Ways to reduce wear and tear?

[radios1]

I have a JD G100. It's a riding mower with a 54" cut. It was purchased new in 2002. I change oil annually and grease where required. I use it just like most will use a PTO driven rotary cutter. It cuts my lawns - it cuts my meadows - it cuts my Buck brush - it cuts down my wild Multi-floral roses. I still have the OEM drive belts and blades. I sharpen the blades every spring. This unit REFUSES to die.

that's a Garden Tractor, and can pull ground engaging implements. all the G series were Garden Tractors, THAT is why it's lasted so long!.

 

[oosik]

Well - the G100 is a garden tractor. I never knew. That's why it enjoys pulling around my home made "drag". Some times I wish it WOULD die. Justification to purchase a PTO driven rotary cutter. But, then again, if it will do all that I've indicated - who needs a rotary cutter.

 

[Chris616]

Can anyone else share some tips to reduce wear and tear?

Based on what youve written already this won't be new information for you...

Running an engine at cold temperatures creates compounds that are corrosive to the engine internals. I avoid as much as possible running any of my engines without running them long enough to get up to operating temperature and clear out the water vapour, etc. created during the initial running with cold cylinders and engine block. So I would not, for example, start up my (mowing only) tractor in the fall and run it for a couple of minutes to reposition it in the shop before shutting it down for six months.

I hope that I'm not the subject of a news story someday about someone being accidentally run over by their own car, but when I need the space I've been known to push my manual transmission "summer use" car in and out of the garage rather than run the engine for a short time and shut it down for months.

Chris

 

[5030]

If you really want to it last, park it in the garage and hire the job out.

 

[IH3444]

I let my X500 idle for about a minute after it starts, but when I'm finished mowing, instead of just parking it in the garage, I let it sit outside and blow down while I trim. We already talked about engaging the PTO. As I said, I engage my PTO at just above idle, then speed up gradually to full throttle. I will take the advice of another member and try idling it down even more and half-choking before I engage. I do my best not to ever turn the steering wheel unless the mower is rolling to make it easier on the front end and steering. Every 200 hours or so, I add a bottle of Techron to a 7 gallon gas can before filling. Of course, I only buy non ethanol gas. I change the oil every Spring with Mobil 1 Extended Performance 10W30 and have everything greased. I have the blades sharpened every season (about 50 hours) and the belts checked. A sharp set of blades means a cooler engine. Transmission is serviced every 200 hours or so.

Can anyone else share some tips to reduce wear and tear? Thanks in advance.

I run Mobil 1 15w-50. The 15w flows like a 10w due to it being synthetic oil, and the higher zinc number helps to reduce the flat tappet wear. At temperture the 50w is greater protection under high heat load. It's an air cooled engine, needs all the help it can get. 1999 Scotts 2554, built by JD. GT275 frame, Tufftorq K66 hydro, 54" JD 11 gauge deck. Runs fantastic! Basicly a JD G100 light duty garden tractor.

 

[jgayman]

Running an engine at cold temperatures creates compounds that are corrosive to the engine internals. I avoid as much as possible running any of my engines without running them long enough to get up to operating temperature and clear out the water vapour, etc. created during the initial running with cold cylinders and engine block. So I would not, for example, start up my (mowing only) tractor in the fall and run it for a couple of minutes to reposition it in the shop before shutting it down for six months.

Chris

There is some truth to what you say but I think with modern fuel and lubricants it may not be as severe as once thought. I have a 6-year old Ariens 17HP gear-drive riding mower that I bought new for my dad. He removed the mower deck and uses it as a yard utility vehicle and for getting the mail each day. That means that every day except Sunday, on 100-degree summer days and 0-degree winter days it gets started up and runs for the 5-7 minutes it takes to go down the driveway and back. So basically it gets run under what could be referred to as the worst conditions - frequent starts and short running periods. This mower has a cheap B&S 17HP engine with no oil filter. The oil gets changed twice per year and we use Mobil-1 5W-30 synthetic.

If you know anything about these B&S engines you know they have a habit of breaking the compression release weight on the cam. Ours was no different and the compression release broke recently.

When I tore the engine apart to replace the cam I was absolutely amazed at how immaculate it looked inside. The cylinder walls were absolutely perfect and the inside of the crankcase was so clean you could have eaten breakfast cereal out of it. No sediment or deposits of any kind.

The only by-product I could see as a possible result of the repeated short running cycles was an above average amount of carbon deposits on the top of the piston.

 

[crazyal]

Let's be honest. The engine is going to last the life of the mower. It's weak spot is the valve guides. Keeping up on changing the oil will help a limited amount with the valve guides as they aren't lubricated by oil. One of the best things you can do is keep the mower deck from building up grass to prevent it rusting out.