On Wed, 10 Jan 2018 14:26:53 -0500, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:

On 1/10/2018 2:20 PM, wrote:
On Wed, 10 Jan 2018 12:51:43 -0500, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

On 1/10/2018 12:37 PM, wrote:
On Wed, 10 Jan 2018 06:30:59 -0800 (PST), John H
wrote:



Pretty sad when you can't perform routine maintenance on a lawn mower.

Funny. The lady across the street has a John Deere riding mower. She does all her own maintenance, including sharpening the blades, etc. Her husband has somehow gotten totally out of the yardwork arena. I've never seen him lift a finger to do anything in the yard. I'll go over and blow her leaves for her, and he won't even say 'thanks'. Alcohol does play a role.

My father in law is 94 years old and he still sharpens his own mower
blades. He drops the deck at least once a month in season, hoses it
out, sharpens the blades and lubes everything.



I had a JDeere riding mower "tractor". Piece of crap. I bought it at
Lowe's or the Home Depot (forget which) and didn't realize that the
Deeres they sell are not the same as those from a JD dealer.

It had a design problem with the steering arms and links. If you backed
up while turning and hit a paver or rock, the damn thing would allow one
of front wheels to spin around almost 180 degrees so the inside of the
rim was facing outward. I'd have to jack up the front and force it back
into the correct position. Simple rack and pinion system with a "stop"
that was supposed to prevent the wheel from spinning around.

I contacted JDeere about it and that's when I learned the Lowe's/Home
Depot versions are not really JDeere mowers. A couple of years later I
was looking at the same model on display at Lowe's and noticed that the
steering linkage had been totally redesigned.


I inherited my FILs old Craftsman Lawn "tractor". It was made by
American Lawn Products that makes a lot of these things. (probably
your JD). He used it for 25 years before he bought a Troy Built (2011)
and gave it to me. It is still going but I needed to rebuild the deck
shortly after I got it. (replaced all of the moving parts and the
parts they move in)
I am really surprised the old Briggs engine is still going. I do give
it a quart of oil every year but I haven't done much else to it.
There was something wrong with the carb about 3 years ago but if I
left the throttle in one spot, it starts and runs OK so I haven't
touched it since. It may be OK now but why chance fate ;-)



My experience with Briggs and Stratton engines has been "iffy". Some
run fine, last a long time. Others are problematic.

Tecumseh engines always seemed to make consistently good small engines.

Never had a problem with B$S. Have seen neighbors go crazy with Lawn Boys and Craftsman. Will never
have either of those. B&S carbs are pretty easy to break down and clean up. Many folks never think
to clean/replace their air filters.