Mowing ..

[LG17]

I ended up buying a 46" Husky zero turn with a 21.5hp Kwaka.
I'll give it a run later.

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by LG17

I ended up buying a 46" Husky zero turn with a 21.5hp Kwaka.
I'll give it a run later.

Nice one!

I like that engine too, we had one on a Toro and it had some grunt to it.

You'll have to get one of these for it.........................(kidding of course)

https://tarylfixesall.bigcartel.com/...sucki-stickers

[LG17]

Gave it a run for an hour or so yesterday more to get the feel of it than actual mowing the grass. It's gotta be nearly 20 years since I used one. You forget how finicky they are to use at first but I guess it's just a case of muscle memory. I nearly got it stuck in a wire fence so I will mow a little further out until I'm a bit smoother.

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by LG17

Gave it a run for an hour or so yesterday more to get the feel of it than actual mowing the grass. It's gotta be nearly 20 years since I used one. You forget how finicky they are to use at first but I guess it's just a case of muscle memory. I nearly got it stuck in a wire fence so I will mow a little further out until I'm a bit smoother.

Ha, the first time I used a zero turn (circa age 17 or so), I backed it down a dry creek bed. You know when you are falling, your instinct is to grab and pull yourself up, well that's reverse on a zero turn. I actually caught it quick enough, slammed on the handbrake before sheepishly getting the boss to drive it out. Not one of my best moments.

But..................I haven't landed it in the lake like one of the boss's did last year.......................I found that rather amusing................

[genebaby]

After waiting and missing out on stock, I put a deposit down and ordered the mower I was after, Masport Contractor AL S19! Picked her up today, ready for next season.

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by genebaby

After waiting and missing out on stock, I put a deposit down and ordered the mower I was after, Masport Contractor AL S19! Picked her up today, ready for next season.

image

Nice!

Masport's best chassis (19-inch aluminum) and Briggs and Stratton's best engine (190cc 850-Series).

Depending on what you are coming from, you may find the engine lacking a little "pep". From the factory, these engines are set to a relatively low 2800 rpm, which is noticeably slower than engines pre-2000.



In most cases, you will easily get through most grass, the 190cc "Big Block" has good torque out of the box and can slug through thicker stuff without stalling. For me, I found the engine was bogging down a bit, which also slows the self-propel on my unit. Upping the revs within a safe margin gives the engine more momentum when hitting thicker grass, keeps the groundspeed up, and overall makes the engine unstoppable. I find I end up running at 3/4 throttle in most situations, but I have the headroom to go up when needed.

I'm not talking about a 7000 rpm screamer, about 3500 - 3600 is a safe sweet spot.



Previous Briggs and Stratton engines were relatively easy to adjust for rpm. However, Briggs have hidden the governor spring tabs under and behind the air filter housing.

Lifted from the below thread -
https://www.fordforums.com.au/showthread.php?t=11500195

Briggs & Stratton 190cc OHV 850-Series Engines

Late 850 models – This design mimics the domestic OHV engines, with the spring tab hidden behind the air filter housing. Move the lever towards the cylinder head to increase, move towards the rear of the engine to decrease.

Ideally, you would run the engine for a few hours before doing this modification, say the end of spring or after the first oil change (5 hours, stick with the SAE30 mineral oil till about 10 hours though, you can then swap to synthetic, Penrite 10w-30 Semi-Syn is my preference, qty 600ml). And it would best be done with a digital tacho, otherwise, be careful.

https://www.chainsawspares.com.au/di...CABEgKzq_D_BwE
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/23317315...iABEgKuXfD_BwE
https://www.repco.com.au/oils-fluids...SABEgK9BPD_BwE

Although on a Victa, the engine is the same and should sound like this, notice how it just digs in and powers through when under load. My favorite mower engine after the Victa 2-stroke.

[genebaby]

Thank you for the advice! I like this mower already, just from moving into the shed. Looking forward to using it soonish. I'm sure spring and summer will give me good reasons to do so!

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by genebaby

Thank you for the advice! I like this mower already, just from moving into the shed. Looking forward to using it soonish. I'm sure spring and summer will give me good reasons to do so!

Have had a chance to use it yet?

[genebaby]

Sadly no, time poor and not liking the weather and short days. Canberra winter, not the best, but also not the worst.

I do look forward to trying it out, knowing that it's in the shed, waiting.

[DFB FGXR6]

I don't watch a lot of his stuff, but the tool he was using caught my attention -







A co-worker of mine went and bought one of these Stihl RMA 510's a couple of years ago without consulting me. Like any new purchase, you tend to overlook a quirk or two, but as that newness wears off, those quirks become a nuisance.

As mentioned multiple times in the video, these mowers don't go low enough for Aussie tastes. The lowest setting for the RMA 510 is 35mm, the highest 90mm. No one is going to ever to mow a lawn at 90mm, so its shame they couldn't have gone for additional lower settings and delete some of those higher pegs. My co-worker put washers on the output shaft to space the blade lower, but you can only go so far before running out of threads. Even after this modification, it still won't cut low enough.

Also mentioned in the video, the lack of bagging/catching performance. This is a result of a bar blade, the high ramp up into the discharge chute, and of course that narrow opening of the chute itself.

The chassis Stihl uses on these mowers is shared among other mower brands, including the dreadful John Deere JS38 and JS48. And just like the Stihl, it didn't go low enough and didn't like catching.



The lack of height adjustment and catching ability ruins what could have been a great mower.

[whitelion65]

I mow an over 55s village with one of these.
I don’t mow on the lowest level!

The main gripes would be the uncomfortable dead-man’s lever
The lack of grunt
The narrow chute

The combination of the latter two making it next to useless on long, damp grass.

[DFB FGXR6]

Taryl's new Toro Time-waster Time-cutter................



We had the same older Toro Time-waster Time-cutter featured in the video, with the same oil burning Krohler single cylinder. Every time the blades were engaged, the Krohler would squawk loudly and puff out a plume of oil smoke.

That machine was also replaced by another Toro, this time a Titan with the 23-hp Kindasucki. When it was new, the Kindasucki was actually Notsucki, plenty of grunt and no oil smoking either. As time went on, the Titan actually became a Time-waster. It was always throwing belts, would cut uneven, had out of sync drive bales so it would drive even, broken choke lever, hard starting when hot (not choke related)..............................

The Titan Time-waster eventually made way for a Ferris IS 2600. While I love how comfortable it is, the problem with the Ferris is that it's just too heavy, exaggerated by the 904 cc Yanmar 3-cyclinder diesel engine (I tried talking them out of the diesel as the petrol version with the Breaks and Scrappem was considerably lighter). Now they want to go back to Toro because of how hefty it is on the grass and a variety of manufacturing problems and reliability niggles; the automatic engine safety cut switch on the seat failed within the first 30 minutes, two leaking radiators due to poor design of supporting systems, exorbitant servicing costs.

As far as I'm concerned, it doesn't matter if it's at the homeowner models or at the pro-grade machines, they are all American-made junk.

[swamp]

Toro 597D 60n inch [Briggs Vangard diesel] actually a Toyota diesel
Walker MT25 with 42 inch GHS
Walker MD 21hp diesel GHS with 52inch SD
Honda Buffalo 19 inch pusher

Walkers $$$
Toro managed by domestic division Doh
Briggs have absolutely NO idea about diesel in Australia

Sold out after 15 years

Now I just mow 1/4 acre in 15mins ............