Would you work on this?

[Deanes]

There is a reason it sat in the shed for 30 years. I had a couple that saw years of hard use. It did a great job for the time. BUT, the hardest to work on of any machine I ever had on the farm. So many bearings that will go out one at a time. That long serpentine belt was a nightmare and so hard to keep lined up.
Fix it up as a testament to your grandfather, but don't plan on using it much unless you need a reason to cuss. Oh, and please don't use it on a hillside. I don't want to even think about how I know....

 

[ultrarunner]

Brothers farm came with some junk and in the back of the shed was a walk behind Yazoo mower and I brought it home replaced the belt and fuel lines that had rotted and serviced the motor…

Came back to life and did a great job… so good they wanted it back seeing what it could do :-(

Simple and well built with heavy plate for the deck.

 

[ponytug]

Brothers farm came with some junk and in the back of the shed was a walk behind Yazoo mower and I brought it home replaced the belt and fuel lines that had rotted and serviced the motor…

Came back to life and did a great job… so good they wanted it back seeing what it could do :-(

Simple and well built with heavy plate for the deck.

The curse of the restorer?

Perhaps you need to grumble more about the maintenance and parts breaking and about to break...

@Fuddyduddy1952 if it were me, I'd try to get in running and then see how I felt about it, but if it were my grandfather's I'd have fun restoring it, and talking to him about it. Aahhh the good times...

All the best, Peter

 

[Runner]

It looks like it's in pretty good shape and seems to all be there. It's hard to tell how much is rust and how much is dirt, but if it's not too rusty, I'd be tempted to clean it up as well as possible and leave it as-is, saving the original patina. Would be nice to see if it runs, just for fun.

 

[Hay Dude]

Depends on how much “disposable time” you have.