Junk mower? Really?

[SamB]

you did a good job. Now go tell your wife she is right.

Tis' done! :-D

 

[7394]

 

[StarTech]

With the way things are going right now with parts availability it might be time a newer mower; not necessarily brand new. Here I have seeing some mowers that are in good having to be put to pasture due to the lack of parts. I got a customer right now that has a 20 yr old Yazoo ZTR (Husqvarna in drag) that the parts are very hard to get as most are NLA from Husqvarna. Couldn't get a deck belt tension spring and had to modify a JD spring to get it working this time around. I have suggested her to just sell it while see can and get a newer mower.

 

[SamB]

With the way things are going right now with parts availability it might be time a newer mower; not necessarily brand new. Here I have seeing some mowers that are in good having to be put to pasture due to the lack of parts. I got a customer right now that has a 20 yr old Yazoo ZTR (Husqvarna in drag) that the parts are very hard to get as most are NLA from Husqvarna. Couldn't get a deck belt tension spring and had to modify a JD spring to get it working this time around. I have suggested her to just sell it while see can and get a newer mower.

The more I have looked over the new mowers, the less I want to part with my USA made Husqvarna. The fact is that most of the mower parts are from outside parts suppliers and readily available. It has a Briggs engine, HydroGear drive transmissions, etc. Husqvarna made the main chassis that is 14 gauge steel and the front caster wheel mounts are cast iron blocks with zerks, not a thin box tube. The last part I needed that was NLA was a deck mount rod,539110306 . After no success finding one, I looked at the rod and thought, I can simply make one. How hard can that be. It wasn't, so I did.

 

[PTmowerMech]

With the way things are going right now with parts availability it might be time a newer mower; not necessarily brand new. Here I have seeing some mowers that are in good having to be put to pasture due to the lack of parts. I got a customer right now that has a 20 yr old Yazoo ZTR (Husqvarna in drag) that the parts are very hard to get as most are NLA from Husqvarna. Couldn't get a deck belt tension spring and had to modify a JD spring to get it working this time around. I have suggested her to just sell it while see can and get a newer mower.

Selling it 5 years ago would've been a good idea, considering the cost of new ones today.

 

[Tiger Small Engine]

Selling it 5 years ago would've been a good idea, considering the cost of new ones today.

$8600 for a zero turn is middle of the road on pricing. A new loaded out 60” EFI zero turn is $16,000 grand. As long as your mower is in decent shape, you can get parts, and it is doing the job for you and can fix it, keep it running.

 

[PTmowerMech]

$8600 for a zero turn is middle of the road on pricing. A new loaded out 60” EFI zero turn is $16,000 grand. As long as your mower is in decent shape, you can get parts, and it is doing the job for you and can fix it, keep it running.

Every time I start thinking about upgrading my pick up, I start thinking about how much it would cost to fix mine back up.
$40,000 for a new pick up???? Well, if I were to put only $10,000 into mine, it would be like brand new. And I'd save $30,000.

 

[bertsmobile1]

I spend about $ 3000 a year on fixing up my 32 year old van
But a replacement is $ 42,000 and I see a lot more of them dead on the side of the road than mine.
Eventually the rust will committ it to the car shredder but every day one of my group is bitching that their nice new car is in the shop for some astronomical priced repair or a computer failure has rendered it scrap metal , or they are 100 miles from nowhere and the engine goes into limp mode or the killer was $ 4500 to fit a tow bar because all of the suspension & brake sensors had to be changed and the ABS system had to be reset plus the engine remapped then when we were away & he had to tow the trailer home it went into limp mode because the computer registered a lights failure when he hit the brakes with the headlights on
os another $ 1500 for a relay box & discreet power supply for the trailer . I just put 8 bolts into existing holes and joined 6 wires .

 

[SamB]

I spend about $ 3000 a year on fixing up my 32 year old van
But a replacement is $ 42,000 and I see a lot more of them dead on the side of the road than mine.
Eventually the rust will committ it to the car shredder but every day one of my group is bitching that their nice new car is in the shop for some astronomical priced repair or a computer failure has rendered it scrap metal , or they are 100 miles from nowhere and the engine goes into limp mode or the killer was $ 4500 to fit a tow bar because all of the suspension & brake sensors had to be changed and the ABS system had to be reset plus the engine remapped then when we were away & he had to tow the trailer home it went into limp mode because the computer registered a lights failure when he hit the brakes with the headlights on
os another $ 1500 for a relay box & discreet power supply for the trailer . I just put 8 bolts into existing holes and joined 6 wires .

This just makes good economic sense. Maintaining and repairing useable and repairable objects, be they mowers or vehicles, keeps them out of the waste stream and saves the resources and energy used to produce a usually less durable replacement. Personally, I get a bit of satisfaction keeping my stuff in like new condition and working perfectly. Of course, on the other hand, if I didn't like it in the first place, it'd be gone.

 

[PTmowerMech]

This just makes good economic sense. Maintaining and repairing useable and repairable objects, be they mowers or vehicles, keeps them out of the waste stream and saves the resources and energy used to produce a usually less durable replacement. Personally, I get a bit of satisfaction keeping my stuff in like new condition and working perfectly. Of course, on the other hand, if I didn't like it in the first place, it'd be gone.

That old John Deere a customer gave me a month or so ago has taken some money & effort to get back up to working condition. But not near as much as a new one, or a good used one would cost. But now that everything is back up to working order, I'm about to buy a new hood for it. ($500). By the end of summer, I'll probably have about $800 in it. But there's nothing for sale for less than that, that's worth a hoot.