# Advice for John Deere 220B



## mantnyh (Aug 12, 2018)

Hello. New to the forums here. Been doing a lot of reading over the past few days. I have the opportunity to buy a John Deere 220B reel mower. I've never owned one before. I've had a Toro turboforce walk behind for the past 12 years. I just can't get the look I want with it and my Bermuda. Anything particular I should check out before buying the reel mower? It did start. Idles wierd though. He claimed it has a new carburator. All advise is welcome. Thanks!


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Assume that you will need to replace the reel, bedknife and bearings. This is between $400-500 in parts. Medium level effort to replace. Finding someone to do it for you could be hard.


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## mantnyh (Aug 12, 2018)

Thanks, he's asking $600. I can check the reel and bedknife before buying. Are we assuming this just to be safe or is there typically an issue with them?


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

It is a wear item. They need to be replaced after they wear. You could tell by measuring the reel diameter, but it is not that easy to do. Ask the seller how old it is, but wear depends on how many sqft and grass type.


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## mantnyh (Aug 12, 2018)

Going to swing by tomorrow and have a look at the reel and bedknife. Side note, the headlight works.


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## Chaseweeks1 (Jul 27, 2018)

For me I would skip on getting the reel replaced, maybe get the bearings and bedknife replaced, that will only be $70-100. I have a 220A mower with the original reel, bedknife, and bearings and it cuts great, after backlapping and greasing everything.


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## mantnyh (Aug 12, 2018)

Thanks @Chaseweeks1

I'm chomping at the bit to get it.


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## mantnyh (Aug 12, 2018)

Going today at 5 to look at the mower once again. Any additional advice from reel owners would be great.


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## mantnyh (Aug 12, 2018)

Stopped by and saw the mower today. The reel looked very good. No dings or bends anywhere. Really hard to see the bed knife. The major concern is that there was a ton of grease on the reel blades. It also had a lot of oil underneath the area where the oil fill is located. Is there anyone that owns one of these that can chime in? Is this normal? The unit didn't have any oil drips under it and it has been in the same spot for a week. Thanks for any help.


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## FRD135i (Oct 15, 2017)

mantnyh said:


> Stopped by and saw the mower today. The reel looked very good. No dings or bends anywhere. Really hard to see the bed knife. The major concern is that there was a ton of grease on the reel blades. It also had a lot of oil underneath the area where the oil fill is located. Is there anyone that owns one of these that can chime in? Is this normal? The unit didn't have any oil drips under it and it has been in the same spot for a week. Thanks for any help.


Just assumptions and I am by no means an expert but if you don't funnel the oil properly when draining it, it will sit underneath there. You can tip the unit back on the roller and see the underside to look at the bed knife. Some articles say run your finger along the bedknife to feel knicks but I would not recommend it on a non-professional unit. If you look at @Redtenchu video on the 220b he has grease all packed in outside the reel. On the reel blades? Don't know about that one.

Lots of good info here as well

https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=97


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## Chaseweeks1 (Jul 27, 2018)

I can't speak for the oil thing, I'm not an engine guy. When I got my mower it was sitting outside in a pile of leaves for over a year and after cleaning it and fixing the engine it runs fine. Grease on the blades is probably ok, I don't think it will affect the cut but it also wouldn't hurt to clean them either.


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## Redtenchu (Jan 28, 2017)

The reel blades can develop a light layer of surface rust from normaI use. I'm guessing the seller put some oil on the blades to prevent that from happening until the unit sells.

There is always risk when buying a used unit, budget for the worst, hope for the best!


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## mantnyh (Aug 12, 2018)

Boy it has been a busy day. Thanks for the advice. I got him down to $600 and will probably go get it this weekend. It looks like a solid unit besides the rough idle at all speeds.


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## mantnyh (Aug 12, 2018)

Bit the bullet and bought it yesterday. Paid $600 and think it was a good deal. I found out why there was "grease" on everything. Apparently the oil cap above the reel is the plug and if the unit is sitting level oil pours out of it. Got oil everywhere! I did notice that smelled of gas a bit. Curious how the person who had it stored it and done maintenance on it. I was going to drain it anyway due to the smoke while idling. I let it run for a while, before the oil spill, and it cleared up a lot. Now the only time it smokes is at full throttle. Mid to low throttle it is clear and runs great. The park brake don't work. The brake coil looks roached. Also noticed that both belts are cracked and need replacing. Here a few pictures I took tonight. This will be my winter project and hopefully be using it in the spring. I plan on documenting the restore here. Enjoy the read and let me know of anything I should be doing.


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## mantnyh (Aug 12, 2018)

No more pictures yet, but I have adjusted the reel to bedknife and it cuts paper like a champ. I plan on trying to adjust HOC this weekend and cut a bit. I'll post some pictures.


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## mantnyh (Aug 12, 2018)

Been a while since updating. Since then I decided to take apart the carburetor and clean it. Took it all apart except for the darn pilot screw since you can really get it off w/o breaking it. Cleaned the jet and emulsion tube and the other pathways. At this point I noticed that all the gaskets were roached so I didn't bother removing them. I was afraid they'd tear completely. After a good cleaning I installed the carburetor. Fired up with one pull, but still ran like choked at full throttle.

Removed and checked spark plug gap cleaned the carbon off and installed again. No dice.

Removed and inspected muffler, ordered a cheap chonda carburetor and got a replacement plug from NAPA. Went ahead and took off the gas tank since the new carb came with a gas line. Cleaned everything while it was apart. Installed all the new parts. Added fuel and she fired up and ran like a champ!!

The curiosity in me wonders if it was the carb or the plug, but I don't feel like taking it back apart to find out. I can't seem to get the plug out w/o removing the carb.

So after a $12 carb off Amazon and a $2.50 plug from NAPA it is running great. I did have to adjust low throttle, but after than all seems well. I didn't get a chance to mow my test area since it got dark on me. I plan on doing that this weekend. I'll post some pictures of that as well.

For now below are some pics of the process.


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## mantnyh (Aug 12, 2018)

Finally got some pictures of my test strip mowed to 1". Mowed twice over the weekend. Had to run full throttle to keep it from dying on me since I was cutting from 2.5".


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## psider25 (May 4, 2020)

mantnyh said:


> Bit the bullet and bought it yesterday. Paid $600 and think it was a good deal. I found out why there was "grease" on everything. Apparently the oil cap above the reel is the plug and if the unit is sitting level oil pours out of it. Got oil everywhere! I did notice that smelled of gas a bit. Curious how the person who had it stored it and done maintenance on it. I was going to drain it anyway due to the smoke while idling. I let it run for a while, before the oil spill, and it cleared up a lot. Now the only time it smokes is at full throttle. Mid to low throttle it is clear and runs great. The park brake don't work. The brake coil looks roached. Also noticed that both belts are cracked and need replacing. Here a few pictures I took tonight. This will be my winter project and hopefully be using it in the spring. I plan on documenting the restore here. Enjoy the read and let me know of anything I should be doing.


@mantnyh ...I just bought a 220b myself and noticed the same thing you mentioned about oil sitting below the engine just above the reel. I see you said you figured it out ....but I don't really understand what you meant by below 
<<<<<<<<<<Apparently the oil cap above the reel is the plug and if the unit is sitting level oil pours out of it>>>>>>>>>>>

What do you mean by pours out and sitting level? Does this mean if I tip the mower back like to inspect beadknife I should expect oil to leak out?



Would you recommend changing the oil before cutting with it the first time? Thanks


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