Since Dixie Choppers are no more is there any parts we should be buying up / hoarding

[RCountry2]

The only thing they did at the factory was bend , weld & paint steel then assemble all the parts that they bought in the painted steel to make a mower.
So it is not Dixie you need to worry about, it is their suppliers.
The very first thing you need to do is download the parts manual and any service information that is on the web site.
Print a couple of hard copies and write down the suppliers against each part.
Any company that spends a small fortune releasing new models then dumps them so abruptly is in a financial or political mess.
I would hazard a guess that they were going to off shore the assembly of the Dixie & they ran into problems from the government as that would not fit in with the "Make America Great Again " mantra.
Harley just closed down the aluminium wheel factory they built in Australia to appease the Trump administration.

So the only parts that will become a problem are spindles & spindle housings and the only thing I would be buying right now is a set of them.
After that the next unique item will be the spindle pulleys and the idler pulleys.

As for the latter I fit JD parts because the Dixie pulleys are over $ 100 and the JD ones were around $ 40.
Not exact replacements so I had to turn up new bushes and adjust the belt tension.

Idler pulleys are the biggest problem I have with obsolete mowers that require regular replacement & all of them except European mowers have captive bearings.
Some can be split then get riveted / bolted back together with a new bearing inside & I have customers who do this regularly.
For the Bolens/TroyBilt DuraTrac Garden Tractor we ended up getting PTO idler pulleys turned up, done properly with a replaciable combination ball & roller pulley.

Other unique parts are springs but you should have hundreds of small spring factories in the USA that will make you replacements if you take the old ones to them.

Thanks for the insight.

 

[7394]

Local Ace Hardware was a Dixie Chop Dealer. They confirmed the RIP Dixie. But said they will still sell off the mowers in stock, & carry parts & service supplies. For how long ?

This was where I got my Kawasaki oil filters when they have sales. Guess I better stock up on them.

 

[BobM53]

My local Dixie dealer runs hot and cold on parts. One time I gi in there and they are as helpful as can be. The next time they act like they want nothing to do with getting Dixie parts. Kinda ticks me off since I purposely used the one dealer so that my purchases amounted to enough to keep them interested in my business. Guess that was a waste. And several times I could have bought cheaper elsewhere!

 

[7394]

Hindsight is always 20-20...

 

[Hugeroost]

Talked to the head mechanic at the largest lawn service in Texas about 2 months ago about this very thing. He told me the only thing on the hi end commercial mowers thats proprietary are those back tires, said most of the parts you can get straight from Rotary. I wanted a new set of front tires for mine, 05 Flatlander, and was thinking i would just buy them complete so i could just pull the bolt, roll old wheel off and new one on and be done in 5 minutes. The dealer could not get me a set, i couldnt believe it, so i ran over to my Rotary dealer, he had to order them but they were the exact replacement. I could have just bought a set of tires and rebuilt the wheels but it was not much more to just get em complete. I just put new rear tires on mine last year, 200 each from dealer, but Rotary has some thats very close to the DC originals, they look better too, 85 each...Roost

 

[RCountry2]

Talked to the head mechanic at the largest lawn service in Texas about 2 months ago about this very thing. He told me the only thing on the hi end commercial mowers thats proprietary are those back tires, said most of the parts you can get straight from Rotary. I wanted a new set of front tires for mine, 05 Flatlander, and was thinking i would just buy them complete so i could just pull the bolt, roll old wheel off and new one on and be done in 5 minutes. The dealer could not get me a set, i couldnt believe it, so i ran over to my Rotary dealer, he had to order them but they were the exact replacement. I could have just bought a set of tires and rebuilt the wheels but it was not much more to just get em complete. I just put new rear tires on mine last year, 200 each from dealer, but Rotary has some thats very close to the DC originals, they look better too, 85 each...Roost

I friend of mine got given a DC and he said he cannot find back tires for his as its a oddball size made for DC(?) Looks to me you can just run a common size along as its wide enough for the wheel.

 

[ILENGINE]

Not sure which direction DC will take now since they have been purchased from Textron by Alamo group,

 

[RCountry2]

Not sure which direction DC will take now since they have been purchased from Textron by Alamo group,

They do own bush hog and its still around. Wonder if they will either drop Bush Hog and keep DC or maybe fuse both together?

 

[Hugeroost]

I friend of mine got given a DC and he said he cannot find back tires for his as its a oddball size made for DC(?) Looks to me you can just run a common size along as its wide enough for the wheel.

Rotary makes a back tire same size nearly identical to the DC tire for half the price, I bought one while waiting for mine to come in, ran it two weeks. If you need the part number I can get it, I gave like 80 for mine

 

[RCountry2]

Rotary makes a back tire same size nearly identical to the DC tire for half the price, I bought one while waiting for mine to come in, ran it two weeks. If you need the part number I can get it, I gave like 80 for mine

Thanks for the offer but he has already found some
.