Howdy,
Bought an old 718 with a newer B&S Industrial/Commercial motor on it and a grasscatcher on the 52" deck. It seems to be in pretty good shaped but needs a bit of cleanup and paint so it doesn't get bad. I ordered a few superficial things like a new spring to replace the broken one under the seat and the handle grips it was lacking. Right now it has some gator blades with the 4 notch and it drowns out the motor especially if I turn the grass catcher on.
I had wy wife who barely weighs 100lbs try it out and she took about 3 trips around our lawn with it. There are a few places under trees like the pines that I know are lost cause for mowing and the front deck casters dig in. Around the old pecan tree the deck almost dove under the dirt line suddenly when it hit some really loose soil. The issue I have is in what I thought was the thick bermuda areas. I found the tail wheel is actually leaving an indentation I'm seeing days later. I can feel the dip in the soil where the wheel went so it isn't just striping on the grass. It would be an expensive solution but would dual rear wheels or a dual beam rear casters help? I'm also wondering if maybe the stiff hose is holding down the deck so it won't float upwards as easily as it could?
I'm thinking of pulling the grasscatcher off and putting a mulch plate on to see if a little lightening on the back and less stiffness on the deck with no hose holding it down might help it not dig up the lawn so much. If nothing else it'll give me a chance to clean it up some and maybe start painting some items.
Couple of pics I took tonight. The rack is lifted because on of the front tires leaks badly and I was thinking about changing the blades.
Bought an old 718 with a newer B&S Industrial/Commercial motor on it and a grasscatcher on the 52" deck. It seems to be in pretty good shaped but needs a bit of cleanup and paint so it doesn't get bad. I ordered a few superficial things like a new spring to replace the broken one under the seat and the handle grips it was lacking. Right now it has some gator blades with the 4 notch and it drowns out the motor especially if I turn the grass catcher on.
I had wy wife who barely weighs 100lbs try it out and she took about 3 trips around our lawn with it. There are a few places under trees like the pines that I know are lost cause for mowing and the front deck casters dig in. Around the old pecan tree the deck almost dove under the dirt line suddenly when it hit some really loose soil. The issue I have is in what I thought was the thick bermuda areas. I found the tail wheel is actually leaving an indentation I'm seeing days later. I can feel the dip in the soil where the wheel went so it isn't just striping on the grass. It would be an expensive solution but would dual rear wheels or a dual beam rear casters help? I'm also wondering if maybe the stiff hose is holding down the deck so it won't float upwards as easily as it could?
I'm thinking of pulling the grasscatcher off and putting a mulch plate on to see if a little lightening on the back and less stiffness on the deck with no hose holding it down might help it not dig up the lawn so much. If nothing else it'll give me a chance to clean it up some and maybe start painting some items.
Couple of pics I took tonight. The rack is lifted because on of the front tires leaks badly and I was thinking about changing the blades.
