Advice on Gravely walk behinds wanted

[hawkeye08]

East coast has many used Gravelys. Do your research, go to one of the swap meets, talk to owners. You should be able to get what you need reasonable and have lots of local support.

 

[Hefty Lefty]

Personally I won't have a Gravely powered tractor and for many reasons. The biggest is the lack of a charging system. Second is that some engine parts are nearly impossible to find. Even when the engine was in production, cylinders were very expensive. There is a lot of machining that is involved with making cylinders.

The last L8 I had, I traded for an old style power brush.

To each his own.

A starter generator can be put on and that will charge nicely, but I was just as happy with pull start once I made a long enough rope up.

As I say if you prefer a different engine starting with a non Gravely powered one is best and they are more common in good shape around here anyway. Most of the original Gravelys around here were run to death and scrapped. The later ones were rebuilt as it was cheaper.

 

[RichardTX]

To each his own.

A starter generator can be put on and that will charge nicely,

And that is the problem. An old Gravely powered tractor can nickle and dime you to death. If you like to tinker, an L or SC is for you. If you want reliable, then a 5000 or Pro series is the answer.

 

[Tony_S]

An old Gravely powered tractor can nickle and dime you to death. If you like to tinker, an L or SC is for you.

I suppose they CAN nickel and dime you, but my experience is not like that.
I have an L model, late 50's, that I use for bushogging 20 wooded acres keeping paths open and hogging brushy areas in an area named "Briery Branch". Already this year I have put probably 15 hours on it and will likely have 40 hours on it by years end.
This has been going on since I was old enough to handle it on rough terrain (~12 yrs old?). So it's been FORTY years that I personally have been using this machine, and it works HARD.

It's repair history that I can recall?....one oil pump seal about 10 years ago, just because it was leaking enough to be a bother. Change the oil & filter and sharpen the blade once a year, it has had a new spark plug or 2, might have had to put points in it once but it's been so long I can't be sure.

It starts on the first pull. No nickels, no dimes, no battery, no luxury.