20G Saga

[gravely_todd]

The guy down the road has a 20G Gravely and all of the sudden he says the engine won't start and has no compresson. I told him to haul it up and I would dig into it. Well.......I have never seen a machine that was maintained so poorly in all my life! :eek: I took the air cleaner off first and couldn't believe the caked grime and dirt in there, and have no idea how the engine even got any air to run. I then proceed to take the heads off and find that a valve is sticking, so I worked with it for a while and it isn't the valve, but one of the tappets. I then told him that I wasn't about to take the engine apart and that he would have to have someone else look at it. We decided a place to take it and I took it off and dropped it off at a Kohler dealer for service and probably overhaul (over 1200 poorly maintained hours). I figured while waiting on the engine I would go over the machine to see what else it needs. I started by taking the 60" deck out and hung it up to clean underneath and take the blades off for sharpening. It turns out that the bearings are out of the mower deck gear box, so I have that tore apart. Continuing to look the machine over I see that the brake band has no friction surface left and it is metal to metal, so off that comes....moving forward I notice the severe slop in the steering and crawl underneath to see all kinds of fasteners loose when working the steering wheel, so I commense to tighten everything down and the steering came back to "normal". I am calling Richard's tomorrow for parts and when I get them I will change the trans oil which is as black as night and when the engine comes back it should be ready to go. It just irritates me that someone would pay a large amount for one of these tractors and just let it go like that and wonder why it doesn't run all of the sudden. :sad_02:

Todd

[jodyand]

Thats sad :00000060: That reminds me of my Dad they may be kin ROF About 5 years ago i was over at my dads and he said his push mower wouldn't start. So i go out to look at it and try and start it and it wouldn't start. So i take the air filter off and the carb looked just like you said. I looked at the air filter and guess what :fing20: There wasn't any it was gone it was a 3HP Brigg with the foam filter or it was suppose to be. I asked him what happen to the air filter and he said he didn't know he had never took it off. Now this mower was about 10 years old and he had never change the oil or plug and the air filter. I guess the air filter dry roted and fell out or got sucked though the motor. I took the carb off and clean it and change the plug and oil and put a new filter on it and the thing started up. So every year i have been going over there and doing the maintenance on his stuff. That mower lasted until last year when he got a new one and it was still running it just the grass catcher had wore out so he got a new one. I still cant believe he never change the oil or air filter in 10 years and the thing still run that had to be one hell of a good Briggs.

[MowHoward2210]

Well it's pay now or pay big later. Clean air and oil are the two biggest factors in how long an engine will last.

[Ingersoll444]

The testamint to how tough these tractors are is that one it is still running with that abuse at those hours, and two it CAN be fixed.

My step dad was like that also. The guy could fix, or build anything, but when it came to simple maintance he did nothing.

[gravely_todd]

Well...parts are on the way from Richard's and once the engine is done, it will go back together and hopefully be ready for work once again... :bannana:

Todd

[John WA]

Hey, Todd. My tractor is making a funny noise. If I bring it over can you please take a look at it???

Just kidding! I have a JD GX335 with 28 hours on it. If you ask me, that guy is real fortunate to have a neighbor like you. Imagine what it would have cost him to have a dealer do everything you did to that tractor! I hope he realizes how lucky he is.

[Archdean]

You fellows might not like this reply but here it is any way!!!

If You got 1200 hrs on an air cooled engine consider that you got 99% of it's normaly rated useful life!!! No I am not saying it can't be fixed but I AM SAYING IT"S NOT WORTH IT or cost effective!!! Yes I know you should be able to get 2000 hrs on it BUT that is rare and only under the best of conditions!!

[Ingersoll444]

Its hard to put worth on a project like this. If they do an overhaul on the motor, assuming they do it right, should be good for another 1000+ hours, The tractor it self, is one tough old bird, and could easyly outlive two, or three motors. So for probably less then two grand you have a though tractor, that will give you years and years of fathfull service.

[gravely_todd]

I really don't have a lot of money tied up in parts, I ordered a new brake band, a couple bearings, a seal and some gaskets and "O" rings, so it is under $100 in parts. I don't know what the engine is going to cost him, but even if he had to buy a new engine (about $1700), it would be worth fixing, as you can't get anything even close to the quality of the Gravely for that price. Once these few things are done, it will continue to do it's job for years to come.

Todd

[gravely-man]

i have a 8179-g with 1600 hours and with regular maintainace, i have not had a problem except for a few burn out condencers. it is the best machine i have owned or ever used, for that matter, built like a tank but, pint-size.

[krislu]

Todd- Is this guy the original owner ? Or did he buy it used ? If the machine was used in a commercial environment where the operators don't own it they don't care how they treat it either. - Kris :bonk:

[bontai Joe]

Well this has been a very educational thread. I've learned not to buy a tractor, car or truck from Jody's dad and Todd's neighbor, and I learned that I'd rather have guys like Jody and Todd for neighbors than my current batch of peach stealing mutants. ROF :fing32:

[gravely_todd]

I don't know if he is the original owner or even how long he has had this tractor, I never asked him. The engine is currently being rebuilt as it had some internal problems like bent valves and some of the gears were wore off the cam :eek: I have all the parts and am waiting for the engine to be done before putting everything together again and taking it for a test drive.....

Todd

[krislu]

Can't wait for that test drive, can ya Todd . - Kris :bannana:

[jodyand]

Well this has been a very educational thread. I've learned not to buy a tractor, car or truck from Jody's dad and Todd's neighbor, and I learned that I'd rather have guys like Jody and Todd for neighbors than my current batch of peach stealing mutants. ROF :fing32:

Thanks Joe would be proud to have you as my neighbor. And i wouldn't take your peach's as long as you didn't take my oranges, lemons or figs or the Satsumas. I would give you some though :trink40: And Todd let us know when you get it back together.

[gravely_todd]

Well, I finally got the 20G back together. I got the engine back from the dealer, mounted it, re-checked all my connections and nuts and bolts and she fired right up!! :bannana: I drove it around for a while and then mounted the deck and took it for a "test mow". Everything is working great and the engine fires right up. The total including engine overhaul was around $650. :fing32:

Todd

[bontai Joe]

Only $650? Much less than I would have imagined. Hopefully this will inspire the neighbor to do better maintenance.

[gravely_todd]

The engine ended up being between $400 and $500. The guy that I am doing the tractor for told me, but I don't remember the exact amount. I had him go into the dealer and get the engine as I can't make it in there because of the hours they have and when I get off work except if I take a day off, so he paid that bill. I have a little over $171 invested in new parts and have all the receipts, so that is why it is around $650 total. I don't think that is too bad for the work that was done. I guess the bill from the engine dealer has everything broke down as to the work that was done, but I didn't see it to see what exactly was replaced.

Todd

[bontai Joe]

I think he got a lot done for $650, after such a long period of neglect. And the tractor is certainly worth the investment :fing32:

[gravely-man]

that was very worth it. the tractor it self is worth alot of money so that was a good investment. i have seen them sell used for $2000-$5000!!