OT- Tractors, Mowers, Power Equipment Thread!

[EastCoastCB]

We mow a private park in a small HOA neighborhood and the guy was talking to us today after we were done.
The persimmons are looking good this year and he said to come out and get as many as I want!
Wild FL persimmons. It doesn't get any better than that.

[CaptSquid]

Man, I haven' t had any persimmons since we had a tree outside our back door in DeRidder, LA in the 60s.

Care package??????

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by CaptSquid

Man, I haven' t had any persimmons since we had a tree outside our back door in DeRidder, LA in the 60s.

Care package??????

I'll watch and if I can get some right before they're ripe, they may just make it to you ready to eat!
Its been a while since I've had any, so I'm really excited!

[PNW_Steve]

Well.... I need some advice.

I have a lawn again and my OCD side will not let me have a crappy lawn. While I really enjoyed my 2.5 years out in the woods with no lawn I am now back in town and have moved into a house with a fairly large lawn.

I have no mower and just gave the "lawn lady" another $100...

I have to buy a mower. I have no clue what to buy. I HATE junk mowers. After spending time mowing at the golf course I am spoiled.

Can you all give me some suggestions regarding a reasonable mower to purchase that will do a decent job? The last one I bought was a riding mower from Home Depot. I paid $1700 and it was a POS!

I am looking for a walk behind that will do a good job without breaking the bank. I have looked at Craigslist and see nothing but junk.

What can you all suggest?

Thanks.

[EastCoastCB]

How big is your yard?
Walk behind mowers are a good deal usually as commercial crews hate standing up or walking. I've seen some BRAND NEW walk behind commercial mowers on GovDeals go CHEAP.
THere were some Exmarks in GA with 50 hours on them that went for $2500.
If you want a small, decent zero turn then Gravely sells a little 34" that's not too expensive. I've seen them for $1500 barely used.
Saw a real nice Toro 32" walk behind with sulky and only 200 hours go for $250 or so on GovDeals last month.

[EastCoastCB]

Something like this would be nice for just your own yard.
36" hydro walk behind. 14hp Kawasaki.
https://www.govdeals.com/index.cfm?f...58&acctid=8873

[turf]

just like buses, check local auction sites.

for a little walk behind, that's not going to set you back much ~$2-300

bigger is always better, when it comes to mowers

[PNW_Steve]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

How big is your yard?
Walk behind mowers are a good deal usually as commercial crews hate standing up or walking. I've seen some BRAND NEW walk behind commercial mowers on GovDeals go CHEAP.
THere were some Exmarks in GA with 50 hours on them that went for $2500.
If you want a small, decent zero turn then Gravely sells a little 34" that's not too expensive. I've seen them for $1500 barely used.
Saw a real nice Toro 32" walk behind with sulky and only 200 hours go for $250 or so on GovDeals last month.

It is about 1/3 acre. Not huge but on the bus side for a city lot.

I have poked around the auction sites and seen several mowers but they have all been on the East coast. I Will keep looking.

What do you all think of the Toro mowers that HD and Lowe's sell? Consumer junk or similar to the Toro's in commercial service?

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by PNW_Steve

It is about 1/3 acre. Not huge but on the bus side for a city lot.

I have poked around the auction sites and seen several mowers but they have all been on the East coast. I Will keep looking.

What do you all think of the Toro mowers that HD and Lowe's sell? Consumer junk or similar to the Toro's in commercial service?

Consumer junk. We have a "toro timecutter" from HD. Total junk!

[EastCoastCB]

So my pto quit on the Everride yesterday.
I tested the clutch with a multimeter. It seems ok @ 3.1 ohms.
Cleaned every connection and replaced the pto switch. Gona see if its fixed after lunch.

[EastCoastCB]

Can't seem to fix it. New switch, new relay, all the wiring and connections are clean and seem pretty solid. The clutch seems to work when it gets power, but its not getting power all the time.
I HATE electrical gremlins. Seems to be the constant source of my mechanical problems.

[turf]

9 times out of 10 - electrical gremlins on a small engine are one of the safety interlocks. check the seat switch, blade switch.....

[EastCoastCB]

Seat switch and brake switches are functioning. If I get up from the seat the mower shuts down, and it won't start without the parking brake engaged.
The power to the pto seems so intermittent and random.
I've done everything I can think of, short of replacing the clutch. But I'm 99% sure the clutch is fine. 325 hours on the mower, fwiw.
Thanks for chiming in, you're the only person I know other than my neighbor who knows anything about mowers! And he's a GRUMPY dude!
I think I'd like to just bypass/eliminate the safety switches. I've never done that on a mower, never felt the need. But this having one mower and it being down is KILLING me!

[BlackJohn]

Hi Cb. How do you engage the pto? Might be a bad coil(solenoid) if electric operation. Not used to that setup as mine are mechanically engaged.

John

[turf]

youcan check out my toro service manual.

chapter 11 - the first part is electric pto. maybe it can help you troubleshoot.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/go6234sbhg...nuals.pdf?dl=0

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by BlackJohn

Hi Cb. How do you engage the pto? Might be a bad coil(solenoid) if electric operation. Not used to that setup as mine are mechanically engaged.

John

Its a switch, the pto clutch has an electromagnet that engages when you send it power from the switch.
Tomorrow I need to find out if the switch is getting power out. The switch is definitely good. Its brand new oem. And the problem still goes away once in a while.
I think I need to examine the ignition switch as it has the power for the pto going through it and its the only part i've not cleaned, checked, replaced.
I've got an Everride manual and looked at the wiring schematic.
If I show you that you'll know how its wired.
http://ariens.custhelp.com/ci/fattac...rts+Manual.pdf
The schematic is on page 49 of the manual.

[turf]

check the diode at terminal 87 of the relay.

imo that's the only point intermittent power could kill the clutch. maybe some AC power is backfeeding into the circuit.

[BlackJohn]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

Its a switch, the pto clutch has an electromagnet that engages when you send it power from the switch.
Tomorrow I need to find out if the switch is getting power out. The switch is definitely good. Its brand new oem. And the problem still goes away once in a while.
I think I need to examine the ignition switch as it has the power for the pto going through it and its the only part i've not cleaned, checked, replaced.
I've got an Everride manual and looked at the wiring schematic.
If I show you that you'll know how its wired.
http://ariens.custhelp.com/ci/fattac...rts+Manual.pdf
The schematic is on page 49 of the manual.

Thx for the schematic, pretty simple circuit here.

Did you mean that with everything you have done, the clutch will engage sometimes, but not every time you call for it?

Not sure of the age or hours on it but the ignition switch gets a lot of use so good idea to check there. Disconnect the neg battery cable before trying to test or remove it though. Then when it can hang free where you can see the contacts and wires to test, hook the neg back up and check for 12v to ground with your meter on dc12V setting.


When the mower is dead electrically, see if there is continuity from the ign switch red, to the pto clutch. You will need to turn on the pto switch and the seat switch to get power or continuity all the way from the key switch to tje pto clutch.

I'll be around if you aren't getting anywhere.

Good luck,eep cool..thse toys need prevntative maintenance regularly. You'll get this figured out.

John

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by turf

check the diode at terminal 87 of the relay.

imo that's the only point intermittent power could kill the clutch. maybe some AC power is backfeeding into the circuit.

I bought a new relay but that didn't help.

[BlackJohn]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

So my pto quit on the Everride yesterday.
I tested the clutch with a multimeter. It seems ok @ 3.1 ohms.
Cleaned every connection and replaced the pto switch. Gona see if its fixed after lunch.

Too me that reading you got from the clutch pto looks low. Is there any info in your manual to suggest what range it should be at? I'm thinking more somewhere between 12 and 30 ohms, which is my best guess from experience.

Is there a specific rpm maybe that needs to be reached to engage the pto?

Sometimes they do that to take the load off the belts and keep them from flopping at low rpm.

Is there a connector right at the clutch for the wiring? Maybe take a 12v hot right there from the battery and listen and see if it engages that way too.
Check the wire harness from the switch to the clutch for worn or bent irregularities and wiggle those areas to see if any difference.

John