Lawnflite (701 rings a bell) - maybe double check later on actual model number...
It's old, it's rusty, deck rusted, but it generally does the job eventually. B&S engine is completely reliable. I bought it very second-hand, many years ago.
A couple of weeks ago, I got it out for the first cut of the season, delayed due to the wet weather and boggy ground. I found one of the two deck brackets, had come off the deck, where it had been welded - rusted through. I reinforced it and welded it back up. Then tried to cut, the now quite high, and dense garden, but it was too much for it, even on it's highest deck setting level - as I have often found with the first cut of the season, then health, weather, and other pressing matters took over, so it sat out, waiting until this morning and another go.
The strange part about the deck, is that the lever only raises and lowers the rear end, via the two back brackets - the leading front edge only comes partially up. A large steel U bracket attaches at the front of the tractor, the open ends of the U, then connects to the deck, acting like a hinge, and so raising it, simply tilts the deck rear up at the rear. It's a rear discharge type, discharging via the rear of the deck, then ducted over the back axle, into a bag attached on the back.
This morning, I fired it up, to try a cut again. but it kept stalling, because the deck was too low at the front, the grass just too dense. I had the bright idea, to throw a rope over the bonnet, lashed to the U bracket at either side, and tightened, so as to pull the front edge up a couple of inches, to take some of the strain off the drive. It worked!
I'm now wondering if there ought to be a rather strong spring, somewhere at the front of the deck, to help lift and take some of the weight of the deck? I've not been able to find a parts diagram, to confirm there should, or shouldn't be a spring there. The length of the U arms are widely adjustable, and nor have I found any details on how they should be adjusted.
It's old, it's rusty, deck rusted, but it generally does the job eventually. B&S engine is completely reliable. I bought it very second-hand, many years ago.
A couple of weeks ago, I got it out for the first cut of the season, delayed due to the wet weather and boggy ground. I found one of the two deck brackets, had come off the deck, where it had been welded - rusted through. I reinforced it and welded it back up. Then tried to cut, the now quite high, and dense garden, but it was too much for it, even on it's highest deck setting level - as I have often found with the first cut of the season, then health, weather, and other pressing matters took over, so it sat out, waiting until this morning and another go.
The strange part about the deck, is that the lever only raises and lowers the rear end, via the two back brackets - the leading front edge only comes partially up. A large steel U bracket attaches at the front of the tractor, the open ends of the U, then connects to the deck, acting like a hinge, and so raising it, simply tilts the deck rear up at the rear. It's a rear discharge type, discharging via the rear of the deck, then ducted over the back axle, into a bag attached on the back.
This morning, I fired it up, to try a cut again. but it kept stalling, because the deck was too low at the front, the grass just too dense. I had the bright idea, to throw a rope over the bonnet, lashed to the U bracket at either side, and tightened, so as to pull the front edge up a couple of inches, to take some of the strain off the drive. It worked!
I'm now wondering if there ought to be a rather strong spring, somewhere at the front of the deck, to help lift and take some of the weight of the deck? I've not been able to find a parts diagram, to confirm there should, or shouldn't be a spring there. The length of the U arms are widely adjustable, and nor have I found any details on how they should be adjusted.
