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Rookie mistake; Left key "on" overnight.

#1

R

Roll

So now my hour meter shows over 24 hours instead of the 4 hours is should. I don't suppose I can turn that back? It was a stupid thing to do although I had previously thought that the hour meter only registered time when you were driving it or mowing. Nonetheless, I should have checked the key before I locked the shed doors.


#2

B

bertsmobile1

No
you can replace it or make a note in your owners manual that the hours are 24 out.
Trust me you will do it again everyone does.
Mower engines are not a high precision engine like your car so doing a service +/- 24 hours will make zero difference.
I get my customers to change oil after the last mow of the season & ignore the hour meter .
If they get me to do the service then it is every odd ( or even ) year or every leap year for those counting pennies .


#3

R

Roll

I figured as much, would make the hour meter useless as a measure of "mileage" on a rig. It would have had 4 hours on it give or take 15 minutes. I'll note that 20 hours is "Key" time and not use. It was inevitable I would do this. So at least I didn't leave it on after closing the shed for the winter. Now I hang the key near the mower when I put it in the shed. That habit, once ingrained, will help stop me from doing this again.


#4

B

bertsmobile1

Better still is to get a 2" key loop and hang the key over the dip stick every time you finish mowing.
Firstly it prevents you leaving it turned on
Secondly it encourages you to check the oil before each use
Finally it keeps the key hidden


#5

7394

7394

What he said !


#6

T

Tbone0106

I have mowed the grass at our church for years. The church mower is a trusty old Cub RZT50, a pure grass-cutting machine with the 22 hp Kawasaki V-twin. We keep it (and other things) in a pole barn behind the parsonage. That barn is also a sort of hang-out for the church's youth group.

But I've had two recurring problems. First, the five-gallon gas cans were always empty, as in bone dry, even though I kept them full and it only takes about three gallons to mow the acreage. Second, too many times the battery on the RZT was dead because someone turned the key on, and left it on, while the mower was just sitting in the barn. (That hour meter alone will drain the battery over days.)

Solution: place the mower key on a ring with another key that works with the large padlock that binds the steel chain on the barn doors. I carry those keys with me, and now the gas magically stays in the cans and the battery is miraculously charged all the time.


#7

R

Roll

Tbone0106 said:
I have mowed the grass at our church for years. The church mower is a trusty old Cub RZT50, a pure grass-cutting machine with the 22 hp Kawasaki V-twin. We keep it (and other things) in a pole barn behind the parsonage. That barn is also a sort of hang-out for the church's youth group.

But I've had two recurring problems. First, the five-gallon gas cans were always empty, as in bone dry, even though I kept them full and it only takes about three gallons to mow the acreage. Second, too many times the battery on the RZT was dead because someone turned the key on, and left it on, while the mower was just sitting in the barn. (That hour meter alone will drain the battery over days.)

Solution: place the mower key on a ring with another key that works with the large padlock that binds the steel chain on the barn doors. I carry those keys with me, and now the gas magically stays in the cans and the battery is miraculously charged all the time.
Click to expand...
LOL. Yes, experience and a keen mind can solve most human type of problems. They are all good kids, until for a minute, they are not.


#8

T

Tbone0106

Roll said:
LOL. Yes, experience and a keen mind can solve most human type of problems. They are all good kids, until for a minute, they are not.
Click to expand...
Heh. I like to say that we call them children because they're not yet people.


#9

R

Roll

Tbone0106 said:
Heh. I like to say that we call them children because they're not yet people.
Click to expand...
No they are not. And they don't really want to listen even though we have lived through the same things that were just labeled a little differently. Our kids are in their 40's now and still...do you think they might listen for a moment. Nope. We love them all, very much but we also love the grandkids, (12 now) even more. ;-) And the grandkids listen!


#10

T

Tbone0106

Roll said:
No they are not. And they don't really want to listen even though we have lived through the same things that were just labeled a little differently. Our kids are in their 40's now and still...do you think they might listen for a moment. Nope. We love them all, very much but we also love the grandkids, (12 now) even more. ;-) And the grandkids listen!
Click to expand...
It's strange, don't you think? The grandkids seem to listen better than their parents do, but they also listen better to us than to their own parents! It's like they figure we must know a few things, otherwise we never would have gotten so old. LOL

I note that you retired a JD LT160 recently. A good friend of mine at our church has an LT160 and I work on it occasionally, mainly because my good friend is so very good at breaking things. He has one acre of grass and three riding mowers -- the JD plus a super-nice Cub LT1046 and a Troy-Bilt monstrosity that I have advised him to sell forthwith. I routinely service all three because he and his wife and child routinely break them. The JD is a nice little mower; bulletproof motor! My friend and his wife insist on shaving their lawn impossibly short, and that always leads to problems. I replaced the drive belt on that puppy last year, and I think I'll just pass on that task in the future.


#11

L

Lawn Ranger Don

Can you disconnect the meter? I can on my Toro.


#12

R

Roll

Don't know. Didn't consider that. It's an idea but I also respect the integrity of the concept of the hour meter. I think you are suggesting I disconnect it, mark time for the 21 extra hours and then reconnect. I could but truthfully, the 4-year warranty will expire long before I have 500 hours on it. Mine is a residence mower. It took me 10 years to put 500 hours on the old JD. Thanks for the idea. If the discrepancy tugs at my OCD I might do it but so far I have been able to keep OCD in the background, mostly, well, a little anyway.


#13

T

Tbone0106

Lawn Ranger Don said:
Can you disconnect the meter? I can on my Toro.
Click to expand...
One way to look at it, but it's simpler just to remove the key. Even if the hour meter is disconnected, you still have things like the carburetor anti-backfire solenoid to deal with, and item that likely consumes more battery juice than the hour meter.

I worked heavy highway for many years. Many of the pieces of heavy equipment I dealt with -- graders, bulldozers, excavators, etc. -- had "master switches," which were heavy gauge keyed switches that completely isolated the batteries from everything when they were in the OFF position. It was more of an anti-theft and anti-tampering device, but it also helped keep the batteries alive.


#14

R

Roll

Tbone0106 said:
One way to look at it, but it's simpler just to remove the key. Even if the hour meter is disconnected, you still have things like the carburetor anti-backfire solenoid to deal with, and item that likely consumes more battery juice than the hour meter.

I worked heavy highway for many years. Many of the pieces of heavy equipment I dealt with -- graders, bulldozers, excavators, etc. -- had "master switches," which were heavy gauge keyed switches that completely isolated the batteries from everything when they were in the OFF position. It was more of an anti-theft and anti-tampering device, but it also helped keep the batteries alive.
Click to expand...
We have a master switch in the motor coach. Same effect. Only item that remains attached is a solar panel on the roof.


#15

M

MowerBladeService

Roll said:
So now my hour meter shows over 24 hours instead of the 4 hours is should. I don't suppose I can turn that back? It was a stupid thing to do although I had previously thought that the hour meter only registered time when you were driving it or mowing. Nonetheless, I should have checked the key before I locked the shed doors.
Click to expand...
the old units did only work when the engine was running, not sure when they changed that.


#16

R

Roll

So I've heard. Thanks for the response. I made a note in the unlikely event it becomes an issue.


#17

B

bertsmobile1

First os all it is a mower not the space shuttle.
The hour meter is for convienance because people forget to do things like change the oil
On around 50% of the mowers I service the hour meter has ceased to work a very long time ago .
Change your oil after the final cut of the season
Change the oil filter on every even year
If you want change the spark plugs at the same time
Do a hydro service ( filter &/or oil ) on every "0" year
Write the date on the air filter & oil filter with a paint pen when you replace them .
If the air filter looks clean on the inside then replace it on every 5th year , 2020 / 2025 / 2030 etc
Hour meters are all wired differently
Some are ignition on , some are engine running & some are blades running and the appointed change time will always happen at an inconvienant date .
The mower will not shut down or blow up if all of the services are not done exactly on time


#18

R

Roll

Thanks Bert Good advice.


#19

L

Lawn Ranger Don

It doesn't hurt to change the air filter once or twice while doing leaf clean ups. Mine gets dirty real fast. The air filter and element is inexpensive.


#20

B

bertsmobile1

Yes replace the cheap things to save the expensive ones .
However it will vary from mower to mower.
My own mowers get new filters every 5 years and even then most could go substantially longer .
People look at the wrong side of a filter to decide if it needs changing
what is important is the INSIDE not the outside, in fact the more debris on the outside the better the filter works till of course it is so clogged that the engine runs rich.
Staining on the inside ( or a rich running engine ) means the filter needs changing.What they don't need is to be consistantly removed & replaced as on most this will damage the seal between the filter & the housing allowing it to leak.
Th FR series kawasaki engines are very prone to this because of the poor clamping system ( over tightening the thumb screw caused a leak )


#21

7394

7394

Yep.........


#22

B

Born2Mow

If you used a battery disconnect, then it wouldn't matter.

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