Thought I'd drop in and say, hi.
My wife, daughter, and I just got a house with 3 acres, in the country 2 miles from Keystone Lake, both of us have lived in the country our whole lives, and the last year of it we've spent in a 3 bedroom apartment(wont do that again, ever) while we were there we were looking for a home in the country to raise our children in, and we found a very nice home on 3 acres.
I started looking for a mower, something older, I didn't want a newer mower, 95% of them are horribly built, and most the parts are made in china. I came across 2 Cub Cadets on CraigsList, a 1650 and a 100, I ended up giving $340 for the 1650, and I had the option to get the 100 for $200 extra, which I'm really kicking myself for not getting it.
The 1650 I got ran good, and everything worked, only problems were it needed a belt, the belt tensioner bolt was broken, and one of the tires wouldn't hold air(original tires) The lady didn't know the year, but upon further inspection I found it was a 1976 model. I tubed the bad tire for now, fixed the tensioner bolt, and picked up a belt. It mows great, and I'm happy to say I have just a hair over $400(including fuel to go get it) in a 1650 that runs and mows great. I plan on tearing it down in the winter and going through it, and doing some painting.
A little bit more about me, My profession is a mechanic/brazer at a FAA certified repair station, out side of work I enjoy spending time with my 13 month old daughter, and my wife. If there's a little bit of time left over for me, I'm either, hunting, fishing, mountain biking, or tinkering with my car or truck. I also enjoy photography, and have a pipe dream of becoming a professional photographer someday.
Heres a few pics and a list of what I have done so far.
Fixed Tire
Belt
Belt Tensioner Repair
Sharpened Blades
Flushed out Fuel Tank
Adjusted Transmission Lever
Adjusted Brakes
Adjusted Steering(I plan on doing the thrust bearing modification soon.)
Fixed headlight wiring, and added tail lights.
Sorry in advance for the low quality cell phone pictures.
Here is the tensioner bolt that I repaired. I just cut the head of of a bolt and welded it to the broken J bolt.
Thanks for reading,
Shaun