# Potd, Mowing The Yard



## JimDawson (May 31, 2015)

I didn't know whether to post this here or POTD. It's kind of machining, sort of like a vertical milling machine.  I've been a bit busy, between that and the rain I couldn't get to the ''grass''. 

Here's an eyeball height view from the drivers seat, second pass around.  This stuff is about shoulder height when I'm standing and I'm 5' 11"  I'll spray the stuff on the right and knock it down with the weed whacker, there is a big pile of dirt there.



Here is the beast that plows through this stuff.  I bought this old girl about 8 years ago for $100 from a guy who thought it was worn out (that's what he told his wife, I think he just wanted a new shiny one) and put about another $100 in it.  In addition to welding in some angle iron stiffeners to keep the frame from cracking any more, and repairing and beefing up the front suspension.  18HP Briggs, cast iron bore, twin, 42 inch deck, and belt drive.   Made by MDT, don't know who it was sold by or when.  But I can still get parts for it.  It takes the grass from 5 ft to 1 inch in a single pass, but you can't plow through too fast.  One pass is about a quarter mile, and takes about 15 minutes when the grass is this tall.  The height adjustment has 2 positions; up and on the ground, the linkage is pretty worn out.  




This poor old girl is probably well past her expected service life, but that's what we have shops for.  I had to take a break, was getting hot out there.  I'll wait for it to cool off a bit then back at it.  Maybe I'll go make some chips in the shop, or just take a nap
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## coolidge (May 31, 2015)

Gunrunner you need to order a set of these for the Z axis hand crank. Bill did you just spit coffee on your monitor? :rofl:

View attachment 253356


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## pineyfolks (May 31, 2015)

You running nitrous and tin coated carbide blades  lol


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## higgite (May 31, 2015)

Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor would be envious.


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## churchjw (Jun 1, 2015)

Great mower.  Probably better than that shinny new he got.   I love your statement "but that's what we have shops for" I think that says a lot. 

Jeff


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## markknx (Jun 1, 2015)

Yes I kinda hate myself for getting rid of my old Roper built sears 16. that tractor didn't balk at anything in reason. the new crapsman 24 bogs down if the grass is a little wet.
Mark


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## JimDawson (Jun 1, 2015)

coolidge said:


> Impressive for that little lawn tractor. I have cut grass about half that high with my Kubota, the 29hp diesel doesn't even grunt or puff black smoke. See that twisted jungle in the background, the Kubota destroyed it!



Your Kubota would make quick work of my mess.  I used to use my neighbor's Massey Ferguson with a 60 inch PTO deck, but they had to give the deck back to it's owner, after I did major repair work on it.  



markknx said:


> Yes I kinda hate myself for getting rid of my old Roper built sears 16. that tractor didn't balk at anything in reason. the new crapsman 24 bogs down if the grass is a little wet.
> Mark



I would rather repair the old equipment then buy new, most times it's better built than the new stuff.
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## ogberi (Jun 1, 2015)

love crunky old mowers.  I have the Husqvarna in my avatar, 48" deck, 3 blades, hydrostatic drive. Tough bugger, has mowed it's fair share of too-tall grass.  What I really want to do is buy a decent 48" deck, cannibalize my defunct pressure washer for it's horizontal shaft motor, and build a drag behind trail mower.  That way I can drop the deck off the Husq, hook up the trail mower and raze some wilderness.  Keeps the regular deck nice for the lawn.


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## markknx (Jun 1, 2015)

Jim,
The old stuff was much simpler to work on and make/buy parts for most of them were built from off the shelf hardware. with a lot better qualiy.
Mark


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## bosephus (Jun 1, 2015)

my little ford new holland ,   bought it at an estate auction with one single $500  bid   ,  it had a whopping 19 hours on it  .
its a pretty fancy little mower , power steering , power deck lift , tilt wheel  ,  and the two best features , no electric clutch for the deck 
and a fuel sipping   3cyl nashiki    ( Japanese kubota clone ) 17 hp diesel


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## coolidge (Jun 1, 2015)

JimDawson said:


> Your Kubota would make quick work of my mess.  I used to use my neighbor's Massey Ferguson with a 60 inch PTO deck, but they had to give the deck back to it's owner, after I did major repair work on it.



When I first bought my house the grass and weeds were about 3 feet tall, I just drove back and forth over it with the tractor and squashed it flat, it would lay flat for weeks. With the FEL and backhoe the thing weighs over 4,000 lbs. The rear tires are filled with beat juice for added weight. That said I will be looking to down size after I finish the landscaping. The Kubota takes up and entire bay in my garage and really is too large for mowing a yard, its too heavy and is hard on the lawn when turning. Also could really use a mower with a grass catcher on the back. The only thing is the FEL is really handy, I could see still needing one going forward.


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## coolidge (Jun 1, 2015)

bosephus said:


> my little ford new holland ,   bought it at an estate auction with one single $500  bid   ,  it had a whopping 19 hours on it  .
> its a pretty fancy little mower , power steering , power deck lift , tilt wheel  ,  and the two best features , no electric clutch for the deck
> and a fuel sipping   3cyl nashiki    ( Japanese kubota clone ) 17 hp diesel



Yeah one thing that amazed me is how little diesel fuel my Kubota uses. Great buy on your tractor, $500 dang. Versus...wait for it...$26k for my Kubota ouch! (Coolidge wanders off walking funny)


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## JimDawson (Jun 1, 2015)

coolidge said:


> The only thing is the FEL is really handy, I could see still needing one going forward.



I would get the forklift attachment for the FEL, it should give you about 1000 lb of lifting capacity.  You have plenty of counterweight with the backhoe attachment.  I use the neighbors FEL quite a bit around here.  I also welded a chain hook to the top of the bucket for them, they use it for pulling engines and other lifting needs.


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## bosephus (Jun 1, 2015)

coolidge

it was an impulse buy .. i was at the auction to buy a leather recliner of all things .   turns out it was my lucky day being the only guy at the auction .
i  had to borrow money from my girlfriend to pay for it ,   she was a bit put out about it when the recliner went for more then the tractor .


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## cvairwerks (Jun 1, 2015)

Coolidge: Switch it over to turf tires and put the backhoe and FEL on a storage rack til you need them. Don't run fluid fill on the turf rears and it will do much better on the yard.  I run a B5100 with a belly mower and turf tires on both of our places and don't have a problem tearing it up unless I try to mow right after a big rain.  It leaves less of a track than the JD zero turn that I use on occasions. I wouldn't get rid of that Kubota unless I was moving to somewhere that I didn't need a tractor, or was moving up in size.


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## coolidge (Jun 1, 2015)

cvairwerks - thanks for the input on the turf tires that's good to know. I had thought about that but they are bigger than the R4 tires. I priced out a sub-compact John Deere after my above post, north of $20k so forget that. I'll have to give my dealer a call regarding the cost of turf tires. If I had a shop building to store it I wouldn't even be thinking about getting rid of it.

Jim - Yes guys on the tractor forum frequently weld hooks on the FEL bucket, that's on my todo list once I get the TIG kit for my welder. What it really needs is a hydraulic grapple to grab things. We need a after picture of your field that was some serious amount of grass.


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## JimDawson (Jun 1, 2015)

coolidge said:


> Jim - Yes guys on the tractor forum frequently weld hooks on the FEL bucket, that's on my todo list once I get the TIG kit for my welder. What it really needs is a hydraulic grapple to grab things. We need a after picture of your field that was some serious amount of grass.



I used my Lincoln 135 (120V) MIG to weld this one on about 3 years ago.  0.035 flux core wire.   Standard 3/8 chain hook.  I put a 1/4 inch pad under the hook to spread out the load on the thin bucket material.  If the hook was welded right to the bucket it would have ripped out by now.







And when I went over to take these pictures,  what did I find sitting right behind the tractor? A 60 inch PTO mower deck, with a broken lock pin for the PTO drive shaft,  I have the broken pieces in my pocket, and a piece of 4150 on the shelf.  I'll bet I can make a new lock pin in about 15 minutes.  That grass doesn't stand a chance now, and my poor old rider gets a reprieve.


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## coolidge (Jun 1, 2015)

If you are talking about a rear mounted PTO field mower yeah RIP field of tall grass.


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## JimDawson (Jun 1, 2015)

Yup   1800 RPM, low range, second gear, in 4WD,  yeah, that wont take long  Now just need for it to quit raining.


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## coolidge (Jun 1, 2015)

Gunrunner you need to order a set of these for the Z axis hand crank. Bill did you just spit coffee on your monitor? :rofl:

View attachment 253356


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## JimDawson (Jun 4, 2015)

Massey Ferguson to the rescue!  DOC about 5 feet, 60 inch cut width, spindle speed about 1100 RPM, cutting speed about 500 IPM.  Had to bring it back into the shop and see if I can get the leveler adjusted, it's digging dirt on the right side.  Everything is rusted solid.  I hit it with Marvel Mystery Oil/acetone mix.  It's starting to loosen up.  I'll make some chips while I'm waiting for the penetrating oil to work.

And my poor old rider get's a break


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## JimDawson (Jun 4, 2015)

OK, that's done.  Tomorrow I'll be spraying the fence line and other places I can't get the mower into, and especially any stray black berry bushes I find.  Those things will take over in no time if you let them get away from you.  The grass line up the hill is the end of my property.  You are looking at about an acre of grass there.


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## coolidge (Jun 4, 2015)

Wow that's properly beat down now nice job! My screen name on a tractor forum is deathtoblackberries so I think you know where I stand on them


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## dave2176 (Jun 5, 2015)

I think that grass is ready to bale.


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## turnitupper (Jun 5, 2015)

JimDawson said:


> OK, that's done.  Tomorrow I'll be spraying the fence line and other places I can't get the mower into, and especially any stray black berry bushes I find.  Those things will take over in no time if you let them get away from you.  The grass line up the hill is the end of my property.  You are looking at about an acre of grass there.
> 
> View attachment 105143


Why not use a 3 in 1 machine. Mower, Fertiliser and Meat.


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## bpratl (Jun 5, 2015)

JimDawson said:


> Here is the beast that plows through this stuff.  I bought this old girl about 8 years ago for $100 from a guy who thought it was worn out (that's what he told his wife, I think he just wanted a new shiny one) and put about another $100 in it.
> .


I beat you....I got the same one for $50.00, added gas and a battery and it was off and running. That was 8 years ago and it is still going strong. I just finished mowing my back yard last night. Bob


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