MZ-5424S

[lonestarjeff]

It's been 6 weeks or so since my last post & I've been able to get on the lawn twice in that time. The month of May we had record rainfalls here in TX...over 15" around here. I cut the lawn both times since end of April at max height(4.75")& bagged everything. Here's my mountain of clippings.....



I have to say again how impressed I am with this machine & engine. The Kawasaki engine takes the heaviest cutting in stride & the bagging kit works like a champ. I still have no idea what caused the temporary no-start incident back in April, but no problems since.

Here's a couple of pics to give an idea of the grass height....

 

[lonestarjeff]

I can't remember if I've already posted this on this site, but I've had a strange carburetor problem the last few weeks. I have to choke it heavily on cold start & continue choking it to keep it running for the 1st couple of minutes. Never had to do that before.

I checked fuel flow at the pump & carb, cleaned the carb, & went ahead & replaced the float. Didn't really find anything suspicious in all the above.

Nothing changed for the next 2 mows....hard to start, choking it for couple of minutes until the engine was hot(lots of fuel smoke), stumbling & puff of smoke when blades are engaged.

The only thing left I can think would cause fuel flow issues like this is the carb bowl solenoid. I did check it to see if it retracts when the key is turned on....it does,, but I noticed it gets quite warm, quickly. The solenoid is rather pricey($100), so I'm thinking how can I defeat it rather than replace it

 

[lonestarjeff]

My last post was 5 or 6 weeks ago, & the engine was having what appeared to be flooding issues, but never found a definitive reason why. All I can tell you is it cleared up as quickly as it started. Last thing I did was change the oil & filter. One thing I noticed was the oil was very thin when I drained it(which had 50 hrs on it).

After all the bagging last spring & early summer it turned out to be a dry mid & late summer around here.

Jeff

 

[lawn mower fanatic]

My last post was 5 or 6 weeks ago, & the engine was having what appeared to be flooding issues, but never found a definitive reason why. All I can tell you is it cleared up as quickly as it started. Last thing I did was change the oil & filter. One thing I noticed was the oil was very thin when I drained it(which had 50 hrs on it).

After all the bagging last spring & early summer it turned out to be a dry mid & late summer around here.

Jeff

I'm glad you no longer have that problem. :thumbsup:

 

[lonestarjeff]

My 4th cutting season for the Husqvarna started last month. Some light mowing up until this week. We had a dry, mild start to the year, but April has made up for the dry with multi-inch rains. Just got on it after 3 weeks of wet. The MZ still mows & bags like crazy. Have to keep an eye on the buildup under the deck in these conditions, though.

The last couple of trips I've had that weird no-start issue from last year come back on me. Whatever it is happens intermittently & the only thing I've done to get it to "reset" is disconnect the battery overnight.

What do you think, safety sensor acting up?

Jeff

 

[bertsmobile1]

Probably not.
keep an eagle eye on the oil.
If the level suddenly rises, either take out a patient & sell it to Exon
or
remove the plugs and turn the engine over by hand to expell the fuel that has accumulated in the cylinder because the float has not cut off the fuel.

If it becomes a frequent occurence put a tap in the fuel line, if your mower has a 3 way fuel switch turn it off after each mow and you will most likely need to clean the float needle & seat or replace the needle.

 

[lonestarjeff]

Sorry bertsmobile, I realize from your response I did not state my problem clearly. There were two issues last year. The flooding problem has not happened again since I started shutting off the fuel valve after each use. The other issue I had last year was a dead key switch after I had the mower on ramps to clean under the deck. It never happened again until two weeks ago. It cleared up after I pulled the battery.

Jeff

 

[bertsmobile1]

Go to your local Radio Shack or equivalent and get a bottle or two ( red & Black ) of a product called LIQUID ELECTRICIAL TAPE.
Take to the battery wires & terminals with a wire brush and when they are nice and shinny bolt them together ( give the bolts a rub as well ) and paint all over with the liquid electrical tape.
I use 1.5" long bolts with wingnuts and paint evarything from the nut back to the head so there is about 3/4" of clean bolt poking out for jump starting.
This is done to every mower that goes through the shop, grattis .
ZTR's electrics suffer badly from exposure to the elements and vibrations.
Hold the key in the start position and work the PTO switch.
IF the engine suddenly fires then the PTO switch or wiring between the two is faulty.
The solenoid trigger ( 12V ) passes from the battery to the start switch through the PTO switch then the motion control switches and/ or the parking brake then the solenoid.
Some where in the chain is a weak link, loose wire , broken wire, bad switch .
They are a PIA to find.
For intermittant problems, and customers who can be trusted to work safely I bypass the switches one at a time by removing the wire from the plug & fitting a short bypass wire.
Do not bypass any more than 1 switch at a time and only bypass on the 12V starting circuit.
Be very careful because if you accidently put 12V into the magneto kill wires you will fry the ignition module(s) and then it definately won't start.

OTOH replacing all of the safety switches is less than 1 hour in a workshop and the ignition & pto switches will bring that up to about 2 hours so it depends upon what is more important to you the billfold or the clock.
If nothing else ou will have some known to be good left over switches if you replace them one at a time.

 

[lonestarjeff]

On my sixth season with the MZ now. I realized two things getting on this forum tonight...1) I forgot to post anything at all last season...sorry :ashamed:; 2) photobucketheads strike again I moved all my pics to another host, but I don't know if I can edit all the above posts to re-insert the blocked pics.

Back to my annual report.....last year was another wet year, so there was lots of bagging. I honestly don't know what I would have done in these high rainfall years with the old Dixon ZTR. Somehow I got away without a bagger on that mower for 13 years. Anyway, lots more clippings last year added to the compost mountain. No problems with flooding, nor mystery temporary dead switch episodes. On the fuel issue I've simply gotten into the same habit I apply to my old gravity feed Ford tractors...shut the fuel off whenever I get through using it.

So far this year I've only mowed once. We've had an unusually cool March & April, so things have been slow to start growing(not complaining). I guess I haven't been as diligent as I thought keeping track of blade wear, or, this set of blades went south REALLY quick. I had picked up a new set last fall to install end of season, but didn't get around to it until I pulled the mower out of mothballs last month.

The wear was so severe on a couple of them it could have been a projectile flying who knows where. I've never seen a set worn to that point before...will definitely be keeping a closer eye on the new set. Other than that scary event, the MZ is running & operating really well. Basic maintenance & keeping relatively clean seems to be all it wants. Oh yes, forgot one thing, the deck drive belt gave it up last season. My fault....I didn't realize the belt jumped off the drive pulley & the idler had enough spring tension to keep turning those blades, so I didn't figure out the problem before the belt frayed. Didn't last long after that.

After 5 years of use my only complaint with the MZ is the job of cleaning the underside of the deck, just no easy way to do it. Everything else has been a great experience. I still look forward to climbing on it every time, almost as much as my old tractors.

 

[Boobala]

On my sixth season with the MZ now. I realized two things getting on this forum tonight...1) I forgot to post anything at all last season...sorry :ashamed:; 2) photobucketheads strike again I moved all my pics to another host, but I don't know if I can edit all the above posts to re-insert the blocked pics.

Back to my annual report.....last year was another wet year, so there was lots of bagging. I honestly don't know what I would have done in these high rainfall years with the old Dixon ZTR. Somehow I got away without a bagger on that mower for 13 years. Anyway, lots more clippings last year added to the compost mountain. No problems with flooding, nor mystery temporary dead switch episodes. On the fuel issue I've simply gotten into the same habit I apply to my old gravity feed Ford tractors...shut the fuel off whenever I get through using it.

So far this year I've only mowed once. We've had an unusually cool March & April, so things have been slow to start growing(not complaining). I guess I haven't been as diligent as I thought keeping track of blade wear, or, this set of blades went south REALLY quick. I had picked up a new set last fall to install end of season, but didn't get around to it until I pulled the mower out of mothballs last month.

The wear was so severe on a couple of them it could have been a projectile flying who knows where. I've never seen a set worn to that point before...will definitely be keeping a closer eye on the new set. Other than that scary event, the MZ is running & operating really well. Basic maintenance & keeping relatively clean seems to be all it wants. Oh yes, forgot one thing, the deck drive belt gave it up last season. My fault....I didn't realize the belt jumped off the drive pulley & the idler had enough spring tension to keep turning those blades, so I didn't figure out the problem before the belt frayed. Didn't last long after that.

After 5 years of use my only complaint with the MZ is the job of cleaning the underside of the deck, just no easy way to do it. Everything else has been a great experience. I still look forward to climbing on it every time, almost as much as my old tractors.

NICE machine, .. excellent pic too !!