My Big Lawn Mower!

[Shawn T. W]

Such a nice property to mow. 130 lb in a rear tire doesn't sound like much at all. My MX rear tires are 17.5-24 and hold 600 lb of Rim Guard each. Even with water they'd hold around 475 lb.

I only filled them 1/4 full, to keep it as light as possible, but a test to see if it was enough ... Its just a rough guesstimate ... I just filled it at about 7:30 position, and let any excess out ... These are 14.9-26's.



I'll probably try the 9 O'clock position next . . .

The problem I'm trying to avoid is too heavy, and rutting up soft ground, which I have "spots" ... My neighbor kindly reminded me after I buried my semi-truck in her barn yard before I got my driveway in ... That the town we live in is called MARSHfield for a reason ...

 

[chim]

The R4's on my L4240 are loaded and grooved. I have mowed in the rain and they worked fine. It pushes an 8' Fisher plow - usually without additional ballast. I have nothing that requires me to operate in mud. It can get a little snotty when the creek floods.

I have been tempted to try some turfs a few times in the past, but the R4's have worked too well to bother.

 

[Shawn T. W]

I skipped around this area today!

Got stuck going forward, tried to pull myself out with the BH, as far as I could get, had forks on the front, no help!

 

[Shawn T. W]

The grass in the front was getting tall, over 2' in less than 3 weeks, glad I buzzed it down to 3.5" then ...



I was a bit concerned that the finish mower would choke on this tall of grass, but going 3.7-4.0 mph seemed to do a pretty good job!





I got the idea from someone on a forum about cutting in a circular pattern ... Keeps the neighbors guessing if I lost my mind ... !

I did that today!

 

[S-G-R]

Looks like it did a good job at that speed.

 

[Shawn T. W]

Yup!

I got the side/back done today, bumped it up to about 5 mph, as it had a bit less time since I mowed it last, so it wasn't as tall ...

 

[Shawn T. W]

Went to hook the mower back on, and found out what the large washer I found out laying in the field while watering went too ...



I scrounged around and found a new bolt, not sure why they painted over the orange, but I got the mower from a JD dealer that said the previous owner had a JD ... But ... The whole rest of the mower is orange, so why paint only this part???



Last time mowing I also lost a linch pin on the rear gauge wheel backing too far into the pucker brush, and when I went over a bump, I lost the top two spacers and a bushing from inside . . .



The other side survived!



I actually only noticed it when I went over a huge bump, and the rear of the mower lifted enough for the whole wheel to fall out, and I only had three wheels back there!

New parts ordered!

 

[S-G-R]

I mowed 4 acres and then drove a half mile and realized I only had three wheels on the FDR2584. I did find everything walking back and now I make sure everything is in place before I leave a field.

Leave the green. It gives the mower character

 

[Shawn T. W]

What's crazy is the price for the official linch pin!



It wasn't in stock, so I asked them if they had a generic one? Yup less than a quarter the price, got a spare too!

Also crazy price on the spacers ... The 1/4" is more than the 1"? !!!



I'm gonna hook a wire somehow to those rear ones so they can't come out ... I will probably leave it at the 5" level anyways ...

 

[chim]

On those wheel assemblies I drilled the pin hole and used either the HD lynch pins (the ones with springs so strong they hurt you when they snap shut) or bolts with Nylok nuts.

AgriSupply has been a source of blades, spacers and some parts. Here's a place I bought replacement assemblies from for some refurb projects:

Finish Mower Assemblies - High Grade Manufacturing

highgrademfg.com

 

[Sawdust&Shavings]

Went to hook the mower back on, and found out what the large washer I found out laying in the field while watering went too ...

View attachment 174371

I scrounged around and found a new bolt, not sure why they painted over the orange, but I got the mower from a JD dealer that said the previous owner had a JD ... But ... The whole rest of the mower is orange, so why paint only this part???

View attachment 174372

Last time mowing I also lost a linch pin on the rear gauge wheel backing too far into the pucker brush, and when I went over a bump, I lost the top two spacers and a bushing from inside . . .

View attachment 174374

The other side survived!

View attachment 174375

I actually only noticed it when I went over a huge bump, and the rear of the mower lifted enough for the whole wheel to fall out, and I only had three wheels back there!

New parts ordered!

Lynch pins can be purchased with different strengths, their strength is measured when it smacks your finger when closing; from:
1. What was that
2. That didn’t feel good
3. WTF was that
4. OMG where’s the Corpsman