It took all day, but here we go....
This little guy was in Illinois, where it seems all my purchases are lately.
Woods 6215, 61" cut. Kubota D722. Runs great. Some of the mechanicals are a bit questionable, in much the same sense as most of the hack garden tractor repair people tend to be. Hey, we don't need no stinkin' crimp terminal, what is a crimp terminal anyway? Wire nut it is! I think this one came off the stove... (rolls eyes) I am well tooled and capable of these types of small repairs.
Anyway, i was spending a lot of time on the M&W mower, realized that the starter wasn't coming off without pulling the engine, broke about half the rotten bolts off INSIDE the engine case, and it snowballed from there. The grass is growing furiously, and i needed a mower. I started looking for grasshoppers and woods front deck machines, quickly saw the high price tags, after all, it is the middle of mowing season. this one turned up on fakebook marketplace at a not stomach-turning price, i called the guy and he dropped it 500 more. Since i had been looking for a mower to diesel-swap for several years, and nothing really turning up, i coughed up the cash and drove 270 miles to get this guy.
The yard was starting to look quite shabby, as the bushog on the Oliver was the only other mower that could get the job done. My kid mows most of the time and he's terrified of hitting something near my stuff, so i have a sea of tall grass and i can't stand it anymore. Also, I am tired of having to wrench endlessly on old broken **** or having a giant project to get something done. So i got off my wallet.
I'm sitting at my workstation now, putting together a full service order. I will have to attend to the tires, they are pretty shot. Other than that and a couple little things that are easy fixes, i drove it around the yard and down the driveway after i got it off the trailer. Hydros seem pretty good. About 1500 hrs on the clock. I've heard hydros last at least ~2000hrs if you take care of them, and i have a pair of low hour spares in the 5180 i picked up a few years ago as an engine swap candidate. Now i don't have to do that, and i can concentrate on other things of more interest.
The fact that i can fuel up the mower at the bulk tank without going to town and i can get off the rec-fuel treadmill which i DESPISE is all icing on the cake. Our nearest rec fuel is about 17 miles away from here. OR i can fill jugs, treat with stabil and hope for the best. I hate that. Most of my small engines have to get cleaned out every 2-4 weeks because of **** fuel. Even my VMAX has problems after a couple weeks.
My kid put together this text to his mother after we picked it up in Illinois:
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On this week's edition of vice grip garage, we roll the dice with a 280,000 mile 97 Ford 350 dually with dry rotted, bald, weather checked, half flat tires in 80 degree heat in Chicago traffic on Chicago pothole roads. With no way to air them up. Perfect.
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I didn't notice the tires had gotten that bad. Guess i better order some truck tires while i'm at it....
