4 acres with a scag 36 WB

[EPSON]

So would recommend something that is not a walk behind , and has "at least" a 60+ inch cut...

The way i look at this , (and i may be wrong) is you need to close the distance travelled cutting this 4 acre plot because i think the average body would break down pretty quick using a 36 " mower that your not "at least" sitting on comfortably...

The mower should not blow up as it is an inanimate object having no idea about getting tired , or anything silly like that , however your body will wear down very fast unless your sitting very comfortably traveling at a reasonable speed......

I'm guessing that 5+ hours of walking or bouncing off road would kill you ,but the machine should not notice it as that's the general beauty of a machine it shouldn't get aggravated and quit on moral grounds of turning it into a slave..A living body will complain , and break however..

A residential unit should not be bothered by one job running 5 hours a week in my opinion , BUT i cant overstress i believe your body would probably fail if pushed to travel the 10 + miles...

Assuming an acre is 208 X 208 my 3rd grade math leads me to believe you will need to travel 10 miles+ cutting 4 acres with puny 36"cut, over bumps while , standing or walking with sweat pouring off your body , and that's just to harsh on the body in my humble opinion....

Rounding the acre off to 200 X 200 and playing math guy, LOL i divide 200 ft by the 36 inch cut or 3 feet swath leaving the figure 66.6 or lets just say 66 passes to make the math simpler...

Now if you require 66 passes for the 1 acre times the other 200 feet back and forth i come up with 66 X 200 = 13200 feet travelled per acre...

13,200 ft divided by (5280 ft or 1 mile) you get 2.5 miles travelled using puny 36 inch cut... 1 acre you could probably live with the 2.5 mile walk , but considering you will be cutting 4 acres with 36 inch cut i come up with this bungled haphazard figure..

2.5 miles pr acre X the 4 acres = 10 + total miles ,and i believe that's a conservative figure as i used a acre that was 200 X 200 not the proper 208 X 208 , and left out overlap which will make the mower a 33" cut...

Now standing or walking over 10 miles off road for the 1 job would probably wear a middle age guy out leaving him useless to work the rest of the week..

Also if I'm thinking correctly on this the 66 passes each require you to spin the mower around to reverse direction , and depending on how the property is laid out you would have to spin around reversing direction 66 X 4 times or 264 maneuvers alone which would wear me out alone just doing this exercise in my garage with heavy W.B unit....

If i had to do this even once i think i would cut in a circle pattern as i did as a child to cut some of this massive work load down....

If my bungles half azz formula to determine my thoughts were wrong please disregard but no matter how i`v approached the math i come up with the same miles travelled and it seems to be walking or bouncing on a velki for 10 plus harsh miles...

I would recommend some type of sit down unit and pull one of those fairly cheap tow behind finishing mowers that also cut 60+ inches on each pass...

If you get it down / up ( However you look at it)to wear your mowing a 120 inch swath you can make a profit without killing your self...

Just my thoughts and GOD BLESS and GOOD LUCK while keeping good hydration practices in mind , TRANNY D.

Hmmm... That is something to think about, I do see your point. I have never looked at it as mowing 10+ miles before. hmmm, well I don't know yet. I do apreciate your guys help and am hearing what you all are saying.

[EPSON]

another question, This 36in WB is like I said before a SCAG with a 12.5 Horse kohler motor, I believe it is about 7yrs old and is still solid and starts by the 2nd pull ever time I have seen him start it. I talked him down to $675.00, like I said it is still solid and in good shape. So does that sound like a good price? Cause he won't come down a penny more. Any input would be helpful.

[Bulldozer]

[B] Considering

I think "North of the North pole" says it all.
May the force be with you...........

[ahlgrenlandscaping]

Hey Epson go for it that is a very solid engine it will definitely get you through the season. I have the same machine except gravely and it has nearly 2000 hours on it now. Plus you can put a new engine on it if that one goes for about 500$. Any questions just ask.

[TRANSMAN]

Huhh????

I think "North of the North pole" says it all.
May the force be with you...........

I think your more confused then i originally thought B.D...

Are you implying that Luke Sky walker mowed grass at the North Pole with his laser sword , or something silly like that now???

Obviously considering B.DOZER is considerably ,and continually confused at this point and not functioning or following along with the typical members level of comprehension....

I should take into account though that you were not posting all day so to your credit you were probably actually out and mowing acres and acres of yards with walk behind 21 inch push mowers and are very tired from trudging hundreds of miles behind W.B mowers...

A hard worker i will always respect no matter how confused they may get so , May The Force Be With You Also Spacedozer!!!



Sincerest GOD BLESS and Blessings , and remember to hydrate as the imbalance of electrolytes is the most common cause of confusion in the L.S industry....

I think the Bulldozer deserves a rare DOUBLE GOD BLESS so GOD BLESS AGAIN!!!!!

Sincerest GOD Bless for a 3rd time you big cute BULLDOZER teddy bear you...

4th GOD BLESS , TRANNY D.

[Bulldozer]

Sincerest GOD Bless for a 3rd time you big cute BULLDOZER teddy bear you..

Ok, I'm Teddy, but I'm not bare

[EPSON]

well, I bought the mower today. And I know this guy and he seems think of me as a good customer, so for no extra charge he threw in a sit down attachment. It looks like it might be kinda nice on that 4 acre lawn, has anyone used one of these before? and does it work pretty good? I don't know yet cause I have to make the shaft be able to swivel, But I am pretty good with a welder so no problem there. Any way I think it shoud make it nice when mowing a lot. What do you guys think? like the sit down or hate it?

[ahlgrenlandscaping]

Hey Epson since the mower does have some hours on it I would get a feel for what shape the transmission is in before you start having it pull you. Belt driven mowers are not made to handle the weight of a person...on flat terrain you might get away with it for a while but over time you will strip the gears especially on hilly terrain.

[TRANSMAN]

ahlgrenlandscaping ???Do you know of a site

Hey Epson since the mower does have some hours on it I would get a feel for what shape the transmission is in before you start having it pull you. Belt driven mowers are not made to handle the weight of a person...on flat terrain you might get away with it for a while but over time you will strip the gears especially on hilly terrain.

That shows the design of the drive system on this mower???

I never looked at a belt driven walk behinds drive system and now you peeked my interest....

It is belt driven but still has a gearbox?????

I always found garden style deck under the belly of the mower garden tractors to have fairly strong / durable components despite their cheap price .....

I remember a few years ago while strolling through sears and passing time in the garden dept a customer pushed in his 1 week old LX 4000 or whatever garden tractor and the guy had lost all power with whatever cheap hydro drive unit they were using at that time....

I overheard the customer complaining how the mower wouldn't climb hills since day 1 the week before and asked the sears salesman what they did with these defective units and if they would sell one at a bargain price as i wanted to pull a hydro apart to see exactly how they ticked...

He pointed to the outdoor screened in section where 30 units sat and the salesman said they all had come in over the past 2 weeks , their hydros were junk , and at this point they were only selling the gear drive units until they found out what the heck kind of junk the manufacturers were selling them..

I guess all the hydros went back from the ones never run sitting on the floor to the ones that were sent home with people who were very disappointed with mowers that would not move....

Anyway , to the point sorry for drifting , i never really saw a major problem with the old standard belt/ 3 , 4 , or 5, speed trannies even on these home owner El cheapo units.....

I even have a old lawn tractor "gear drive" i keep at my shop that i use to push cars around the building with that wont move on their own ...

I have a fork lift that i made a special bumper for that was perfect for pushing dead cars around but unfortunately my many business neighbors are always borrowing it because it comes in handy for almost every business that is on the same street as me... I have lots of commercial air-conditioner installation guys in particular and when they get their big units in they borrow it and i then don't see it for days....

So my point again is i end up using the lawn mower to push cars around which it surly was not intended to do and it has never failed to do the required job when the Forklift was out on loan...

Before getting Epsom very worried about his transmission breaking are you 100 percent sure this slippage you`v witnessed is not simply belt related????

I don't know the unit so i'm not questioning your sincerity , i just want to rule out the possibility that perhaps the belts are just slipping due to a weak spring , worn / glazed belt/ oil soaked, maladjusted idler pulley or something easily fixed...

I would think if a gear in these simple basic trannies would either work or not work and i cant see why they would strip unless they were continuously shifted from reverse to forward or in some other way severely abused....

Anyway let me know what you think and lets not get Epsom worried about his new purchase until he gets a chance to drive it and see how good everything does or doesn't work....

P.S : I`m impressed and happy to read for a change that you get 2000 hrs out of your small engines....

You must be good with the oil changes and i am constantly bewildered to hear others saying they only get 1000 hrs at best and their engines are shot and blowing oil..

I get 4000 hrs out of my older I/C briggs that run 8 hrs pr day 5-6 days a week and when they finally start using some oil pop the piston out, re-ring the unit with chrome rings and they go and go until the Northern tools supplied hour meters finally take a poop....

Epsom if your reading congratulations,good luck , and let us know how she pulls you and your cart around tomorrow and we can think of some mods you can possibly do to make that thing as comfortable as humanly possible....

If your handy with the welder you can probably make some real improvements to what you currently have and possibly cut the chair off and reattach with a axis point and mount a motorcycle style shock absorber on that bad azz machine...

You could possibly start a new thread in the repair section , you can post pictures there, and if you let us see what design you have possibly make some design changes and put that welder to good use....

Hope i didn't bore ya and lets see how that thing performs when you get a chance to give it a good test run....

Stay cool , and don't jump to any conclusions that may bum you out because i think you might be the kind of guy that might take wording too serious and get yourself down and depressed before you even take her for a spin...

Gotta fly guys and congrats again EPSOM !!!! TRANNY D.

[EPSON]

Thanks Tranny! And I did get to drive it around for about 20 minutes today after I got it home, I know I need to really drive it to get a better feel for it. But I hooked up the stand up sulky to it and it pulled me just fine, it has 5 speeds forward and one reverse. Also keep in mind that soaking wet I weigh 120 pounds, I am what most people would call very skinny. A question though, I noticed that when I turn left I have to sqeeze a bit harder on the lever to turn then I do on the right, I like it more sensitive and if the left was like the right it would be perfect. It is nothing I can't live with and the mower drives straight and true but is there away to adjust how sensitive it is when you turn? no big deal, just something I noticed. And as far as checking out in what shape the transmission is in I couldn't tell you, It just had all new belts and blades put on it and it all seems very solid. Also, after I get some time here soon I will start a new thread in the repair section or whatever that was and maybe put some pics and get some Ideas from you guys. But in any case I am very excited! I know it is just an older 36in WB, but after using that old husky all last year, This looks like the nicest mower in the world! It is also my first commercial mower! and to boot it is a SCAG, I have always wanted to say that I was the owner of a SCAG! and there you have it. So thanks guys and if you have anymore Ideas, thoughts, or just anything please let me know, I will be checking back.

[Bulldozer]

And as far as checking out in what shape the transmission is in I couldn't tell you,have anymore Ideas, thoughts, or just anything please let me know, I will be checking back.

Peerless Trans'., which is what you have, are rather bullet proof, unless you constantly shift without the clutch. They either work, or not and you'd feel a broken tooth on any one of the gears, or not be able to shift from a bent shifter fork.
Just use the machine and don't worry about the trans.

[TRANSMAN]

DITTO On BULLDOZER

Peerless Trans'., which is what you have, are rather bullet proof, unless you constantly shift without the clutch. They either work, or not and you'd feel a broken tooth on any one of the gears, or not be able to shift from a bent shifter fork.
Just use the machine and don't worry about the trans.

There you go ... I didn't think you would have something different on that machine and like B.D says the peerless is not gonna break unless its severely abused....

I`d put any worries about problems with the trans in the bag , and you tried out the 4 forward and 1 reverse you said were just fine, so it sounds like that's a non issue to me...

I'm also sure on a belt drive their has to be a simple way to adjust to make the steering and power applied to each wheel more or less sensitive so that should be an easy fix/ adjustment in the future when you have spare time (and would not have anything) to do with the tranny...

My guess is a cable needs simple adjustment or a idler may be more sticky on one side if you feel it steers more easily in one direction then the other....

I don't here any stories like guys it belches out blue smoke when i start it up , which clears 90 percent after it warms up LOL so i`ll assume you got a pretty healthy engine on the old girl....

Everything i`v read along with getting the sit down attachment thrown in for free sounds like you got a good ride...

Sounds to me like you got real a good deal, I tip my hat to you ...... CHEERS TRANNY.....

[EPSON]

Ok Thanks, I will look for a way to adjust it later, I figured there was a way just wanting to make sure before I go out there looking for something to adjust that doesnt exist, lol. thanks again guys, I would of had a much harder time buying this if it wasn't for you all. And now that I have I am very happy, So thanks Again!

[TRANSMAN]

Kind of you to come out of hiding with no information period

Another ass clown with no real experience in commercial lawn equipment spews forth misinformation.

But thats typical Lorenzo Piedra yes????

And i will even admit "you should" know far more about the drivsystem of these older designed units because they are all you could ever scrape enough pennies together for in order to afford ,and add to your other fleet of "antiquated mowers"...

Is there a reason you didn't help him out ,and simply answer his question???

You claim and should be the expert as i freely admit or is that just more of a smoke screen like everything else???

You had your proude but embarrassing thread pulled down as fast as you could and now want to ruin this one also???

Or are you furter angered that EBSOM picked up this unit that you would have liked to have bought , but your pockets are always completely empty when a great buy comes around and these units get sold between the time you need to run to your friends begging for a loan????

Your a real smart dude L.P ,[COUGH],,, but scatter under pressure much as a rat on a sinking ship ,and left me holding the bag of questions yesterday...

All the questions i had to answer, the flood of P.M`s and e-mails was unstoppable...

FOR Example one titled: WTF happened to that post????

Heres a typical example of question that were left to be answered.

Transman where the heck did that post go where you ripped Lorenzo a new ... .... yesterday???? I thought that was funny as freaking heck when you showed how he is really some broke-... hillbilly who cant repay his loans. I was on the Floor Laughing...

Another person noticed you didn't deny the fact but pressured your old friend to twist the story around ,and many wonder what is the involvement going on here and is it true they could actually be "very close" and L.P would stoop to threats of cutting off the live in help and emotional support would no longer exist...

I think Florida's Elder Abuse department should look into this case because you are very hard on people who are older and for their own good should be protected from your abuse.

The hysterical twisting of the original story was proof you hold only your false image as important, and would do whatever had to be done including threatening someone TWICE your age unless they take the fall for you...

And then you come here , with no pertinent advice on help but obviously looking to start a bit of trouble...

Another stalker who picks and lives off on the elderly...Why do i even waste my time but someone has to keep this guy from taking advantage of his elderly provider...

I believe the original story where you were described as a "massive underachiever" "who cant make it" truly paints the perfect picture , and totally says it all....

EBSOM Sorry for the rude interruption from that guy but continue to let any and all questions you have continue to fly!!!!!

I would do a quick oil change with some 20W50 or straight 30 weight ( when the weather becomes warm) and keep the tires a few pounds under what they recommend ,because the recomendation is for the 300+ pound guys like lorenzo , and you will bounce much more with your lighter weight...

I've been told the proper tire pressure greatly smooths the ride so it might be worth trying...

The tire pressure was a hearsay thing so if you try it let me know if theres any difference especially considering your only 125 pounds....

Im blabbbing now but continued good luck with your new investment ,and enjoy!!!!

GOOD LUCK AGAIN, TRANNNNNNY D.

[EPSON]

ok lorenzo, for starters as I have already posted, I BOUGHT THE MOWER ALREADY! Not to mention that I live in Evansville IN as it says in the upper right hand corner of this post, I believe that the mower you listed was in Iowa. And how does that help with any of the questions I have posted? Also, I have been reading around on this forum and any time you post it semms to be the most worthless thing ever, you never give advice that is helpfull and all you do is bring every one down. No one likes you on this forum, or maybe I should say that I haven't seen one person say ANYTHING nice or kind about you. Maybe you should try folowing Tranny's example, but before you start giving advice I would recomend learning about what you are going to talk about! I am no expert, but that is why I have come here asking and not telling, and as far as I can see, maybe you should start asking or just shut up. Thanks again guys and if you got anymore to say then please let me know. And lorenzo, as my mom would say "if you can't say anything helpfull then just shut up" and as tranny would say "GOD BLESS"