I was outside yesterday after it warmed (low of -3, warmed up to +34) up some and started tinkering with the "variable speed" mechanism on this machine. I didn't have a clue what it was or how it worked. I sprayed some dubya D40 on the movable parts and linkage while the engine was running and then on the shaft where the pulley is by the rear end. hmmmm...the pulley opens and closes moving the belt up and down. Well, I had never seen anything like that before I played with it for a bit longer, moving the lever back and forth watching the pulley open up. Time for a test drive...1st gear really wasn't much difference. 4th gear was drastic between low and high using the variable speed. I'm a small time garlic farmer with only 15,000 hand planted bulbs in the ground. I do all my tilling with a walk behind machine and takes hours. I'm pretty excited to have found this Gilson tractor in working order I think I'm going to do what Marineguy suggested and put some windshield washer fluid in the tires for some added traction. I think it'll help when I'm trying to work the soil fall. I saw a picture of a machine with duals on the rear. hahaha that would be fun.

Farmerdill wrote: Re: Gravely: "It had very little traction." The Gravely convertible is a very heavy machine, and the bolt on implements are heavy also, and add to the machines traction. even the trailer is designed to add to the machines weight by the way it is attached. I have pulled some very heavy loads of fire wood up some steep hills and never spun a wheel, but I did buy mine with over-sized bar tires. Traction has never been an issue on my 5240.

It was spring time and the new preacher arrived in town and found the lawn at his parsonage was already in bad need of mowing. He met with one of the Elders and was told that the preacher's had always had their own mower and cut the grass themselves. So the new preacher hopped on his bicycle and pedaled off toward the small town shopping district in search of a bargain lawn mower. Along the way he met a young boy pushing a walk-behind mower on the edge of the street. The new preacher stopped and asked the lad if he would like to sell the mower. The young businessman replied, "Nope! but I would trade it for your bicycle." The preacher said you got a deal and they exchanged machinery right there. The happy lad rode away on his bike and the happy preacher pushed his mower home to cut his lawn for the first time. Arriving home the preacher tried to start his mower, he pulled and pulled on the rope. He checked for spark (OUCH!) He did everything he could think of and pulled the rope some more. Drenched with perspiration he began pushing the mower toward town. Near town he met the boy riding the preacher's former bicycle and stopped the lad. Preacher told the boy that he felt like he had been cheated out of his bike because he had been unable to get the mower started. The boy said, "Oh, it's easy to get it started. You just have to give it a good cussin' before it will start." The preacher was aghast that a small boy would curse and even worse, he was suggesting the preacher do the same. The preacher said, "Young feller! I am a man of the cloth and I have walked the straight and narrow for the greater part of my life. I have forgotten how to curse!" The boy shouted over his shoulder as he rode away, "You just keep pulling that rope and it will all come back to you!"

I moved to a house with 2-3 acres to mow, plus a fair bit of landscape work to be done over time. Much as I'd love to find an older 1970's or '80's vintage JD or Wheel Horse (grew up with a 1970 JD 110), prices are a bit steep on those, especially after taking on the new house. Mowing with my trusty M-series Lawn Boy self-propelled machine was going to be a bit on the slow side, so I hunted the classifieds for something to do the job for a while until I found something I wanted. As it turns out, I found an 11hp Craftsman from around 1986 or 1987 for less than $300. It mows and hauls rocks, fill and whatever else in a dump wagon. After some tinkering with the deck level and height adjustment, and some time spent sharpening the blades by hand on a rainy day, it's been cutting as nice as the neighbor's recent-issue Simplicity. Not bad for a 20-year old machine that was never really designed for what I'm throwing at it, and a far cry better than the newer junk being sold for $1200 and more at the box stores! I'd never owned a Sears machine, and while this one certainly isn't in the same category as the JD or Wheel Horse machines I'd like to have, it's been a nice surprise to see how well this little workhorse does. Seems like there's a bit more solid steel in this one than the newer Sears/Husqvarna LT's, too, but that seems to be the way of things all around, and why I wanted something from the '80's or older.