We purchased a john deere l120 from home depot in February of 2004... it hasn't been THAT bad of a mower but it has had its problems. Every year I take the time to mow 3.4 acres and I do take pride in my yard and in my mower

So the first cut of the season I was mowing and I was just about to finish up and I went to make a turn and the fron axle totally snapped in half... the left wheel went limp and the whole tractor kind of slammed to the ground. I quickly killed it and was left scratching my head the rest of the day on how I broke a cast iron axle?

I went to the local John Deere dealer and bought the front axle and all the guys behind the counter could say was "it must have been one hell of a wheelie"... but that's beside the point... ive been have a real hard time trying to get the center bolt nut of the axle... it appears that the bolt that goes through the middle of the axle is in a very hard spot to reach

So before I take it to the shop I was wondering if anybody could offer me any advice on how to get that damn nut off before I go insane?

Can't help with the nut situation but if I where you I would look into a warranty. There have been problems with font axles and sometimes Johne Deere will do a policy adjustment for units out of warranty. Raise heck with Home Depot and They may be able to pull some strings.

Don

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I don't know if your mower is still parked out back waiting for you to get the bolt out but I just went through this and was initially stumped too. I removed the shroud from around the muffler and then removed the three screws on top attaching the muffler to the frame. One I had to hack saw off as it ended up spinning in place. The muffler can be moved down, sliding free from the exhaust pipes that enter the muffler from the top. Once the muffler is removed the head of the bolt going through the front axle is easily accessed. Some combination of socket and/or wrench on bolt head and nut will get you there.

I don't know if your mower is still parked out back waiting for you to get the bolt out but I just went through this and was initially stumped too. I removed the shroud from around the muffler and then removed the three screws on top attaching the muffler to the frame. One I had to hack saw off as it ended up spinning in place. The muffler can be moved down, sliding free from the exhaust pipes that enter the muffler from the top. Once the muffler is removed the head of the bolt going through the front axle is easily accessed. Some combination of socket and/or wrench on bolt head and nut will get you there.

I don't know if your mower is still parked out back waiting for you to get the bolt out but I just went through this and was initially stumped too. I removed the shroud from around the muffler and then removed the three screws on top attaching the muffler to the frame. One I had to hack saw off as it ended up spinning in place. The muffler can be moved down, sliding free from the exhaust pipes that enter the muffler from the top. Once the muffler is removed the head of the bolt going through the front axle is easily accessed. Some combination of socket and/or wrench on bolt head and nut will get you there.

I have had this problem twice now. What the other people are saying is good advice. The center bolt, I had to use a 19mm open end wrench to get to it. Don't know, but are your front wheels aligned and both go straight when they're supped to? I think this is the root cause of the problem.

Did you get to it without removing the muffler?