6 Most Common John Deere F725 Problems & Possible Solutions
John Deere F725 Front-mount mower is equipped with a Kawasaki gasoline 2-cylinder liquid-cooled 585 cc engine, which delivers 20 hp (14.9 kW) power. It is an old workhorse but people still want it! It is built very toughly and so far, reliable with decent cut, easy to operate, quick crank deck height adjustment, and more.
However, consumers have been complaining about some common john Deere f725 problems that they have experienced. Stalling of the engine, blowout issues, deck keeps coming off, starting and shutting issues, etc. – all of these issues can happen with your John Deere f725 mower.
So, here I have decided to address the 6 most common issues that one might encounter with this front mount mower.
Common Problems with John Deere F725 and Solution:
Check out these John Deere F725 Front-mount mower problems and solutions in details below:
1. Blowout issues
You need to check the deck pitch first and then try different blades.
If you were running a negative pitch, the cut probably wouldn’t be so good.
You want between 1/8 and 1/4 difference between the blade tips. So, if the front of the deck is higher than the back, it will create a problem.
Don’t judge the deck pitch by what the edges of the deck show. You have to turn your blades so that they are facing straight forward to back. Then, measure the heights of the tips. Different decks have different configurations.
Additionally, get rid of your gators, and go with some type of foils.
For the blades, do not use double-blade combos until you have solved the blowout problem. Because this will make your blowout problem even worse.
2. The mower deck keeps coming off
Some customers mention that the mower deck is having a problem. The deck belt keeps coming off and at the same time it loosens all of the nuts on the pulleys and in both cases, the blades fell off.
This can happen for the spindle bearings that are shot, allowing the sieves to wobble & chew up belts. If the bolts on the sieves are coming loose, there may be a blade balance problem as well.
The damaged parts can cause deck belt problems. You have to know about the structure of the mower deck.
While performing the security check of the deck, check if the things related to the belt are okay enough or not. If it is not in place or something, replace them.
You may also need to replace the belts. You may need to route the belt in such a manner as to run the blades backward and therefore loosen all the nuts. It seems that it is constantly trying to tighten the nuts.
3. Engine issues
When the grasses grow rapidly in the rainy season, this 725 front mower may act quite badly. She starts fine but when you cut even slightly longer grass, the engine will cycle down.
The plugs can be bad or the plug wire is loose. Remove one of the plug wires with insulated pliers while she’s running to check.
To check the problem, see the difference in the engine sound when you pull a wire. If there is no difference, the cylinder is not running.
If it stalls out completely, try the other one because you may have pulled the plug on the one running cylinder. To avoid this problem, the machine can be run on both cylinders.
Because if one cylinder is not firing raw gas would be pumping in and not getting burned.
4. The mower keeps shutting down
Some have a complaint that their John Deere f725 front mowers get started just fine but mowing for about 30 minutes or so, it starts acting like it’s starving for fuel like chugging.
This can happen for the mower’s vapor locking.
To get rid of the problem, keep the fuel cap lose the next time you mow and see if it runs longer.
If it does, the tank is not venting and you either need a new cap or to unplug the vent hose. If it still dies after 30 minutes, look for a blockage or other restriction as debris in the tank can block the inlet. Again, it can be a plugged fuel line issue.
It’s important to keep the interface always clean so that there is no excessive grass or oil or grease and all.
If it is venting, run the mower until it starts to sputter, and then loosen the fuel cap. If the problem ceases, it is the vent in the cap.
5. The Mower Is Not Starting
A buyer shared his problem about f725. The mower just quit for the out of gas. It didn’t start even got refilled. The battery also drained very quickly after trying.
The filter flex looked to be getting suction from the fuel pump when trying to start it. The line to the tank was not clogged but not getting gas.
A clogged vent in the cap can cause a vacuum in the tank.
So, the first and easiest trick is to loosen the fuel cap.
Next, remove the fuel line from the carb and make sure it is flowing fuel while cranking. If you are getting flow to the carb, do the carb rebuild.
This can be the F725 Kawasaki motor issue. The Kawasaki motor uses a plastic cam gear which over time breaks. So, you need to replace the gear and water pump, and oil pump gear.
To figure out the issue, remove valve covers and see if the valves move when you crank over the engine. if they don’t, you got a bad cam and will need a rebuild.
You can also pull the fuel pump and see if the pin moves when cranking the motor. If not, again cam isn’t doing its job.
You need the replacement of steel gear. Once plastic bits find their way in the oil, need to replace the water pump & gear and oil pump gear to make sure they are not damaged too.
I do not know where the fuel line comes from your tank, but that will make a difference with your incline operation. The steeper the incline, the more fuel you will need in the tank, to assure adequate fuel flow.
If you have steep terrain to mow, maybe you can get to it when the tank is full, and then move to more level ground after a short time of operating. If it is all sloped, you might carry a can of fuel on the machine with you, and top it off after a certain amount of operating time.
Take the pickup and pickup hose out of the fuel tank and put a longer pickup hose on it to cure the problem.
6. Blades issues
Some customers mentioned that when they engaged the blades of the F725 John Deere Lawn Mower, it killed the engine.
To figure out the issue, look under the deck to make sure something (twine, cord, even a rock wedged between the deck housing and the tip of the blades) is not fouling the blade and keeping it from turning.
Again, there can be a malfunction or lose connection in the seat safety feature. Make sure it’s snugly on the connector on the underside of the seat.
If it is –
- Then work back down the wiring harness, looking for broken/frayed wire(s).
- Reconnect and tape them. Your clutch almost certainly has nothing to do with the problem.
- Check for bad bearing in the clutch immediately. Remove the belt, try and turn the clutch pulley if it is hard to turn or feels rough, replace the bearing in the clutch.
If you do not replace the bearing immediately, you will end up costing more for clutches. Because you can only buy a new one instead of repairing it.
So, to replace the clutch –
- Remove blade and blade adapter.
- Use a very large vise-grip to remove the spring
- Remove the bolt holding clutch arm.
- Disconnect cable from the top side of the machine.
- Remove engine mounting bolts, have another person pull the engine away from the frame while you slide the clutch off.
What Majority of the Users Feel About John Deere F725?
According to most old and current owners of this front mount mower, this model is good for wide areas. Some were confused whether it would be good enough like the mid-mount John Deere mower or not.
It is built very tough and quite reliable with 1,000 hours with routine maintenance. And it offers decent cut, is easy to operate, and has quick crank deck height adjustment.
But it is hard to get it to mow in a straight line and the back end sticks out very far. And it barely moves in reverse. So, make sure you leave room to back out of every situation. At the end, the overall reliability seems pretty good.
Conclusion
This F725 is a hydrostatic mower. So, you should check the hydrostatic transmission with the PTO. And the other John Deere f725 problems have been discussed with the possible solutions. Check them out and let us know your experience.
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