NGC-the lawn mower search is over!

[SIR REAL ED]

After much mulling by a master mind, I settled on the following:
https://www.scag.com/product/walk-behind-mowers/sfc30/

Looks to fit all of my needs and the "designed by a farmer in his barn" simplicity really touched my soul.

Everything I looked at on it said "Wow!  That can't be done any simpler!  That is a robust design.  That's how I would have done it if I were building it myself with limited tooling available."

Plus my journey allowed me to see a mower, that, if my name was Charlie, I would have had to buy.

When I asked if they had any used commercial mowers available, a local shop said "We have one on consignment for one of our customers.  It's over there by the door."

It was a walk behind mower made by Toro.  Maybe a 21" cut.  The deck looked to be 1/4"-3/8" thick.  I'm assuming aluminum or magnesium.  It was a powered by a Suzuki two stroke engine.  Brought me back to my youth of pushing similar Lawn Boy mowers.  You could back over them with a dump truck and not damage them.

Hopefully times aren't so tough that Charlie is selling off the good stuff........   

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

After much mulling by a master mind, I settled on the following:
https://www.scag.com/product/walk-behind-mowers/sfc30/

Looks to fit all of my needs and the "designed by a farmer in his barn" simplicity really touched my soul.

Everything I looked at on it said "Wow!  That can't be done any simpler!  That is a robust design.  That's how I would have done it if I were building it myself with limited tooling available."

Plus my journey allowed me to see a mower, that, if my name was Charlie, I would have had to buy.

When I asked if they had any used commercial mowers available, a local shop said "We have one on consignment for one of our customers.  It's over there by the door."

It was a walk behind mower made by Toro.  Maybe a 21" cut.  The deck looked to be 1/4"-3/8" thick.  I'm assuming aluminum or magnesium.  It was a powered by a Suzuki two stroke engine.  Brought me back to my youth of pushing similar Lawn Boy mowers.  You could back over them with a dump truck and not damage them.

Hopefully times aren't so tough that Charlie is selling off the good stuff........   

Still have Lawn-Boys, including a '64 that was owned by my late Aunt Bess. It goes nicely with my '59 Snow-Boy and '59 Edger.

My friend Joseph gave me one of those Toro mowers. Glad I never bought one. I've spent more on that free mower than I did on every single Lawn-Boy I've owned combined! Great mower when it's working properly. Next time it breaks, it's going on FB Marketplace and will be replaced by a Lawn-Boy. 

[Bob Wegman]

Charlie,  You are classic.  Hope all is well.

[SIR REAL ED]

Still have Lawn-Boys, including a '64 that was owned by my late Aunt Bess. It goes nicely with my '59 Snow-Boy and '59 Edger.

My friend Joseph gave me one of those Toro mowers. Glad I never bought one. I've spent more on that free mower than I did on every single Lawn-Boy I've owned combined! Great mower when it's working properly. Next time it breaks, it's going on FB Marketplace and will be replaced by a Lawn-Boy.

https://www.lawnboy.com/en/about

The Lawn Boy I remember from my youth looked about 20 years old in the late 1960's.

Added benefit of the two stroke engine was the exhaust repelled mosquitoes much better than a four stroke engine.

Where I currently live in VA has virtually no mosquitoes compared to Upstate NY.   

[Ryan]

I paid $1 for a Toro self-propelled mower about 15 years ago. Guy said it would have been free, but he didn't want a srapper to take it. I cleaned the carb, changed the oil, and it has started on the first or second pull after every winter nap since. The deck is alluminum, strong as hell, and will outlast me. Best mower I have ever owned at any price!

[Chuck in Indiana]

I gave my dad a hard time for buying an *expensive* magnesium deck Lawn boy and a formed steel gas can back in the late 50s/early 60s. Don't remember. I still have both..

[SIR REAL ED]

I gave my dad a hard time for buying an *expensive* magnesium deck Lawn boy and a formed steel gas can back in the late 50s/early 60s. Don't remember. I still have both..

 

Hmmm....  Sounds like two good cases for buying quality.  As they say "Buy once, cry once!"

[SIR REAL ED]

Still NGC, yesterday I went "Semi-Charlie" and bought a 1984 Power King 1217 riding lawn mower. 
If the mower was 20 years older and it was free, it would have been "Full-Charlie" transaction.   

Hydrostatic, two speed transaxle, twin cylinder Kohler 17 hp.

Used it today to mow... in the rain.

Runs like a charm, cuts great, hydrostatic is super handy.  Amazingly smooth running, both the engine and the mower deck. 

No cracks in any of the fiberglass body work.  Little bit of sun fade, but otherwise looks only a few years old.

Amazing how well good designs hold up..........

[Bulldog9]

Still NGC, yesterday I went "Semi-Charlie" and bought a 1984 Power King 1217 riding lawn mower. 
If the mower was 20 years older and it was free, it would have been "Full-Charlie" transaction.   

Hydrostatic, two speed transaxle, twin cylinder Kohler 17 hp.

Used it today to mow... in the rain.

Runs like a charm, cuts great, hydrostatic is super handy.  Amazingly smooth running, both the engine and the mower deck. 

No cracks in any of the fiberglass body work.  Little bit of sun fade, but otherwise looks only a few years old.

Amazing how well good designs hold up..........

I'm saving for a Gravely walk behind. My grandfather had one that lasted forever. Had a brush hog, 48" mowe deck, snow blower and chainsaw attachment. It was a beast. I just want a mower deck and snow blower.

[PeteS]

I have a Speedex S23. Came with the house. Also a snow plow, snow blower, single bottom dirt plow, cultivator, disk, and mower deck. I use the snow plow. Changing attachments gets old.

Pete

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

I'm saving for a Gravely walk behind. My grandfather had one that lasted forever. Had a brush hog, 48" mowe deck, snow blower and chainsaw attachment. It was a beast. I just want a mower deck and snow blower.

The old Model L walk-behind? There are a lot of them available for not much money. The later ones with Kohler engines cost a bit more, but are still cheap.

I have a '64 "Super Convertible" that I mostly use for pushing snow and bush hogging the lower area of my property. It gets to plow gardens once in a while too.

[SIR REAL ED]

I'm saving for a Gravely walk behind. My grandfather had one that lasted forever. Had a brush hog, 48" mowe deck, snow blower and chainsaw attachment. It was a beast. I just want a mower deck and snow blower.

Charlie is right.  Plenty of them available.  You should be able to find 3 or 4 within a 3 hour drive at any given time.  I had one and did a little work on it, and some work with it.  The transmission looked like it came out of a half-ton truck.  No scrimping on castings back then either.

Fun to use, but if speed and productivity is what you seek the newer, specialized equipment is the way to go.  The Gravely are like using any older equipment or riding older bikes.  The interaction is the reward.  The key is patience and technique.  Swiss Army knife vs. task specific tools.

I have a 20 year old DR Field Brush mower.  One step newer/lighter than the newer Gravelys, and nowhere near as indestructable.  I have the 30" brush mower and the 42" finish mower.  Neither are as handy/fast as the newer specialized equipment.  The brush mower is nice.

I had a snowblower attachment for the DR, but I sold it.  No way was I going to wrestle that beast since I already owned a 10 year old Ariens snowblower.

Oddly enough, just this year the DR Field Brush mower has been offered with dual hydros as well as the standard transmission.  The dual hydro unit has only the brush mower as an available attachment at present.

No where near as cool as the older Gravelys.  People hang on to the Gravely for decades for a reason.

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

I'm looking for a small tractor with front end loader and several of the Economy/Power King tractors have popped semi-local. This '77 would be about perfect. Kohler K321, dual transmissions (no power-robbing hydrostat for me) and metal bodywork. Grand-dad Roberts had several of them.





I don't agree that "if speed and productivity is what you seek the newer, specialized equipment is the way to go". An old Gravely can do more work in a shorter time (depends on the operator) than many modern machines. An old Mdl. L may only be 6.6 hp (or 7.6 later) but they're big horses and none is lost to running pumps, belts, etc. "Specialized equipment" means one machine for one task - a Gravely can do many different jobs just by switching attachments. Changing those attachments is much easier on later tractors with the "quick hitch", but isn't hard on the oldies either.

[SIR REAL ED]

I'm looking for a small tractor with front end loader and several of the Economy/Power King tractors have popped semi-local. This '77 would be about perfect. Kohler K321, dual transmissions (no power-robbing hydrostat for me) and metal bodywork. Grand-dad Roberts had several of them.





I don't agree that "if speed and productivity is what you seek the newer, specialized equipment is the way to go". An old Gravely can do more work in a shorter time (depends on the operator) than many modern machines. An old Mdl. L may only be 6.6 hp (or 7.6 later) but they're big horses and none is lost to running pumps, belts, etc. "Specialized equipment" means one machine for one task - a Gravely can do many different jobs just by switching attachments. Changing those attachments is much easier on later tractors with the "quick hitch", but isn't hard on the oldies either.

Last I looked there are a ton of those old PowerKing tractors around.  Between Facebook and Searchtempest, I think there are at least 8 within a few hours drive of you.  The dual transmission are the more desirable.

I may or may agree with you Charlie.  It all depends on the machine, the specific job, and the operator.

The old Gravelys have a rototiller, bush hog, and a rotary plow that are truly impressive.

The Gravely's and DR's I have used are clumsy and slow compared to some of the newer and more specialized stuff I've used.  But the old hardware has a charm all their own that the new stuff lacks.

Pretty much the same for motorcycles or any tools.  What will be satisfactory, all depends on what you are looking for.

As Gramma used to say when warning us about starting bad habits: "If you never try it, you will never miss it!"

Years ago, when my dad left, he took the old Ford 9N with the six foot Mott mower that we had used for 20 years, and stuck us with junk.  I asked an old friend if he wanted to sell his old International Cub, but he did not want to sell.  He asked if I saw a local ad for a Simplicity 4040 Hydrostatic (16 HP Onan engine) with a 60" mower.  I saw it, but I wanted a 6" foot mower.

Long story short, I bought the Simplicity and it cut 30% minimum off our mowing time.  I never would have guessed.  It surprised the hell out of me.  I later went back to the friend and thanked him for not selling me the Cub.  "Speed, you would not believe how well this thing works!!"

[guzziart]

Still have Lawn-Boys, including a '64 that was owned by my late Aunt Bess. It goes nicely with my '59 Snow-Boy and '59 Edger.

I had to press my '78 (below) into service because my '67 that I bought new as a kid needs crank seals.



I also have a couple of '82's...19" & 21" cut.
Lawn-Boy