Gravely/Ariens Owner Check-In --- Read This First!

[bertsmobile1]

I had a Craftsman (AYP) lawn tractor that did that. Turned out to be a bad safety switch under the seat. The Gravely needs the seat, parking brake, and deck clutch safety switches working to start. Might try temporarily bypassing them one at a time before moving to something more complex.

WRONG
Seat is not in the starting circuit for any mower.
Never has been and never will be because techs need to be able to service them.
Being required to disable the seat switch in order to service the mower leads to the chance that the tech will forget to enable it before the machine is returned to the owner.

 

[Tony T.]

Hey everyone just joined up and was wanting to say hello. Hoping to get some questions answered for my new to me Ariens RM830e lawn tractor.

Tony

 

[Icutmetl]

Hey All,

Just a quick introduction from Ohio. Attached is a picture of the 8163T I inherited from my Father, who inherited it from his father, who bought it brand new. It's been sitting for 10-15 years and needs some TLC; I want to pass it along to another good home and pick up a Gravely zero-turn, the research on which led me to this forum.

 

[Hray24]

Hello everyone. Georgia boy here with a new Ariens ikon x 52". So far I love it and the Kawasaki engine. But I was wondering if I could put bigger tires on the rear and front for better ride and traction? I would only want to go up one size to a 20" on back and 13" on front.

 

[BlazNT]

You have to measure for clearance in the front. Back would work just fine as it will not make any difference in ride quality. 1" equals 1/2" ride difference. Make sure when you are done that the deck is still level.

 

[Fixxit]

Hi all. I joined the forum today. I'm in So IL & enjoy the country air, mow over an acre with a JD rider. Don't know what I'd do w/o forums like this since I enjoy working on stuff. Last summer found an abandoned Gravely ZT1844 as winter-time project and want to post a couple questions. It's been sitting outside for 2 or 3 yrs. Symptom was that after warm, it tends to turn right. This thing was packed with leaves & trash, & more importantly on top of the hydro motors was 1/2 in of dried, caked, oil/dirt, grass clippings. So, before anything else, I completely disassembled the mower and pressure washed these motors. Now I see the Hydro Gear motors # 01589000 R, and 01588900 L. I think a good clue was after I removed drive belt and spun the pulleys on the motors back & forth, the Right one is slightly easier to spin. Also the oil on top of Right motor may have been from a bad engine because it now has a like new 20hp. I looked at the blow-up on line and still don't see a way to check the fluid level, or change it for that matter. Also, I see a Seal Kit available on line. Any thoughts are appreciated. Fixxit

 

[BlazNT]

Hi all. I joined the forum today. I'm in So IL & enjoy the country air, mow over an acre with a JD rider. Don't know what I'd do w/o forums like this since I enjoy working on stuff. Last summer found an abandoned Gravely ZT1844 as winter-time project and want to post a couple questions. It's been sitting outside for 2 or 3 yrs. Symptom was that after warm, it tends to turn right. This thing was packed with leaves & trash, & more importantly on top of the hydro motors was 1/2 in of dried, caked, oil/dirt, grass clippings. So, before anything else, I completely disassembled the mower and pressure washed these motors. Now I see the Hydro Gear motors # 01589000 R, and 01588900 L. I think a good clue was after I removed drive belt and spun the pulleys on the motors back & forth, the Right one is slightly easier to spin. Also the oil on top of Right motor may have been from a bad engine because it now has a like new 20hp. I looked at the blow-up on line and still don't see a way to check the fluid level, or change it for that matter. Also, I see a Seal Kit available on line. Any thoughts are appreciated. Fixxit

Go to http://www.hydro-gear.com/service-and-repair-manuals/ scroll down to ZT-2400 IZT, ZT-2600 CIZT anclick on it. Page 8 and 9 fill port and drain port.

 

[Dirtbmw20]

Hello everyone. Not new to the forum, but new to the Gravely section. New owner of a 2018 ZTHD. No issues yet, only 5 hours on it, but already can't get the first factory accessory I bought to fit right, off to the search bar, thanks for having me.

 

[bjsmith413]

I'm a long-time no-lot city/zero-lot suburban dweller (traveled for work 100% for 12 of my last 15, worked in 60 cities over 30 states) who wanted to settle down in central Alabama with 3 acres. So now, obviously, I'm clearly over my head.

After a couple of weeks of reading, timing the purchase of our new homestead rather poorly, I finally just went with the Ariens IKON X-52 with the Kohler 24hp (went back'n forth on Kawi v. Kohler), M/N 915222. Yeah, one of those Home Depot/Lowe's specials for under $3K, mainly so I could get delivered, and in a week (still working on buying a 6'+ wide trailer).

This is my first ever riding lawnmower, zero-turn obviously, but I didn't want to drop $5K+. Maybe in a number of years I'll change that. If you saw me this weekend in central Alabama, I was the idiot learning how to not flip myself over, learning why one always take gradients head-on, and was basically a divot making fool for at least the first half of my run.

That said, after I eventually graduate from "lawn clueless" to "wannabe novice," my next order of business is to get my lawn under control. So feel free to PM me if you're a glutton for punishment as I'm a complete noob to all this. Otherwise you'll probably see me posting, more like screaming (I promise not to use CAPS) on the forums as I take my first spring and summer challenges head-on, and fail quite expectedly.

For those so inclined to start reading (and laughing) now ...

From the looks of it, the previous owner didn't do any pre-emergent herbicide last September, and I'm dealing with dandis, crab and probably a half dozen other weeds -- and I'm just learning all this too, barely scratching the surface, and throwing out terms I just learned, like 2,4-D. The simple solution I'm starting with is the mulch kit, as mulching is supposed to help enrich the soil over time (probably a couple of years in my yard's case).

I was also looking at my options for a towed sprayers, after adding the hitch, of course. From the Ariens site, it's not showing my M/N as compatible with their own sprayer unit. I have a feeling that the low-cost IKON probably doesn't offer (or Ariens doesn't recommend one rig up a solution tied to its battery for) an electrically powered sprayer. Just curious what my options are.​

 

[buckwheat_49]

New here(obviously), I have an older gravely at home bought used, and an older one at work. 2044zt mine; 1840zt work. both good mowers and very operator friendly. I use the gravely at work over our Dixie chopper because of ease of use. just had a problem with "chattering" on acceleration on both mowers, but 2 idler pulleys and oem belt fixed them right up. just took a while to figure out, so if anyone has the same issue, check idler pulleys for slack.