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Riding lawnmowers

Weights are good,I'd leave them on year round..they'll help with traction ,without them it will spin the tires easier and tear up the lawn..

I have added about 5 gallons of windshield washer fluid to each of the 12" rear tires on one of my Sears Suburbans,it made a huge difference over wheel weights alone,for plowing snow,dragging logs,and it increases stability on a hill ,keeps the center of gravity lower..
 
Do most of these riding mowers or garden tractors have a solid locked axle - are they tearing up the turf when you turn?
 
JoshHefnerX said:
Do most of these riding mowers or garden tractors have a solid locked axle - are they tearing up the turf when you turn?
Click to expand...
All the new lawn tractors are open rear diffs. They only give you a selectable locker once you get north of the $5k range. That's seems to be when they start calling them garden tractors.
 
With enough weight and chains,I have not had any need for a diff lock .
I have been very amazed at what my garden tractor can push,pull,and climb over with "one wheel drive"..

I think the diffs in the Sears have a different arrangement than an auto differential ,they still have "spider gears" and one wheel can spin if it loses traction,but it sends power to both wheels until one either gets zero traction or your taking a sharp turn..
I find lowering the air pressure in one tire a bit makes the diff act more like a posi also..
 
I have tri-ribs on the front of mine. They are the same was what farm tractors use, just a lot smaller. I have Ag or bar type on the back. Spinning backwards they don't do much, but if spinning going forward, they can tear the shit outta the yard. But, I rarely spin the tires. I have weights on the back, and both front and rear are loaded. Rears are bout 100# without the weights, which are 50-60 or something like that. One of my other tractors has a loader on it, and have ATV tires on the back. The lugs are almost 2" deep and will dig trenches if you spin even a little bit...Both are open diff, and never really had an issue with traction....
 
bagger ? ? ? mulch on lawn = fertilizer :waytogo:

only reason i ever would use a bagger is if i gardened and had compost pile .
 
Bagging clippings is a pain,you have to dump the bin out every few passes if the grass is tall & thick,and I've seen the piles of dumped clippings start themselves on fire when they decay too..

Weight of the bagger bogs the tractor down and can take life out of the transaxle if its one of the weaker ones many use nowadays..that may be why one isn't offered as a factory option..
As noted ,the clippings make for good fertilizer too..
If you mow often enough,clippings wont pile up and be a problem..

On the tractor forum, a lot of guys bought AG tread tires ,and soon learned they work great in soil,but in snow they are no better or maybe worse than chains on turf tread tires..
AG tires are directional tread and as noted above,backing up can be impossible at times,they only grab well going forward...

I had a pair on my plow tractor and I could push snow as far as I wanted--but I'd have to get off and PUSH it to back it out half the time,with the tires spinning in reverse..chains don't work on them either unless you get the "X" type,regular ones just drop between the lugs and dont help much..

Many of the guys who bought AG's went to soft compound ATV tires and found they were much better,the lower pressure and softer rubber makes a big difference in traction..also using 4 or 6 ply tires ,overkill for a garden tractor or riding mower,actually makes for less traction,the tires are just too stiff,but do resist punctures better..
 
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