John Deere LX176

The John Deere LX176 was built out in Horicon, Wisconsin over an 8 year period, throughout the nineties from 1990 until production ceased in 1998. It is one of John Deere’s smaller models with 0.4 liter engine designed and built by Kawasaki. It’s their FC420V model that takes gasoline and was just a 1 cylinder, air cooled, naturally aspirated engine with an oil capacity of 1.6 liters. This power is transferred to the wheels via a hydrostatic transmission with infinite forward and reverse speeds. The chassis is a 4×2 2WD. The transmission requires 3.4 liters of oil to operate properly. The top speed on the LX 176 is 5.5 mph and in reverse it can manage 2.5 mph.

The capacity of the fuel tank is just 9.5 liters (2.5 US gallons) allowing for just a few hours operating time before requiring a refill. The most popular attachments for the John Deere LX 176 are snow blowers. It can take either a 38″ or 42″ snowblower attachment on the front for clearing driveways. It can also take a varying number of mowing decks. The largest is a 48″ deck, but it can also take a 44″ and 38″ one also. Obviously the larger deck will struggle more in damp and long grass. But if the grass is dry and not too long, then this mowing deck will make mince meat of it and not stall at all.

There is no cab on the JD LX 176, but there is the option of a sun umbrella. The turning radius on the lawn mower is a reasonable 0.51 meters (20 inches). This model is still used today, although many opt for a smaller 38″ mowing deck so as not to stall the engine during the summertime, while at winter it is equally useful at clearing snow.

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4 Reviews of the “John Deere LX176”

  1. Ken says:

    I has been a very reliable unit. First purchased new and used by my late father, I inherited it in 2013. In that time I have only put about 125 hours on it.
    Mowing this unit works beautifully however, thick long grass seems to be a bit much for this 3 blade 44” deck. Alas, no bagging attachment is available for it.
    The 38” snowthrower works great! Heavy wet snow is fine until it gets too deep. Then it struggles a bit. You can still clear it, it just takes longer. Most 95% of MN winters are no problem for this little machine.
    Parts are expensive, so cross checking parts on EBay is a must.
    No problems that others above have stated. Battery replacement? Yes. Fuel pump 3 years ago, oil filter attachment o- rings to fix a leak and PTO switch was all I needed to do. (Oh yeah, new seat)
    Added an hour meter from EBay ($8).

    Year of Manufacture: 0
    Pros: Very reliable, powerful, beautiful cut super fast attachment change (mower to snowblower in 20 minutes!)
    Cons: Parts are expensive.
    Attachments: 44” piranha rear discharge deck (with mulching adapter), single stage snowthrower
    Modifications: Hour meter

  2. Mark says:

    Hood Will Break. Cannot/Will not run in Winter. However, the paint looks nice for years so you can make your neighbors jealous with the pretty yellow and green. Additionally, the metal thickness is a heavier gauge than industry standard so it holds up longer that other disposable lawn mowers however, it cost twice as much…so…not really a plus because YOU are paying for it so YOU should expect this quality. DEERE should offer the owners of the lawn tractors replacement hoods and mechanisms slightly cheaper than 1,000 dollars to replace the original shoddy quality. Not only that it should be a design that is reinforced not the EXACT same piece of crap…what an insult!.

    Year of Manufacture: 1992
    Pros: Heavy Deck, Good Paint, Backfire safety feature in the form of a sub-par case seal.
    Cons: Under powered if using the bagger in heavy grass (not tall or overgrown grass just a nice thick yard) so blades need sharpened multiple times per season otherwise the high lift blades cannot push the clippings into the bags. Hood Breaks Leaving YOU Looking BAD. Eyelets in the bottom of bagger will tear out. Kawasaki Motor Hates Cold Weather, Non Serviceable Trans WILL DEFINITELY Need Serviced or You Will be Sitting. Throttle handle breaks on most models but it always breaks in a manner that is still usable just sand down the jagged plastic and your good to go. Case seals fail if there is a carb backfire.
    Attachments: Custom reinforcing brackets welded to the frame to hold on the hood that is/was poorly designed.
    Modifications: Hood, until it is so broken that it is dangerous to the user and MUST be pitched. Bags will tear and rot…they all do. However, the cheap eyelets in the bottom tear the heavy gauge plastic in a year or two, instead, get some seat belt material and use an awl to sew them to the bottom of the bags as a strap…it will hold up for a decade and not destroy the bag plus it last longer than a single damn season. Throttle handle breaks on most models but it always breaks in a manner that is still usable just sand down the jagged plastic and your good to go. Because the little Kawasaki motor does not like cold weather it will eventually backfire. When this happens it WILL blow the engine seal causing a leak…they are notorious for this so buy the upgraded case half seal and only do the repair once. Or, if you own two of these tractors do it twice like I did.

  3. Simon paternoster says:

    Excellent

    Year of Manufacture: 0
    Pros: Fantastic mower best of my collection I’ve two I think of all the mowers I’ve used the best .ive a 178 I’m restoring with the liquid cooled engine can’t wait to use that one over all I’ve cut loads of grass over years and this lx176 is the ultimate mower , I’ve a bagger unit I’m pleased with that , I’ve 4 John deeres two lx 176 s 1 lx178 and a 165 why did Mr John Deere stop such a amazing machine well done Mr John Deere .
    Cons: None
    Attachments: Bagger

  4. Dan says:

    Very expensive LUXURY, but cuts 4 acres and has been running for 15 years, with loads of repairs. Again REPAIR PARTS ARE VERY EXTREMELY HIGH>

    Year of Manufacture: 1991
    Pros: easy 38″ deck to put on or take off—-engine very smooth and quiet.
    Very responsive steering. small enough for a 2 acre yard and turing radius very good. Hyd drive works well.
    Very comfortable ride.. Best lawn mower made by John Deere. Do not see why they stopped making it.
    Now own a x500 with 48″ deck- very good , but no match for lx176.
    Cons: Repair parts are TOO high priced. Deck needed more grease fitting on idler pulleys. Wheels on deck need grease fittings.
    All Plastic housing falls apart.. Very cheap made.
    Attachments: 38″ deck—leaf catching attachment –high lift blades
    Modifications: Rear end supports had to be rebuilt–home made(stronger) Took off nearly all of housing. Grass catcher to much trouble.—waste of money.
    High lift blades very noisy, do not use.

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