I just traded my '25 for a slightly larger T2220. Here's some stuff I figured out after 325 hours.
Getting it in gear. You don't have to rev or do anything special. If it won't slide into gear, just LIGHTLY tap one of the hst pedals while applying light pressure to the gear selector. It'll fall right in.
As for the fifty hour service, READ YOUR MANUAL. It'll tell you everything that needs to be changed at each service. There is a reason why they call this preventative maintenance. Doing things properly, for a little money, now will save you a LOT of money later.
Just run whatever diesel you find at the pump. It gets as cold as -15f here and never had an issue. If you don't store her warm, you will want a block heater around +15 degrees. Even if she starts without it, the thought of what I'm doing waiting for the engine oil to warm and flow scares me.
Again, if you store cold, you want the hst filter that is made for cold weather. I saved 15 bucks once for the warm filter and blew it apart one sub freezing morning. My shed floor will never rust.
The deck is very easy to install/uninstall. Turn the wheels and set the height so that the tops of the shafts are about 1/4" below the top of the mower sleeves. Drop deck and pull pins. Lift deck arms and roll deck out chute first. WATCH OUT FOR THE HST FILTER! The lh rear wheel stanchion on the deck can hit it.
Storing the deck, I wound a heavy hook into my shed wall about 4' up. I wheel the deck in, a tow strap to a leading edge makes it easier on the back, and line the deck up along the wall with the front facing inward to the wall. I attach a adjustable tie down strap to the front center wheel brackets and pull. Working strap and deck results in deck being vertical on the wall with the top facing out. Cheap solution...... I grease the deck every few mowings, just a few pumps.
If the engine is knocking on startup, I say just leave her at low rpm's unloaded until it goes away.
Oh, and check the throttle and tach cables on the rh side, just behind and below the fuel filter. There is a small opening between the firewall and blue plastic shroud they pass through. Mine slid down and were chaffed through, resulting in stiff throttle operation. I wrapped several layers of electrical tape around the cables in that spot and then zip-tied them to prevent sliding down.
All in all, I was very happy with this tractor, It did far more than it was ever designed for with nary a whimper. It just wasn't big enough for what I do.
E
