YOU SAID: wheel horse, bolens, cub
*** so Kubota & Simplicity is trash too?

YOU SAID: I have repaired 1000s of L&G tractors in my lifetime.
*** but you stated "I have collected garden tractors for the past 10+ years and cant seem to figure out..." originally.... one would think that if you were trying to make a point, you'd say something like: "I'm a lawn tractor mechanic, and I've been fixing garden tractors for a lifetime. I can't seem to figure out..."
*** Collecting and Fixing are 2 completely different messages..... I think you're full of it, or else you would have used the more credible basis for your story from the get-go....
*** However, based on what you said, you could claim what you claim.

YOU SAID: Glazed cylinder walls tell the story of the overheated engines...usally when removing the engine of the 200, 300 series you will find the cooling air intake plugged
*** true - does it still happen with today's JD tractors?.... this goes back to what you said "...a person of average intelligence would think of Garden tractors..." and what you said originally "... JD screws everything up..."

YOU SAID: doesnt do much good if the implement brackets tear off.... MY deck from my 314 wont fit a new 300, 500 or 700 series
*** the second sentence seems to contradict the original statement.... but that's not the point really. IF the 300 is such trash, why would you own one?... sell it and buy a nice new Bolens (MTD).... or wheel horse (TORO), or a Cub.... ... you're saying that MTD is really at the top of the premium brand pile?... boy - we better get the pop-corn maker fired up!

*** the answer you've been waiting for: The only thing you are missing.... is a buch of $$'s you spent buying the 314 and now you're pi$$ed at yourself. Like I said before: sell it, buy a Bolens (MTD). Then, as you cut your grass with it, and you look over at your neighbour who's riding his JD, and slowly shake your head and think to yourself "I'd make Harry Bolens real proud..."

Just think. These threads don't cut off at 100 anymore, so y'all JD'ers can keep this one going past Christmas if you want. heh heh heh

Hope I get sometime to see the outcome of this one, but this guy is getting the loader removed and painted. FYI...the loader was FREE, that is a different story, but a great deal on this rock solid machine. The loader will be painted JD GREEN and named 880. The 880 designation is because it will lift 880 lbs off the ground (minimum 8").

{{gwi:351130}}

Here's another "picture-is-worth-a-thousand-words", this tractor was picked up last weekend by another poster here (Ducatti996) who was a pleasure to meet and get to see his new toy, as well as kick the tires of a lot of other machines that make a lot of us bleed green:


{{gwi:351150}}

Cheers

JDFANATIC

I hope he paints that ugly rear blade also. Hee, Hee.

I cant explain the craze. It might be connected to the green and yellow paint, however.
{{gwi:351153}}

"Motorcyclist's top cruiser of the year the Star Roadliner S, out perform and out handle any comparable Harley for thousands less ! ...the big japanese cruisers still give more value for the money , they are more technologically advanced , outhandle , outbrake and out accelerate a stock Harley."

Now you're just being silly.

The Roadliner is a very nice motorcycle. It's also a very heavy motorcycle -- at over 800 lbs. wet, heavier than any Harley except the full dress Glides. And while Cycle World (not Motorcyclist) praised its handling, they also pointed out that it has so little ground clearance that it can't go fast on a twisty road because hard parts drag on the pavement when you try to lean it over. It costs almost $14,000.

A Harley SuperGlide is $1000 cheaper, 150 lbs. lighter, and actually can be leaned into a turn. The 1200 Sportster is 250 lbs. lighter, faster, better handling, and undercuts the Roadstar price by $5000.

You claim "you've been riding for decades and judge a bike more by it's performance/reliability than by it's nameplate." I'd say you've proved just the opposite. You hate Harleys so you don't know a thing about them, but that doesn't stop you from spewing nonsense about them.

A Star Warrior would've been a better example ,but I didn't know if it was still being made since the pushrod engine is a dinosaur and there's only a couple of japanese examples out there. I don't really like any cruiser in particular not just Harley - standard style (naked bikes) lighter faster ,quicker handling inline fours or performance v twins are my rides of choice.

Harley can compete with these behemoth bikes on price,if you can find a dealer that doesn't price gouge (not the crook near me ) ! But I've seen too many overheated on the side of the road in the summer in heavy traffic to think they are all that reliable , given the limitations of their air cooled design . And when they came out with the twin cam 88 the clamps holding the camshafts in were vibrating loose -Harley's fix , locktite on the bolts ! Doubtless the new engines will have bugs to be worked out , since they always do . I'm reminded of the guy at work last year eager to show off his brand new Harley , but it wouldn't start because of an electrical glitch and had to be hauled away . So yes, I agree they make a much better bike than the old AMF versions . But they still have a ways to go for their reliability to be on par with comparable japanese versions .

I've got one of those old (1975) AMF version bikes, however mine was made in Italy by Aermacchi. The one below isn't mine but it lookes EXACTLY the same.

{{gwi:351156}}

Nice collector's item ! My favorite Harley by Aermacchi was the MX 250 , only made for one year and very ,very rare .

Here is a link that might be useful: Harley MX 250

"I don't really like any cruiser in particular."

Well, we agree on something. I can see the attraction of the low rpm cruiser engines for riders who aren't in a hurry, but not the weight, the poor handling, and fighting the wind sitting in that ridiculous gynecologist's examining table riding position. Riders should be forced to spend a day on a Suzuki SV650 before they buy a cruiser. Then if they still want to spend 2-3 times as much on a cruiser, at least the dealer wouldn't have to feel guilty for exploiting their ignorance.

I'm not as afraid of air cooling as you are. Liquid cooling has lots of advantages, including noise control, closer engines tolerances, and longer engine life, but I would give the reliability nod to air cooling. There's nothing to go wrong with a cylinder fin unless it's packed with mud.

Peace and happy riding, Xbam.

Can you say "Rabbit Trails?"

Rabbit Trails!

Rabbit trails for sure !

If xbam and I could only have attracted a few more motorcyclists we could have had a full scale hijack. Oh well, it was a nice run. Maybe next time.

Hey JDFanatic,

Those are some nice pictures you got there! LOL I brought my camera and forgot to use it that day -we should have got some good group shots - or a picture in the 3720 cab - and pretending its ours :)

Duc,

i just had my camera phone (not the highest resolution), but you're right, that 3720 cab tractor would look good set as my computer's wallpaper -- although it would look better on my grounds!

Cheers

JDFANATIC

Monster has a point about there being a JD craze. For land sakes you can buy JD shower curtains! I understand there is at least one member here who has them ;0. Anyway, just thought I would stop in and say "Hello" from an old friend and have a little fun.

Betchya cant find Cub Cadet jammies (see link below)!

Regards,

Kurt

Here is a link that might be useful: coming soon: John Deere PJs!

TASTES GREAT!

I had a 110 an a 112 jd. JD craze is right ,the only thing left of em are the engines. 1) was a 10hp tech an 1) was a 8hp kohler. I just like my wheel horse alot better.My friend said jds are green so they can hide in the back ground better!! My friend owns a poulan . ha ha ha

Yet your not talking about the Discount store 110 112 John Deere.You are talking about the 110 112 from the early 70's.That would have to be over 30 years old.I still see them around to this day from time to time.Going strong perhaps you abused yours?If the only thing left of them is the Kohler then I think they have the right after all those years.Most I see are still good except the Kohler unless that Kohler has been replaced.As for your friend with his Poopon ha ha ha the reason they paint them black is so they will not show up in the landfill ha ha ha.

Ha ha ha ha ha good one johndeere!!

Does any one even own a Bolens aka MTD??
mfd480
-------------------- ---------------------------------------
My 1966 and 1967 Bolens tractors are not AKA MTD.
There is and never was connection between them and MTD.

Posted by lb59:
My 1966 and 1967 Bolens tractors are not AKA MTD.
There is and never was connection between them and MTD

Check out the link - SORRY lb but MTD does own and make the Bolens Brand!

Here is a link that might be useful: Bolens BY MTD!!!

{{gwi:316721}}
Notice the safety goggles which are intended to protect the user from flying plastic and cheap metal parts as they are propelled off the machine.

Hey thanks wheely boy, I neededthat reminder to wear my safety glasses. Alright now all of you out there, How many wear these when mowing, come on, be honest!

Whats those funny looking pink and white gloves for?Almost looks like her finger is in a cast?

I might be caught wearing my tinted safety glasses, but only if I was operating the line trimmer or some other device that is bound to launch something at my eye.

IMHO JD makes good stuff but not the best, and it is not worth the extra price, kind of like a high-end furnace brand I talk trash about in the HAVC thread and another high-end line of yellow power tools. On the other hand, how many MTD tractors will be kicking around in 20-30 years? Remember the Dynamark? Haven't sen one of those in awhile. I always thought the older Cubs and WH tractors were alot morer well made than green tractors of the time, and Kubota pwns the CUT and sub-CUT markets, hands down!

blacknumber1,

"Kubota pwns the CUT and sub-CUT markets, hands down!"

PWNS? What exactly does this mean? Did you mean PAWNS or did you mean OWNS?

If it is the latter, I'd like to know what CUT or sub-CUT you own, or have owned, to be able to make such an inflamatory comment.

There are many fine kinds and makes of tractors out there; there are many types and kinds of posters out there; the more wise ones don't feel the need to engage in brand bashing.

This post has already served its purpose and should have died a long time ago.

Cheers

JDFANATIC

I am new to this board,but it is clear that people are serious about their tractors. Good thing this wasn't a thread about Iraq, it might have gotten personal.

Can someone explain the JD craze to me??

Well, it all started in 1837. John Deere was an Illinois blacksmith and manufacturer. Early in his career, Deere and an associate designed a series of farm plows. John Deere designed the first cast steel plow...

I assume you meant John Deere and not Jack Daniels. Both are quality, both are legends and have stood the test of time. Both should also be enjoyed regularly.

jdfanatic:

Definition of the verb "to pwn"

Maybe the denizens of this forum are a little too old for internet slang. :)

/ducks

constantinobio,

I got a chuckle after taking my 18 year-old nephew to Florida for an extended week. There are terms this generation uses that I don't even want to investigate! Anyway, the thrust of my comments were directed at blacknumber1's ridiculous post. It was like saying Shell oil sucks use Mobil. If you don't like something about a brand (and stand ready to accept others will, and rightfully so, disagree with you) then go for your specifics (still a little childish to me).

But let's wait for blacknumber1's reply . . . it's bound to be educational.

Cheers

JDFANATIC

I suppose if the worst things after 30 years of use are loose steering, cracked hoods and a little smoke from the exhaust, these must have been pretty good mowers.
Seems like normal wear and tear to me.
I sold my 1964 110 in 1997 for $1000.00 smoked a bit, but not as much as me. Ran better than me too.

I can't answer about the lawn tractors. The "real" tractors are all they are hyped up to be. When you can a 1958 730 Diesel for 10 hrs a day from April to July without problems (I did it for more than 10 years), it's a good tractor.

The JD craze ? I'd say it's due to overly permissive parents who refuse to spank their young children when they misbehave !

If you think there is a JD craze wait till you meet someone with a Panzer WOOOOOOWEEEEE there is someone that will not part with their tractor. No offense to any JD people.

'swonderful............. 'smarvelous...I can explain the JD craze. The television ads John Deere ran in the late 1970s were effective. Anybody remember those? The commercials opened with narrative something like this: If you have a lawn to cut (and a video clip of a guy on a small JD lawn tractor ran on the screen) we have a machine for you....but if you have a bigger job to do (and a video clip of a big JD ag tractor pulling a 3-gang bush hog ran on the screen) we have a machine for you too. [next line of commercial] If you want to till your home garden (and a video of a guy on a JD GT with a tiller ran on the screen) we have a machine for you. ...but if you have a bigger job to do ( and a video of a bigger JD 4WD ag tractor pulling a huge set of discs ran on the screen) we have a machine for you too. This "small and bigger" theme ran through several more examples leading to the end scene of the ad which went like this: If you have some digging to do (and a video of JD's smallest backhoe ran on the screen) we have a machine for you.........but if you have a bigger job to do (and a video of JD's biggest track laying excavator or "trackhoe" ran on the screen) we have a machine for you too, and if your neighbor ever parks his car in your driveway...you can move it (and a video of the same trackhoe swinging around fast, slamming a car with the bucket, propelling the car out of the driveway to land who-knows-where ran on the screen) Man! I loved those JD tv commercials. Anybody else remember that JD tv commercial?

Pop some more popcorn...

Moster-----out of those 1000's that you worked on----how many comebacls did ya have...being I ran a dealership with 12 monkeys (mechanics) we had out of every 100 maybe 3 comebacks...I bet ya 1000's ya worked on was most likely from ya attitude and vast experience was the same one ya started with to begin with...Which basically means that since ya couldn't fix the first one meant that all those others which were just a figment of ya imagination were identicle...So in my question to you is " how does that white jacket with the straps fit these days....Get a life and a new job...Like maybe a greeter at Wal-Mart and then ya can show em those yardmachines.....have a nice day!!!

Dam , how did I miss this Old thread if Moster gets back , ask him if Black ice formation was ever a issue or if Wind Chill may have effected his relationship with John Deere,s ! Lmao.

Wowsa!! Now that was a stroll down memory lane. Summa the respondents to that thread are probably gone from the earth now. I even visited the thread myself with a commentary.

Good to see so many familiar handles again.

Yep , you were active in many memorable threads Mr M. Unfortunately you are correct in that many of our former Forum Members have likely passed on . Rdayatrom was back last month briefly . All the Best Bud !

No such luck. Still kicking.(and mowing once a week).

Wow , awesome . Now don,t pick on Tom ! lol.

Tell us about life Larry. You've been missed!

Well guys, We still live in the house we bought to in 2014 in order to move Donna's aging mom who was (at that time) showing symptoms of dementia. The dementia progressively took its toll on her mind, and then in October of 2016, she was diagnosed with stage 4 bladder cancer. She lived until early February 2017 and died here at home with us, as she wished and she had made us promise not to let her die in a hospital or nursing home. She died surrounded by family and a hospice nurse was present. I only relate this story because Donna's mom's health situation was the reason we bought a house big enough for all of us to live in, under one roof.........and the subsequential multiple projects and renovations.........were the reasons I dropped off of the forum.

As soon as we moved into the house, I had a long list of things that HAD to be done, and a long list of lesser things we WANTED to do......so my time on the forum just could not be justified.....I simply had too much to do.

The first things to be done were to come up with safety measures to help prevent an elderly woman with dementia from injury by being proactive about preventing her from "escaping" the house. I had to equip all exit doors with a deadbolt lock keyed inside and out (all keyed alike) and we had to come up with a nearby "hiding place" close to each lock location for spare keys in case of emergency.

This house has a full basement with stairs, and we did not want her mom to have access to the stairs, so I included the same deadbolt on that door too.

The sliding door to the second floor deck was a challenge in that it had a key lock on the outside ONLY with just a paddle lock lever on the inside. I had to come up with a way to make that door lockable with a key from the inside. My solution was to remove the lock assembly from the door and "reverse" location of the paddle lever plate and the key tumbler plate, so that the key tumbler would be on the inside. I stripped out the guts relating to the paddle lever and covered the hole where the paddle shaft came through with a small brass plate.....heavily epoxied in place from the backside (inside the door). All you can see from outside is a small hole blanked off with brass.

The deck is on the second story on the backside of the house with stairs leading down the the pool, which is enclosed inside a fence, so we never use the sliding door as a "key entry" point anyhow.

Then there is the attic storage space epic adventure. The attic space when we bought the house, was almost non-existent. There was a total of 4 sheets of 4' X 8' plywood (128 sq. ft.) on the joists at the top of an extremely rickety pull down wooden stairs. Stairs were the first to go.

Replaced with a sturdy aluminum pull down folding stairs.

Then I hauled 22 4' X 8' sheets of 3/4 OSB into the attic space.(each sheet was cut in half lengthwise to fit through attic stairs opening). We now have about 800 sq. ft. of usable attic storage space. I built 2 inverted trusses (strong backs) to attach to the joists on the sections spanning the 12' kitchen and the 18' den. These trusses ensure that the load imposed by the extra OSB and stored material are ultimately borne by the load bearing walls at the hallway, den, and both walls of the kitchen. The addition of the trusses assures that the ceiling joists do not assume a sway back shape over time resulting in cracked ceiling gypsum board.

I assembled the trusses in the attic and fabricated them to have about 1/2" "preload bow" on the 18' truss and 3/8" preload bow on the 12' truss. This was to ensure that the trusses were actually carrying some load right from the start. After I got the trusses built and fastened onto each joist they served with metal strapping, I built a 30' long, 2 tier shelf system into the truss structures. Shelves are 24" wide and the bottom shelf is 20" off the floor, while the second shelf is 46" off the floor, so you have the attic floor under the shelves, and the 2 shelves themselves for storage, That yields 180 sq. ft. of space, plus the remaining 720 or so sq. ft. of attic at various head space.

The tallest overhead clearance is about 6'2" at the rafter collar ties (and I added collar ties so that every rafter has a tie, instead of every third rafter as the house was built).

There were 4 rafters that had "split" open due to improper orientation by the rough carpenters. They had placed rafters with knots situated on the lower chord of the rafter (tension side), which is a no-no. These rafters had to be jacked back into place and reinforcement panels of 3/4" plywood "scabbed" onto each side, glued and screwed.

The original scheme had the ventilation exhaust fans from both bathrooms simply dumping into the attic space, another no-no. I extended the exhaust hoses over to the gable area of the house and busted through the brick and installed 2 bona fide exhaust hoods with insect screens. On the longest hose, which was a 4" hose....I built a booster fan box in the middle of that run and wired it so that it turns on when the original fan turns on. I felt that a 16' run of 4" hose would probably need all the fan power it could get to keep from simply "stalling out".

The other hose was 6" and only 8' long, so I felt it was adequate with no additional help needed.

I could go on and on about other projects, but these were some of my most major undertakings,

Now, about my employment. I no longer work as a forklift mechanic in the shop. In midsummer 2015, I took over running the parts department when our longstanding partsman retired.

This was challenging in that it put me to the task of acquiring and dispensing the parts instead of installing them on vehicles.

It has also been challenging in that I was the first partsman in our history to actually have the capability of searching the Volvo and Daimler websites to look up parts. It was in the summer of 2015 that the company finally got onboard with software to enable this. Prior to that advent, our method of ordering parts involve looking the parts up in hard copy paper parts manuals, or talking to a vendor/dealer on the phone and trying to describe what you wanted, it was sometimes a crap shoot whether you would get the right parts or not. The outgoing partsman never had to use the computer to look up and order parts, and when it was introduced, he refused to do it saying that his time was too short to need it, so he told me to get all the training and he would just watch. LOL He and I worked side by side for 3 months while he showed me most of the ropes before he retired in October 2015.

That is a summary of what I have been up to.

I know this was completely off topic, but since the request was posed here, I felt OK in responding here.

Welcome back to the site and hopefully some leisure time Bud !

I recall that you had some challenges to deal with but I didn't realize to that degree. Lots going on. Life sometimes throws the works at you and I'm sure you guys are still adjusting to the new normalcy. On the bright side, working parts has to be easier on the body. I wish you both all the best and hope to see you around often.