Hi guys, I assume that this is the right part of the forum for this post.
I own ~84 acres, but most of it is bush land. We have maybe 1 acre clear around the house, 3 acres in 1 paddock, and 3 acres in another paddock that are clear or in the midst of being reclaimed from overgrowth. I had an old rover rancher ride on that came with the house that has a chinese 10hp pull start engine, has had endless repairs and welds on it, and most recently snapped the steering gear, so it was time to replace it. The budget was $2000AUD and i really wanted something with a bbigger engine and bigger deck.
After looking at a few others, about $2000AUD for an MTD/Yard Machine 18hp was pretty normal, but then this one came up for $900AUD and was claimed to be running. I went to go and look at it and this is where the fun starts..
the guy seemed pretty genuine, and i met him at his place and we went to look at the mower. it wouldn't start. he seemed surprised. We eventually figured out that the fuse was blown. now neither of us had a fuse to fit it, so we bypassed the fuse and still nothing. I spent about an hour trying to trobleshoot it and still no lock. I had already talked him down to $850 befre i got there, and now he offered it to me for $750 as is. I say ok and go to put it on the trailer but it's slightly too wide for my 6x4, so i tell him i'll come back another day with a different trailer and he said he may be able to deliver it. I said the price i'll pay depends on if it runs.
Later that night he said his mate came over and got it running, and he can deliver it to me for $800, so i say ok. When he gets here the next day it was not running, and they had melted the fuse wire. I buy it anyway assuming it's just a short somewhere and get to looking at it. this is what i found.
The switch was sending 12v+ to the coil kill switch
The 12v+ output of the generator/alternator was wired to the ground of the switch
The earth from the battery was so rusted i had to grind it off and make a new one
The kill switch lead from one of the coils had burnt out
The 12v+ lead that ran to the switch and had the fuse holder was all bare metal after melting
So i replaced all the burnt out wires, added a new fuse, found the issues with the switch and had to throw it away, re ran the 12v+ from the alternator to the battery, made a new switch from a couple of other switches
After that, the mower ran, and ran quite well. I put it all back together and took it for a test drive. Very loud bearings in some of the pulleys, and the variable speed pulley was jammed in position. So back to the garage and i lubed the pullesy and had to take the variable speed one off and clean and lube it. put it back together and it runs a treat. I didn't get heaps of photos, but here's some.
Overall, I'm happy with a mower for ~$1200 less than the average sale price. And I know more about the machine now too.
oh, and yes i have a new key switch already in the mail and no i won't leave bare plugs like that when i'm done with it. this switch was made from a dual pole dual throw switch (to add 12v to one set of wires when on, and add ground to others when off) and a momentary push button for the starter.
I'm happy to answer any questions or take more photos if anyone wants them.
P.S. I should shout out to @trains for his assistance in idnetifying the issue with the pulley and instructions on how to remove it. That was a massive help (as always!) and made the qhole process quicker and easier. Thanks mate!
I own ~84 acres, but most of it is bush land. We have maybe 1 acre clear around the house, 3 acres in 1 paddock, and 3 acres in another paddock that are clear or in the midst of being reclaimed from overgrowth. I had an old rover rancher ride on that came with the house that has a chinese 10hp pull start engine, has had endless repairs and welds on it, and most recently snapped the steering gear, so it was time to replace it. The budget was $2000AUD and i really wanted something with a bbigger engine and bigger deck.
After looking at a few others, about $2000AUD for an MTD/Yard Machine 18hp was pretty normal, but then this one came up for $900AUD and was claimed to be running. I went to go and look at it and this is where the fun starts..
the guy seemed pretty genuine, and i met him at his place and we went to look at the mower. it wouldn't start. he seemed surprised. We eventually figured out that the fuse was blown. now neither of us had a fuse to fit it, so we bypassed the fuse and still nothing. I spent about an hour trying to trobleshoot it and still no lock. I had already talked him down to $850 befre i got there, and now he offered it to me for $750 as is. I say ok and go to put it on the trailer but it's slightly too wide for my 6x4, so i tell him i'll come back another day with a different trailer and he said he may be able to deliver it. I said the price i'll pay depends on if it runs.
Later that night he said his mate came over and got it running, and he can deliver it to me for $800, so i say ok. When he gets here the next day it was not running, and they had melted the fuse wire. I buy it anyway assuming it's just a short somewhere and get to looking at it. this is what i found.
The switch was sending 12v+ to the coil kill switch
The 12v+ output of the generator/alternator was wired to the ground of the switch
The earth from the battery was so rusted i had to grind it off and make a new one
The kill switch lead from one of the coils had burnt out
The 12v+ lead that ran to the switch and had the fuse holder was all bare metal after melting
So i replaced all the burnt out wires, added a new fuse, found the issues with the switch and had to throw it away, re ran the 12v+ from the alternator to the battery, made a new switch from a couple of other switches
After that, the mower ran, and ran quite well. I put it all back together and took it for a test drive. Very loud bearings in some of the pulleys, and the variable speed pulley was jammed in position. So back to the garage and i lubed the pullesy and had to take the variable speed one off and clean and lube it. put it back together and it runs a treat. I didn't get heaps of photos, but here's some.
Overall, I'm happy with a mower for ~$1200 less than the average sale price. And I know more about the machine now too.
oh, and yes i have a new key switch already in the mail and no i won't leave bare plugs like that when i'm done with it. this switch was made from a dual pole dual throw switch (to add 12v to one set of wires when on, and add ground to others when off) and a momentary push button for the starter.
I'm happy to answer any questions or take more photos if anyone wants them.
P.S. I should shout out to @trains for his assistance in idnetifying the issue with the pulley and instructions on how to remove it. That was a massive help (as always!) and made the qhole process quicker and easier. Thanks mate!
( j/k)
