Scored a great deal on another 5' runway mower!
 

For about the last 20 years I have been using a 6' tractor PTO driven finish mower along with a Swisher 5' self engined finish mower. staggered out behind to mow my 75' x 2500' runway. The first Swisher I bought new 20 years ago for about $1200 from Northern Tool catalog. It lasted about 10 years when I found a newer used Swisher that needed minor repair for $400. I attempted to use both Swisher for the rest of that mow season, but my old one was falling apart. I ended up scrapping it so I was back to mowing with tractor PTO mower and my new used Swisher.... About 10' mowing swath which required 4 round trips which took me just under an hour.

The new old Swisher has given me a few problems so I looked on line a couple weeks ago to buy either a new one or another used one. These damn things went way up in price! $3800 for a new one and the only used ones I could find were around $2000. I mentioned to a friend that I was done looking and would just fix up my old one and keep using it. A week later he sent me a link to one that just got listed on Facebook Marketplace 20 miles away for $300... supposedly works great! I contacted them right away (10 minutes after they had listed it) and said I would pick it up next day after work with my trailer.

I show up and had bought it used from a friend who had put new battery and spindle bearings in it the prior season but now it had some small issues that he was not machanically inclined enough to deal with. (carb needed cleaned, paint was flaking, belt tension spring was not correct and belt would slip in heavy grass). I acted upset with the issues and offered him $250.... He took it!

Got mower home... cleaned it up and touched up paint.... cleaned crud from carb and it now runs perfect. I feel like the proverbial blind squirrel who occasionally finds a nut. Best deal I have found in a awhile. Got my other one fixed also so last night I got the runway mowed in three round trips and just under 40 minutes. Life is good again. lol

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Big change!

That is definitely a score!

my dad had a rig with 3 old style reel mowers the kind that the wheels power the blades
and towed behind a golfcart
it worked but required a touch up mower to reach the tight bits it missed

gas mower better then split power takeoff or el or air or hyd oil power from the tractor
or just wheel turned powered like my dads reels ?

and why the one side for both and not one on each symmetrical

Nice, Tim.

I'd only need one for the big pasture. I'll look used as well.

Best.

Great deal! But, being from East TN, my first thought actually was "Man, that is some flat land!". :)

I have the 66 version of this. Overall, it's been good.


$250? Wow. What a bargain.

I usually keep some spare belts for it on hand, as it seems to go through belts pretty quick. The deck height adjusters all broke, but were pretty easy to jury rig. The tongue on the pull bar broke, so I beefed that up, but I've been pretty rough on it. Ive hit several stumps with it, and bent the spindles, but replacements are pretty easy to come by, and a direct fit. The only gripe is that for finishing cut, it doesn't have great air flow under the deck, and leaves clippings under where it's mowed, but overall solid piece of equipment. Also, the tires are chinese junk and dont hold pressure too well, but I can't remember if I replaced them with carlisles, or just check the pressure often. The aluminum in my deodorant is making me forgetful damnit.

How much time will that save you every time you mow?

About 20 minutes time saving for the runway plus I mow a large open spot in our side yard when my wife does not get to it first with her zero turn. Probably another 5-10 minutes saved over there. I love having both now and mowing 15', but I am used to mowing about 10'. My biggest reason for wanting another is so that if one breaks I at least still have 10'. Previously if the one Swisher broke then I would have to mow it all with just the tractor and then it takes a couple hours.

I have tubes now in all tires on my old Swisher. I have replaced a couple spindle bearings in it. I have also lost a few belts along with a couple idler pulleys on it.

Not sure what your first question means, but each Swisher has it's own gas engine turning the blade system via belts. My old Befco 6' finish mower on my tractor is driven via the PTO shaft of my tractor.

I stagger them all to the same side so that I am not throwing grass onto an area that that one of the pull behinds would then have to cut through also. Maybe more inportant is that I now just steer so the right edge my bucket is following the last cut line. If both were staggered out, it would be hard to judge where to steer without missing strips or wasting cut width.

It is indeed flat up here and mainly farmland where I live.... Perfect place for flying airplanes as you always have a safe flat place to land in an emergency vs hills and woodland..... That said, I love the hills/mountains in Tennessee.

TH, you are one amazing fella. I follow your journeys, one in a million guy! Congrats to you sir! Maybe MacGyver.

Nice.

How did you develop and build the grass runway? Anything special?

I think, what the PPOT hive wants to see (or at least me), is for you to hook the tow behind mower to your fixed up motor home!!!!

... on second thought about the tires- I thinks I installed tubes too....

At any rate-

MOW ACROSS AMERICA!!!!! (at 70mph!)

With the skills needed to restore that mower deck, you should say - restore some other things. You know- like a boat, or a Class A RV!

It was already mostly built. It had been a farm field but it got crowned down the middle and tiled with french drains every 50 yards or so down both sides. I did have to fill about half of the french drains with stone and planted grass on the unfinished part. Back then it crossed an older north south runway that was owned by a family member that lived on the cross road to the north. For several years we had the two runways available which made it nice on the rare occasion that the winds were extreme from the north or south. That runway got plowed up after he died though leaving only mine.

Fly into Wichita, KS sometime. Nothing but flat ground off to the horizon on a super clear day. And airports are everywhere! Lots of aircraft manufacturers, there, and they all have an airport, the military base, the civilian airport, and private fields everywhere.

We bought our Cessna 182T from a flight school in Wichita. We flew over to Lloyd Stearman Field for lunch at the restaurant there. Great place to eat.

I was thinking that as I read the thread, but wasn't going to say anything. LOL!

I put tubes in the front tires on my ZT. I'm not sure that they've been much of an improvement over when they didn't have tubes. On the rears, I'm just using plug kits like they sell at auto parts stores.

I've wondered about getting some of the "no-air" or "no flat" fronts. I think they are just fronts that have been filled with foam so that even if they get a puncture, they hold their shape.

Couldn't you fill all your tires with foam so the won't go flat?