Quote:
Originally Posted by C5rider
A gentleman from our church, my son and I all mow the grass at our church with our lawn mowers. It takes us a couple of hours as there is quite a bit of acreage.
I've been looking for something with a larger mower deck to help cut down on the time it takes to cut it all and I found a 154 that might be in our price range. I've done some searching and I noticed that they can have issues with the PTO clutch (which the owner says this one has an issue) and these can be $$$ to repair.
He says it runs good, has good tires on it, has the rear lift arms and the dual brake pedals. Sheet metal looks in good shape and all there. The plan is to find something that'll do a little quicker job mowing until the church can purchase something like a zero-turn. Possibly a year or so. I've wanted a Lo-Boy for a while, so this is partly to fill the gap in the mowing needs AND in my Cub collection. I know, shameless... 
So, I know there are some other 154 owners out there. What else should I look for to help me determine if this might be a money pit or a viable mower? I realize the mower deck spindles and basic stuff, but is there anything particular with these little gems that can be a bear besides the clutch? How can you tell if it's shot or just needs adjusting?
I realize asking whether to buy a cub on a cub forum is like walking into a Jenny Craig meeting with pizza but, I figured there should be a few Lo-Boy guru's on here somewhere.  I'd love to hear from those who LOVE their 154s as well as those who don't. Bring your praises and cursing, just remember this is a family-oriented forum (and it's for the church). 
As always, information is greatly appreciated! |
I don't personally own one, but grew up with and around them. My dad currently has 3 and loves them! The only problem, as you've state, that he's really had with them is the PTO/Clutch. That is currently what has 2 of his 3 down is something to do with the PTO or Clutch (i.e., $$$$ is short to fix them right now). But when they're running, they are great mowers.
One other thing to maybe ask around about; my dad says that, and someone correct me if I'm wrong, you can make a 154 into a 184 by simply installing a 184 carb on the 154 (similar to what Kohler did with the M18 vs M15; same engine, different carb). He, nor I, have done this, but he's heard it from several people and read it around online so there may be something to it.
Just did a quick google search and found this about the Lo-Boy's:
"Carburetor and Manifold Power
We know that IH put their small carburetor on the 154, and, upgraded to the larger, more powerful Zenith carburetor for the 185 and 184. This larger Zenith carburetor picked up about 2HP over the IH carburetor. While 2HP may not seem like a lot, an increase in power from 12HP to 14HP is quite noticeable.
It is interesting that the IH and Zenith carburetors will use the same manifold, so they can be easily swapped out. I have always wondered why IH made a slightly different manifold for the Zenith carburetor. This "different" manifold had a slightly larger flange, but, the exact same bolt pattern and inflow port size. So, the 2 manifolds function identically to each other, even though one looks slightly different due to the flange size.
I once had a customer tell me that he used a 1" bore bit to enlarge the port hole from 7/8", and noticed even slightly greater power pickup"
I guess my point is, if you decide to get the 154, then fix the clutch, PTO, whatever it is, then you can do a quick upgrade to the 184/5 carb and get a little more power (not that I'm trying to convince you to get it or anything)
