the Lawn Mower thread.

[85_Ranger4x4]

All new Briggs engines, since they were bought by Intek, have been reverse engineered to fail at a set amount of hours. A former Briggs engineer made this info public years ago after the company was bought out.

This crap kinda scares me...

News | John Deere US

View the latest John Deere news releases, find information on media contacts, leadership and more.

www.deere.com

No way to check the oil...

 

[Bird76Mojo]

A guy has to buy industrial models ($$$$) to get anything worth buying these days. Most small engines seem to have an ever-increasing amount of plastic inside them now. A lot of manufacturers have used plastic timing gears for a while now.

 

[Mike Tonon]

I’ve been using that ZMAX additive since it was almost new. It seems to run smoother. And like I said, it has no problems and I think it is a newer brand Briggs. Those small Briggs engines only take like 1/3 quart of oil, so I add only like a splash of ZMAX.

And all of those lawnmowers I used to pick up on the side of the road, that people were throwing out. I’d fix and sell them. Some of them just needed some gasoline. Mowers, mostly with Briggs engines, produced all throughout the 80’s. I wish I kept at least one of the engines. I had tons of parts, too, from mowers that were trashed. I threw a lot of them out, because I just wasn’t finding mowers like I did 15+ years ago.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

A guy has to buy industrial models ($$$$) to get anything worth buying these days. Most small engines seem to have an ever-increasing amount of plastic inside them now. A lot of manufacturers have used plastic timing gears for a while now.

Ol' Murray keeps chugging along so I am gladly off the market.

 

[snoranger]

I'm trying to cover my entire yard in cars, trucks, trailers, etc... that way I won't have a lawn to mow. It's not going to be easy with 2.5 acres.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I'm trying to cover my entire yard in cars, trucks, trailers, etc... that way I won't have a lawn to mow. It's not going to be easy with 2.5 acres.

Then you get trees growing up thru them...

 

[Bird76Mojo]

I know dozens of people that just keep buying the older big box store mowers (Murray, Poulan, Craftsman, etc) and use em up and throw em away every couple years. They swear it's cheaper that way, but I'm not so sure about that..

My old Simplicity 7119 (repowered) doesn't cost me $250+ every couple years or so.. It does all of my mowing (about 2-3 acres total), tilling (about 1 acre of tilling several times a year), driveway and dirt grading, snow moving, and pulling brush, etc.. It does better grading work than my dad's WD45 does.

Here's an old picture before I sourced a NOS Simplicity seat for it.

Once I get my Allis 720 and 616 going I'll never look back at little mowers/tractors ever again. Here's the 720 the day I was hauling it home. I don't have any pictures of the 616. It's the same tractor for the most part, but much more rare. I have two 60" fabricated decks, a front end loader, two 5ft tillers, 3pt spring tine cultivator, 3pt disc, 3pt single bottom plow, front dozer blade, 3pt rear blade, 5 or 6 sets of turf tires of different design, a set of narrow rice tires, a rare front bumper, several sets of weights, 4 or 5 spare hydraulic cylinders and hoses, extra 3pt arms, a 720 parts tractor, etc.. I have very little invested in all of this so far. I just had to jump on deals and be willing to drive 2 or 3 hours when they popped up.


These things are complete workhorses for their size.

After a little work.. It's progressed a good bit since these pics were taken.

If you didn't know, these were modeled after the Allis 180/185/190/210/220 series tractors and were built by Simplicity. They have a true drop housing (cast iron with very large bull gears) rear axle just like their bigger, farming brethren. Very similar to the WD tractors but different brake systems. They have a 3 speed gearbox with hydro drive. Front and rear hydraulics, with an optional 2 circuit front hydraulic system that I'll be installing. Right now mine is single circuit on the front. The best part about them is the rear 3pt hitch and the front implements actually have down-pressure, unlike many other smaller tractors. Hell, even the WD's didn't have down-pressure. They relied on implement weight. Some day, I'd like to fabricate and add my own power steering to them both as well. It's not a hard conversion to do.

My father has a 210 Landhandler he uses, and I plan to have a custom decal made for my 720 that says "Lawnhandler"

Here it is after pulling it out of the mud near our pond.. I told him not to get so close, but he didn't listen. lol

 

[Mike Tonon]

My uncle bought a new riding mower about 15 years ago. He said he liked it a lot better than his 80’s riding mower. Whether it’ll last as long, who knows. I guess it had a wider stance and he’s got hills in his yard, so he felt safer.

 

[Craig0320]

A guy has to buy industrial models ($$$$) to get anything worth buying these days. Most small engines seem to have an ever-increasing amount of plastic inside them now. A lot of manufacturers have used plastic timing gears for a while now.

Yeah my grandma has a briggs push mower with a plastic carburetor on it.

I'm trying to cover my entire yard in cars, trucks, trailers, etc... that way I won't have a lawn to mow. It's not going to be easy with 2.5 acres.

I live on 20 acres. Lots of room to store stuff.

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

So i can sue for a new mower? thats like getting a free haircut after the barber messed up your hair. lol

I just scrapped my last Briggs off a Husqvarna L221A AWD mower. F*uck that engine. Spun a crank bearing two years into owning with 50-60 hours on it. Put a HF Predator out of their returns rack back on it and haven't missed a beat since. Briggs wanted 96 for a crank alone. Out the door price on to HF engine was 75.

I'm trying to cover my entire yard in cars, trucks, trailers, etc... that way I won't have a lawn to mow. It's not going to be easy with 2.5 acres.

Become a Chevy guy. Happens overnight.

 

[Ranger850]

F*uck that engine.

your censorship is horrible.

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

your censorship is horrible.

...aw sh*it

 

[97RangerXLT]

bought a Poulan Pro weedeater at the end of summer in 2015. the engine has a sticker on it that it is rated for 50 hours before it is no longer emission compliant (which I read as the engine is wearing out). 50. hours. do the math... if you use the weedeater for a 1/2 hour every week during mowing season, that is usually 6 to 7 months here in central Indiana, so 26 to 30 weeks. that is 15 hours a year for a 30 week mowing season, so a little over 3 years is the engine is on its last legs, so figure 4 years and it is getting to the point of not running. I have a 1/4 acre lot that my house sits on, so someone that has a larger lot will run theirs much longer or someone that has a fenced in yard.

after reading the instruction manual, there is a Poulan Pro that is rated for 300 hours....I paid 90 bucks for mine and it was at teh end of the year clearance. I can only imagine what a 300 hour rated weedeater would cost. My dad bougth the Weedeater brand last fall, same as mine in design and engine, same 50 hour rating. you can swap parts over, the only difference is that his newer engine runs on 50:1 fuel/ oil ratio, and mine is 40:1

and now into the 4th season of running my weedeater, it is getting harder and harder to start.... which could be fuel related as I am using up last years fuel, I did put Stabil in it tho. I think after this batch is done, I am going to Wal-Hell and getting the premixed by the quart. sure it costs 6 bucks for a quart of gas and oil, but it is already mixed, I will likely only use a quart or a quart and a half per year anyways, and it does not have ethanol...

AJ

 

[Dirtman]

Lawnmowers cut grass to a predetermined height.

 

[ericbphoto]

I’ve been using old, broken down “hand me down” mowers ever since I was a kid. Finally got tired of it. Also got tired of crappy quality of most home owner grade mowers. A few weeks ago, I started looking for a mower on Craigslist, thinking maybe I could get an old Wheelhorse or cub cadet that would be worth maintaining. But my heart wasn’t in it. I settled on a John Deere commercial grade stand-on riding mower - 648m, I think it is. 2018 model with only 49 hours on it. Looks brand new. Well maintained. It was expensive. But I got it for 2/3 the new price and the guy delivered it for me since my trailer bed was 1/2” too narrow. Hopefully the last mower I’ll ever have to buy. I think it has a 20 or 22hp Kawasaki engine. Even has a screw-on automotive style oil filter.