captmowJoe
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- Oct 2, 2015
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Capt. Joe here,,, First real lawn/garden tractor I purchased was a Allis-Chalmers T-811 bought new in 1983. One of the best purchases I ever made and was actually lucky to have acquired it. Traded it in last year after going to my dealer to buy a hub for my deck and started talking to one of the owners about knowing I had to eventually replace my 8-11 and wanted his advice. It was apparent that it wouldn't be long before I would have to do some serious fabrication on the body do to age.
My 811 over the 30 years I owned it was a bear and was only in the shop once for a minor engine repair and new carb. It outlasted my neighbors standard run-of-the-mill lawn tractor by 20yrs. I had the Briggs- I/C vanguard 11 hp. in that bad boy and only wish I had that model B&S today.
Getting back to the dealer conversation. I already had some knowledge of what happened to the residential lawn tractor producing companies and knew I had to be careful if I wanted a decent machine. I just built a retirement ranch in Clarence NY and have a little over an acre of grass to cut and in getting older wanted something I wouldn't have to replace every few years. My dealer was the local Simplicity dealer and showed me the current line of tractors to fit my needs. I told him I didn't want a big box store quality machine and knew that since they came into vogue the tractor manufacturers and manufacturers of many other home products and machines had to cut quality and consolidate to stay alive. I wanted something better than that. To shorten this up I wound up with a new '14 Simplicity Conquest with the 50" deck and 25hp. B&S Commercial Turf engine. I was very disappointed the B&S Vanguard was no longer offered but after doing a little research felt that because of the deal I was getting with a nice trade-in on my old A/C it was worth it to take what was offered. Beyond that I always was partial to the free floating deck and striping I could get with the A/C , Simplicity tractors. The deal was to good to pass up and started cutting with it a year ago August. Have to say I really like some of the new features as compared to my '83.
No problems with my Conquest thus far as I approach 60 hrs. I bought some Gator mulching blades this spring and like the results but just this week treated myself to the Simplicity mulching kit. Haven't cut with it yet and trying to find out if it's worth my time and possible to use my Gator blades with the mulching kit without running into problems ? BTW - I do use Mobil 1 synthetic oil and a gas treatment product to counter the effects of ethanol on my engine. I also learned that these new motors with the new EPA standards need more care than the motors of old so I'm very careful with scheduled maintenance. In closing " so far " I like my conquest. Time will tell if I will eventually have received the most bang for my buck.
My 811 over the 30 years I owned it was a bear and was only in the shop once for a minor engine repair and new carb. It outlasted my neighbors standard run-of-the-mill lawn tractor by 20yrs. I had the Briggs- I/C vanguard 11 hp. in that bad boy and only wish I had that model B&S today.
Getting back to the dealer conversation. I already had some knowledge of what happened to the residential lawn tractor producing companies and knew I had to be careful if I wanted a decent machine. I just built a retirement ranch in Clarence NY and have a little over an acre of grass to cut and in getting older wanted something I wouldn't have to replace every few years. My dealer was the local Simplicity dealer and showed me the current line of tractors to fit my needs. I told him I didn't want a big box store quality machine and knew that since they came into vogue the tractor manufacturers and manufacturers of many other home products and machines had to cut quality and consolidate to stay alive. I wanted something better than that. To shorten this up I wound up with a new '14 Simplicity Conquest with the 50" deck and 25hp. B&S Commercial Turf engine. I was very disappointed the B&S Vanguard was no longer offered but after doing a little research felt that because of the deal I was getting with a nice trade-in on my old A/C it was worth it to take what was offered. Beyond that I always was partial to the free floating deck and striping I could get with the A/C , Simplicity tractors. The deal was to good to pass up and started cutting with it a year ago August. Have to say I really like some of the new features as compared to my '83.
No problems with my Conquest thus far as I approach 60 hrs. I bought some Gator mulching blades this spring and like the results but just this week treated myself to the Simplicity mulching kit. Haven't cut with it yet and trying to find out if it's worth my time and possible to use my Gator blades with the mulching kit without running into problems ? BTW - I do use Mobil 1 synthetic oil and a gas treatment product to counter the effects of ethanol on my engine. I also learned that these new motors with the new EPA standards need more care than the motors of old so I'm very careful with scheduled maintenance. In closing " so far " I like my conquest. Time will tell if I will eventually have received the most bang for my buck.
