The Dead Lawnmower

My newest lawnmower has died.  This is the Simplicity Agco Allis 1616H.

I was mowing over the weekend some super tall grass due to the recent rains.  While in the tall grass, the mower just didn't have the power.  It never really had any good power to start with, but it seemed a little worse.  I"m sure the engine got a little more hot than normal mowing this tall grass.

The next day, I finished mowing.  During this session, I would notice occasional puffs of blue smoke blow out the exhaust in the front.  I wasn't even sure I saw it because it was so quick and intermittant.  While driving back to the barn after finishing, the "check oil" light came on.  Upon opening the hood, the left side inside the hood was drenched with oil, and the entire left side of the engine was soaked down, too.  The dipstick shows a very low oil level, of course.  I'm guessing the head gasket blew out, but I'm not for sure.  At least I'm hopeful it's just a head gasket and nothing else.  I'll know more when I take the engine out and inspect it further. 

I'm still waiting on hydrostatic linkage parts for the 420, so I'll be mowing with the 316 this upcoming weekend.  It's dependable for being 27 years old.

The Big Stick

A big storm blew through after suppertime.  Standard thunderstorm happenings - sheets of rain, high winds, and quite a load of hail.  A big stick blew off the maple tree to the west of the house and landed on top of the TV room, and rolled onto the porch.  Wife and kids were in the TV room at the time and heard the bonk.  I was standing in the breezeway, and watched it roll onto the porch.  It was pretty cool.

It was pretty close to hitting 3 windows, but there appears to be no damage.  I'll learn more tomorrow as I clean up.

The west side of the house looks like a salad.  Maple leaves are pasted all over the west facing sides of the house. 

Quite the storm.

Upgrading

I am always watching Craigslist for a good deal .  I believe I know the market pretty well on a few key models, and even have an Excel matrix detailing out models, options, and prices.  So when I came across an advertisement for a John Deere 420 that was way below typical, it really raised my eye brows.

I replied to the ad, and asked the standard questions.  To make a long story short, I offered him 30% less than his already extremely low price.  I didn't think he would go for it, and he didn't at first.  The seller had a few other people come by and kick the tires.  Eventually, he emailed back and said I could have it for my offer.  Wow! 

The only problem is that it is located in Cincinnati.  No big deal.  I took the day off of work yesterday, borrowed a trailer from a friend, and picked it up. 

So this is a John Deere 420.  The 420 is in the next series up from the 300 series platoform, and it is simply bigger all around.  It has more "tractor like" options with it including differential lock, individual left/right brakes, a 2 speed transaxle, and power steering.  It also has a shaft driven 60" mowing deck.  Also included in the price was a front mounted snow blade (4 way - up/down and also left/right tilt), wheel weights, tire chains, extra oil filters, extra deck blades, all the operator manuals, all the receipts from the last 10 years of maintenance, and an extra key.  That's all the good stuff.

Now the bad stuff.  The 20hp engine is nearing the end of it's life.  It is burning oil, and also sucking oil into the air filter housing.  The latter may be a simple $0.25 spring in the crankcase breather valve.  The former will most likely be cured with a new set of piston rings.  Although, the engine may be so old, a simple ring job may not be enough.  Nonetheless, even if worse comes to worse and a new engine is necessary, I'll still be money ahead due to the bargain I got in the initial purchase.  We'll see how it goes.

and a bonus smiley picture. 

Five minutes ago

I snapped this picture just a few minutes ago.  He is now 4 weeks and 5 days old.

One Month Later

Wow - I can't believe it's been a month since the last post.  Babies are good time measuring devices.  While I don't have a good picture of the 4 week old baby, I do have some good pictures of a home project that went well.

My older sister came down to paint the boys' room.  She slaved away for the better part of 2 days on this.  Half of the room is for Boy #1, and the other half is for Boy #2 when he gets old enough to share the room.

Good job, Big Sis.  The kids sure like it alot, and we do to.