Elkins45
Site Donor 2026
I'm happy to say the 2004 Craftsman 22HP rider fired right up. Even better, there were no mouse nests that needed clearing out of the cooling fins this year.
Mowing season has begin
- Thread starter Elkins45
- Start date
That's fantastic!
I've been crawling all over a new-to-me Deere that's had an extremely questionable history of being used & re-used. At least it started up this spring. It'll be thrown into action shortly.
I've been crawling all over a new-to-me Deere that's had an extremely questionable history of being used & re-used. At least it started up this spring. It'll be thrown into action shortly.
I mowed yesterday. It was sooo disappointing after my grass took a beating last year. I do like playing with the mower though.
So far this season I've towed the tank sprayer three times for pre-emergent, ammonium sulfate and Tri-Mec. Also did one cut. Changed oil and filter after first sprayer tow and have added two hours run time since.
I have a rwd and a fwd mower. They are both self propelled and have a 21" deck. The rwd has a slightly more powerful engine. I have found the fwd unit is much more maneuverable and controllable. If I had a really large lawn to cut I'd prefer the rwd model but otherwise it is not the better option.
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- Jan 6, 2005
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- 10,257
Since I moved to a new place in the city last year, and don't have a huge yard, I think I'll let my lawn guy keep mowing from now on. He's not too expensive and does a great job.
Lawn still gets frost on it , so not much growing going on yet. The " Toy Built" rider in the shed surprised me with a dead battery, even though there was a maintainer on it. Won't take a charge either. Must have froze over the winter. New battery in garage waiting to go in. Won't do that again. I'll remove the battery and store indoors when I'm done with the season.
New oil/filter when put away. T6 5w40. Napa fiter.
Battery charged monthly in the basement.
Put a fresh sharp set of blades on.
Greased the spindles and front wheels. I think there's another zerk on the steering.
Cut the grass at 2 3/4" to clean debris.
Just hit 200 hrs.
Home Depot Deere. 17hp.
Battery charged monthly in the basement.
Put a fresh sharp set of blades on.
Greased the spindles and front wheels. I think there's another zerk on the steering.
Cut the grass at 2 3/4" to clean debris.
Just hit 200 hrs.
Home Depot Deere. 17hp.
Elkins45
Site Donor 2026
My Craftsman is kind of the Ship of Theseus at this point. Every blade, mandrel, pulley and spring on the deck has been replaced, as has the drive idler pulley, the chute shroud, the transaxle, fuel pump, intake push rod, crank seal and sump gasket. Amazingly, it still has the original drive belt. The replacement transmission is getting really noisy and hard to shift so when I replace it I’ll probably just go ahead and install a new drive belt. I have a $50 Craigslist replacement transaxle just waiting to go.
Since my grass is in bad shape I'll make this into good shape.
mowed 3 times already
Did my third weed-mow this weekend. Battery sees a charger every few weeks during the winter. 14.5 hp Briggs pops right off. I think the synthetic oil is at least 1 yr old and maybe two. Still looks likely honey. It might go another season or I might change it soon, with the pressure washer which will get a workout soon. This engine is pretty easy on oil and frankly the rest of the machine may wear out first. The hydros probably need fresh oil more. The rear tires are good for one more season? They don’t make tweels small enough for it. The deck is warped. This Ariens zoom 34 has been a good little battle-tested machine.
We have had some fairly warm weather of late. I had to use my old MTD rider that I kept after getting a new Husqvarna to mow today. I do about an acre of grass. l am trying to do frame reinforcement on my supposed "Dream Mower".
My old mower powered through just fine. I was going to wait longer for the mow. But it would make a normal mow a nightmare mow if I waited. Where I live sometimes to find a dry time to mow ends up where the grass is way too long. So sometimes I end up having to mow very damp grass. Not fun.
My old mower powered through just fine. I was going to wait longer for the mow. But it would make a normal mow a nightmare mow if I waited. Where I live sometimes to find a dry time to mow ends up where the grass is way too long. So sometimes I end up having to mow very damp grass. Not fun.
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