charlie sherrill
Member
Back when I felt like pushing a mower I had a big wheel "Yazoo" brand mower that lasted me 26 years. They don't make them anymore. I replaced the 5 HP Briggs and Stratton engine on it one time with a 5 HP Kohler. They make them here and I like to support the local economy whenever possible. The fenders on the mower deck rusted off about ten years after I got it. It just made it easier to mow the thick stuff and enabled it to launch at long distances anything you ran over with it. I had to replace some glass a couple of times because of that and couldn't let the kids in the yard while mowing but the extra mowing capacity made it worth it to me. The rear wheel bearings fell out after about 12 years. I lucked up and found a mower just like mine with a dead engine in somebody's trash. I brought it home and eventually used all the parts off of it. The mower finally was declared dead when the mower deck got so flimsy it couldn't be welded on anymore. I replaced that one with a "Kee" brand big wheel mower. I still use it on the heavy stuff. It will cut trees up to two inches thick. I'm mowing about two acres now and use a Husqvarna with a 20 HP Kohler engine. I get about ten years out of a rider and go buy a new one when I get tired of patching the old one. Next up will be a zero turn of some sort. I'm still about five years away from that and will worry about it when the time comes. My current mower has a seat wide enough to accommodate my special military style canvas carry rig for my M&P 40 and two extra mags. I sometimes jump shootable things down on the back forty and it intimidates some of my criminal neighbors even though all of them are in prison at the moment. I'll never buy another rider without a cup holder. I could carry a full cooler of beer on the mower but learned it's better to carry only one at a time. If you carry a full cooler the vibrations stir up the beer making the cans explode whenever you open a new one. Now I just load up a six pack with ice and let the cooler float in the bird bath until I'm ready for another. It's the perfect height and I don't have to get off the mower to replenish. I empty a beer, swing by the bird bath for a new one and leave the empty floating until I'm done. We've had more rain this year than I can remember. I'm having to mow once a week instead of every two or three. The beer and gas is starting to get expensive.
