Lawn tractors , yard machines

[Fishfiles 19,707]

Seen in Turbo's thread everyone was talking lawn tractors , and being  I was just given a lawn tractor  , thought I would start a thread on them , how's about post any kind of machine used around the house to cut grass or cultivate the land --- 

 

I got this MTD Tradesman from my buddy who I helped build that last 300 for , after building a big shop in his little yard , adding a long wide driveway and flower gardens ,  he doesn't really have much grass left to cut and it was the mower was taking up room , I am sure he could have sold it for a few hundred , but asked if I wanted it , I have a Husqvarna 54 Zero Swing to cut with , but have 19 trees in the yard , most are oaks and the leaves can be a job , so maybe this little tractor with the bagger can be of some help 

 

 

So it is a 12 HP Briggs , cleaned the carb and tank , wasn't too bad , the float had stuck on the carb and filled the crankcase with gas , changed the oil , a new battery , new fuel filter and a shut off valve in the fuel hose ,  it fired right up but was smoking some bad , at first I was a bit worried , but it was pumping gas diluted oil out the muffler and I figured it was from the overflow , after about 15 minutes the smoke was gone , cleaned the plug and adjusted the carb and took it for a run , it fills the bags up pretty quick , there is a window of plex-glass so you can see when the hopper is full , but it is smoked out with time , so it needs to be changed , as you can see I went a little too full

 

getting use to the clutch/ brake lever is something else , it is a 7 speed and in 1st  the clutch pedal release at a couple of inches , every gear the pedal releases farther back a few inches , so in 7th it is  a foot and a half from where 1st releases , so the first time I drove it , I was keeping my foot against the pedal and it was like it would not  go out of 1st gear , well when I moved my foot that sucker took off , 7th is pretty fast 

 

I was dealing with the leaves with my Huqvarna 54/25 Zero Swing and a sweeper , it works ok , but a little extra work dumping the sweeper and then loading it into the burn barrel , think of swopping this bagger onto the zero turn , think it could be done fairly easy , the connection flute at the deck would be the biggest challenge ---Husqvarna offers a bagger set up never priced it , but would guess $500 

[Fishfiles 19,707]

This is my other lawn tractor , 1972 Sears Suburban 15 SS , motor is now a 16HP Briggs , added a starter generator to it , new stainless steel tank , racor fuel filter ---- I got the deck for it to mower grass , it has a few 3 point hitch attachments , blade , row maker , plow , cultivator , and the rake on the back of it gets used the most for straightening out the milled asphalt  drive way and it does a really good job of that 

[Mac102004 424]

Here’s most of mine.

 

2004 Ingersoll 7020 4wd
1978 Massey 1650 (Work in progress)

1975 Case 444 Demonstrator

1966 Cub Cadet 122

1974 Massey 12

1966 Massey 10

I also have a Massey 85, Case 108, and a Sears SS16. 

 

[Fishfiles 19,707]

Mac , nice bunch of machines you got there , they are all nice ,  I like that Case 444 the best  

[jeepwm69 7,212]

I have two of these John Deere 112L’s.  One my grandparents bought new in 1985, the one pictured I picked up for $125 over the winter. I read that this was the first mower that Deere made that used a Kawasaki engine (FV460B iirc)

 

Also have a Deere GX75. Rear engine 9HP Kawasaki engine. This one sat in my childhood friend’s parents’ shed for years and years unused. They gave it to me. New belts, tires, battery and it mows fine. It got sticky on shifting so I put it  in 4th gear and left it there (that’s the gear I mow in).

 

i use the GX and put the teens on the 112’s since you have to think ahead on the GX with it being stuck in gear. 

 

Dad has an 81 Deere 750 tractor (3 cylinder Yanmar) with a 60”ish deck on the back. Thing only has about 300 hours on it. The deere dealership here has been trying to buy it back from him for years. 

 

Anyone here have old Yazoos? They were everywhere around here in the 80’s. Never see them anymore. Dad has a self propelled Yazoo push mower too. Big old thing.  Their riding mowers were probably the grandaddy of the zeroturns 

[Scotticus 777]

John Deere 25 HP twin cylinder 48 inch cut

Edited April 12, 2020 by Scotticus

[Fishfiles 19,707]

Some of them JDs don't cut in reverse , right ?  ----   I know this MTD I just got don't cut in reverse either 

 

 

[Scotticus 777]

Just now, Fishfiles said:

Some of them JDs don't cut in reverse , right ?  ----   I know this MTD I just got don't cut in reverse either 

 

 

This one will cut in reverse as long as you push an override button first.  

[jeepwm69 7,212]

Mine are old. They won’t start without the brake pushed in, and die if you get off the seat with the blades running. That’s about it as far as safety features. 

 

Those 112L’s have hydrostats in them and they’re great for detail mowing frontwards or backwards 

[_Wilson_™ 6,431]

you can by pass those safety switches ... the trans is probably a tuff torq k-46 hydro.... IMO much better then a manual trans ... i never use the brakes on mine .. but the life of those is (not easy to do)  hydro oil change .. and the cooling fan .. those transmitions remind of a combine hydrostatic transmition ... a bit more complicated ... lol 

[Chevymec 500]

We are using a GX335. It will cut in reverse as is, but won't start without the brake pressed. Seat sensor has been bypassed. We had been using our inlaws JD 2210 and then they put that one to work at their turkey houses for tilling and bought a JD 2032. Although the 335 has a smaller deck, it cuts so much better because the deck is pretty jacked up on the 2032.  It gets under the trees a lot easier also.

[Fishfiles 19,707]

I just  went out and played with the MTD , the gear selector has to be put in park lock , before the forward and reverse lever can be moved , so forward to reverse is a chore and the blades shut down in reverse , not good for a mower to be cutting grass with , but I did just run it around a bit to pick up another load of leaves and it is great at that and I would hardly ever use reverse for leaves 

[_Wilson_™ 6,431]

hydro oil change  ... snapper lt15/38 .... according to my records at ace ... this 15 horse briggs has more hours on it then any other 15 ohv engine in maury county she's had her issues with mice ... has the original traction belt .. and gator blades .. and  a new cooling fan, and doesn't have one of those crapy EPA regelated carbs ... 

[Chevymec 500]

@_Wilson_™ whats up with the gator blades? That is the 2nd time I have heard those mentioned from people.

 

[sublime68charger 172]

This was my Fleet, of 3 I sold the 214 John Deere so now I'm down to the Stable of just 2 John Deere 140's

 

the Mower is a 1969 140 the tiller is 1974 140  Love them booth!

 

I also Have a Cub Cadet that does most of the mowing the JD is just for backup.  I have only had the 140's for a year or so.  got them at a auction for $250 and $450 the 74 Tiller didn't run and I bought the tiller for it and changed it over to the bar tires all around.

 

 

[sublime68charger 172]

some better pics of my 74 140 

[sublime68charger 172]

and then the 69 140 as well don't want to leave that one out either,

 

 

[_Wilson_™ 6,431]

i did some  research on a better heavy mulching blade .. and the edges are treated .... these hold an edge a lot longer then stock blades, now the g6 gators ... are even better ... both made by Oregon ... I've tangle with small rocks fire ant mounds, mole tunnels etc  .... and they still hold a very strong edge ... but not very easy to sharpen ... I've had many stock blades just bend for no reason at at all... but these blades are just flat more tuff ... i must be doing something right using the same setup sence 03 ... lol .... 

[Fishfiles 19,707]

I been researching a bagger system for my Huqvarna , this kit runs any where  from $469 to $579 , bigger difference in price from dealer to dealer , but it is a lot more sophisticated a system them the one on my MTD and a extra bag in the hopper  ---- instead of trying to swop the bagger onto the Husqvarna off the MTD  , I need to sell the MTD and buy the right bagger for the Husqvarna 

[Chevymec 500]

Inlaws have a 1026 now, not a 2032. They also have an old 112L with no deck on it the boys use to drive around.

[Mac102004 424]

5 hours ago, Fishfiles said:

Mac , nice bunch of machines you got there , they are all nice ,  I like that Case 444 the best  

 

The 444 is a nice tractor, it's very similar mechanically to the Ingersoll 7020, believe it or not. Both are all hydraulic drive, not hydrostatic. Ingersoll bought the lawn and garden tractor division from Case when they merged with IH in 84.

[01RUBY500 1,253]

[Chevymec 500]

Father inlaw has an old Yard Pro 21" tiller he said he was gonna take to the scrap yard. I told him not to so I can get it running and use it. Needs a pull cord asm, get the tire back on the rim and go from there. 

[dearchristopher 35]

my craftsman LT is the reason I got a four wheeler. kept getting it stuck in my yard. it ripped out a pool, an old playground, and a few shrubs before I retired it to mowing only. then my dad asked me to hang onto his zero turn, so now I have two mowers and rarely use the craftsman. 

[toodeep 1,732]

On 4/12/2020 at 10:52 AM, Chevymec said:

@_Wilson_™ whats up with the gator blades? That is the 2nd time I have heard those mentioned from people.

 

 

I'm not a huge fan of the gator blades for my mowing conditions. There just isn't enough lift to effectively cut the grass. The 5+ acre lawn I have has many different types of grass, sun/shade and then I do some clean up of tall grass from time to time. If I had a decent lawn that I could keep up on mowing all at one time in dry conditions they probably would be good enough. I still have a set that I put on in the drier months and the grass isn't growing quite as fast so it does more of a mulch than lift/throw.

 

I retired all the old mowers and went to a zero turn a few years ago. I cut my mowing time in half or more and the hustler is a grass eating machine. I'm going to get an older (not old) cub going this summer so the boy can take a little of the mowing on while I'm working.