# John Deere transaxle upgrade?



## woundedknees (5 mo ago)

I have a JD X324 with about 900 hours on the unit.

the transaxle, a K58, is making no longer moving the mower. After checking belts, pulleys and idlers, it appears the old girl is dying.

Is it feasible to upgrade to a k-66, or would it be more prudent to try installing a kit to repair the existing unit?


----------



## HarveyW (Sep 15, 2014)

Howdy woundedknees, welcome to the tractor forum.

There are conversion kits for this purpose. See attached. Considering the price, I think I would try a kit in the K58.









K66 Upgrade Kit for John Deere X300 Series (JDX300) - RJR Tractor


The complete K66 Upgrade Kit for John Deere X300 Series (JDX300) tractors Kit includes: New K66 transaxle Kevlar drive belt Color matched wheels with hubs to fit the larger 1" axle shafts Brackets, hardware, and fluids needed to complete the conversion Full color installation manual




rjrtractor.com


----------



## woundedknees (5 mo ago)

HarveyW said:


> Howdy woundedknees, welcome to the tractor forum.
> 
> There are conversion kits for this purpose. See attached. Considering the price, I think I would try a kit in the K58.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the response... Proud of the kit, aren't they?


----------



## woundedknees (5 mo ago)

It will likely be a pain, since it's a 4WS version of the X300 series, but that's the price we pay, eh?


----------



## 2billt (Aug 7, 2011)

Welcome woundedknees,
Double check the drive pulley on the K58, sometimes the spline strips out but may look just fine.


----------



## woundedknees (5 mo ago)

2billt, you were spot on. I should have checked that first!
I was able to accomplish the job without dropping the transaxle or pulling the seat and fender deck.

On a somewhat related note, are there any better quality cooling fans available for the K58, rather than JD OEM?
I replaced the existing fan due to the blades bowing into the path of the drive belt and shearing off.
The OEM direct replacement I obtained did the same thing shortly after I got the 324 reassembled!


----------



## 2billt (Aug 7, 2011)

I'm glad you found the problem.
I know that the fans are subject to collecting debris and cleaning schedule should be more frequent than not. 
Shimming may be useful if the blades are needing additional clearance from the pulley alignment.


----------



## woundedknees (5 mo ago)

Thanks... I was wondering about that. Seems they could have added a tad more tensile strength/stiffness to the blades.


----------

