Need a Garden Tractor

TAHOE said:
No one mentioned John Deere because you said you had a $700 budget. When you paint something green and yellow, add 2 or 3 times the price of the actual value :thumbs:

I agree with Lance, I have worked on several JD, mostly the smaller lawn tractors, I hate them. They made things way over complicated. I am doing a motor swap in a JD110 mower now, fighting me every step...and parts can be expensive.
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I’ll have to admit: the best lawn mower I have ever had was a John Deere 14SE. It was tolerable to look at.... not JD green, but silver deck. Self propelled, Kawasaki engine, pressurized oil system with spin-on filter. But...... to demonstrate the “over priced” comment...... although the mower itself was fantastic, the return spring in the self-propelled mechanism was a 10-cent coil spring ($5 in JD terms). That spring would break occasionally..... very frustrating..... but I would LOVE to still have that mower. I stupidly loaned it to a then brother-in-law who promptly destroyed it. I knew I should have just gone with the mower and done the mowing for him!
 
The JD 110 is a good example of over complicating things... they use the same K241 that many other brands have but JD turned it sideways making it near impossible to swap a starter unless you pull the engine out.... and JD added the variable pulley which means you now have two drive belts that are difficult to replace.... I have a 110 with a tiller but again its not something I would choose to keep for myself.

Ive now bought and sold some 160+ LT/GTs... my personal favorites have all come from the late 70s and early 80s with single cyl horizontal shaft engines. I like the Jacobsen/Fords because their attachment system allows you to swap attachments easier than most any other brand of that era, for heavy hauling I like my MTD960s.... a big heavy beast with a bigger/beefier clutch than any other brand Ive seen... and the B/S single is considerably more powerful than the Kohler singles. Nothing Ive had come thru the shop can pull like the 960s, not the JD3xx or even the the Case 44x with twin cyl engines and hydro trans can keep up... but... not everyone needs a heavy hauler like I do so most any older GT has more than enough pullin power for most people.
 
Once you get into the vertical shaft engines you need to look at twice the hp ratings to do the same chores an older horizontal shaft engine can do... they work fine in a mower tractor or ZT but then most dont have the weight, frame or tranny for bigger chores... and thats regardless of brand, Ive had several JD box store lawn tractors, I dont think they are any better or worse than the next brand but they always sell quick.

There is always exceptions but within the OPs budget.... I think most any mid 70s/80s GT would be a good choice, they are generally easy to work on, easy on fuel, and can do most heavy chores. Finding new parts can be an issue with older machines but used parts are generally not hard to find on the internet.
 
I am surprised that a Briggs and Stratton single cylinder has more power than a Kohler K single cylinder engine, Lance. I don't have a Briggs in any of my tractors, so I don't know. Mine are all Kohler except for the MF 12, it has a 12 HP cast iron Tecumseh. I would say a 12 HP Kohler would have a bit more grunt than the 12 HP cast iron Tecumseh. But the Tecumseh burns cleaner, oil doesn't turn black like the Kohler's do. I do have a 10 HP cast iron Briggs on the shelf.

Noel
 
The top end WOT power may not be alot differant but I find that the Briggs engines have much better low rpm power, with the 16hp in my MTDs even pulling loads or pushing the 54" snowplow I rarely run more than 1/4 throttle and it never sounds like its working... but the K series always like to run at least 1/2 throttle... and that makes a big differance in fuel over time. Those Fords for example are one my favorite tractors but Ive had 4 or 5 Lgt165s now and every one has been a pig on gas... which is why I usually only keep the Lgt100s around here for very long, I also have a JD 110 thats been here for several years and it hasnt been hard on gas but any 16 K Ive had sure was.... altho another thing to consider is that the 16 Ks are usually mated to a hydro whereas the B/S 16s are all mated to a manual so they arent using 15% of the available power just moving the oil around.

Im dont mean to knock the Kohlers... they get the job done... but the B/S just seems to do it easier IMO.... so Noel... you need to get that 10hp off the shelf and put it in a tractor... Ive never had anything other than the 16s so it would be interesting to know how the 10 does.
 
My Ford LGT165 seems to work good and when tilling I only have it at 2150 rpm. Would be neat to put a 16 hp cast iron Briggs in and see if there is any differences.
My John Deere 140 H3 uses 3 litres per hour while cutting grass full throttle. I didn’t think that was to bad on fuel. But again I don’t have a Briggs engine in a tractor.
Any way to find out the specs on a Briggs.
The 16 hp kohler has 16 hp at 3600 rpm and about 28 foot lbs of torque at 2800 rpm.
My 10 hp cast iron Briggs is 10 hp at 3600 and 16 foot lbs of torque, can’t remember at what rpm thou.
Thanks Lance, interesting topic.

Noel
 
Some useless information on power between Briggs and Kohler 16 hp cast iron engines. Info I found, so it could be wrong, but I just like comparing things.
Briggs 326431 16 hp @ 3600 rpm Kohler K341 16 hp @ 3600 rpm
Torque 25.8 ft lbs @ 2700 rpm Torque 28.2 ft lbs @ 2600 rpm
Displacement 32.4 cu in Displacement 35.9 cu in
Bore 3.56" Bore 3.75"
Stroke 3.25" Stroke 3.25"

Noel
 
My 1981 Speedex 1631 has a Briggs 16 horse engine, IC series, model 326437. It seems to do a great job, along with the 3-speed transmission it has. It has always had plenty of power for anything I wanted it to do... It's my favorite GT for turning a furrow because of the ground clearance.
 
The 1872 guy finally emailed me back. He said

"The governor is stuck and the engine over revs. The engine ran great up to that point. There is another mower that can come with it that has better body tin better paint and the same engine but it has no mechanical issues."
 
I still kind of feel like I might need a gear drive transmission. Whatever I get will get used more for mowing. But even where I mow is steep in places.

In 2017 I was injured and my rider had blown up. I had a buddy coming over mowing with his Husqvarna lawn tractor. He was weed eating the hills because it was too sketchy with his hydrostatic. My last Rider was a late 90s Craftsman 6 Speed.

how are these things pointing straight down downhill with a trailer full of dirt behind them?

Because that's how it is going from my backyard to my side yard and there's no other way around. I have to put my Superduty in 4-wheel drive to get up it without tearing the path up.
 
Sounds to me you need a small 4 wheel drive tractor with a deck. Even a garden tractor with a manual rear differential lock so you would have traction on both back wheels. And brakes on both back wheels.

Noel
 
I dont pay much attention to the numbers.... I hook up the harrows and see how well a tractor can pull them... the MTDs with the Briggs engines and Peerless 2300 do it better than anything else Ive had here including several 2 cyl tractors such as an Allis 917 and Case 448... altho again those were both hydros so its not an ideal comparison. Ive always wanted a 16 K mated to a manual trans but Im not sure if any brand ever made such a thing... at least none that Ive seen so far. All I know is there is something about the MTD960s that make them very good pullers, thats why Ive hung onto my Columbia for about 8 years, plenty of people have made good offers but I wont part with it unless I find another tractor that can keep up.... 160+ sold and Im still looking.

Lawdawg... the older hydros are very capable, you dont 'Need' a manual trans... most of them dont even have a proper clutch anyway so those dont have any real advantage over a good hydro. Any older tractor over 700#s with a good set of tires will do just fine.... hey... come to Alberta... I got another MTD for sale..LOL
 
I dont mess around when its wet so no concerns there. Think I'll probably be okay, I'm just overthinking things and have only ever had experience with a Craftsman lol.

The worst area is the path from the lower yard up the the back yard. It goes around behind the Cypress there. Used to Be alot steeper till I had at it with a bobcat last year.
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I think if i were buying this weekend id probably buy that 7117. It looks to be in good shape. This weekend got scrapped foe tractor buying cuz I now have a funeral to go to, my friend died wrecking a motorcycle 430am monday morning. She turned 28 in march and bought the bike Friday and was an only child....damn shame
 
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This weekend got scrapped foe tractor buying cuz I now have a funeral to go to, my friend died wrecking a motorcycle 430am monday morning. She turned 28 in march and bought the bike Friday and wasan only child....damn shame.


Very sorry to hear that. Much to young.

Noel
 
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