Lawnmower

[Dick]

Over the past few years I've collected several mowers, last year a mate replaced his husqvarna ride on which was smoking like a train so i got it for parts.. the smoke was traced to a leaking rocker gasket.. so all parts were ordered and duly fitted... started the engine, tested the new blades everything perfect.. ran the engine a few more times to charge the battery and after 20 minutes a scream and loud bang from the engine.. after a bit of investigation I discovered that the big end bearing had left the party.. broken hearted I advertised it for parts.. loads of messages, last night 3 Polish guys turned up and bundled a pile of parts into their van.. leaving me with a pile of cash and an empty space in my shed.. this leaves me with only 3 push along mowers and 2 ride ons.. one in working condition..

[Luxobarge]

Living in a house with 3 acres, I've acquired quite a bit of experience with fixing lawnmowers over the past few years, so if it'd been me I'd have fixed that Husqvarna, they're excellent machines and ALL parts are available, you'd probably pick up a whole engine for not a lot of ££. Too late now....

What's the problem with the non-working ones? I've fixed loads, and never had a problem getting parts, even on some really old ones, and they're so simple there's almost nothing that can't be fixed.

Cheers!

[Dick]

Thanks, I'd looked into getting a replacement kohler engine but none could be found.. the other mowers are a 17 hp briggs and stratton powered bestgreen in good order, service at the same time as the husqvarna. The other ride on is a 11.5 hp bestgreen that needs the cutter deck rebuilt, new axle and tyre.. funny thing is all 3 have the same bodies and built in the same factory..
My other machines push along, a 30 year old new/ex hire yamaha my dad had to buy after my brother discovered a brick in the grass crack in the body, works but getting hard to start.. a honda something I was given.. the front wheels and deck have rotted off but its ideal for heavy duty strimming... the last one is a briggs and stratton that needs the pull cord mechanism replacing..
I've also got an ancient briggs rotavator I picked up for 20 quid about 5 years ago. It's used a couple of days a year but saves hours of digging.. last year it was spitting petrol from the exhaust, I thought she was ready for the scrapyard but after removing the spark plug and spinning it over a few times it started and is still giving great service.. ive also got a collection of dead strimmers. I can never get any of them to start so they live in the loft gathering dust

[Dick]

I've found an axle for my 11 hp mower, arranged to collect tonight but despite a dozen messages I'm still waiting for the address

[Dick]

Finally got an address for the axle, met in a car park.. all very suspicious... very nice chap who doesn't want visitors
Anyway, axle fitted and tested i just need to get the parts for the cutter deck.

[Dick]

A bit of an update, after fitting the axle on the 11.5 hp mower I painted and rebuilt the cutter deck with new pulleys and blades, I painted the odd front wheel to match which was a bit of a sod as the paint pickled, strip back to bare metal and paint with undercoat and top coat which pickled again..using the regular mower I had about 100m2 to finish when the clutch went and red hot bearings popped out . Sunday morning was spent between fixing a wheeled strimmer for a client and trying to first fit a new tyre to my freshly painted wheel then cursing said tyre as I couldn't get it to inflate.. After a couple of hours and a pot of tea to calm my nerves I decided one last attempt before asking a local garage to inflate the tyre.. result it went up straight away.. fitted and machine filled with fuel only for it to rain yet again.. not defeated I took it up the lane for a test got soaked but it was worththe effort. Monday evening grass was dry enough to finish cutting.. so now I still have a dead mower in my shed, now I'm still looking for more parts..