Auction find - good project or money pit

[rus_geek]

Didn't pick up much at an equipment auction yesterday, since there were a lot of people bidding up to almost new for most things. Unless you wanted a combine. Three of those sold for about $900 each!

Anyway, grabbed a stack of 8x10 beams cheap. They're always handy to have around.

Also a 6' back blade. It's fairly light duty, but I only plan to do some light grading on my driveway. (Yeah, I'm sure I'll "find" other uses for it...)

Now we get to the "good project" or "money pit" part of the purchase. This 5' Howse has a bit of sheet metal damage. The combination of replacing the shear pin with a Grade 5 bolt and then bending the blades, drove them up through the deck.

I'm working on dismantling the mower so I can do some metal repair. Got the tail wheel an A frame off easily. One of the bolts was damaged by the blade coming up through the deck, so it had to be cut off. Also had to split the castle nut on the bottom in order to try to get the blades off. That is going to involve penetrating oil and a big puller unless I'm missing something.

-rus-

 

[77bronco]

Hopefully you got a real good buy on that mower. I scrapped one just like that, but in better shape. I unbolted everything that that could be, and the deck went to the scrap yard and all the other parts are sitting in the corner of my shop, waiting for some reason to use them again.

 

[BeezFun]

I don't think I'd take it apart, just weld some scrap plate over the damaged area from the top, then grind the ripped area flat on the bottom and weld to the bottom of the patch. Unless you're searching for a project, this doesn't seem to have much of a payoff.

 

[whistlepig]

Doubt that you can hurt that mower. Any change would be for the better. I wouldn't put much money in it. When you get it running it may vibrate so badly you won't want to mow with it.

 

[Ken45101]

It just goes to show that those mowers will cut anything....including themselves!

Ken

 

[silvertramp]

I bought the same mower new years ago and proceded to whip it good. It looked alot like yours, but still worked great. Last year a friend welded patches on the top of the deck only. I feel safer and it still works great. That mower is d*mn near indestructable. Go for it.

 

[joes_427_vette]

If the spindle isn't bent it is a miracle. I have never seen one in such a mess. good luck.

 

[Hooked_on_HP]

I bought one in about the same condition last year. The blades on it were bent up also. When I got it apart I ffound the stump jumper was bent but the shaft for the gear box was fine. Alittle heat and a press straitened it out. I wanted a mower that I could abuse and if I tore it up I wouldn't be out much. This has worked out fine.
Bill

 

[Dead Horse]

I find the spindles break, not bend. I have hurt, repaired and used bush hogs in worse shape than that. Bang the top flat, weld some plate, flip it over and bang, grind it flat. put it to work.

They ain't sposta be pretty, anyway.:laughing:

 

[rus_geek]

So far, I've been able to determine that the gearbox and the spindle are both okay. The stump jumper is slightly bent, but nothing I can't fix even without removing it. New blades are only $36 ea, so I probably won't even try to bend the old ones back into shape.

Currently, I'm thinking about creating an access port in the top of the deck to remove the blades, since the stump jumper does *NOT* want to come off. I've got half a can of PB blaster soaked into it, bent a large C-clamp and *broke* a two-jaw puller trying to break it loose. Might make one more attempt with the neighbor's OA torch to heat it up and pop it loose, otherwise it's staying on there and I'll just have to work around it for my deck repairs.

-rus-

 

[pat32rf]

There is pride of ownership of new and shiney, but there is also pride of repairing something that no one else would/could and getting a unit that you only use now and then and can't justify buying new....

 

[lewbest]

There is pride of ownership of new and shiney, but there is also pride of repairing something that no one else would/could and getting a unit that you only use now and then and can't justify buying new....

My thoughts exactly!!!!! Vast majority of my farm equipment dates back to the 60's-70's; I've accumulated it all in the last 5 years

Lew

 

[joes_427_vette]

I wouldn't trust something that was stopped so suddenly by shreading metal. Those blades turn at a high rate of speed. My luck would be the shaft was partially cracked in the first episode and would come apart in a very inopportune time striking near by objects, hopefully things that don't involve life.
Anything can be fixed, the question, is it worth the liability may be answered in a negative result.

 

[Hooked_on_HP]

The stump jumper is not as easy to straighten as you would first think from looking at it. The dish on the bottom is basicly a cover. Above that is a cast hub in a T shape. The center of the T goes on the gear box and the blades connect to the ends of the T.
Bill

 

[sixdogs]

Once I bought some rough sawed beams that didn't look like much until I cleaned them up with a elt sander and real coarse grit.