Is thirty years too long to keep a lawn mower?

[sd455dan]

I love old iron.
My passion is Wheel Horse tractors and implements.
They range from 1984 to 1992 vintage and do most of the snow removal and all the mowing duties.

yep, Still using the Gilson lawn tractor my grandpa bought new in 1976, No plastic gears in the Peerless transmission, and the 180* opposed 16 HP Briggs I/C twin is a very smooth runner and has never burned oil.

The Deere X 500 will out cut it, but for tight work with a 42 " cut we still like the old machine.

I would not trade it straight across for the new bargain priced JD mowers at HD, but jmo.

 

[sixdogs]

yep, Still using the Gilson lawn tractor my grandpa bought new in 1976, No plastic gears in the Peerless transmission, and the 180* opposed 16 HP Briggs I/C twin is a very smooth runner and has never burned oil.

The Deere X 500 will out cut it, but for tight work with a 42 " cut we still like the old machine.

I would not trade it straight across for the new bargain priced JD mowers at HD, but jmo.

I had occasion to work with a 20-30 (?) year old Peerless gearbox and it was a beauty of steel gears and quality workmanship. I had to call the company on something and what a wonderful group of people I spoke with. We agreed that, with occasional gear oil changes, my gearbox would likely never wear out.

 

[gsganzer]

I was surprised to realize that I'm now at 22 years on my Kubota BX2200. It's been a phenomenal machine. Just the other week, I replaced both year axle oil seals. Only one was leaking, but the seals were cheap and replacement process was simple. The only other issue was a hole that developed in a steering hydraulic hose. I think that's pretty good dependability.

 

[LouNY]

Well heck, I just did an upgrade to my old mower,

Well I actually accomplished a little bit of hopefully an improvement to my mowers seat.
The mechanical suspension on the Kubota F2000 was pretty well whipped for some odd reason, couldn't have been because it was 39 years old or that I tip the scales at close to 320 pounds.
I had squeezed a toy football in under the suspension for a couple of years and that actually helped, quite a bit when the air pressure was right.
I picked up a seat air spring a year ago and put it on the shelf and promptly forgot about it until I was wanting to mow.
Well today I dug up the fittings and a bit of plastic tube and installed it.
Inflated to 10 psi and backed the old suspension spring down to mid scale, wasn't bad took the pressure up to a bit over 11 psi, dang that is nice.

old .............................................................................new

 

[CoyPatton]

I guess I’m an oddball on this issue (there are a few of us from the comments I’ve read, but we are a minority). I would repair/replace the deck, pull off a belt and go to my local auto parts store equipped with the old belt and the new part number and see what I could find. But a caution, belts like everything else are much more expensive than pre covid/slimy era.

 

[WinterDeere]

Nothing to offer on your decision, CalG, other than it sounds like you already prefer using the Bobcat. I'd keep the walk-behind as a back-up mower for when the Bobcat is down for repair, if the storage space isn't a problem, but sell it if I wanted that space for something else. Not enough money in a 30 year old mower for that to be any factor.

But I will say that until not all that long ago, my two lawnmowers were a 1971 Toro and a 1963 Cub Cadet. So from that perspective, 30 years is just getting broken in!

I sold the 1963 CC around 2015, not because there was anything wrong with it, but because I needed the space it was occupying for other things. I still have an use the 1971 Toro.

 

[neilpaku]

We have a Yard Machines 21" mower I bought from Lowes in 2005. It's had about a dozen new wheels, couple of spark plugs, about five plastic carbs ($20 each...) and about a half pound of welding wire over the years. We have a 2/3 acre lot and we're one of only two houses on our 70 house street that push our own mower. That mower cost a couple of hundred to buy, and another couple in new parts. Also, we're not fat like all the tractors, zero turn owners are who also pay a few hundred or more a year for gym fees. Having that mower saves us money and improves our health so, while it's 20 years old, it still gets the job done. The 4.5hp Briggs also conveniently provides mosquito protection in summer..... : ) Sometimes, taking the easy way costs more.

 

[Lena]

I got this Giant-Vac 54 inch walk behind mower to keep up the sports field at the elementary school when my kids were there and playing one kind of "ball" or another. Volunteerism was still a thing then.

Well, the kids are grown and gone for some time now, but I still have the mower and use it to do the bulk of the lawn every summer.
The deck is getting pretty holy (sic) but the Kawasaki engine always starts right up, and it uses no oil.
But today, the drive belts to the wheels started slipping badly up even the slightest grade. The tension wheel is adjusted properly, so the easy option was to spray on some belt dressing. Good to go... till next time.
I looked "on-line" for replacement drive belts. They can run some good money. Like $90 each!

I've got a little bit newer Ransomes Bobcat just like it only in 48" that suits me better. I don't seem to quite as quick in the corners as I once was.

I'm just wonder when is the right time to send this one off. I'm sure it has another dozen years in it with just a little bit of TLC ;-)

As long as it does the job , use it.

 

[RB5]

yep, Still using the Gilson lawn tractor my grandpa bought new in 1976, No plastic gears in the Peerless transmission, and the 180* opposed 16 HP Briggs I/C twin is a very smooth runner and has never burned oil.

The Deere X 500 will out cut it, but for tight work with a 42 " cut we still like the old machine.

I would not trade it straight across for the new bargain priced JD mowers at HD, but jmo.

JD also made those orange mowers for HD. They were junk. Then they started painting them green, and they were still junk. My mom had one of each, and I hated them. I went with a commercial ZT from a different brand when I bought. Not sure about the green ZT equivalent commercial models. I never looked at them after the problems with the non ZT's my mom had. The green commercial models are likely better, and I do own a green tractor and have had no problems. You just made me think of how hard those cheap mowers were to turn after they started to fall apart. ugh It made my back hurt.

 

[RB5]

We have a Yard Machines 21" mower I bought from Lowes in 2005. It's had about a dozen new wheels, couple of spark plugs, about five plastic carbs ($20 each...) and about a half pound of welding wire over the years. We have a 2/3 acre lot and we're one of only two houses on our 70 house street that push our own mower. That mower cost a couple of hundred to buy, and another couple in new parts. Also, we're not fat like all the tractors, zero turn owners are who also pay a few hundred or more a year for gym fees. Having that mower saves us money and improves our health so, while it's 20 years old, it still gets the job done. The 4.5hp Briggs also conveniently provides mosquito protection in summer..... : ) Sometimes, taking the easy way costs more.

Saving money and getting a good workout is great. I get a good workout from manually doing some things in the garden. Any time you sit down and rest for too long you might not get back up. We were designed to work. I still disk the garden, but I weed and plant by hand. I get a kick out of the youngsters asking if I need help at the local hardware store when I load pavers or bags of feed. I refuse to be one of those old people that can't move, and i am 61 now.

 

[ultrarunner]

We have a Yard Machines 21" mower I bought from Lowes in 2005. It's had about a dozen new wheels, couple of spark plugs, about five plastic carbs ($20 each...) and about a half pound of welding wire over the years. We have a 2/3 acre lot and we're one of only two houses on our 70 house street that push our own mower. That mower cost a couple of hundred to buy, and another couple in new parts. Also, we're not fat like all the tractors, zero turn owners are who also pay a few hundred or more a year for gym fees. Having that mower saves us money and improves our health so, while it's 20 years old, it still gets the job done. The 4.5hp Briggs also conveniently provides mosquito protection in summer..... : ) Sometimes, taking the easy way costs more.

Grandma well into her 80’s was still pushing her manual real mower and had a beautiful front and rear yard on her 20,000 square feet homestead.

Can’t say the age of the mower but it has cast and forged components…

Every year she had her mower guy tune it up… sharpening and adjusting…

 

[WinterDeere]

JD also made those orange mowers for HD. They were junk. Then they started painting them green, and they were still junk. My mom had one of each, and I hated them.

I don't know anything about orange mowers, but Deere did indeed make different variants of their riding mowers for sale in big-box stores. Lots of troublesome cost-cutting items, to try to meet the prices dictated by buyers at HD and Lowes. They should have just walked away from those offers, or held out for a price that would've let them build them without cutting so many corners, rather than signing on to build that crap.

Apparently the dealers threw a fit over the whole arrangement, since they were getting undercut on sales, and then also expected to supply warranty service on that junk. Apparently the dealerships pushed back so hard on Deere about this, that this practice was ended many years ago. Unless things have switched back recently, the service manager at my local Deere dealer told me that the mowers sold at the big box stores today were identical to the same models sold at dealers.

That said, all of the homeowner stuff is still made for very limited use, even the full-spec dealer models. It ain't commercial equipment... and that's why it doesn't cost nearly as much.

I went with a commercial ZT from a different brand when I bought. Not sure about the green ZT equivalent commercial models. I never looked at them after the problems with the non ZT's my mom had.

Corvettes and Chevettes both wear bowties... but don't assume they have much in common.

A commercial 7-series or 9-series mower from Deere has about as much in common with their homeowner-grade lawn tractors as a Hellcat does with a Dodge Colt.

 

[stevem5215]

I've got a 1990 Toro 2 stroke 21" I still use. Still works great, original engine not rebuilt, a couple new blades along the way. I bought a used broken 4 cycle one for parts like the wheels/tire asm's and the best part was a new bagger asm which are hard to find now. Still using the bagger and mower starts 1st or 2nd pull with the primer system they have. Amazing how long it's lasted. $399 brand new.

 

[CalG]

Saving money and getting a good workout is great. I get a good workout from manually doing some things in the garden. Any time you sit down and rest for too long you might not get back up. We were designed to work. I still disk the garden, but I weed and plant by hand. I get a kick out of the youngsters asking if I need help at the local hardware store when I load pavers or bags of feed. I refuse to be one of those old people that can't move, and i am 61 now.

It's getting harder at my age.....;-)

 

[gsganzer]

It's getting harder at my age.....;-)

Not the words from most men as they age...

 

[CalG]

Not the words from most men as they age...

To poorly paraphrase a former US president.

What is "it"?

 

[neilpaku]

I hope I'm not alone in thinking that 61 is not old. I was indignant when the whippersnapper (see what I did....) at the store said I could get a senior discount. I said "no way, I'm not old". Thinking old makes you old

 

[WinterDeere]

I should have posted my story in this thread, but here you go... a tale of my 54 year old Toro!

My lawn is literally standing water right now, at least an inch of water on top of the dirt in some areas, walking on those areas is like having someone try to tug your boots off. Total swamp, we've been there.

One wet area in particular has not been mowed yet this year, and was at least knee high while I was out zooming around the rest of the yard with the ZTR this evening. So, I decided to pull out my trusty old push mower, and hit the areas too soggy to do with the ZTR.

I dig my 1971 Briggs-powered Toro mower out of the shed, and find a piece of masking tape over the throttle lever marked, "oil changed 1/23". This is WinterDeere code for, "this mower was last run in 2022". I tape over the throttle lever on seldom-used equipment when I do the annual oil change, and tear that off the first time I use it, so I can avoid re-changing oil each winter on equipment that never even got used that year.

I unscrew the gas cap, and see there's a half tank of fuel. That'd be E10 or E15 fuel, whatever the local pumps dispense, I never buy special E-free gas (longer drive).

So, expectations are low, but I top off the tank with fresh pump gas (E10?), and give the rip cord a pull. It catches on the very first pull!

That first pull and the second were just a pop, mind you, but it caught and ran smooth as silk on the third pull. This is a mower that hasn't been running in 3 years, sitting on ethanol fuel in an unconditioned shed with a gray metal roof! It's 140F in summer and 0F in winter... for 3 years on old fuel.

I mowed 1/4 acre of wet knee-high grass, and put the thing away. It'll get an oil change come January, and then sit until the next extraordinarily wet season or other odd specialty need, I rarely use the thing.

View attachment 3551235

Disclaimer: It may actually be a 1973 model, not 1971. I always have trouble remembering.

 

[Carl_NH]

1989 1811 Cub Cadet 36 years, 780 hours, runs great - is ride on a mosquito sprayer now, the Ferris is 15 years old with 500 hrs, and the Cub 1864 (1996 model) with 220 hours, from an estate sale deal I restored

 

[ultrarunner]

1989 1811 Cub Cadet 36 years, 780 hours, runs great - is ride on a mosquito sprayer now, the Ferris is 15 years old with 500 hrs, and the Cub 1864 (1996 model) with 220 hours, from an estate sale deal I restored
View attachment 3563374View attachment 3563373View attachment 3563350View attachment 3563372

You do nice work…