Funny you should mention Snapper... I got a older rear engined model for free. It had been sitting outside and I had little hope for it based on cosmetic condition. I went over the basics and rebuild the pull starter. The damn thing started on the second pull and ran great. Unfortunately, its just not maneuverable enough for my yard. Everything is irregularly shaped around here, so I need something that will change directions easily. Mowing with the snapper is a real chore, especially changing directions. Not to mention the deck alignment is messed up and it really chewed up my grass, but I could fix that.
It has a nice 10hp commercial Tecumseh engine. Someone on CL will be happy with it. Jaime On Sat, Aug 3, 2013 at 8:11 AM, Curt Raymond <curtlud...@yahoo.com> wrote: > For such a small property the good in a small diesel will never outweigh > the premium you need to pay for it. > That one you linked to is probably going to be a disaster. The neglect > evident on the outside will be reflected everywhere... > > The real W123 of the garden tractor world is a small frame Cub Cadet > models 70, 100, 71, 72, 102 etc. I have a model 70 at the house which is a > 7hp from 1964. I've mowed our 1/4 acre with it although its overkill for > that and used it to plow our little driveway which its a little underweight > for although thats fixable. With a snowblower it'd be all set for any size > driveway. At camp I've got a 72 which is a 7hp model from 1967. I've got > that equipped with crossbar tires like a big tractor has. It hauls wood and > plows (ploughs for those on the other side of the pond) up a little patch > of land we plant for the wildlife. Again its a little underweight but I've > got a kit to fluid fill the tires. Something like a 100 with its 10hp would > do a little better. > The one at the house is pretty tired, the engine really needs rebuilding. > My current plan is to repower with a 10hp diesel. I've found Chinese copies > of Yanmar singles for around $600. The torque curve on the 10hp is more > like a 14hp gasser. > > Anyway for what you suggest you need I'd say go to Lowes, Home Depot, > Sears or wherever and buy the $999 lawn tractor, then lay down whatever > they want for the snowblower attachment, chains and weight box. 95% of all > lawn tractors sold today are made by MTD and pretty much every place that > carries lawn tractors carries the same one for $999. At camp we've got one > badged "Craftsman". My grandmother's is "Bolens" and my dad just bought a > "TroyBuilt" but they all exactly the same machine. The 17hp engine is > powerful and the rest of the tractor is good enough. They've made a > bazillion of them so parts access is easy and its got a 42" deck and wants > to mow in a pretty high gear so it'll eat right through your 1/2 acre > plenty quick. > > If you want something more rugged look into a Snapper rear engine rider. > Those are the modern equivalent of a w123. I use one to mow our lawn now. > Its a 1964, 8hp, I pulled it out from under a spruce tree on our farm about > 4 years ago and repowered it with an engine from a 1988. They make a ton of > attachments including a snowblower. AFAIK Snapper is one of the last brands > that actually makes their own stuff. Even the low end JD and Cub Cadet > stuff is all MTD. > > -Curt > > > Date: Fri, 2 Aug 2013 19:24:46 -0400 > From: Jaime Kopchinski <jaime...@gmail.com> > To: mercedes Mailing List <mercedes@okiebenz.com>, Banned List > <ban...@okiebenz.com> > Subject: [MBZ] John Deere Diesels > Message-ID: > <cacy-ba+vk6urm21gyndq8oxrcribe7wmk_wzdnlu0z79tc2...@mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 > > Anyone on the list have a JD garden tractor? > > We moved and I'm not so interested in using my push mower anymore. When we > had 0.16 acres it was fine, but I'm looking for something a little more > aggressive. > > John Deere 330, 332, 455, and similar models with the 3 cylinder yanmar > diesel really interest me. Anyone have one or any experience? From what > I've read, they're the diesel W123 of garden tractors. > > I don't have a huge amount to mow, about 1/2 acre, but I have potentially > 500' of driveway to plow in the winter, and could find other uses for a > powerful compact tractor. And if I run out of justifications: they're > really cool and I want one. > > This is local enough and the price is right, but looks pretty rough: > http://cnj.craigslist.org/grd/3951606736.html > > NJ isn't exactly tractor country, so there isn't much to choose from. > > Anyone have any experience with these? > > Jaime > > > -- > Jaime Kopchinski > http://www.jaimekop.com/ > _______________________________________ > http://www.okiebenz.com > > To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > -- Jaime Kopchinski http://www.jaimekop.com/ _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
