Welcome to Club Hot Rod!  The premier site for everything to do with Hot Rod, Customs, Low Riders, Rat Rods, and more. 

  •  » Members from all over the US and the world!
  •  » Help from all over the world for your questions
  •  » Build logs for you and all members
  •  » Blogs
  •  » Image Gallery
  •  » Many thousands of members and hundreds of thousands of posts! 

YES! I want to register an account for free right now!  p.s.: For registered members this ad will NOT show

 
Like Tree7Likes
  • 1 Post By 53 Chevy5
  • 1 Post By 34_40
  • 3 Post By Hotrod46
  • 2 Post By rspears

Thread: Lawn mower Hot Rods
          
   
   

Reply To Thread
Results 1 to 7 of 7
  1. #1
    53 Chevy5's Avatar
    53 Chevy5 is offline CHR Member Visit my Photo Gallery
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Doon, Ia
    Car Year, Make, Model: 53 Chevy 3100
    Posts
    2,709

    Lawn mower Hot Rods

     



    Another out with the old and in with the new. My old trusty 718 Grasshopper finally decided it's had enough and the motor lost a cyl saturday. I can't complain, it has 2020 hours on an 18 horse Briggs and Stratton with a 61 inch deck so it's worked hard it's whole life. I thought about repowering the obsolete motor with a Vanguard but that was going to be $1300 for the kit and motor. I thought about overhauling mine but how much work and money do you put into a 20 yr old machine with that many hours. I bit the bullet and bought a new Kubota. It was actually off of a guy who bought it last year and never used it and it had 0.9 hours on it. I low balled him and got it for $1300 less than it was new, and the cool part is , it's the brand I was going to buy anyway from our local dealer. 4 yr 500 hour warranty left on it also. I think I'm going to part my Grasshopper out as I see 718 hydro's are selling on Fee Bay for $1000 a piece plus all the other goodies on them. This has been an expensive month, Work car, lawn mower and air compressor
    Attached Images
    40FordDeluxe likes this.
    Seth

    God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing. C.S.Lewis

  2. #2
    firebird77clone's Avatar
    firebird77clone is offline CHR Member Visit my Photo Gallery
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Hamilton
    Car Year, Make, Model: 69 nomad, 73 charger, 74 vega
    Posts
    3,900

    Cool. This year I buckled under and finally got a new Poulon 42" hydrostatic transmission - got tired of fixing the craftsman.

    I am SO pleased with the new mower. The hydrostatic transmission makes it as nimble as a mountain goat.

    Of course, I had to work on it twice in the first two days I had it. I'm not gentle to my mower, and the first spring cut is brutal.

    And the right side blade is shot already.

    I'm planning to forgo my "retirement" and go back to work soon. Maybe next year I can upgrade to what you've got.
    .
    Education is expensive. Keep that in mind, and you'll never be terribly upset when a project goes awry.
    EG

  3. #3
    34_40's Avatar
    34_40 is offline CHR Member Visit my Photo Gallery
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    New Bedford
    Car Year, Make, Model: 34 Ford 3W Coupe Replica
    Posts
    14,606

    Can't go wrong with orange machines, we've got 4 or 5 running around my house.
    But I still mow with my 1970 Model 73 Cub Cadet! It just keeps on working.
    40FordDeluxe likes this.

  4. #4
    Hotrod46's Avatar
    Hotrod46 is offline CHR Member Visit my Photo Gallery
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Vidalia
    Car Year, Make, Model: 1946 Ford Coupe, 1962 Austin Healey 3000
    Posts
    1,496

    +1 on Kubota.

    I've got a 16HP diesel Kubota sub-compact tractor that is about 30 years old. I bought it about 16 years ago and in all that time, all I have done to it is replace a worn steering gear and an ignition switch. The Woods belly mower rusted out about 6 years ago and I rebuilt it with slightly heavier steel .

    I tried the zero turn thing and liked it because it was fast, but my ground is so rough that it beat my arthritic back up too bad. I traded the ZT in on a new 25 HP compact Kubota with a loader last year. Best decision I've made for lawn care. It takes a little longer to mow with the tractor over the ZT, but the loader is pretty handy.

    Congrats on the new toy.
    Mike

    I seldom do anything within the scope of logical reason and calculated cost/benefit, etc-
    I'm following my pass​ion

  5. #5
    53 Chevy5's Avatar
    53 Chevy5 is offline CHR Member Visit my Photo Gallery
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Doon, Ia
    Car Year, Make, Model: 53 Chevy 3100
    Posts
    2,709

    Firebird, your right, I remember when I got my first hydro, it's a day and night difference from a gear machine.
    There is getting to be more and more orange things around me, everyone I talk to is really happy with the reliability. I am a bit concerned about the ride vs my Grasshopper but I got a suspension seat coming for it, I was told it makes a big difference.
    Seth

    God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing. C.S.Lewis

  6. #6
    40FordDeluxe's Avatar
    40FordDeluxe is offline CHR Member Visit my Photo Gallery
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Location
    Prairie City
    Car Year, Make, Model: 40 Ford Deluxe, 68 Corvette, 72&76 K30
    Posts
    7,264
    Blog Entries
    1

    Nice new mower! I have an old Kubota rider I mow my yard with. Parts are pricey for the antique so I'll probably use it to repower a John Deere this winter.
    Ryan
    1940 Ford Deluxe Tudor 354 Hemi 46RH Electric Blue w/multi-color flames, Ford 9" Residing in multiple pieces
    1968 Corvette Coupe 5.9 Cummins Drag Car 11.43@130mph No stall leaving the line with 1250 rpm's and poor 2.2 60'
    1972 Chevy K30 Longhorn P-pumped 24v Compound Turbos 47RH Just another money pit
    1971 Camaro RS 5.3 BTR Stage 3 cam, SuperT10
    Tire Sizes

  7. #7
    rspears's Avatar
    rspears is offline CHR Member/Contributor Visit my Photo Gallery
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Gardner, KS
    Car Year, Make, Model: '33 HiBoy Coupe, '32 HiBoy Roadster
    Posts
    10,989

    How about this new one from Honda? Said they got tired of people asking so they're putting an end to the questions at 109HP and 130mph and yes, it's a fully functioning lawn mower - https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews...tractor-review
    ted dehaan and johnboy like this.
    Roger
    Enjoy the little things in life, and you may look back one day and realize that they were really the BIG things.

Reply To Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
Links monetized by VigLink