I finally decided today to give the Orange Pig up as a lost cause. I finished converting from the original Husqvarna plastic pulleys on the mower deck to TB Woods Steel ones, but ran into problems. Basically, there is too much backlash in the system, and when there is too great a drag, the outboard blades slow down enough to hit the centre blade.
Out of frustration, I took the centre blade down to Barrachois (the local machine shop/fabricator) and had him chop it down to size. With this, I was able to mow the front lawn before the belts burned up, though I finished mowing with only the shortened middle blade cutting.
The second problem is that the deck runs too low, causing more problems.
Well, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!!!
We had an executive meeting, and decided that we need to stop pouring money into the Orange Pig. So, I need to figure out what tractor to buy. The only guidelines are it needs to be new, under warranty, and the criteria are:
1. Must handle rough ground well! My yard has not been rolled for a number of years, and has enough short term bumps to make walking barefoot uncomfortable. There are also a number of potholes where stumps used to live, exposed roots, and a couple of stumps cut off at ground level. This means a high grass length setting, and a system to float the deck over bumps.
2. Needs to be rugged. See above.
3. Should be able to handle a future snowblower, mouldboard plow and rear tiller.
4. Budget is limited by reality. Unless someone has a job for an innkeeper or engineer from December to the end of March?
So far, I'm thinking that the Sears LT3000 or DLT4000 might be a good choice, or for a little more money one dealer has a Massey 2500 series with a 16 HP Honda at $3495 with 15 hours on it.
Anyway, in my situation what would you buy?
Out of frustration, I took the centre blade down to Barrachois (the local machine shop/fabricator) and had him chop it down to size. With this, I was able to mow the front lawn before the belts burned up, though I finished mowing with only the shortened middle blade cutting.
The second problem is that the deck runs too low, causing more problems.
Well, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!!!
We had an executive meeting, and decided that we need to stop pouring money into the Orange Pig. So, I need to figure out what tractor to buy. The only guidelines are it needs to be new, under warranty, and the criteria are:
1. Must handle rough ground well! My yard has not been rolled for a number of years, and has enough short term bumps to make walking barefoot uncomfortable. There are also a number of potholes where stumps used to live, exposed roots, and a couple of stumps cut off at ground level. This means a high grass length setting, and a system to float the deck over bumps.
2. Needs to be rugged. See above.
3. Should be able to handle a future snowblower, mouldboard plow and rear tiller.
4. Budget is limited by reality. Unless someone has a job for an innkeeper or engineer from December to the end of March?
So far, I'm thinking that the Sears LT3000 or DLT4000 might be a good choice, or for a little more money one dealer has a Massey 2500 series with a 16 HP Honda at $3495 with 15 hours on it.
Anyway, in my situation what would you buy?