Buying a Gravely and need help

[jdboy4410]

i prefer the pre 1968 model Gravely's,they are easy to work on and maintain and that engine is just a work of art.i have a 62 6.6 model.back in the day,horsepower was measured at the PTO like these were.i would recommend an older machine with the swiftomatic trans set up,you can select the perfect speed for any job to be done.there are so many attachments out there for them.the newer machines are more user friendly and somewhat safer,you really got to be careful with these tractors,they will hurt or even kill you,older or newer.i was mowing a fence row with mine yesterday,multi-flower roses are no match for this beast,if you can get the deck over it,it will chew it up.i was taking small trees down with it,1"-1 1/2" sapplings,and it had no problem doing it.i cleaned about 100' of fence row up in about 1/2 an hour.you will need another machine to do vast work,but,if you want to get into some rough stuff now and again,and plan on using it for multiple jobs,the gravely is the way to go.i use mine for maintaining trails,fence rows,and snow removal,sometimes a little dirt work too where i can't run my big tractor,i love it ! they are a small machine that can do big chores,but don't count on it to do a large area,you will work yourself to death trying to keep up.:thumbsup:

 

[jdboy4410]

one other thing,these tractors were not built with loads of safety features in mind,you really got to watch yourself,some models have a locking position in reverse,nice feature to use 1% of the time,but for the rest of the time,very dangerous as if you trip and have a mower attached,it could back up right over top of you and chew you up too. good strong common sense is needed to operate these monsters! my friend received three broken ribs once while mowing,the machine got off camber and he was in a wooded area,lost his footing and it pinned him between the handlebar and a tree,they give no notice,they just slam you before you know it and can't do anything about it.always know your footing,and keep yourself away from the machine while operating it.always keep both hands on the handle bars.never never get in between the handle bars while operating the machine ! keep people away from it while in operation,especially with PTO operated attachments.as long as you use good common sense,they are a real work horse and can do lots of different tasks ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, good luck with your decision.

 

[FlaDon]

The gravely was an awesome machine for mowing grass. I worked one for a summer cutting city parks. We followed a tractor that cut the large open spaces and ballfields, doing the areas where the tractor could not fit followed by two guys w/ power mowers & hand clippers who policed around the benches & trees to finish the job. Two gravelys and two power mowers w/ a small stake body/liftgate truck.

It is not a brush hog. It will cut grass, wet grass and is deadly to aluminum cans, but it is not designed to cut brush & tall weeds.

We had dual wheels and sulkys and could handle small banks by dropping the sulky and walking but they started sliding on any substantial slope.

While this is an old post, it does stand correcting. The 30" 106 or later greased gearboxes are designed for cutting brush and tall weeds. We have several and a 30 with the heavy carbide blade or the 30 with just the regular heavy blade, will mow down trees up to 2" in size. And you don't need anything bigger than an 8 HP to do it. The bigger engines just make it quicker.