Is thirty years too long to keep a lawn mower?

[JeepHead]

I like the older stuff way better than the crap they make today. I have a fondness for old 80's model JD and CC garden tractors.

 

[tradosaurus]

As long as my yard equipment works with little problems I will keep it.
Once I have to work at starting it then it's gone.

 

[Carl_NH]

You do nice work…

Thanks - the 1864 moved to a new home across the street so still work on it if needed.

It was in decent shape, had the deck sandblasted, then epoxy primed and painted, new bearings and belt. The rest of the metal was good, but the plastic hood and side panels required lots of welding and fixing - the engine had valve cover leaks into cooling fins, so new covers/gaskets, then a good cleaning of the cooling system.

 

[WinterDeere]

I like the older stuff way better than the crap they make today. I have a fondness for old 80's model JD and CC garden tractors.

I like the older stuff too, but not because it's better... because it's not!

Let's not compare today's crappy cheap lawn tractors with yesterday's expensive garden tractors. Apples to oranges, not a fair comparison, especially when you look at the prices charged, scaling for inflation.

Apples to apples, nearly every tractor made to day is WAY more capable and reliable than their equivalently-priced and marketed counterparts of 40 or 60 years ago. Again, scaling for inflation.

I really have to laugh when I see all of the belt-driven and chain-driven machines produced prior to Cub Cadet really making direct drive and driveshafts more common in garden tractors. You think those were reliable and capable?

I kept my beloved old 1963 Cub Cadet right up to less than 10 years ago. Solid little machine, first hydrostatic garden tractor ever made, and built like a tank. Yet stupid things still broke way more frequently than any modern machine, it took way more repairs and TLC to keep it running than my 2019 tractor, despite seeing way less and softer usage.

Sticking a rear diff sized for a pickup truck under a little 10 hp garden tractor looks impressive, and people look at it and say "so reliable..." But that comically-oversized rear diff is totally useless when the ignition system craps out.

 

[JeepHead]

I like the older stuff too, but not because it's better... because it's not!

Let's not compare today's crappy cheap lawn tractors with yesterday's expensive garden tractors. Apples to oranges, not a fair comparison, especially when you look at the prices charged, scaling for inflation.

Apples to apples, nearly every tractor made to day is WAY more capable and reliable than their equivalently-priced and marketed counterparts of 40 or 60 years ago. Again, scaling for inflation.

I really have to laugh when I see all of the belt-driven and chain-driven machines produced prior to Cub Cadet really making direct drive and driveshafts more common in garden tractors. You think those were reliable and capable?

I kept my beloved old 1963 Cub Cadet right up to less than 10 years ago. Solid little machine, first hydrostatic garden tractor ever made, and built like a tank. Yet stupid things still broke way more frequently than any modern machine, it took way more repairs and TLC to keep it running than my 2019 tractor, despite seeing way less and softer usage.

Sticking a rear diff sized for a pickup truck under a little 10 hp garden tractor looks impressive, and people look at it and say "so reliable..." But that comically-oversized rear diff is totally useless when the ignition system craps out.

I will have to disagree. The stuff from from decades ago were built way beefier and better than anything made today, apples for apples. The over-all build on these old machines were just better, they built them to last an not to just throw away. And as you pointed out, they had axles meant for real work. I would much rather replace an ignition system on an old tractor than a rear-end or hydrostatic transmission. My boss is going through this right now with his 6 year old Husqvarna GT and replacing the transmission, meanwhile the hydrostatic transmission in my 40 year old JD 318 is still trucking along like a champ. They don't make them like they use to, not even comparable..

 

[arto98607]

My 1976 John Deere 300 is running just fine!

I do have couple of Diesel powered commercial mowers and JD 430, but there are few places to mow where only the JD 300 with it's 42" mower deck will fit...

 

[WinterDeere]

I will have to disagree.

That's fine! We all do what works for us. I'm a big fan of old tractors and classic cars. I've owned several of each, and they're lots of fun to toy with and put to work, when you don't actually need to rely on them.

I can't even imagine breaking the rear end or HST on my 3033r... but I broke the front axle on my old Deere 855 MFWD! I also broke the transmission on our old Wheel Horse (early 1980's), and broke a connecting rod on one of my 1960's Cub Cadets. Another Cub Cadet suffered a bent driveshaft between engine and HST, which caused the thing to vibrate so badly it cracked the bung weld on the gas tank before the weekend's work was done. Old tractors had plenty of failures.

I don't need to waste cost on "over-built", at the expense of other components being improperly spec'd or designed, I just need everything on the machine to be built well enough. Design perfection is when there's no weak link, not having one part comically over-spec'd with deficiencies in other areas, which is the case in nearly all older tractors.

 

[sd455dan]

My 1976 John Deere 300 is running just fine!

I do have couple of Diesel powered commercial mowers and JD 430, but there are few places to mow where only the JD with it's 42" mower deck will fit...

YEP, I pulled a good sized trailer stacked with firewood more than a few times with the Gilson /Peerless manual trans and the MTD (Eaton Tecumseh Hydro)

but; From reports on here was told it is a very bad idea to try it with the much newer JD X500 and it's " Medium duty - ground engaging" K72 Hydro...

 

[arto98607]

JD 300 has Sundstrand 15 transmission, which as far as I understand has been one of the most reliable garden tractor hydrostatic transmissions ever made.

It was used in numerous JD models, including the Diesel powered JD 430

My JD 300 will turn 50 next year (I have owned & used it 33 years) and all that the transmission has ever needed was oil & filter changes about every 10 years.

I suppose they don't make them like that anymore...

 

[JeepHead]

JD 300 has Sundstrand 15 transmission, which as far as I understand has been one of the most reliable garden tractor hydrostatic transmissions ever made.

It was used in numerous JD models, including the Diesel powered JD 430

My JD 300 will turn 50 next year (I have owned & used it 33 years) and all that the transmission has ever needed was oil & filter changes about every 10 years.

I suppose they don't make them like that anymore...

The crap they make today for lawn care is absolute junk meant to be used for a handful of years and be sent to the scrap yard. Definitely not meant to last 30+ years like the old stuff was. But that's with most things manufactured today.