How Old Is Your Lawn Mower(s)?? And How Many Hours Approximately?

ripcord said:
My Ransomes Bobcat 36" walk behind is from the early nineties. It's got a Kohler Command that runs great with about a million hours on it as I bought it from a landscape company. It's the bestest, most reliable mower I've ever had after I replaced the spindles, belts and pulleys.

My rider is a cheap Crapsman from the early 2000's with a lot fewer hours. My guess is about 300 hours on it. Works pretty well but needs a new deck belt every 100 hours or so.
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Kohlers built good engines back then.
 
My JD 425 is 23-24 years old, I think it was a 2001. With 915hrs on the clock it still runs like a champ. I bought it used many years ago. I changed the carb, replaced the fuel stop solenoid, put on rougher tires, and years later I replaced a lower radiator hose and all the plastic hood and sides. That's it, everyting else is factory, even the blade belt. I bought a new belt a few years back just in case, but have never installed it. To say it's a good tractor would be a huge disservice. I mow 5 acres of hills and pasture a week during the summer, so it's no garage queen, but it still looks and runs new.....when cleaned up, that is.
 
My Cub Cadet ZT2 50” just hit 2 years old and I believe it just rolled 50 hours. The Kawasaki doesn’t drink oil and runs strong.
 
Late 90's I believe Craftsman LT1000 riding mower 42" and 16.5hp! Got it used 10 years ago. Maybe original engine and HST? The steering has 20 deg of slop so it has some miles! HST has a bit of slip too, but doesn't seem to be getting any worse? I did a drain and fill last year with some Rotella 15W40 but it didn't make much difference. Its nothing fancy but beats pushing two 21" mowers around at once.
I seem to only do 20-25 hrs a year and that includes some trail mowing which has cost me a couple blades and spindles.
The deck is still very solid so I'll keep it going for as long as it lasts.
 
My Honda push mulching mower with the GCV160 is close to 20 years old. I change the oil every time I change the blades. About 3 times each summer. I hate dull blades. 15W40.

It starts on the first pull. No smoke.
 
Snapper self propelled from ~2004, put a castor wheel kit on it recently. 7 hp Intek, wild guess is around 250 hours. Used extensively with a 7 year vacation in the middle.

Recently picked up a V212 Snapper aluminum deck with a Kawi 5 hp repower. Runs great, plenty of power for bagging or mulching.

Also picked up a V21 deck, bought a 3.5 hp flathead Briggs from a Snapper facebook group and got it running. Not self propelled, a nice vintage machine.
 
Also a JD 318, 1986 with just under 800 hours. And a 1969 JD 140 H3 with untold hours, rebuilt by previous owner. Both are incredible workhorses, I wish I had more grass to cut with them.
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1996 Craftsman BS 14.5 hp 42'' lawn tractor manual trans. Was primary mower and drug around a lawn sweeper and with a snow blade did plowing duties for 20 yrs. Moved it to weekend place after getting handed down a JD100, late '90's model manual trans. with BS power, 16 hp I think? JD brought back to life after it sat outside and was abused. Craftsman still going, I have not killed it yet pushing snow with a 42'' blade in 6th gear jamming plow mounds up and back LOL. Other than breaking the front trans. mount straps once and installing a fuel shut off valve to stop carb leak through when parked it's been rugged. Plowing snow with a lawn tractor beats the snot out of them. Can't count normal wear items like belts, blades, etc.
JD got a starter, carb cleaning and deck rebuild to bring it back to life. Bagger kit for it made leaves and pine needles less of a chore.
No hour meters but they get full synth. oil changes. E0 fuels only.
 
My Honda self propelled is about 4 years old now. Have been using M1 0w40 but just bought a bottle of sae 30 to see if it cures the startup puff of smoke.
 
bchannell said:
My JD 425 is 23-24 years old, I think it was a 2001. With 915hrs on the clock it still runs like a champ. I bought it used many years ago. I changed the carb, replaced the fuel stop solenoid, put on rougher tires, and years later I replaced a lower radiator hose and all the plastic hood and sides. That's it, everyting else is factory, even the blade belt. I bought a new belt a few years back just in case, but have never installed it. To say it's a good tractor would be a huge disservice. I mow 5 acres of hills and pasture a week during the summer, so it's no garage queen, but it still looks and runs new.....when cleaned up, that is.
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Cruisin'n5thgear said:
Also a JD 318, 1986 with just under 800 hours. And a 1969 JD 140 H3 with untold hours, rebuilt by previous owner. Both are incredible workhorses, I wish I had more grass to cut with them.View attachment 210571
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I'm not a fan of the newer Deeres, just way too complicated with lots of electronics, but man you guys have some of the best lawn and garden machines that John Deere ever made.
 
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I currently use a 1992 John Deere 240 with the Kawasaki 14HP engine and optional 48” deck. It was bought new by my parents and used on their 9 acre property in SE Wisconsin (about 1/2 mowed) until I got it in 2017. The only trouble I’ve had with it was a broken throttle cable, rusty deck, throwing engine to deck belts, and a fuel issue remedied by shortening the fuel pickup tube. I recently replaced the deck with a less rusty used one off a 265. That took care of the belt wearing/throwing issues. The old deck was so bad that the welded-on brackets that the front draft arms attached to had rusted completely off.

The 240 replaced a 1972 110 with the 8HP Kohler K181 that I bought in 2005 for $650. I miss the 110 a lot. It was well built and handled my rocky Texas Hill Country soil like a champ. However, that little 8 HP did struggle in the grass over the leach bed and it had an awful turning radius.
 
I had a LawnBoy self-propelled walk behind when I move into the house I'm in. I live on 2.5 acres. I probably mow about 1 1/4 acre grass. It would take me 8hrs ish sometimes. I have a lot of moisture in the lawn at times. I live in the NW. Also leaves are a big problem. Prehistoric size maple leaves.

I bought a smoking 17.5 hp Ryobi 42 inch deck 2004yr mower from somebody in the 2017. Fixed the head gasket, and used it hard. Briggs finally broke apart from oil slinger coming apart. I repowered it with 19hp Briggs single cylinder. Have been using it until late last summer. This mower made my life way easier than the walk behind. Using it was a nightmare.

I retired and bought a Husqvarna TS354XD mower last July. I have 15 hours on the Amsoil 10w-30 small engine oil. I just changed the oil/filter, and put 10w-40 Amsoil small engine oil the other day. Saw some metal in the oil filter. I'll probably run the next run till late fall.
I'm going to see if my God daughter's boyfriend wants my old mower. But I will want a couple of favors from him......

Some of you guys have some serious lawn tractors. :oops:
 
It's still too cold here and not quite mowing season for me to dig mine out, but once I do I'll add pics to this thread.

Main mower:

1998 Exmark Metro 48" belt-drive walk-behind. 14hp FC420V Kawasaki, stand on single wheel sulky. Love this setup as standing is more comfortable for my back with all the bumps, mower is simple, leaves nice stripes, and very maneuverable. No hour meter, bought it used so no idea how many hours, my guess would be a lot. Oil: usually 15w40 or 10w30 HDEO.

Secondary mower:

2014 Kubota B2620 4WD tractor with 54" mid mount mower. Very powerful and comfortable to use, not as maneuverable, and the deck stays off of it for most of the tractor's usage. I mainly only put the deck on if I'm mowing one of my grandfather's fields or helping a neighbor mow a large area. 252 hours, most of it loader use. Oil: Valvoline Premium Blue synthetic 5w40.

Brush mower:

2006ish Billy Goat Outback. 26" cut brush mower with 10.5hp Honda GXV390. Mainly used for maintaining trails and rough areas of the property as well as mowing on a friend's Christmas tree farm. Hours: A lot, it was a rental unit before I picked it up cheap. No hour meter. Oil: Usually a 15w40 or 10w30 HDEO.
 
Deere/Scotts SP6213 (orange Scotts painted version of the Deere JS63) with the Briggs Intek 6.75 hp OHV engine. Bought June 2000. I estimate 25 hours per summer - mow weekly from May to August, probably 60 minutes run time. So 575 hours total estimated. Original engine. I change the oil at the end of every season, vast majority of the time has been Briggs branded 30 oil. Change the air filter and spark plug with the yearly oil change. Carb has been replaced at least once. In last 15 years I have tried to use only Nonethanol gas treated with Stabil or Pri-G.
 
2004 John Deere LT160 powered by a Kohler Command, 550 hours. Have replaced 1 idler pulley, 1 belt and a few batteries over the years. Runs as good as new
 
I've got a 2014 John Deere z255 48in zero turn with a 22hp briggs I got in trade. At the time I planned to flip it since I only had .5 acres and a old 38in Murray rider.. Mowed with it one time and knew I'd never use a traditional rider again.. haha Its honestly not a very good zero turn and John Deere must have agreed as the model didn't last long and was replaced with the 355 that has been out for a long time now. Any maintenance on this mower requires a lot of disassembly, cut quality is mediocre at best, there is literally no way to tell how much gas is in it etc etc. With all that being said its still better than using a normal rider IMO. Only has 200hrs on it, but I just got a new place with a 2+ acre yard so I might as well wear it out before I get something better.

I've got a snapper push mower from the 80's that still works great, a husqvarna weed eater from around 2012 that also runs good.

My dad has a push mower with a 3.5hp briggs he had as a kid (1964) on Okinawa and brought back home and that thing still runs/cuts..
 
7 year old Honda HRX 217

Ran it for 4 years on the original oil, probably 100 hours or so, and then sent it out to Blackstone. TBN came back at 5.5, the report said I could run it for another 100hrs despite it looking very dark.

I made a few videos about my lawn mower if you are interested:





 
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