Gravely's

[Solo]

Gravely\'s

I haven't seen any posts on Gavely walk behind equipment. I just thought I would throw this out there and see what came back. I have a 8hp, with sickle bar mower, 30" brush hog, tiller, sulky and blade. I've used it for 2 years and love it. It lets me get into all the tight spots I can't get to with my tractor.

 

[s1120]

Re: Gravely\'s

I have heard that they are a tough little unit. I would like to find an old one with a brushcutter on it for my land.[my tractors too small for a bush hog]

 

[Solo]

Re: Gravely\'s

Paul , They are tough units. I was at my dealer yesterday and he had one in for a little maitenance it was a 1949 model, still runs great.

 

[rmorgan]

Re: Gravely\'s

Solo--

Your post certainly stirred memories. I grew up, and earned money mowing yards for a number of years, using a 1965 Gravely Convertible 8 (which is probably what you have) with a strap starter and a sulky; I must have pulled that strap 200,000,000 times /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif over the years. That tractor is now sculpture at the end of my mother's house, covered in vines. My dad plowed his garden with it, and I horsed it around plowing snow with it until I was pretty sure my teenage heart would explode. My wife also grew up using them, My father-in-law also had Gravelys, and when I married his daughter I came into possession of two of them. We sold those a few years ago, and now have a 12 hp "professional" model, which has a bunch of bells and whistles (dual wheels, steering brake, 50" mower) but, as a result, lacks the simplicity of the older machines.

Gravelys were made in West Virginia beginning in 1916, and initially were made with Indian motorcycle engines. They are now part of Ariens and I think are made in NC. The later models, in my experience with a couple of them, are still workhorses with strong and prety reliable engines, but have some xmsn problems, and are a bit finicky to adjust; I'm thinking, actually, about selling the Gravely and getting one of the new DR convertible brush/lawn mowers.

Rick

 

[RonL]

Re: Gravely\'s

Solo
The 30" brush hog? Is this the 30" mower that they advertise now? I' ve been interested in the Gravely two wheel tractor for some time. The local dealer told that they no longer sell the flail mower attachment for "safety reasons". I like the idea of being able to run the machine year round ( keep the carb from gumming up). Snowblower in Winter, tiller in Spring, mowing deck in summer, and brush hog in fall ( as Vivaldi plays in the background.
RonL

 

[s1120]

Re: Gravely\'s

I have herd good things about the brush hog attachment. That, and the fact that I can get one for a LOT less then a DR is why I am looking for one.

 

[Solo]

Re: Gravely\'s

RonL
It is actually called a 30" rotary mower, but it will cut some pretty substantial stuff. If you want to run the snow blower, and the finish mower go with the 13.5 hp. My dealer told me mine would'nt run those, since it's only 8.5hp. I would also recomend going with dual wheels if you have any steep ground.

 

[Solo]

Re: Gravely\'s

Paul
I'm not sure what a DR costs, but I've got almost $4000 in mine excluding tax, and that's just the tractor and brush hog. I think this was money well spent if I can't mow it with my TC18 I mow with this. I should put a tilt meter on it because I've mowed some pretty steep stuff with it.

Solo

 

[s1120]

Re: Gravely\'s

I am looking for something old and broken for cheep.

 

[rja]

Re: Gravely\'s

When I moved into the new house (which had 3 acers of lawn to mow) I made the mistake of buying a 1965 2wheel gravely. It had the 30" hog and a snowblower. I then went out and bought a used 50" mowing deck and a steering sulky. The mowing setup worked ok, took around 5hrs to complete the job. The snowblower striped the internal auger gears (teeth) when the auger got stuck on the driveway gravel. I ended up giving it away (so I wouldn't have to lug it to the trash). I still use the 30" hog to clear out the heavy grass twice a year. What I finally did was to get a ZTR 60" machine to handle the mowing. 1.5 hrs and the job is done.
The gravely is a tough machine, and tough to use (note the high pitch in my typing, if you get my drift). I will probably sell the hole bunch if I can find a unit to handle tall grass. I saw something like a large string mower on tv but can't seem to remember it's name.

Rich

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Re: Gravely\'s

Just found this site. To add my belated 2 cents worth. I have 5 two wheel Gravelys. The newest is 1959. The 30" mower/bushog will make mulch out of anything that you can get underneath it, and still mow a lawn presentably. My 26" open auger snowblower will put 2' of snow over the telephone poles, at a comfortable slow walking pace, and it really doesn't matter if it is wet or dry snow. My machines are 6.6 HP, also. The rotary plow for the Gravely is the finest machine for prep-ing ground for planting. The three models of older two wheelers came in 3 different speed catagories, the L was fast and good for mowing, the LI was the intermediate model that was fast enough to mow with and still slow enough for snow blowing and rotary plowing, the LS was great for the rough, tough work but a bit slow for mowing.All in all, they are the toughest two wheel workhorses ever made, new ones are still available. I'll get a new one, if these ever wear out before I die.It depends on what area of the country you live, as to availablity of used Gravelys. There are practically none out here in the Pacific Northwest, mine I brought from New England 20 years ago.Sorry for the long post, but I'm a Gravely evangelist!

 

[Solo]

Re: Gravely\'s

Amen

 

[EdKing]

Re: Gravely\'s

I have 4 Gravely's, 3 of which run, 4th for parts. I have 3 mower decks, 2 tiller/rotary plow/posthole diggers, and a cutter bar. Man they are tough machines. You got to be carefull with them or they will chew you up and spit you out. I used one a few years back to mow my dad's 11 acre pasture. Took me about 2 weeks of evenings to get it finished.

 

[Solo]

Re: Gravely\'s

Ed you are right about them chewing you up and spitting you out. I go about 260 and that thing of mine can toss me around like a rag doll and I've had the bruises to prove it especially when I got the brush hog caught in a piece of fence that was on the ground.
Solo

 

[kbarrett]

Re: Gravely\'s

Any ideas if you can still get one of these new? I've heard rumors that they're still making them??

 

[EdKing]

Re: Gravely\'s

When I was mowing my dad's pasture, I had the one skid of the mower get caught on the edge of a multi-floral rose bush (I really hate those things), flipped the deck over and headed straight into the center of the bush. I had to let it go, catch it on the other side of the bush, and shut it down to flip the deck back. It seems to chew up just about any thing you can run over.

 

[Solo]

Re: Gravely\'s

Yes, you can still buy them. Take a look at the Gravely web site. <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.Gravely.com/>http://www.Gravely.com/</A> For the 2 wheel walk behinds look in the residential lawn and garden section for pro 2 wheel.
Solo

 

[Solo]

Re: Gravely\'s

Ed I just looked at your profile we don't live to far apart as the crow flies. I'm in Marion county WV. If I can run it over I can mow it down.
Solo

 

[kbarrett]

Re: Gravely\'s

Thanks! - Looks like a well built unit

#985114 16 HP Briggs & Stratton Vanguard $5,649
#985115 8.5 HP Robin Engine $3,999
#985117 13.5 Robin Engine $4,899

List prices seem pretty high. I suppose as with anything,
you get what you pay for.

It was interesting that a local dealer said that they weren't that popular anymore. I seems that those that have these units are not willing to part with them anytime soon.

 

[EdKing]

Re: Gravely\'s

I just checked out your profile as well, did you buy your TC18 at Knight's Farm Supply ? I picked up my brush hog, box blade, and tooth bar there. They seem to have pretty good prices there.