Gravely 40" wing mower restoration

[daugen]

Much progress made. The best news is a major find. A serious find...a packed away bin of 18 cans of oem Gravely red.
For years I had visited Lightkep's shop outside of Philadelphia, having fun in his boneyard, and always wanted to buy a little something while I was there, so
I stocked up on red paint. I knew I had two decks to do, this is the first of two identical ones, and then my garden tractor could use another coat. Can't have this shiny wing mower
being pulled by a grubby tractor, right?
18 cans, I'm in heaven, despite now having 8 cans of the wrong red.

Primed, and then two coats of red, thinking I might put a coat of clear on top just for durability.
Sure does show every wart...but when I think of what this looked like to begin with, I think I'm still well ahead.
More pieces to paint, and lots of little attachment hardware to source, some plastic bushings that thankfully are still available.

this is an unusual mower in that it has full contact blades. The blade set for this 40 inch mower is the same blade set as my 50 inch garden tractor deck.
So clearly there is lots of overlap, and the way Gravely manages that is to have splined pulleys so everything stays in the same place once installed.

Had a problem with bugs getting in the paint. Something this bright red and this big is a huge magnet for bugs; they must think it's a giant flower.
Tweezed two bugs off, let this one sit, and somehow it managed to drag itself another inch, and then fly off. Usually that oil paint is like a venus fly trap, once in,
they are there for the duration.

 

[3930dave]

Nice score d :thumbsup:

That's a great way to finish off your deck..... don't know how long your cutting season goes, but at least for next year - post pics of the matching pair pls....

Rgds, D.

 

[JohnfromPA]

Very impressive!

 

[daugen]

thanks guys.
Well it's just been too cold to work on it. Gosh I am envious of you guys with heated workshops in the winter. My barn was built for horses and I want to keep it that way, despite
my not having any, and it has a lot of vent holes in it. I have lots of wood for a wood stove install, and love making firewood, but it's just a big tin box with holes in it. Challenging..maybe I could stuff temporary batts in the holes and when the next owner of this place (I'm going to wind up in a ccc...) comes along with horses, he/she can pull out the insulation.
Something I know nothing about...which is why I guess we learn things right? Necessity is the mother of invention, and of learning. Assuming we want to accomplish anything.

So the Gravely mower sits there in two big pieces, the frame and the deck, and of course the Honda engine. I am waiting for my close friend and Gravely nut from PA to come down and we are going to do this together. That was always the plan for me. And he is so much more talented as a mechanic than I am, an educated second set of hands to hold things, anticipate what's needed next. The trick is to get the big frame mounted on the deck without scratching all the paint, so I just can't do this myself. First, I'm not strong enough any more to throw 200 pound mower decks around and it's just safer to have someone else with some grip on the situation. And my friend and I work well together and have fun doing it.
What could be better. You all know it when your buddies come over to help. Many hands make work light. Or light work, take your pick.

so the shiny Gravely red is covered in dust, waiting, waiting for some warmth in the air. Next couple of weeks might still be too cold here. Rain is fine, cold is not...
So the point of all this is to say maybe in a month.

And then I think the Willis Orchards order is coming in late next week with 40 trees and shrubs to plant, my garden goes in starting in a week or two with onions, and I'm doing a huge two acre
veggie patch this year. When am I going to have the time and energy... Well, my buddy is trying to pick some dates to get away, and whenever he gets here, we will put this thing together.
And take lots of pictures. And if it actually starts up and works...a youtube video so you can hear it. Makes a lot of odd noises....remember this is a giant go cart centrifugal clutch in this thing which adds another whine to the mix. Clutch by itself is 850 bucks. Gulp. Both of mine worked when they were put away, many years ago.

don't give up, I've been waiting a long time to finish this thing and hook it up to my Gravely. Of course I just bought a new Kubota F series 72 inch mower to do my 8 acres of lawn, but that's just work. Hooking this thing up would just be cool beans for a while. On the big flat areas. I'm not going to work this hard at all, it's darn rare to begin with.
And then I have the Kawasaki twin to do next.
Sure hope I live long enough at this rate...

 

[3930dave]

2 weeks from the garden going in..... Cold ? You define cold a bit differently than we do I'd need a jackhammer here 2 weeks from now ! :laughing:

Good plan to make it a team project, esp. with a brand-specific wiz available ! Easy to get injured with wrestling 200# parts, always good to have somebody else around.

Sounds like your season is getting close, so likely not worth the bother...... if you have plenty of wood, what matters the most in a temporary work area is a good vapour barrier - a heavy clear plastic barrier, sealed in place as well as you can, will stop most of the drafts. Your heat loss will be higher w/o insulation, but with enough of a heat source, you can attain comfortable temps.

That said, mother nature will likely be providing adequate heat by the time your buddy arrives.

That's going to be quite the fleet when you are done ! We need a panoramic pic of them all lined up !:applause:

Rgds, D.