Ride On Mowers!

[the_scotsman]

These things are a godsend!

I've had an eye open for a ride on mower for a while, as I'm sick of mowing my large block every single week in 30 odd degrees in summer. I suffer from migraines, and doing that is a near guarantee of a migraine.

So I found a one cheap on Gumtree. It was cheap as it had a small fault, not charging the battery at all, and the charging light was always on, even with the keys off. So obviously something wrong with the charging circuit. The previous owner was just jump starting it when he needed to use it.

So I bought it, and managed to find the schematics for it online. After some troubleshooting with the multimeter, I found the cause of the fault. It was as simple as replacing a diode. Costing a whole 40 cents! Score! :

So having fixed the fault, I decided to give it a good clean up. Came up pretty good with some elbow grease! And of course the Concours 900 dual action polisher :laugh:

First 2 photos are before the clean, rest are after. To get it so glossy after being so scratched, dry and matted was incredibly satisfying, and did my OCD a world of good

I gave it a run today. What usually takes me almost an hour, took me 10 minutes. I knew it would be quick and save effort, but DAMN! I was blown away by how fast and easy it did it! And the finish is just as good as any manual mower!

WELL chuffed with this purchase! If you're considering getting one, DO IT! DO IT NAO!

[Tassie f100]

Bloody hell eh.You can come down and give my old Viking a bit of a spit and polish if you want something to do next weekend.Looks like a new one again!!

[Pis-ton broke]

thats the most loved ride on ive ever seen.

[CoupeKing]

3x win!

Is your relationship with your neighbours any good? Well it won't be if you ever decide to test that diving light out.

[LG17]

Bloody hell! You're very welcome to come and clean my ride ons.

That really is chalk and cheese!

[lra]

When are you going to fix the gutter rash on the deck ?

[au350hp]

A side note for those interested: Regardless of your height DO NOT buy a bent shaft whipper snipper. They are useless for cutting in edges which is half their purpose. Buy a straight shaft. Also, do not buy electric tools as they are underpowered, dangerous and useless. A good blower is crucial. SNIP-BLOW-MOW-BLOW in that order for a pro result. I also do not recommend 2-Stroke Mowers. They cost a fortune ro run & have no torque which is needed for thick & long grass. If it is cheap its for a reason.

[solarite_guy]

I love riding mowers, but I have a wicked hill. So I switched back to a walk behind with hand controls.

I flipped 2 times. After the second time I went back to the walk behind.

[Tassie f100]

Originally Posted by Roostercam

A side note for those interested: Regardless of your height DO NOT buy a bent shaft whipper snipper. They are useless for cutting in edges which is half their purpose. Buy a straight shaft. Also, do not buy electric tools as they are underpowered, dangerous and useless. A good blower is crucial. SNIP-BLOW-MOW-BLOW in that order for a pro result. I also do not recommend 2-Stroke Mowers. They cost a fortune ro run & have no torque which is needed for thick & long grass. If it is cheap its for a reason.

I disagree re bent shaft whipper snipper.I've got a stihl which does everything a whipper snipper is supposed to do.Not as powerful as a big machine but still does the job

[Pedro]

Hey scotsman, I hope that green thing in front of the seat is a stubbie holder. If not, fit one immediately as it gets hot out there mowing. I fitted a twin holder to the mower I had when I used to live on acreage.

[Pis-ton broke]

do you have any performance mods in the pipeline?

[290GTP]

Yep ride-ons FTW. I'm on 1466 sq mtrs and if I had to mow it with a push mower I would have sold the place long ago.

[BPXR6T]

I killed my rover yardking after five years of abuse. Still runs strong but the deck is bent and its more or less useless. I'm currently mowing my 3ac garden with a push mower. Fun with soaking wet grass 2 feet deep. Buying a new ride on next week. Tempted to give a zero turn a go this time.

[the_scotsman]

Haha yea, it may be a little overkill for a ride on, but I can't do things like that in half measures. It's all or nothing. And it was a great little project.

I was bloody happy with how it scrubbed up. Looks not bad for 19 years old! Mechanically she's in tip top condition, runs like a dream. Obviously been well looked after mechanically.

And that is indeed a little drink beer holder under the steering wheel.

The possibilities of mods/pimping it are almost endless. And they would all be cheap and easy to do!

[Blue Shadow]

Originally Posted by the_scotsman

Haha yea, it may be a little overkill for a ride on, but I can't do things like that in half measures. It's all or nothing. And it was a great little project.

I was bloody happy with how it scrubbed up. Looks not bad for 19 years old! Mechanically she's in tip top condition, runs like a dream. Obviously been well looked after mechanically.

And that is indeed a little drink beer holder under the steering wheel.

The possibilities of mods/pimping it are almost endless. And they would all be cheap and easy to do!

Gotta get a turbo for it

[Mercury Bullet]

Pro-tip mate.

The starter motor on these is a bugger. My old man bought a Victa of about the same vintage. (Late 90's??)
Dads had a Tecumseh motor which was great but had one problem and this Briggs engine looks to be the same.

There are two screws that hold the bracket tying down the starter motor. You constantly need to check these as they vibrate loose, starter goes out of alignment and there goes the gear. These starter motors are incredibly expensive for what they are.

Loctite doesn't seem to work, so just give them a quick nip with a screwdriver before taking it out for the day.
The deck is pretty fragile, watch for any rocks/old tree stump remnants etc. It bends easily.

Apart from that they are pretty foolproof machines Dad's old one would still run if I could be bothered but it's consigned to the back of the shed these days.

Can I ask how much you paid? IIRC Dad paid about $2500 20 odd years ago.

PS. Tune it, I added a limited slip transaxle to my Husky, haha.

[ebv8]

i bought one for my 1500sm block but sold it a year later because i'm on a hill and it was almost tipping and i had to adjust my body to keep it upright, still took 30 mins to do and had to get the push mower out for certain parts anyway, sold it and bought a kubota self propelled and now its take 1 hour all up

oh and my dad has had a kubota ride on for 15 years and it still looks brand new, he cleans it after every use and even waxes it every few months so its easier to clean. plus its kept in the garage while the car is outside, he now has only 200sm of lawn and won't sell it because he loves it

p.s. even though most ride on's have a cup holder don't leave your drink uncovered, nothing worse than grabbing your beer and swallowing dirt and grass

[Tassie f100]

[QUOTE=ebv8;5994041]i bought one for my 1500sm block but sold it a year later because i'm on a hill and it was almost tipping and i had to adjust my body to keep it upright, still took 30 mins to do and had to get the push mower out for certain parts anyway, sold it and bought a kubota self propelled and now its take 1 hour all up

oh and my dad has had a kubota ride on for 15 years and it still looks brand new, he cleans it after every use and even waxes it every few months so its easier to clean. plus its kept in the garage while the car is outside,

How oftern do you see or hear this.A $30000 car sits outside because the garage is full of mainly worthless crap

[ebv8]

the car was a $900 Ford Focus, the $55k car and new caravan has its own separate garage

[Tassie f100]

Sorry I wasn't actually referring to you.I was generalising what I have seen and heard.

[au350hp]

Originally Posted by Tassie f100

I disagree re bent shaft whipper snipper.I've got a stihl which does everything a whipper snipper is supposed to do.Not as powerful as a big machine but still does the job

I love how easy it is to reach around and under trees but this design really comes into its own when used for channelling edges, especially for those with bad backs. For total 100% satisfaction, the rechargeable electric model is recommended, especially for heavy wet grass and professional contractors.

[Lugh]

I've got a bit of a thing for ride on mowers - Here is my grandfathers Greenfield that he bought some time in the early 80's. We lived on 40 acres and this thing has seen some work. In true country style when my legs were long enough at 7 years old I was put to work cutting acres of country on this.
It was very very tired when it came in to my possession, so I gave it a little love.