Archive through June 15, 2010

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Jim Diederichs

I allways till now have had to agree with all your ideas(till now lol)THe Chrapsman I have new April 19/96 and was bought to mow my grass. It has cost me one mower belt a starter and a lower crank seal.When it gives up I will try the 149. But not untill it quites lol.

 

[gsmyth]

1450
Harry and Bob and all.
I got your message and I'm dying to get out there but I have to leave here tonight until Monday, 21. What I will try is to get a couple of pictures when I get home and post them. I hoping someone will see what I don't see. I'll check back during the weekend when I'll still be away, but again have access to a computer. Thanks mightily for each person taking the time to write back with such detail. I've copied the info and will have it next to me upon return. Buy the way, the old cable I was able to save by bending the hooked portion flatter and moving the "wings" out. The metal is fatigued, but it inserted and stayed connected at least on flat ground in the garage with a brief engine test. Now that I know what it was supposed to look like I'll be able to adjust further. Even if it fails the Kirk sponsor cable is a solid bet for later after all the help here. As to the other I'm leaning toward cable slippage because of me pulling forward on the engine when playing with the drive shaft. Perhaps with the pictures someone will be able to tell for certain.

 

[jdiederichs]

Well, now I have 2 guys mad at me and my statement about craftsman mower decks, lol~! America's #1 mower seller must be doing something right....

All I know is what I've seen and heard from owners in my area. Denny's right, the best mower decks seem to be on the Simplicity units, quality of cut-wise.
The 44/50's by IH were nothing special, I agree. Wasn't there discussion about increasing the speed of these lazy decks? I know they had to be designed with a lower blade tip speed as they wouldn't pass the OPI/ANSI testing standards for the "thrown objects" portion of the validation.

While the 46" CC deck can be used, I like the heavier 48 and 54" decks from the 1864 etc tractors, had one on my 782 and it was quite an upgrade over the 44C. Since it is a deeper deck the lift height suffered until I installed the Super Steer front axle which is higher. (Super steer being the axle and spindles from a 1535 for example). Then it mowed with anything out there.

Sorry if I offended any Craftsman lovers, just not a personal favorite in this area. Husqvarna made units are not well received here. Might be a humidity issue when mowing this close to Lake Mich, go west 30 miles and they sell ok.

 

[kweaver]

Jim D - You got mail ? Nobody likes me ... I don't get any mail ...

IF I had the money and was able to hit it hard in the shop again I'd build a SS deck with blade tip speed that rival New Holland Disc Mowers ! Those suckers are supersonic and cut anything in front of them.

My 50" has a 4.5" (4.75"? don't remember but it's under 5") pulley ... don't really help.

You know that I've always hated the 42" decks (and 38") with their angled off leading edge blades ! Stupid from the get-go ... and from a company that should have known better since they built hay cutting machinery !!

Donald - Your statement will keep me awake at night ... NOT!

 

[jdiederichs]

Yes Ken, those 38-42" blades must have had Cyrus McCormick rolling over in his grave! What a design failure, wrong on the most basic principles of fundamental engineering...angled off leading edges, how did that ever get out of the door at IH?

A SS deck, how cool is that?

 

[kweaver]

A 22" high lift push mower blade works for the center blade on a 42" deck

98° heat index now , so much fer changin' oil and mowing ...

 

[mgonitzke]

Whoever was asking about a better deck for a 682, I'd recommend the 46GT. It will go onto an 82 series with no mods and it cuts excellent and has bagging capability if needed. I have one on my 782D. The 48GT and 54GT are also great-cutting decks, but would probably need a late Cyclops tractor front axle to work properly.

 

[fcurrier]

<font color="aa00aa">Why won't my Club Cadet start when it's out of gas? I searched the FAQs, did a search, read manuals for hours, now I guess I have to ask the experts. Anybody know how I can find them? </font>

 

[gsmyth]

Throttle cables for 1450.
I hope that I entered these properly (enter, upload, enter)
I'm not certain what to look for as far as cable slipping. I do not see any paint marks or scratches that might indicate that anything was in one place at one time and is now in another, except for the missing screw on the duct (photo 2).

 

[digger]

Frank C.
Not to worry. Just wait a couple weeks and the gulf oil will be at your door step. Then you can refine all the gas you'll ever need for free!

 

[aschumacher]

Frank, just eat a load of beans,cabbage, and scrambled eggs and pipe the results directly into the carb. I hear methane burns well!

Gary, in the second picture, is the linkage from the governor to the throttle plate rubbing on the fuel line???<font size="-2"> Really sounds too simple.</font>

 

[nhasson]

I agree with you Ken about the crapsman decks. I have a 13 year old craftsman with a 42" deck and a 15.5 kohler. I let the wife and kids use it, not the cubs. This year I broke down and bought a new mower deck for it ($375) and after leveling it, it cuts like a dream. Now and then I will cut with the 149 or the original, but the O is just for play and the 149 usually has the tiller, plow, or snowthrower hooked to it, rarely the mower deck. The only reason I had to replace the deck was we were mowing the neighbors grass because they wouldn't cut it and their yard is a little rough. The outside edges of those decks don't like tree roots and big rocks. Definitely made lighter than the old cubs, but sure cuts alot nicer. My two cents. Nick

 

[bnolte]

Gary, I like to hit enter twice between pictures, and if I put a caption between multiple pictures, I hit enter twice, put in a line of text, then hit enter twice again and upload the next picture. I play around with preview until I like what I see. Here is a trip down Memory Lane of this past winter's festivities to demonstrate:

I hit Enter twice after the main text, upload the picture, hit "enter" twice before typing in a caption, then hit "enter" twice again before uploading the next picture.

This is what happens if you hit "enter" once after entering text after a photo. Looks a little crowded.

This is what happens if you don't hit "enter" at all.

 

[fcurrier]

<font color="aa00aa">I guess we all have our own way of doing things, whether it comes to uploading (or is it downloading) pics or MAKING SURE THERE'S ENOUGH GAS in the tank before we (I) crank and crank without the beast starting. Since

I've got to follow a different road:

See, I don't mow a groomed lawn, I knock grass and little trees down and this is the best combination I've found.

P.S. Don T.:

</font>

 

[kweaver]

Frank - I'd loose that pink color if I were you .... ppl is gonna talk about you more than they already do ...

A buddy and I tore down his old Harley Duo Glide and painted it black and put it back together in chopper fashion ... kicked that damn thing til we were wore out , then his cousin asked if we put gas in it ...

 

[gsmyth]

Allen,
I'll be in the air in an hour and away until Monday. I'll check the fuel line when I return. I didn't notice any rubbing or limited movement but then again I wasn't looking for it. If that turns out not to be the problem I'd appreciate a place to start and some direction to begin to tweak for delivering my power back. I was hoping for a single thing to find but perhaps not.

 

[jderstine]

Boy oh boy, Ken. I'm glad I've never done anything incredibly stupid like that

We just won't mention that I cranked over the 122 last night for a full minute before realizing I had disconnected the spark plug wire.

Amazing how quick it started with the spark plug wire attached

 

[aschumacher]

Jeff. BTDT. Couple years ago did work on lawn mower, pulled and pulled..no start. Looked at gas level, ok. Neighbor (ex car mech)looked over the fence and hollered...hey dummy...works better with the plug wire on! <font size="-2">double DUH!</font>

 

[aschumacher]

Frank C. Think I found a future project for you. Did you ever look at 'CubCadet Haulers' at the bottom of the page? Look in the first section, an unusual P/U truck mod. Could be great for all the Cubs you haul!

 

[jderstine]

Allen,
I have another moment of temporary stupidity.

Before I got my 125 with the QA-42, I used a Toro walk behind snowblower. I got into my snowsuit and went to start the Toro to clear snow.

My wife heard the string of expletives emanating from the shed and came out to see what was a matter. My darling wife ( who is a farmer's daughter )looked at the snowblower and said "wouldn't it work better if the key was on?"

It started much easier once I turned the key on and then pulled the recoil starter.