About 20 years ago I bought a used JD 930 FD commercial mower for about $1,500. It had been ridden hard and put away wet. It was about a 1988 model with 1,800 hours on it used commercially. It has a 60" deck. I freshened it by welding the cracks on the mower deck, repainting the deck. Adding a new seat and rear hood and started mowing our approx.. 6 acres of rough, rocky TN land. In about 2001 the original Onan had about 2,300 hrs and died. I found a new replacement (can't remember the brand) and installed that. I now have about 3,000 hours on the unit and it still comes though with the weekly 8 hour mowing task that starts in March and ends in November. I have mowed a huge amount of limestone rocks that stick up so have gone through about four sets of blades and re-sharpen a set per year, and that is at 3-4" of height. I cut cedar saplings that are often about 1" diameter. Once in that time it had to go back to JD to have the steering repaired, I change the oil and filter yearly and it keeps on going. I'm probably on my third blade belt, but the replacement drive belts I installed in '94. It isn't quote a zero turn, but hitting either brake pedal will let it turn tight around a 8" diameter stump. I have driven zero turn mowers and prefer the steering wheel to go straight. Years ago I encountered several flats from thorns so I had the tires foam filled. Since then I have replaced about 4 of those (including both drives) because I tore up the casings. It rides harder with foam, but never had a flat after that...... The seat is suspended so the ride is OK, but not perfect. It is a workhorse and JD can be proud of having their name on a rugged mower like this.
I've a couple photos of the old gal I'll post later that are on another puter.
About me: RETIRED and working toward downsizing and saving all the days and hours of mowing. Love working on mechanical things - cars, trucks, and hobbies, getting tired of working on repairing things like this mower and my JD 1530 tractor that I use for bush hogging the rest of our 30 acres.
#2
Lawnboy18
Well that tractor has worked very hard! I would like to see some pics. Can't find any on Google.
Sorry that this site doesn't make it easy to post photos. I took a couple and ended up using one for my avatar. I belong to a couple other sites that make it hard, so I don't bother. Too much trouble to save to some other place and enter address. There are many more sites that make it easy to browse and paste photos that if it's too big a deal, I pass.
