2. Seal Plate 1733868A  http://www.lawn-parts.com/detail.asp?id=1733868A  $5.95  (This closes the back of the plastic belt cover)  Why this was not installed who knows!!

3. Seal Strip  1733897   http://www.lawn-parts.com/detail.asp?id=1733897  $1.95 

I also sealed the front of the plastic belt cover using black foam weather stripping.   For the seal plate I used  "Henry # 212 Clear Elastomeric roof patch"  It is clear, flexible and adheres very well at any temp.  Instead using seal strip #1733897,  I ran a 1/2" bead along the engine frame where it meets seal plate.  I sealed any holes/gaps on the engine frame as well.  There is also one small hole on the top of the belt cover near the plastic hinge. Seal that too.

On the inside I cleaned the friction plate with some carb cleaner applied on a rag.   I removed all the excess oil and grease from the hex shaft and friction wheal assembly.  On the hex shaft I used a very light coating of chainsaw bar and chain oil.  This will prevent oil splatter from getting on the friction disc and plate. 
 

 I used the unit for several hours and the drive problem has been resolved.

Paul7 wrote:

I have one of these it is a toro powershift model1332 roughly 11yrs old worked great some things are getting worn on her now slips out of reverse once in awhile but the main reason for getting the JD was she doesnt want to run and have messed with it all winter long and just keeps snowing here so had to make a purchase could not be caught with pants down while the toro was at a dealership getting fixed .......

Thanks for the info.

 I guess my question is if the 1130se was shipped without these parts even though its a inexpensive fix shouldn't they be provideing these parts at no charge. As mentioned earlier I used metal duct tape looks like tin foil but much thicker sticks good in cold or hot applications. I taped both in front of plastic belt cover and back and the problem went away. Like another poster mentioned these are bandaids. John Deere should send out parts to consumer for free. My problem they have 2 year warranty but you have to bring the blower to them or pay in home service call on a snowblower with little hours on it. Management at lowes took 300.00 off my machine so my cost is 1200. I will live with the tape knowing I have a machine second too none at that price.

Don

You are correct.   Briggs who makes the 1130 has a kit that they will send to the dealer free of charge. They sent some to my dealer.  I don't think they know that the cover can leak where there is a small hole for the flexible hinge.  

Well, I tried to snow blow again today, only this time I thought I would try something EMBRY said... He mentioned trouble started when blowing off to the right, This is my main direction as well. I thought to try blowing to the left as much as possible and it reduced the slippage 70%. Another side note from that was there was 80% less accumalated snow on top the engine this time, a rareity... Looking closer at this I noticed when the impellor discharges the snow,  it rather slings it to the right side a bit, in its natural momentum. Some of it is coming straight up and it is never guided by the chute in its direction because the base of the chute is open... From the operators position, I can see the snow going straight up without touching the chute, this causes the snow to spray about. On the other hand, when discharged to the left it reverses the throwing direction of the snow by the impellor, and  it discharges cleanly. Some kind of sheet metal or plastic colar would likely clean up this spraying of snow all about....your thoughts!!!!!!!!

Yes I noticed the same thing about blowing right and you wear most of the snow ,I noticed also no slippage problem when blowing in forward position I go out to end of driveway and then blow across the eod and dont seem to have issues but start making passes up and down and the slippage will start so I am going to call local JD dealer and ask about what they are doing for the fix I got this machine at lowes so dont know how receptive to helping they are going to be but we will see and then might just order the plate and seal deal and fix myself and see what happens ..... 

I just bought a JD 928E at Lowes. The only complaint the I have is that, intermittently, the drive slips in any gear as soon as any real load is put on it. It is a pain to drag or push it to get it going again. Is this is going to be ongoing problem?  If so, I think I will return it. (Otherwise, it is great - thing can really throw some snow; also, the B&S starts first pull everytime and runs flawlessly.)