# Jd lx188 what's a fair price?



## Trailboss19 (Jul 18, 2021)

I just bought a lx 188 overall the mower is in good shape needs a throttle cable and had to replace battery 17 hp 48in cut no cracks in hood no rust on deck motor seems to be solid not sure how to tell the year model


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## pogobill (Jan 31, 2012)

Looks like a '98


https://www.tractordata.com/lawn-tractors/000/0/8/85-john-deere-lx188.html


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## BigT (Sep 15, 2014)

https://www.tractorhouse.com/listings/farm-equipment/for-sale/list/manufacturer/john-deere/model/lx188











Used John Deere LX188 riding lawn mower for sale - RonMowers


I have a nice John Deere LX188 riding lawn mower for sale 40.8 hrs only and in good condition. This mower powered by 17 hp. Kawasaki engine. It has 48 inches Deck. Hydrostatic transmission easy to drive.Electric PTO.




www.ronmowers.com


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## Bob Driver (Nov 1, 2017)

I've bought/sold mowers for the last 20 years, so take this for what it's worth (free).... Prices vary for used lawn equipment depending on location/age/hours. Generally speaking the higher prices are in the Northeast and on the West coast. Here in MS, everything is cheap, including the people. With age, you see a constant drop off in value until the 10 year mark, and then prices seem to level off and come down to condition/OEM/model. A 15 year old Exmark, or Scag, zero-turn is worth way more than a 15 year old Craftsman, or Troy-Bilt conventional mower. John Deere mowers generally hold their value more than most conventional mowers based mostly on their reputation from the last century in my opinion.

Your 23 year old, LX188, hydro-drive was a higher end conventional machine in it's day. The 48" deck is what suburbanites with a 1-2 acre lot usually like. The big plus is if it actually has that FD501 Kawasaki engine listed in the Tractor Data link. It's a liquid-cooled, commercial engine, that is damn reliable. It's considered on the same level as a Kohler Command Pro for reliability. Both are 1,200-1,500 hour engines with good care.

The machine appears to be in excellent shape for it's age from the photos posted. If that machine had a single-cylinder Briggs, or Kohler, engine under the same scenario, the average price would be in the $500 range in the Midwest. With the FD501 Kawasaki, $750-$800 is a reasonable price I would expect to see (depending on hours)

The Kawasaki FD series engines are kind of finicky about valve adjustments, especially the bigger V-twins. They have probably the tightest valve spec of any engine I know (.25mm/.01in). 300 hours is the standard interval, at about 350 hours the cranking speed starts to slow down because the compression release isn't working correctly due to the lack of a valve adjustment. 50 hours per year is about average for a homeowner with a 1-2 acre lot, so your hour meter will tell you the kind of life/use it's seen under previous owners. Here's a PDF copy of the FD Series Kawasaki Service Manual. I would run the valves if it had anywhere near 300+ hours as a general precaution

FD Series Kawasaki Service Manual


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## SidecarFlip (Mar 25, 2021)

Nice design Bob....

Far as valves go, I could be wrong but I've always been under the impression that none of the smaller gas motors have hydraulic lifters (no adjustment), all have solid lifters. Both my ZT are like that but setting the valves is easy' least for me'.


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## Bob Driver (Nov 1, 2017)

SidecarFlip said:


> Nice design Bob....
> 
> Far as valves go, I could be wrong but I've always been under the impression that none of the smaller gas motors have hydraulic lifters (no adjustment), all have solid lifters. Both my ZT are like that but setting the valves is easy' least for me'.


Kohler Command Pro engines (CV & CH) have always had hydraulic lifters....... So does some of their LV series (*L*iquid-Cooled *V*ertical "Ageis" engines)

Command Pro Hydraulic Lifters


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## SidecarFlip (Mar 25, 2021)

Didn't know that. Always good to learn new things. My 2 are adjustable rockers.


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## Bob Driver (Nov 1, 2017)

SidecarFlip said:


> Didn't know that. Always good to learn new things. My 2 are adjustable rockers.


They're on Kohler's higher end commercial engines. I guess their startegy is if they're going to get away with banging you for $1,800 - $2,400 for a 25HP V-twin engine, they don't want to take the risk of pissing you off by also having to make you run the valves every 300 hours. Courage (SV) and their late-model KT & KS series engines run solid lifters that need adjustment, but then those are $1,000 Homeowner engines, so they figure you need to work to get to run one of their engines at that price. Kohlers are all made in Hattiesburg now, so I figure they're probably slipping in a "MS Cool" surcharge somewhere in that pricing just to add some more to their profitability and give the finger to the UAW up there in Wisconsin at the same time.😃


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## SidecarFlip (Mar 25, 2021)

Valve adjustments are super easy anyway. Not like the valve covers are hidden away... I will say adjusting my old school Kohler vertical single on my Lincoln welder isn't. You have to grind the stem end to adjust them but I so love the sound of that motor putting along. Think it's a 241 and I have the shop manual of course. Hard to beat the sound of a big single. I did loose the 'non adjustable' carb some time ago with a real aftermarket one with an idle mixture and high speed adjustable jets. I was surprised that the head was alloy while the rest of the engine is cast iron.


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## Bob Driver (Nov 1, 2017)

Yep..... Got a K321 on a '67 Ford 120 (Straight pipe/no muffler) grandson calls it his racing lawnmower and loves to hear it run. I love to mess with him by running it at 1/2 throttle and then suddenly "toggle" the key to make it backfire. He's only 4, but he got me in trouble with his Grandma the other when he came running in the house all excited and told her "It went Kaboom loud as hell"..... I told her I have no idea where that came from


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## SidecarFlip (Mar 25, 2021)

I'm probably old school but, I've never been a fan of hydraulic lifters anyway Both my Kubota's have solid screw type rockers as well but my motorcycles are shim over bucket and a PITA to change. My wife's Suburban has the much touted (but issue prone) GM sequential cylinder cut out (using electronically controlled hydraulic lifters) that I disabled anyway. it's a gas guzzler so why make a half hearted attempt at fuel mileage anyway.


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