Why havent we done this yet???



Anyhow, Ive got a LA175, the biggest little Deere you can get from the box stores, 26hp v-twin, 54in deck, blah blah blah.



Currently 40+ hours on it, its a good little grass cuttin appliance, but its about time to release the beast.

Problem #1: Keeps getting stuck in the creek. Easy solution, stop four-wheeling the yard tractor, right? Wrong.

Stock tires:


These turf tires SUCK. Load up with mud and I might as well be riding on moon buggy ballon tires.
Thinking of two possible solutions:





Thoughts??

10/12/2008 4:14:00 AM

"we" haven't done this yet cause you(optmusprime) is a fucking queer

/thread

[Edited on October 12, 2008 at 5:56 AM. Reason : doubt its gonna be /thread...folks like optmusprimer got "pull"(lol) in garage]

10/12/2008 5:54:30 AM

^talk about pot...meet kettle.

I gots a 20 yr old Murray 11hp w/ 36" deck. In the immortal words of Tim Allen..."mmmm. Needs more POWER"

10/12/2008 9:26:21 AM

I support cup beer holders in lawn tractors.

10/12/2008 9:31:50 AM

Yeah, I got two cup holders on mine.

^^ Thats the next problem. For 26hp, this bad boy is tooooo quiet.

10/12/2008 9:36:31 AM

Lucky for you I am an engineer for Tuff Torq, who makes the hydro for Deere. Let me assure you, putting those tires on that LA will destroy the T40J transmission in short order.

10/12/2008 10:27:52 AM

then yall makes cheap shit...

10/12/2008 10:34:06 AM

^^ seriously? I thought the 165/175 had the same transaxle as the x300 and that it would be heavy duty enough to work?

[Edited on October 12, 2008 at 10:44 AM. Reason : which tires will kill it?]

10/12/2008 10:43:54 AM

look at the serial tag under on it and post the model code and I'll check it out for sure.

As far as making cheap stuff, "you get what you pay for" certainly applies. We make transmissions for the bottom end sears riders up to $15k Deere X900 series, to sub compact utility, transmissions for JD Gator, Cub Cadet / Yanmar SCU tractors, etc.

10/12/2008 10:59:10 AM

are those tires going to tear up your grass?

10/12/2008 11:54:43 AM

A john deere ain't got shit on some RAW TEXTRON POWR.


Ours at work carries a 4.5 foot swath and weighs as much as a car. It'll mow 3 foot tall field brush and still run fast enough to throw you off.

We also have a '45 ford tractor and a bushhog, but mowing without a live PTO can be interesting/dangerous.

Of course, all I personally have is:


[Edited on October 12, 2008 at 12:25 PM. Reason : That textron slides all over the place on wet grass, but I'm afraid to put knobblies on it.]

10/12/2008 12:23:46 PM

Quote :

"look at the serial tag under on it and post the model code and I'll check it out for sure. As far as making cheap stuff, "you get what you pay for" certainly applies. We make transmissions for the bottom end sears riders up to $15k Deere X900 series, to sub compact utility, transmissions for JD Gator, Cub Cadet / Yanmar SCU tractors, etc."

I will check that out later, I need to clean it up and grease the old girl today anyhow, the steering is starting to get a little sloppy and I need to check to see how bad I have torn the blades up.

Quote :

"are those tires going to tear up your grass?"

Ill consider it aeration. My grass is quite... resilient. In some spots, the yard tends to hold quite a bit of moisture, so much so that sometimes I leave muddy tire tracks from just the dirty water that squeezes out as I roll over it while cutting. Other areas that I mow (Ill use the 54in deck to cut as much as I can) come dangerously close to the creek, and combined with the soggy topsoil clogging the tires, traction becomes a problem. Once, after digging a ditch elsewhere on the property (preparing for the hurrcane) with probably 400lbs of wet dirt in the dump bed trailer I lost traction and all I could do to save from getting pulled into the creek bed was dump my load right there into the creek, even so, the trailer damn near flipped in the process. The 26hp is more than enough to move quite a bit of weight, but these tires would be more suited for a golf course.

I can come down across the front yard from the dry side to the wet side at full speed, cut the wheel and drift in a 20-30 ft arc if its rained in the last 24 hours. Been meaning to try and video this actually, but between driving trucks all over the yard and tearing ass on the ATV, I am trying to keep the further damage to a minimum for now.

[Edited on October 12, 2008 at 1:39 PM. Reason : found out that the bagger for this unit is $800 ]

10/12/2008 1:36:37 PM

my new shit: (yup, that is suspension you see on the front. 4 wheel suspension to be exact.)

10/12/2008 2:11:31 PM

Nice. I considered a zero-turn, but dont really need it for my yard.



What about these, the JD heavy duty all purpose tires?



I still like the mean ass looking ATV tires better

10/12/2008 5:18:05 PM

we put lawn mower tires on my friends atv when we were like 12..mainly bc his cheap ass parents wouldn't buy anything more expensive than that

..hilarity ensued

10/12/2008 5:44:57 PM

I have a 20 yo MTD/Lowes 12.5hp/38". Deff needs more power.

10/12/2008 7:33:20 PM

get a turbwn for that

10/12/2008 7:35:05 PM

Quote :

"4 wheel suspension"

My sore kidneys would probably like that.

10/12/2008 7:35:34 PM

thats a mower....

10/12/2008 7:48:02 PM

rode a gravely at work. made me .

we had a deere gx345 w/ power steering, hydraulic deck lift, and bagger too. rode like a cadillac, but the bagger was shit and parts were through the damn roof. not the way to go for commercial mowing.

10/12/2008 8:39:42 PM

http://raleigh.craigslist.org/rvs/874118134.html

10/12/2008 9:37:33 PM

My parents bought a JD in 1991 with a hydrostatic drive. I used it as my own personal "commercial" mower from junior high until I graduated high school. I made a ton of money off that thing and it's still kicking. It was fun to get the bagger full, get it going full speed in reverse down a hill, and then give it full throttle in forward. Sucker would wheelie like nobody's business draggin' bags up the hill.

I have to give it props for surviving the flogging I gave it.

[Edited on October 12, 2008 at 10:43 PM. Reason : l]

10/12/2008 10:43:04 PM

10/12/2008 11:15:19 PM

^ my issue with most riding mowers is how crappy the grass looks when they're done...
that walker is what we used around the clubhouse and it looked like the place was push mowed
very clean and neat with no clippings and very very few tire marks in comparison to most riders..

10/13/2008 7:46:17 AM

GATOR BLADES yea or nay?

10/13/2008 12:32:04 PM

^Works decently for mowing with leaves on the ground, but nothing to write home about

10/13/2008 12:53:48 PM

Walker mowers are ok until you hit something and tear all the gearboxes off the deck. What air pressure are you running? might do ok to air them down a little and it will ride better.


bushhogging with a nonlive pto can be tough, agrisupply sells an overrun clutch to solve that, we added one to our MF 35 and it made it alot easier to use with a mower.

10/13/2008 4:49:52 PM

i don't see why you would want to put mud wolfes on a nice lawn tractor if you are wanting to keep a nice lawn. but then again i don't know what kind of lawn you are trying to achieve

10/13/2008 4:57:19 PM

?

The tractor wont go more than 5.5mph flat out. Plus its hydrostatic transmission, it isnt a real grass shredder.

10/13/2008 5:48:24 PM

Quote :

"GATOR BLADES yea or nay?"

gators work great no doubt about it. they will shred the hell out of the grass blades. since your yard is mostly common bermuda then i'd recommend them. however, the only problem i encounter with gators is when you cut when it's wet. the grass will be shredded after it's cut and if it's wet it'll just accumulate underneath the deck until it's so full it'll fall out in clumps. for somebody in your case since you can control if you mow when it's wet or not i'd definitely get them. i run just standard high-lift on mine unless i know i'm going to mow a yard covered in leafs.

btw-i do recommend the gator high-lifts. i've used the standard gators and the gator high-lifts and the high-lifts work much better for bermuda.
i've never used the gator magnums.

[Edited on October 13, 2008 at 6:52 PM. Reason : -]

10/13/2008 6:51:55 PM

Well the word on the street is for me to get my shit ready, the leaves are coming, and they aparently all end up in my yard.

10/13/2008 9:17:23 PM

Quote :

"look at the serial tag under on it and post the model code and I'll check it out for sure."

what number do you want? this thing is covered in numbers and stickers.

10/13/2008 9:18:59 PM

Gravely's are the best zero turns you can get. I ran one all summer long. Rides like a dream and never had a problem. It's prolly 3 years old and has had no problems during its life.



also has anyone used the gravely's with the decks that are outfront? If so, how did u like them and are they worth the money?

10/13/2008 10:26:47 PM

So me, Dan and Dave have the only lawn tractors in the thread so far? Im not counting zero turns/rear engine whatevers as actual tractors, they are welcome in the thread of course but really, Dixie Chopper, end of story there. I know Ivan has an old rider he isnt too proud of, I know some more of you guys must have some.

10/13/2008 11:13:01 PM

yeah, i've got a white. 18hp briggs and a 42" deck. it's old and ugly, but it runs decent and cuts grass. it was cheap too.

10/13/2008 11:49:36 PM

Yeah, Steph cut the grass today here at the house, and she complained about ours being so slow.

But then she said at least we have one. Net cost to us:

1. 20 dolla for battery
2. 6 dolla for bottle of tire slime
3. 30 minutes for me to sharpen the blades
4. 3 dolla for fuel filter
5. 9 dolla for new carb float

Gotta love that shit. Freebies are the best kind of good. All I did was clean the carb out and replace the float (well, the battery too).

10/14/2008 1:41:06 AM

The serial tag I'm looking for is white, about 1.5cm x 6cm on the right side axle extension on the trans. It will have 3 #'s, I need the two on top, they will start with something like 7a6460.... and T40J... or K58A...

The bottom # is the JDPN that is worthless

10/14/2008 9:37:04 AM

10/14/2008 2:52:27 PM

Quote :

"Gravely's are the best zero turns you can get."

that's a bold statement. yes, they are good but i wouldn't go as far as to say it's the best. and yes, they do ride decent but NO zero-turn on the market compares to the ride of a ferris IS.

Quote :

"So me, Dan and Dave have the only lawn tractors in the thread so far?"

i've got a lawn tractor also. it's a mtd yard machine with a 17.5 briggs i/c twin. i've removed the deck so i guess now it's just a yard tractor. i use it for pulling.

10/14/2008 7:01:19 PM

The K46 series transaxle is our current "base" transmission, however it is better than the base transmission from our nearest competitor (hydro-gear T2) that you find on many sears / husqvarna / mtd units.

That being said, keep the tire size at 22" or less, and you'll likely be fine with those tires.

One major tip if you plan on keeping this thing longer than a couple of years: change the oil in the transaxle. Go ahead and do it now, it makes the most difference after break in to get all of the gear material out. The hydraulic side of the tranny will last much longer. Use a quality synthetic motor oil 5w-50 weight.

to do this, you have to remove the trans from the tractor, pop open the cap and remove the vent valve from the top. Then flip it over to drain the fluid. Refill it making sure to fill both chambers (gear side and hydro side), reinstall it, then open the bypass valve to air bleed (start the tractor, cycle the pedal forward and back a few times), close the bypass and enjoy your new 1000 hour K46BE

FYI, we offer drain plugs to every OEM for about $.25 per unit to make the unit easily serviceable, basically every US OEM doesn't buy them.

10/14/2008 8:07:31 PM

OK so this thing is good to push a 4000 pound car across the yard right?

10/14/2008 8:15:59 PM

rocking a bobcat 218ES, with a 25hp briggs swap - the 18hp governor system flew to shit one day with my dad mowing. free fucking replacement!!!


for play - 84 murrah 11/36 minus the 36.

featured here:



aha

[Edited on October 14, 2008 at 8:59 PM. Reason : psi]

10/14/2008 8:20:05 PM

my dad has a kubota gr 2010.it is awesome. It's got 4wd and glidesteer(zero turn radius with a steering wheel, not the two bars)

10/14/2008 8:37:01 PM

how fast is that kubota? hp?

10/14/2008 8:55:23 PM

^^how in the hell can it be 4wd and a zero-turn. does not compute.

10/14/2008 9:00:26 PM

if we can bring dad's into it, kubota bx2200 ftw, diesel, 4wd. loader and 3 pt.


As far as primers question about 4000 lbs, its under warranty right?

10/14/2008 9:35:01 PM

my favorite thing about a gravely is the simplicity. bust a belt, grab a spare off the truck, and only lose a few minutes of cutting time.

bust one on the tractor-style JD we had and you'd be laying in the dirt fucking with levers and springs and shit for 20 minutes.

10/14/2008 10:03:55 PM

adding to my topics.

10/14/2008 10:52:07 PM

I wanna swap out the input shaft drive pulley on my trusty Murray (yeah, I know...what an oxymoron) for some more SPEED.

If dat Peerless 5sp will hold up...

[Edited on October 14, 2008 at 11:59 PM. Reason : blah]

10/14/2008 11:58:57 PM

I've got a 3" pulley on mine right now

have a 6" and 1.75" for quick changing abilities


mine's a 3spd

10/15/2008 8:15:56 AM