The original deal for the property included an old 40″ riding mower that had seen better days. It was underpowered, top-heavy, and just not really up to the job. After nursing it for a few years, and completely rebuilding the transmission and deck, it was time to step up to something a bit beefier for those quick-ish mowing jobs that involve grass, but not 4′ weeds (which might call for Dino and the flail or chopper).
After entirely too much staring at Craigslist, a used MTD 2560 was located for sale nearby. This is a medium-duty zero-turn commercial mower with a sturdy chassis and 60″ cutting deck. It’s also fairly simple and parts are readily available, which is important because mowing here is not like trimming the average front lawn–things take quite a beating. It was cheap–too cheap, and the seller was a retired Intel marketing executive. In his words, “it just stopped one day.” I bet it did.
Some haggling ensued, because cheap is relative. Quite a bit, really. Still, it promised to be an interesting project, so a deal was eventually struck and the poor corpse with three flat tires was dragged onto the trailer for the trip home.
Even before it blowed up, it had seen some…indifferent maintenance. The seat was dead, a replacement safety switch had been bodged in, and the hub of the left drive wheel “welded” back together after being broken out.
The first order of the day was a new engine. There were lots of options, but the obvious choice was a 28hp fuel-injected twin from Briggs & Stratton–a little more power than the original 25hp but with instant-on starting and better emissions (since it has an oxygen sensor and runs closed-loop fueling).
Apart from the seat switch, the wiring harness was in good shape, so patching a new engine connector in wasn’t too difficult, and the fuel-injected motor started on the first try.
Some leftover LED lights make dusk mowing easier.
After replacing the very dead pneumatic front tires with a set of solid foam tires, the obligatory test driving commenced.
Oh man, that looks like fun. Would have a huge grin on my face too.