[Baron Von Zeppelin]

Had to hit TractorSupply and Lowes yesterday.
They both had a new batch of tractor-type mowers, instead of ALL zero-turns.
Husqvarna @ Lowes $2000
CubCadet @ TSC $2000
They both looked about like 42" cut mowers - but i didn't examine them at all.
Just glanced over at them.

With your service/warranty/pick-up & deliver/ sales agreement i'd say you did real well on getting a JD from an authorized full-service JD Dealer at your price.

How long are you covered in full by the warranty ?

[ponyakr]

"...How long are you covered in full by the warranty ?..."

3 Years. For the 100 series mowers, you only get 2 years at the purchase price. The extra year cost me $100.

That was 1 of the reasons I wanted an S240. They come with a 3 year warranty. Other reasons were the Kawasaki engine, stronger trans/rear, & cruise control.

Cleaned up our old Craftsman PYT9000 yesterday & put an ad for it on Marketplace & about 20 other sites. Price is $500. A local guy immediately offered me $400 for it. No matter what you ask for an item, somebody seems to always offer you less. I suppose we've just all become accustomed to most everybody putting an initial price on their sale item, while knowing they'll take less.

But, we paid over $2000 for this mower & it only has 238 hours. Still runs good. I've changed oil & filter every 50 hours. Should have plenty of life left in it. Will probably hold out for $500.

[Baron Von Zeppelin]

I wash my mower like it was a car.
Engine, Deck, Everything
Maybe 3-4 times a year.
Then blow it dry with a leaf blower.
Most neighbors have said they have never seen or heard of anyone washing a lawnmower.

I also use the leaf blower on it after every mowing to keep the dust and debris off of it.
About 23 years old now, looks maybe 2-3 years old.

Your old mower will clean up a WHOLE LOT better than that.
And sell for more afterwards with cleaner pictures. fwiw

Some Purple-Power stuff on the seat and steering wheel and gear handle will probably brighten them up.
And a few squirts on anywhere its oily.
A few good hours cleaning it up will probably about double the price.
It looks like 2,380 hours as it sits

[ponyakr]

LOL !!!

Yeah, I had a good laff from that !

Just shows that you don't know me, at all. I absolutely HATE washing anything. Have NEVER washed this mower, and it's a 2009 model. It was covered with green mold !

And, our Tacoma pickup is a 2006 model. I've never washed it. TJ just said she's washed it maybe 5 times. Has only washed it twice, since she retired.

What we call our driveway is actually a mostly dirt road thru the woods. It rains a lot in Louisiana. So, our driveway has potholes with water & mud in 'em most of the time. If you wash it on Monday, it'll be muddy before Fri. That's why we bought a tan(sand) colored truck. The mud don't show up very bad.

PS: If you lived close to us, how much would you charge for a good detail job on this mower ?

[Baron Von Zeppelin]

LoL

I had sorta noticed that in other pics of your truck, and a previous picture of the mower sitting over to the side. I thought that mower was an old leftover ... oops

Can tell you wiped it off a little bit here and there from its previous picture. haha

You'd be such a great neighbor i would do it for free.
Friend price $75-100 , and you'd want to keep it when i was done.

I know i am in the small minority about keeping my mower clean.
Most everyone with big areas to mow has a mower that looks just like yours.

Every time i wash it, i raise it up and blast out the underside of deck too.
Polish hood and fenders at least once a year.

Past 3 years it hasn't even been out of the building though.
I used to mow some adjacent properties for a long time (free), now they pay a guy to do them, and he does mine too.
Might get it out this year anyway, just to hear it run and polish it.
Twin cylinder 25 hp Kohler and it sounds pretty good

[ponyakr]

"...You'd be such a great neighbor i would do it for free..."


Hey, the price is right. I'd like some neighbors like that !

[gary bennett]

I use my air compressor and blow everything off after each mow. I also wash under the deck each time. Purple power works good on the grass stains on the paint. My J/D is 21 yrs. old and I do maint. all the time. also.

[ponyakr]

Originally Posted by gary bennett

I use my air compressor and blow everything off after each mow. I also wash under the deck each time. Purple power works good on the grass stains on the paint. My J/D is 21 yrs. old and I do maint. all the time. also.

Thanks for the info !

I'll tell TJ that she is welcome to use my air compressor to blow the stuff off her new JD, after every mow.

She just said: RIGHT !

But hey, I did use it to blow a lot of stuff off our old mower, yesterday.

[ponyakr]

The old blades on the PYT9000 were just about used up.

But, it was still mowing grass. I suppose that if string can cut grass, dull worn out blades can too, if you turn 'em fast enuff.

Installed new 5-star Oregon blades. Hey, the new owner will get "sticker" blades.

[ponyakr]

Didn't have any problem selling the Craftsman.

1st guy that came bought it. Must have priced it too low.

Used some of that money to buy a leaf blower. Decided to try a WEN, tool only. That way I can get some more use out of the WEN batt I got with the chainsaw.

It works great ! Wish I'da had one of these years ago.

Easily blows away the small particles of dirt & sand that is hard to sweep from ruff concrete surfaces. So, it's great for our carport slab & my shop floor. A real labor saver.

[sdbob]

Buddy went to Rural King and got on sale ,less than 1700 new husqavarna rider not sure the model
My dad and I got into habit remove deck about every 3 yrs. Scrap, sand ,wire brush and paint with good oil base paint primer and fiinsh- aany color. Junked a 40 yr old 7hp Simplicity rider. B-S engine exhaust seat fell out. I took deck to tractor junk yard still no large rust pitting.someone could use it.

[ponyakr]

Here's another item that works. Bought a Curt trailer hitch for our 2006 Tacoma.

Watched at least 3 YouTube installation videos. My installation was not as easy or quick as any on the videos. But, I did finally get it installed, & it does fit perfectly.

Have ordered a trailer lights wiring harness for the Tacoma. Arriving today. Have also watched several installation videos for it. Doesn't look too complicated. Looks much easier than how I use to do it, by splicing into the truck wires. Looks like everything is just unplug then plug in. I'll let ya'll know how it goes.

Have now sold all the trimmers I've advertised, except 3. Still have the rear motor Echo, the rear motor brush type Ryobi, & the 40v Greenworks. Really don't care if I sell the Ryobi & GW, since I can use the lower attachments on my brushless Ryobi & Kobalt trimmers. And the GW works great. Just don't need it, with the 2 Ryobi brushless trimmers I have. I suppose the main differences in the Ryobi & GW is that the GW seems a bit heavier, but is also much quieter. It also came with the 10mm shaft head, vs the 8mm shaft on the Ryobi heads.

Had to practically give the front motor Echo away. I sold it to the pastor's step-son for $20. BUT, I told him ahead of time how expensive the Echo batt & charger is. Looks like he'll have nearly $200 in the rig before he can use it.

Don't know how low I'll have to go to sell the rear motor Echo. Nothing wrong with it. Works great. But, with the 4Ah batt, it's pretty rear heavy. Can't move the shoulder strap bracket back far enuff to balance the weight. Also, with the 4Ah batt, it's pretty heavy, overall. We like the 40v trimmers much better. Plenty of power to do what we need to do, lighter, & replacement batts are MUCH cheaper.

Have now done quite a bit of weed whackin, with battery power. Now use string ONLY for trimming up against buildings, fences, or other things I don't want a brush blade to hit. Otherwise, I'm using a dull 10" brush blade for all my grass & weed whackin. Don't break out a sharp blade unless I have something bigger than 1/2" to cut. The 10" blade requires a lot less rpm than string, for most grass & weeds. So, a battery will last a lot longer than when using string.

[ponyakr]

Been checking FB Marketplace a lot lately. Saw an Echo 58v chainsaw for sale, "used very little", with batt & charger, for $150. Guy said 1st guy there with the cash gets it. I ask him to give me an hour to get there, which he did.

It appeared to be as advertised. So, I bought it. For those who don't know, just the Echo 4Ah batt alone costs more than $150, and the charger is well over $50.

I checked with the Pastor's step-son to see if he'd bought a batt/charger yet. Since he hadn't, I offered him the batt, charger, & my rear motor Echo trimmer, for $200. Hey, it was an offer he really couldn't possible beat, so he took advantage of it.

In the deal, I got rid of the 2 Echo trimmers I didn't wanna keep, & got another Echo chainsaw, pretty cheap. Since I already have one Echo chainsaw, I didn't really NEED another one. But, they work really well, so having 2 is fine with me.

Also sold my old Big Bee bush hog, for $500. I gave $750 for it new, in 2009. A bush hog is a "must have" item, for us. So, I bought a new County Line 5' model from a local TSC store. It was $1299 + tax. Used it for the 1st time, yesterday. Works just fine.

Had hauled it home with my old homemade car hauler trailer. Since I no longer have a race car, I don't really need a trailer that big. So, I have it advertised on FB Marketplace & several other sites. Also looking to buy a smaller trailer, for hauling lawn mowers & smaller stuff.

Would really like to get a light duty 16' "utility" trailer. With it, I could haul all the smaller items I'll need to haul, & I could probably also haul my Kioti, without bush hog, in case I ever need to take it somewhere for repair.

Because of the current trailer market, now is NOT the time to be buying a trailer. Any new ones in stock are WAY overpriced. And everybody has jacked up the price of their old trailer, trying to take advantage of the sellers market situation. There is some real high priced junk out there now.

Here is an example of the ridiculous trailer prices right now. And they had a couple of these in stock, where I bought my bush hog.

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/pr...00-lb-capacity

Since I don't really NEED a trailer right now, I plan to try & sell my 18 footer, & watch for a decent buy on a lighter 16' or maybe even a 14' model. Have only found a couple of decent deals, in my area, for under $2000. Hey, even the new light single axle trailers are nearly $2000. Some are over $2000. It's ridiculous.

One trailer builder told me that he didn't have any in stock. Said they are selling as fast as he can build 'em. So, even tho his ad shows decent prices, he has none to sell for those advertised prices.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...ssenger_banner

Hey, in the current market, my old 18 footer should be worth at least $1500, IMO. No offers, yet.

[Stuart]

I had some trees in my yard trimmed last week, and I was interested to see the crew using electric chainsaws for most of the work (they did break out a gas powered saw a couple times, but only for cutting larger limbs.) Unfortunately I didn't catch the brand name of their saws.

If nothing else, I'm sure my neighbors appreciated the low noise level of the electric saws. For tree trimmers working in urban environments that's probably a big selling point.

[ponyakr]

"...(they did break out a gas powered saw a couple times, but only for cutting larger limbs.)..."

Would be interested in the diameter of those "larger limbs".

My 80v Kobalt & 58v Echo saws easily cut 14"-16" hardwood trees.

[padgett]

BTW last I looked travel trailer prices are still way down here. Back in the day we'd buy/acquire a junk travel trailer with dual axles, junk the body, maybe drop the axles and convert into a race car hauler. Title as a "homebuilt".

Here's one already stripped. (no idea if any good).

[ponyakr]

Originally Posted by padgett

BTW last I looked travel trailer prices are still way down here. Back in the day we'd buy/acquire a junk travel trailer with dual axles, junk the body, maybe drop the axles and convert into a race car hauler. Title as a "homebuilt".

Here's one already stripped. (no idea if any good).

Yeah, I'da done something like that back in the old days. But, wouldn't attempt it now. Since I don't really NEED a trailer right now, I'll wait for a decent deal on a factory built trailer, WITH a good clear title. Don't have to be a super low budget deal, just decent, so that when I sell I can get close to what I have to give for it.

[ponyakr]

Main problem I'm having selling my old trailer is that it has mobile home axles/hubs/wheels on it.

Could probably have sold it to at least 6 or more area guys, if it had the 6 x 5.5 hubs/wheels on it. And, could probably have got at least $2500 for it, according to current prices I've seen, recently.

Have been looking at some 6 x 5.5 conversion hubs, for the mobile home axles. From what I can come up with, it appears that the conversion hubs will work with SOME 5200 lb Dexter mobile home axles.

From the info I've found, it seems that in order to work, the axle must have a #42 spindle. The way to tell appears to be that the seat section for the inner bearing needs to be 1.75" diameter, & the seat section for the outer bearing needs to be 1.25" diameter.

So, for any of you guys who have done this conversion, can I get a close enuff measurement of the spindle diameters, just by using a common tape measure & eyeballing it ? OR, are there other mobile home axle spindles with diameters so close that I'd need more precise measuring instruments to determine if the conversion hubs will work ?

I can order one hub, just to try it. If it don't work, I'm only out about $60 or so. But would rather know BEFORE ordering !

https://www.amazon.com/6-hole-Bolt-C...653196&sr=8-13

So, can any of you guys shed any more light on this subject ?

Online chat about this just gets those who recommend buying completely new axles. But the price for those is more than my trailer is worth. If these conversion kits will work, it should make my trailer worth about $1000 more & make it MUCH more likely to sell, as long as these high trailer prices exist.

To do the complete conversion, including new wheels & tires, plus elec brakes on one axle, would probably cost nearly $1000. But, as mentioned, it should make my trailer worth at least $1000 more, AND should increase the possible buyer pool. I could probably save a few bucks by finding some used truck wheels/tires, with the 6 x 5.5 pattern. But, I assume that new, real trailer tires would likely make the trailer worth more.

[ponyakr]

Well, after weeks of searching online trailer prices, and after being banned from FB Marketplace & ALL related sites, I have now found a dealer that sells light duty 2-axle 14' & 16' utility trailers for UNDER $2000.

It's not much under. But it's several hundred dollars less than any dealer in North LA, that I've found. The price is $1950. The dealer is in Tyler TX. The TT&L will be charged in LA.

It's about a 3 hour drive from me. We drove it many times, back when we raced in Tyler, back in the '70's. The dealer told me that he has 7 of these base models in stock, right now. Said they build their own and don't have to wait for other builders to ship them a load.

If IIRC, the brand name is Topline.

https://www.toplinetrailersales.com/...ility-trailers

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...67429632%22%7D

So, unless I find a super deal on a used trailer, this is the best deal I've found. BUT, if I can't sell my 18' trailer, I MAY just buy a small single axle, to haul our riding mower & smaller stuff. Only problem with that is that most of the decent lookin new ones I've found are close to $1500, unless you buy a really small, LIGHT duty 5 x 8. Would hate to pay $1500 for a single axle, when I could buy a bigger 2-axle for $1950. Probably won't do that. Might look for a decent used one for under $1000. But, those that I've seen for that price don't look too good. They usually need a new floor & tires.

So, I'll consider buying a cheap small one, then buy a 2-axle after(if) I can sell my 18 footer. Then, once(if) I sell my 18', then I'll use that money to buy a 14' or 16' 2-axle, & then sell the small one. Hey, at least that's the plan, as of now.

Still in FB Marketplace jail, right now.

My CL ad is getting VERY few responses.

[revert]

I'm new here and looking around this thread,

I like to use my DeWalt drill and Bosch Jigsaw,

Both machines I'm using for mostly Home DIY, Gardening, and garage. Both are good to use and efficeint and effective. Mostly it's not working with heavy work so It's good gear.