John Deere Rider Purchase

[Elias40]

I read about your experience with some amusement. Why , because so far your tractor has not required an engine teardown. I reacted to the "big green" locally because I was put off by a kind of smug arrogance at the dealer. So I blew off part of my foot by buying a craftsman INTEK 24...the rest is history. I should have bought JD...but I have enjoyed the therapy of this forum.

Engine Teardown- ssssssssshhhhhhhhhh! Quiet, it may be listening, and like Hoyt Clagwell, needs no advice as it comes with experience problems of it's own.

This dealer here won't ever see me again, outside of getting filters for maintenance. Most of the machine has no warranty to begin with, and they will beat you up over the engine if anything valid does go wrong, and I am sure it will, I will be the guarantee of my warranty.

It is too cold out in the garage, or I would be writing more faults found but will have to wait for warmer weather.

I used to like Sears and K-mart till they swallowed each other up, although Craftsman was one brand I was considering. Maybe it is I instead who blew part of his foot off, maybe even the whole foot, half a leg,

 

[motoman]

Elias, Since your humor seems to run with mine allow me to relate a pinnacle of laughs . After I decided heat had killed my Intek and put an oil cooler on it someone in the forum told us that the dealer warned that installing an oil cooler would void the warranty. :laughing::laughing:

 

[Elias40]

Elias, Since your humor seems to run with mine allow me to relate a pinnacle of laughs . After I decided heat had killed my Intek and put an oil cooler on it someone in the forum told us that the dealer warned that installing an oil cooler would void the warranty. :laughing::laughing:

The reason it took so long for a reply, I had to clean the coffee spray off the screen, coming from laughter.

Doubt I could top that one.

Poking fun at the grief we suffer is about the only thing we have got to save our sanity. And the jokes throw it back to the source.

 

[motoman]

I have asked previously in this forum about the $ threshold for liquid cooling, but have had to judge it since no professionals answered my question. I t seems like a quantum leap of $2-$3K to me, but that must solve a lot of problems. The rider I bought was "carefully" calibrated (cough) by Craftsman to handle 1-1/2 acres and it does now, but I still am monitoring heat in summer, The rig is really bullet proof except for the engine. I believe if a person only cut smaller yards without the 3 bagger system it would be trouble free (treat it like a toy, kinda).

Re fuel injection it doesn't seem to make sense to me for an engine built for low RPM torque and it would probably cost ?$250-$300? per unit after a big non-recurring development cost which would be amortized in for another ? $250-$300? If you look at and believe consumer report most of the mowers and riders finish within 5%-10% of one another in reliability, so breaking from this tight pack of competitors would take guts and big risk. I remember how Honda broke through in the 70's with their trick engines we could not match. Like I said I wish Kawasaki or Honda made riders.

 

[Elias40]

I have asked previously in this forum about the $ threshold for liquid cooling, but have had to judge it since no professionals answered my question. I t seems like a quantum leap of $2-$3K to me, but that must solve a lot of problems. The rider I bought was "carefully" calibrated (cough) by Craftsman to handle 1-1/2 acres and it does now, but I still am monitoring heat in summer, The rig is really bullet proof except for the engine. I believe if a person only cut smaller yards without the 3 bagger system it would be trouble free (treat it like a toy, kinda).

Re fuel injection it doesn't seem to make sense to me for an engine built for low RPM torque and it would probably cost ?$250-$300? per unit after a big non-recurring development cost which would be amortized in for another ? $250-$300? If you look at and believe consumer report most of the mowers and riders finish within 5%-10% of one another in reliability, so breaking from this tight pack of competitors would take guts and big risk. I remember how Honda broke through in the 70's with their trick engines we could not match. Like I said I wish Kawasaki or Honda made riders.

You just had to ask, You just had to ask! (foghorn leghorn)

Might be Kawasaki liquid cooled engines
John Deere Recalls Lawn Tractors Powered by Kawasaki Engines ...

John Deere Recalls Lawn Tractors Powered by Kawasaki Engines Due to Overheating and Fire Hazards
Sep 16, 2011 John Deere Recalls Lawn Tractors Powered by Kawasaki Engines Due to Overheating and Fire Hazards. The following product safety recall ...


Although the cpsc's website is down for the holiday.

 

[motoman]

You just had to ask, You just had to ask! (foghorn leghorn)

Might be Kawasaki liquid cooled engines
John Deere Recalls Lawn Tractors Powered by Kawasaki Engines ...

John Deere Recalls Lawn Tractors Powered by Kawasaki Engines Due to Overheating and Fire Hazards
Sep 16, 2011 John Deere Recalls Lawn Tractors Powered by Kawasaki Engines Due to Overheating and Fire Hazards. The following product safety recall ...


But...but....sputter...this just can't be. Must be the Mayan apocalypse a couple days late. I will seek courage in drink and then read the recalls..

 

[Elias40]

You just had to ask, You just had to ask! (foghorn leghorn)

Might be Kawasaki liquid cooled engines
John Deere Recalls Lawn Tractors Powered by Kawasaki Engines ...

John Deere Recalls Lawn Tractors Powered by Kawasaki Engines Due to Overheating and Fire Hazards
Sep 16, 2011 John Deere Recalls Lawn Tractors Powered by Kawasaki Engines Due to Overheating and Fire Hazards. The following product safety recall ...


But...but....sputter...this just can't be. Must be the Mayan apocalypse a couple days late. I will seek courage in drink and then read the recalls..

Drink? Courage? Gallon of moonshine/everclear? Mayan's? calander? Maybe I had better go and take another look- you may just be right about apocalypse.

That's another name B&S can use for their engines: The briggs and Stratton apocalypse engine: No one is sure when, but know it's going to happen- as your Intek self destructor. Arnie Schwarzenegger's Self Terminator.

 

[Elias40]

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