Lawn Tractor Replacement

[Ted]

Well, the lawn tractor that I received for free (from someone else who received it for free) finally broke the mower deck. Not only did it break the spindle (a simple enough fix), but the mower deck itself is actually broken where the spindle can't attach properly.

I could weld it back together and it would probably last for at least a bit. However, it seems most likely that we should just get a new mower. After all, this thing doesn't owe us anything, is old enough that nobody stocks parts for it, etc. The engine runs pretty well, but the carb needs to be worked on as it's running too lean.

We've got about 2 acres to mow. What would be really nice would be an option that would also allow us to attack our steep hill, which right now we've been having to do with a weed whacker or the push mower. Our previous mower was a 46" riding mower, which was sufficient, but bigger is always nicer.

A pull-behind is not out of the question, as I could get this tractor itself working fine pretty quickly with a bit of carburetor work. I haven't had any luck finding a new mower deck. I've also been intrigued with the gang-reel idea, but those seem to not tolerate hills very well and be very finicky from what I read.

Any thoughts or suggestions on good brands, etc.?

 

[Jim Logajan]

We've got about 2 acres to mow. What would be really nice would be an option that would also allow us to attack our steep hill, which right now we've been having to do with a weed whacker or the push mower. Our previous mower was a 46" riding mower, which was sufficient, but bigger is always nicer.
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Any thoughts or suggestions on good brands, etc.?

We bought a 20 HP, 48" Craftsman lawn tractor from the previous property owners when we bought our present home; we have about 2 acres to mow also. The mower is now probably 6 to 8 years old. The manual says 15 degree slopes are recommended max for that model. Some of the slopes we have I would estimate to be 20 to 30 degrees. When dry it handles these - though on wet ground or grass slopes it has troubles because the transmission transmits power to the wheel with the least resistance.

We had a lot of blackberry brambles that I used that mower on - they were quite tall (over 6 feet in spots) so I simply plowed into them repeatedly like a battering ram to flatten them under the mower deck, which I had as high up as I could get - I really abused that mower, but it did the job. Two of the tires acquired slow leaks - Himalayan blackberries (a pest plant in Oregon) have some tough thorns. I've broken other things on it, but even though that mower model is no longer available, Sears online parts service almost always had the parts I needed. (Two glaring exceptions were the headlight wiring assembly and the battery ground cable; in both cases they sent the wrong thing. They did not have simple substitutes.) Drive and mower belts are available at the local Sears store. In fact I need to replace the drive belt but have been putting it off; if I put it off much longer I'll need a machete to make my way across the yard.