Riding lawnmower fun

nhusa

nhusa

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I have an old Scott (John Deer) riding mower with twin V motor. It has been garaged most of it life.
For the last year it sat outside under a tarp because there is no room in the garage.

Last fall I noticed that the rubber gas line was leaking so I drained the gas.
It took me few months to find time to replace it and then found a flat rear tire.
A few months later I took the tire off and found that the bead leak so I fixed that.

I put new gas in it and started it. It ran for a few minutes and stopped.
I did some testing and decided that it was an issue in the fuel system so I got a kit that included a carburetor, fuel pump, gaskets, and filters for about $35.

I put everything together and it wouldn’t turn over with the key so I jumped from the battery to the starter - it started and ran. It took me another day to find that it was not the solenoid but a hidden 15 amp fuse.

It Finally started and ran —- except it wouldn’t move when I pressed on the pedal…
I made sure the freewheel handle was correct and the mechanism worked.

This had me thinking the transmission was finally junk, so it was time to begin looking for a new mower,
But the prices are ridiculous, so I tightened the drive belt that was deep under the tractor and a PITA.

It Worked… then I got the mower stuck in the back yard while cutting the grass.

So gas leak, flat tire, rebuilt carb, new fuel pump, fuse, filters, and tighten the drive belt just to get stuck…

It’s unstuck but it might be time to watch for a mower super sale…

Did I mention that I hate mowing grass… but am too cheap to pay someone else to do it?
 
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Yikes. Good lesson, which is crank and test your mowers every couple of months. Ran my standon and 2 push mowers Monday.

Yesterday I went to visit my mother. She had just finished mowing with the Cub Cadet actually mad by Cub Cadet. It has 1280 hrs on it. She told me she pressed the reverse pedal which got caught below the footboards and she ran into house. So yesterday was not a visit but a work period. Easy fix using HVAC hardware. Man gotta do what he gotta do.
 
I feel your pain. Mowers drive me nuts. I just had to replace my X370 deck because i hit a hidden stump and FUBAR'd the deck so bad JD said i needed a new deck. The way i found the issue was an incredibly loud grinding end-of-the-world- as-we-know-it noise coming from the deck. After careful observation of the blades i found the tips of the blades were meeting in the middle and spalling the metal to almost look melted. They were rubbing each other. I have never heard a noise like that. We ground the end of the blades off just a bit and was able to mow two more times. I stared at it most of the winter and then took it to James River three weeks ago. You know a new deck is only $1000 bucks. So cheap fix. If it happens again I'm bush hogging the yard with my 1025R. Sure it'll look like crap but i am passed it now. I'm thinking a graveling the whole shebang. Just granite as far as the eye can see.
 
Make sure to check the engine oil after your mower has been sitting all winter. 2 years ago, I started my zero turn mower for the first time in early March and after about 5 minutes, something started smelling hot. Turned it off and it would not turn over again, the motor seized. Luckily a new short block got it going and didn't have to buy a new comparable mower for $6k plus. Oil gets checked every use now. Lesson learned.
 
I just figured out that the mower was built in 2003… so it’s just broken in…
I change the oil and filter every year but this is the first time I remember changing the air filter.
 
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