I bought this mower new back in the late '90s for our 2+ acres around the farmhouse. It has the old Z-drive mechanical trans in it & a 14hp Briggs Vanguard. Gone through many blades, filters, & belts over the years, but never had cause to spend much on it until the last 5 years or so. Replaced the cups & cones on the Z-drive about 3 years ago, the small drive sprockets about 5 years ago. The Briggs compression relief stopped working reliably a little before that, but I could usually coax it around. Now I have to pull the engine around w/ a wrench & prime it to kick it off.
It's been a great mower for me, but it's to the point something has to be done just about every year. I'm thinking it's time to replace it...or, I'm just itching to buy something newer. :laughing:
Been looking for a week or so & discovered Dixon is no longer around, also hydrostatic transmissions seem to be the order of the day rather than mechanical drive. From my reading, so far, Briggs engines are not as reliable as they once were??
Jeff