Harvey 1, Stuka 0: John Deere zero turn submerged

[Spanner]

Did water enter the hydraulic reservoir tank?
Did you see any water in the filter? (Cut it open.)

 

[PILOON]

In my younger days I had an outboard motor that every so often would jump off of the transom and go for a swim.
(I learned to attach a tether cable for easy retrieval.)
I'd pull the spark plug, blow dry, empty the carburetor and re prime and with 2-3 yanks on starter cord be on my way.
LOL, I had the procedure down to a fine art and did it in about 15 mins, LOL

I tore down that motor 2-3 years later for a thorough inspection before putting it up for sale.
To my amazement there were no signs at all of corrosion or even wear anywhere and all bushings and bearings were in A-1 condition.

LOL, I also recall that I made my brass sheer pins from 1/4" welding rod! (my cost was a mere fraction of the dealer replacements)
The river I boated on was very rocky and somewhat shallow.
Probably I could have drawn an accurate map of hazards. LOL.

 

[Stuka]

Did water enter the hydraulic reservoir tank?
Did you see any water in the filter? (Cut it open.)

I think some water did make its way into the reservoir, but not much.

Well, got off work and yep, all the oil drained out through the filter fitting, crazy that is drains so slowly. Anyway, put the new filter on and added two gallons of cheap O'Reilly motor oil to the reservoir for the initial run.

I looked over the carb to see if I could drain the bowl but it appears to be connected to the engine by magic, I can't see an easy way to remove it, so I sprayed some carb cleaner through the air inlet and said a prayer. Replaced the fuel filter then connected the new battery and turned the key... nothing.

Oh right, it has an interlock with the parking brake, so I moved the brake handle to the Park postion, turned the key and it spun nicely, throwing out a fine mist from the plug holes. Yes! I screwed the plugs back in and with my Papa hitting the carb with well timed spurts of starter fluid, it fired up and chugged to life. After a few minutes the engine smoothed out real nice like, so I threw the handles forward and away we went. I made some technical maneuvers, mostly right and left and circle, to give the hydraulics a whirl, then engaged the PTO. The engine slowed way down, almost died, but managed to keep going, the blades spun without mishap.

I let the engine run for another 10 minutes, then put her up. I'll get the new air filter when it comes in, run it again and then change oil and hydraulic oil again, and grease the **** out of it. Yay!