just had a buddy give me a riding mower............
hillbille
Member Posts: 14,388 ✭✭✭✭
he told me he was tired of messing with it, it kept shutting off after 10 minutes or so of mowing. I picked it up Saturday and spent most of the day pulling grass out of the dang thing. You couldn't see anything between the deck and the bottom of the mower but grass! the same with the transmission and above the axles. then I raised the hood and grass was packed full behing the motor all the way to the top of the dash housing. I don't think anything has been done to this mower since the day they got it. I know I got close to a full trash can of grass out of it, no wonder it was shutting off I think it was overheating. Then I degreased the engine and frame and the hood fell off when I was pressure washing it!!.
Just got done straightening the hinges on the hood and fixed it, leveled the deck so it doesn't scalp when mowing. I had to put a new air filter on it as I couldln't blow through the old one with 90lbs of air from the compressor! Just got done mowing the yard and it runs fine, smokes for about 10 seconds on startup then runs like a top. Not sure what I am going to do with it as I have a good mower, and old simplicity that is pushing 25-30 years old. This is an older craftsman 17hp maybe 10-15 years old but mows and runs good now.
I just can't believe some people never do any upkeep on their equipment at all, he told me yesterday he also had a blower and weed eater I could have as he couldn't get them started either, guess I will get them and tinker with them a bit, as it gives me something to do during the day.
and yes I did ask him if he wanted it back after I got it running and he said no, he already hired a lawn service to do his yard…….
Comments
Some guys just aren't handy with things like this. Either works or doesn't. He reached his level of aggravation with it.
Good for you getting it going. I'd suggest a oil change and fresh gas too.
Good on you to offer it back to him. Him turning it down is now yours to sell,trade, give away.
You can't beat free. Good job on the cleanup.
Nice work! It is amazing what people give up on. Good on you for fixing it up, and especially for the neighborly way you offered it back.
I’m no mechanic, but I’ve never bought a lawnmower. I’ve had only two (both push mowers). The first, a Craftsman, I got out of someone’s trash on our street. My wife laughed and said it must have been there for a reason. Well, reason was one of the front wheels was missing a bolt. Cost me exactly $0.10 to fix. Started right up, and it’s still running 25 years later. I gave it to my Dad when we moved on base in GA (lawn care provided). Right before we moved from there to Tampa, I needed a new lawn mower, so was lucky to find another on the curb/trash (a big nice Lawn Boy). Started first pull, but had a small fuel leak. Crack in the line to the carburetor. Trimmed an inch off the hose and re-attached. Good as new. I did offer each back to the respective neighbors, but both had moved on to newer models.
Now…. If I could just find a nice zero-turn on the curb! 😛
I get mowers like that pretty often.A good cleaning,oil change,filters and a blade sharpening fixes many.I might suggest that you remove the top shroud on the engine and clean the fan,head and cylinder fins to be sure there is not a mouse nest or mud daubers nest impeding air flow.The newer overhead valve engines(especially Briggs&Stratton) will beat a valve guide out if ran hot.
Good score, I have got lots of free or low cost stuff because people wouldn't or couldn't fix it. Folks like that sure help a po boy like me keep goin'.
Always like free stuff, especially when it works or you can make it work.
Now you can ride across the country to visit a friend and make a movie. Oops, that's already been done, just stick with the grass I guess.
You will need a good supply of raw hot dogs to eat and share with pretty hitch hikers along the way!
My blind Son made a business of rehabbing riding mowers like this. Folks would rather give him their headache than take it to the dump. He'd clean up, tune up, and get them running in his spare time and then sell for a reasonable profit.
After about 5 years of building his reputation and showing his capabilities, he was hired by a local company that builds commercial grade mowers. Five years into this, he's the #2 man in paint and finish department.😁