Good Morning! We just recently moved from a 1/4 acre yard to a 1 acre yard last year and as a gift, my father-in-law had given us his John Deere 318 mower. It was a 1986 with the original engine, it had 1586 hours on it and ran pretty good all last summer. Broke down twice (of course in the back field each time) and those (I think original tires) are just about shot. It I had to put a new battery connector on it, and ended up swapping out the batter (though I didn't have to I'm just a poor mechanic) which was the only work it needed early on. It was a slow heavy tank.
By the Mid to late September or maybe Mid October it finally just died on me at the back of the field and failed to turn back on. It just was not picking up fuel. I replaced the spark plugs, Fuel lines, Fuel pump, and checked the carburetor and all that worked great except the fuel pump wasn't pumping fuel so either the pickups were blocked or the timing was off. Needless to say with nearly 1600 hours on the original engine and no garage to work on it I figured it was time to let it go. I decided to sell it
I finally got a buyer recently for the price I was asking and went for a Big Dog Alpha. It was only after I ordered the Alpha that I realized I could have gotten a Hustler Rapter SD for a lower price, but whatever. The Big Dog dealer is closer to the house anyway for service and everything. Hopefully it will stop raining long enough to be able to cut the grass. I will snap a picture of it when it comes in. I guess the next investment will have to be a garage to keep it in.
By the Mid to late September or maybe Mid October it finally just died on me at the back of the field and failed to turn back on. It just was not picking up fuel. I replaced the spark plugs, Fuel lines, Fuel pump, and checked the carburetor and all that worked great except the fuel pump wasn't pumping fuel so either the pickups were blocked or the timing was off. Needless to say with nearly 1600 hours on the original engine and no garage to work on it I figured it was time to let it go. I decided to sell it
I finally got a buyer recently for the price I was asking and went for a Big Dog Alpha. It was only after I ordered the Alpha that I realized I could have gotten a Hustler Rapter SD for a lower price, but whatever. The Big Dog dealer is closer to the house anyway for service and everything. Hopefully it will stop raining long enough to be able to cut the grass. I will snap a picture of it when it comes in. I guess the next investment will have to be a garage to keep it in.
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