[AJD] Re:Chris' John Deere 111

Sat Nov 26 20:28:50 PST 2005

Greg,

      Yes,  it has the fuel tank under the hood.  I
will try and get some pictures of it in my Yahoo file
folers soon.  Thanks for the info.  I don't plan on
doing much with it until spring time.  The guy I
bought it from just had some work done to it,  and I
have service records for it showing some of the
repairs that you mentioned.   The person I bought it
from said it came with the house when he bought it (he
lives 3 miles north of me)  10 years ago.  The
original deal paperwork says it is from Oregon.  
Pioneeer Implement Corp.  Hermiston Ore.  

      I am planning on using the little bugger to mow
the runway for my remote controled airplanes.  My
cousin has a 1200 foot grass runway for his
cropduster,  I mow a secion of it shorter for my
little planes.  Usually it is mowed with a TO30 with a
finish mower on it,  unless he lets it get to tall,
then the 3020 comes out with a 6' brush hog.  I keep
about 150' of it down to about 1.5 inches for the
little planes,  so the 111 will get to work a little. 
That and I am going to take it to the show in Lynden
and use it to travel around the showgrounds like all
the fat old guys...

               Chris

--- greg at theoldtractorcompany.com wrote:

> Chris
> I also have lots of memories of the 111. From a
> dealer's point of view, it was really the first 
> real small bagger capable mowing tractor to come
> out. We could NOT keep them in stock, felt 
> like we sold millions of them. 
> 
> You mention it's an early one. I take this to mean
> that the fuel tank is under the hood and not 
> under the seat like later ones? Deere quickly
> figured out that having a fuel tank up above a 
> hot engine wasn't the best design feature and the
> fuel tank was moved under the seat, where it 
> remained on all subsequent tractors.
> 
> 11 hp B&S motor, mostly bulletproof if serviced
> regularly, manual trans was pretty reliable 
> too. With age we did see wear in the main shaft that
> took power into the trans, it was even 
> possible that the case would wear from the shaft and
> then we had to basically replace most of 
> the transaxle. A few keys or gears would shear from
> time to time also. The mower was a steady 
> performer except the main pulley shaft required
> fairly regular bearing replacement as did a lot 
> of the idlers. We noticed that when one idler went
> the others would soon follow. 
> 
> The first units had the big one bag bagger, later
> ones had the better two bag bagger system.
> Also a hydrostat option was added later in
> production and was dubbed the 111H. More power is 
> always better so the big brother 116 was offered. A
> twin cylinder engine and more power but 
> basically the same otherwise. Also a hydrostat was
> available on the 116. 
> 
> Deere next offered the one year wonder, the 112L (so
> as not to confuse with the venerable 112)
> This was the intial offering of the Kawasaki engine
> in a lawn tractor from Deere. It was an 
> instant hit and Deere quickly announced the
> 160/170/180. And talk about selling, the new 
> Kawasaki powered lawn tractors were unbelievable
> performers and sold like wildfire. I think we 
> only had two engine failures in all the years they
> were out and both were operator neglect. 
> Great tractors and solid mowers too.
> 
> The first lawn tractors I sold were 111's (my first
> customer's name was Brad Doors and I 
> actually ran into him last year,we swapped stories
> and enjoyed talking about his old lawn 
> tractor)but I heeded the siren call of the Rust God
> after the 180's and left sales, at least so 
> far as new lawn equipment went and went to the parts
> side once and for all.
> 
> I think a 111 in good condition is an excellent
> choice for an all around mower. I suppose you 
> could spend some time collecting all the variations
> in that family too.
> 
> If you need any info, I know for certain I've kept
> all the sales books on these series so let 
> me know.
> 
> Enjoy, it should serve you well
> 
> Greg
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Greg Stephen
> The Old Tractor Company
> Stephen Equipment Company
> PO Box 709
> Franktown, CO 80116
> 303-663-5246
> 303-468-0377 FAX<<--GREAT WAY TO REACH ME!
> 
> On Fri Nov 25 23:17 , Chris C <jdnutinwa at yahoo.com>
> sent:
> 
> >LOL I accidentally sent this to Dean instead of the
> >entire list...Sorry for the duplicate Dean...
> >
> >Howdy all,
> >
> >     I picked up a 111 Lawn mower with a bagger off
> of
> >Craigs list.  The main reason I wanted it is simply
> >becasue my grandpa used to have one and I have a
> >picture of me mowing with it when I was much
> younger. 
> > This one is much earlier than the one he had,  but
> it
> >seems to run well,  looks pretty good (original)
> and
> >has a bagger with it.   I don't know much about the
> >111's,  were they a late 70's into the early 80's
> >vintage?  It also came with a parts manual and
> >original sales literature,  that also show the
> model
> >68 (I have one of these too)  so it was nice to
> come
> >across the info on the other mower I have.
> >
> >
> >                    Chris
> >     
> >
> >
> >	
> >		
> >__________________________________ 
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> 
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