Boats SUK: Let's Talk:

[DonziJon]

LAWNMOWERS: I've been riding a TORO 8-32 "Riding Mower" for 20 years. Same one. Today I just finished replacing the "Idler" pulley under the deck which drives the transmission. Havn't tried it after the repairs yet but I'm sure it will be fine ,,,until the next thing goes Kaput. I'm getting tired. The only thing that hasn't required any work has been the engine (8 HP Briggs & Stratton), and the transmission. I've always tried to change the oil every 2 or 3 years. :) It only takes a quart.

SO: I'm looking at a Husqvarna 18 HP tractor..automatic transmission..42" cut, drink holders, yada yada. $1200....Briggs & Stratton. A lot of machines look "just the same"..almost identical.. with prices up to $1600. for a John Deere. I think a lot of these machines are THE SAME MACHINE with different names. What do you guys think?

PS: I'm getting older, so this is going to be my last mower. John

[gold-n-rod]

Most of the crap sold today is made by the same manufacturer, regardless of name.

Do yourself a favor, look for a Toro/Wheelhorse dealer and buy a "Classic" model. Iron frames and axles, Kohler motors. A real Wheelhorse. This will indeed be your last mower.

They are a bit spendy, but you get what you pay for.

http://www.toro.com/home/tractors/classic300/3158.html

[RedDog]

Last Fall I bought an ancient Snapper rear-engine / 12.5 horse B&S. This thing is so old it must be a sibling of Methuselah. I had to give $225 for her and it's going to be my last mower. I have had to throw a little money at it since but its close enough to the new models that I think I will make her run forever.
Last Fall she developed an occasional miss. Seemed to always happen when going down hill to the right. I finally found the problem. The spark plug lead wasn't attached. By hanging just in the vicinity of the spark plug terminal I got enough spark except for those down hill turning runs...
So the moral of my story is - you might want to look at a Snapper- they're simple and easy to work on. Not much to go wrong - and they are a CLASSIC :cool: .

[vonkamp]

I second the Snapper option. I just bought one and its great, one blade, one belt, no bells & whistles. Just a simple cutting machine with less moving parts to go bad.
My .02:)

[gcarter]

Another classic lawnmower similar to Tim's Snapper is a Yazoo (from Yazoo, MS). My dad bought one several years old while I was still in high school. At least 25 years later it was still running!! A couple of new engines, a couple of decks, and it just kept on going. I looked at one a couple of years ago and it's a completely different critter. It still has the large diameter rear tires, but now it has a lot more power and a hydrostatic transmission. Cost a lot more too.

[Patti]

We JUST got a Husqvarna 22/54 Briggs extended life..not hydrostatic..it's a garden tractor not a lawn mower..but really works well..much better than the previous mower we had.

With this one we can attach and push snow and pull a one bottom plow or box blade..which comes in handy out here in the country ;)

It was brand spankin' new..last years model..and we got it on sale..1899.96 at family farm and home..and it's Orange..my favorite color :) lol

Our 18 year old likes it though..he's the one who mows :tongue:

[TuxedoPk]

For the price of a Husqvarna or John Deere you could hire many seasons worth of Mexicans. I'm in favor of letting someone else do it and enjoy having the extra lesiure time.

[Patti]

Nah..it's more fun watching the child suffer through mowing, weed whacking and push mowing where the big mower wont go :)

He doesnt have a summer job yet..so we work him hard :wink:

Besides..no day laborers in these parts..even if there were..i'd still use the child :) :)

[farmer tx]

RedDog, I have the great G-dad of your mower. Snapper bought the tooling for their riding mower from Massey Ferguson. I have an OLD M/F 223. Been through one 10 hp engine and repower with a 12 hp. Now on my second 12 hp. engine. This thing just keeps on going.

[Ed Donnelly]

Troy Bilt Horse isn't too shabby either....Ed

[Formula Jr]

Last year I visited my uncle and noticed something in his garage. When I was about 5 years old, I'm 48 now, he bought a Gravely walk behind mower. It had an attachment for a front plow and you could hook a riding seat up to it. It had a pull start cord you had to wrap around the flywheel to start it. I spent many teenage years behind it mowing his lawn. He said he was getting too old to start it by hand and needed the newer model with electric start. I was amazed and asked him what it must have cost him to keep this antique alive. He said nothing. Every ten years he bought a new blade. This was its second set of tires and it was only a few years ago that he replaced the spark plug. And that was it. This thing is over forty years old and still running strong.

[DonziJon]

Back in 1986 when I bought the Toro it cost $1500. (An 8 HP rear engine rider.) If there was a direct replacement available today I would probably buy it 'cause I don't really have the room for one of the new "Tractor" types in the garage. The Toro takes up very little floor space, low profile, and during the winter it snuggles under the bow of the Minx very nicely. The Husqvarna is $300 cheaper but "LOTS" bigger. It doesn't take 18 HP to mow my lawn.

SO: My wife says.."Oh goodie, now we can get "that" garden shed ($2,200.) to put it in". We look at garden sheds every year. She wants her side of the garage back to put her car in. Right now her space has the big Yamaha Touring bike and the Ariel..and the DN Iceboat.. and my new "Engine Hoist"... and of course the Toro, which is out from behind the boat for the summer. Usually the boat is out by now but there's been so much else going on.

What's a poor guy to do?? Maybe I'll keep the Toro.. maybe "Restore" it and take it to lawn mower shows. Oh wait: Then I can't use it to mow the lawn.
I need to do some more thinking. My head hurts. :bonk: John

[gcarter]

lawn tractor restoration is becomming a big thing in the midwest... people are restoring old cub cadets, jd's and others to as new or better condition... and if you think the NEW tractors are pricy... you should see some of the prices that an old cub cadet 70, 102, 105, etc are bringing at sales and auctions :eek!: guess people think that yellow paint must contain gold...
Jamie, did they run out of steam traction engines?
I've never seen so many traction engines as I did at fairs while I was working UP there in the '80's.
I think they had to have a semi to move one around.

[roadtrip se]

We live on a sloping, three acre wooded lot full of conifers, fruit trees, and rock-lined perennial beds. Short of a bear, I have seen just about every wild critter imaginable. I had fresh-picked black rasberries for dessert last night and the peaches look like they are only a few weeks away from being ready.

Sounds pretty nice, right? Wrong... it's a frickin full time job which I didn't sign up for, knowingly. I call it the "State Park" and I am the groundskeeper.

Any way, on topic. I do NEED the 20HP, power steering, and hydrostatic tranny to lug my 235 pounds up the hills and to manuever through my acupuncture therapy known as mowing the pine groves.

In winter, the 42 inch blower literally throws the snow from the drive twenty feet. I really don't have any place to push snow out of the way with a blade, so the blower was my only choice. I must admit, it's kind of fun the first 25-30 times I blow the snow, but after that it gets a bit repetitve. I do find that the martinis stay real cold while plowing the drive, but Jill limits me to one, after I almost plowed into a tree. There is a real nice cup holder for the glass on the right rear fender.

While shopping, I was almost sucked into the four wheel drive and the diesel options, which the previous owner had on his JD, but the $$$ were already out of control. Everyone of my neighbors has a JD of similar ilk also, as they go about maintaining their own personal version of paridise/purgatory.

I guess the point I am trying to make is that there is a tool for every job and my JD fits the job. If you are mowing a prairie, I would imagine many of the alternatives previously discussed here will do the job, but I really do like my JD and I can't see a tractor with less capability having the ability to get it done, week after week.

I do scratch my head every time I walk by them wondering what JD executive signed off on the business proposition to allow Home Depot to sell the Radio Flyers painted green and yellow for sale there....

[DonziJon]

The transmission idler pulley I replaced worked fine. But..when I started it up, I could hear "something" else rumbling.. maybe deck bearings. I had replaced them maybe 3-4 years ago. What could be wrong now?

I was ready to buy new. I had picked out the mower I wanted....just in case..did a bunch of research to verify my choice was correct. All dressed up, and on my way out the door, ..I decided to pull the old mower blade, and replace it so I could point out this "bonus" to a prospective buyer.

The guy at the mower place looked at the "Old" blade I presented and had to restrain himself from laughing...really. This blade is 20 years old. I have owned it since it was new. (He was the guy who I descided I would buy the NEW mower from because he seemed honest.) He brought out a new blade...and it had NO resemblence to the old. The new blade had a little "uplift" at the trailing edge..at the end of the blade that my old blade seems to have discarded over the years. My old blade had no such uplift.

He told me to try it, and he said I might be impressed with the difference.. (He already knew I was interested in a NEW mower. We had talked about it.)

SO: I bought the new blade and tried it. UN FREAKIN BELIEVABLE! A hurricane comin from under that deck now. I can't wait for the next time to mow the lawn. Cost: $35.00.

After I tried it, I called him back and told him how great it worked..and based on the results, reluctantly, I was not ready to buy yet. His recomendation had lost him a Sale....But: I think he genuinely was happy with the results.

When I'm ready..Maybe next year. I WILL BUY FROM HIM. My homework is done. :) John