Lets see your pictures...

M J Peters said:

Picked up a 445 last month to replace my old Husqvarna.

Before I brought it home:

After getting it home discovered the prior owner apparently didn't clean out the deck very often - decided to repaint the deck - before - sandblasted - painted.

Done -

Picked up a Model 54 blade and a frame squeezer so it will fit and an MC 519 for it. Seriously considering a 3 pt. hitch and a loader for it, but those will have to wait.

Click to expand...

Hello MJ Peters
Welcome to the forum, Nice job you did on that deck of your's. The mowing decks are Very pricey for these John Deere's I have a replacement deck on mine that is of 48" width that came on my 1983 John Deere 318 when I bought it they run $1300.00 to Buy ! I do not like the new replacement deck Pulley Guards they do not cover enough of the top of the deck and Grass and debris always' get's in there. I remove them about four times during our Long Mowing season here in East Tennessee and clean out the grass and debris that get's Trapped in there. They are Powder coated which seems to last longer than a painted deck's finish but if not watched I assume they would Rot out like any Other Painted deck surface. I will not run mine without it's Pulley shield's in Place I don't like the idea of Pulley's spining fast just under my Feet, so I do clean the spindle area often to make sure I don't get a rusty deck using Only compressed air to do so.






There is a product offered by John Deere called Graphite Paint. It was Originally designed to spray on Plow shares to keep them from rusting and allow them a smoother surface while Plowing with them. If an area is sanded down some it will stay in Place and keep's the grass from sticking to the bottom of these decks. It wear's Like Iron if applied right it will stay in Place for Three or four seasons. I use it on the bottom side of my Mowing deck and Grass does not build up Nor stick to the deck with it on there. They sell it in shaker can's or bulk I bought a gallon of it and have used it for Year's I started out using it on the rotater and Internal chute of my snowblower as Wet snow used to Plug up my snowblower chute. Once I Spray Painted the rotator and internal chute of my snowblower with it it never Plugged up again it is Good stuff that really last's and Protects metal well I would suggest that you try some but be sure that your deck is clean and Lightly sanded so that the Graphite paint will Bite into the Painted surface and stay Put. I hope this helps, Regards, Hammerdown

First mowing of the season grass came in nicely behind the new shop!

Here is an interesting mower that sounds unique. Anyone have an "Eastman HoverMowers" and are they any good? :dunno:
Maybe this post belongs in the "push" mower section but it does fit the thread "Lets see your pictures..." and it is a "float" mower not a "push" mower.:sidelaugh

http://stlouis.craigslist.org/grd/4441774053.html

dorkpunch said:

They dont work very well... They have a weed eater style string "blade" and a fan that makes it hover. The fan also pushes the grass down, so...

We had one at college they used to mow a steep bank along a canal. They would tie a rope to the handle, lower it down the bank, and drag it back up. Repeat.

Had the same 2 stroke suzuki motor the Toros had, liked those a lot when the grounds crew could remember to put mix in them.

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It is understandable that a floating, air lift device, would push the grass down and certainly reduce the amount of grass that the "blades" could cut.
The mower is still being made, apparently, as the website indicates below. The "blades" appear to be a flat, short, resin based material that look similar to the "blades" sold as a replacement for the strings on a weed eater.

Tying a rope to a mower reminds me of our 18 acre "farm" we owned in North Indiana back in the 70's. A county road was at the front of the lot and, during the construction of the road, the highway department had cut through a "hill" that left a fairly steep (60 degree) bank that was about 200 feet long and about 20 ft high. I had a Sears aluminum push mower that I used to mow that bank. I tied a long "dog leash" chain to each of the mower handle connection points and mowed the bank as you related, above. The difficulties I encountered performing this activity were numerous and something I do not miss.

The irony of that experience is when we bought our 75 acre farm in central Indiana, the county road at the front of the farm was the same level as our adjacent land and entry drive. Ten years after we bought the farm, the county decided to replace the old, wooden "hump-back" railroad bridge with a modern cement bridge. To do this required the construction of a dirt ramp that created a 300 ft long steep (60 degree - up to 20 ft high) bank and a similar dirt built up entry driveway to our farm with a similar "steep" bank. For a number of years I made it a practice to let the weeds grow, cut the "trees / brush" when they became obtrusive, and let nature take it course.
Eventually that became, in my eyes, a real eyesore so, about 5 years ago, we bought the 1999 MF 6255 w/boom mower (as listed in my signature line) to control this problem.
That is our current method of resolving the mowing issues for this small amount of acreage. A 100 HP - $40,000.00 tractor mower to cut less than a 1/2 acre of "yard". :hide::hide:
On a brighter note - this completely justified acquisition has a cab, AC, heater, protection from the elements and it allows me to keep the fence row outgrowths under control since the boom mower is an excellent limb, branch and brush trimmer. :fing32:

Right before the first spring mowing. New shoes, re-painted deck.

This past Sat. at a plow day

My 318 and a friends 2 bottom plow

A lot of green

Left home at 10 til 6 this morning, couple of meal stops, plus some "pit" stops, 626 miles later we got home at 7:15 with this John Deere 22B cart. Makes for a long day when you're not used to driving much more than a couple hundred miles in one day! ~~ Lowell