Henry Rifle Forums

rickhem wrote: ↑

Fri May 31, 2024 7:26 am

My dad had a John Deere RX75 mower. It's their smallest. A tiny little, rear engine, Forest Gump looking thing. My dad is 94 and he hasn't even sat on that thing in over a decade. They stopped making these in 1990, so it's thirty-something years old. It's been in his shed for that long, just sitting there. One day he said he's going to get rid of it. He pays someone to cut the grass and rake the leaves now, so he doesn't need it. I have been kind of waiting for this, so I told him I'd take it.
So fast forward, it's at my place and I'm going through it to get it functional again. He said it ran fine and he drove it into the shed last time he used it, but that was almost 20 years ago.
Ordered a new spark plug, air filter, oil filter, and got a new battery for it. Dad lost the key, but I have extras from an old 6x4 Gator I have, and they work fine. I emptied the gas tank, and that looked like iced tea. Took off the carb, and the bowl was filled with that grey dusty powder that happens in time. Float was moving fine, but the little valve it moves was locked up solid and wouldn't move. A new carb from JD is about $190, but the knock-offs are all under $30. I bought the one with the best reviews from Amazon for $24, used the cardboard from a box of Swedish Fish to make some gaskets, and put the intake all back together. Added fresh gas and it fired right up. Nice!
So now that I know it runs, I'm going to change the oil and filter, and put in the new plug. Only problem, and I feel kinda dumb writing this, is that I can't find the oil filter! There are a bunch of schematics available on-line and some show a filter, but some don't. Weingartz gave me the part number for the filter, and referencing that it shows that it's the correct part from looking it up on other sites, but I can't find it on the engine. This is the Kawasaki 9HP, listed as model FC290v. Turns out the oil filter was an option on these engines, as they were used in some other equipment as well, but there is no filter on the RX75. The Gator uses the same filter, so I'll save it and use it there.
So now I have this Quirky little ride-on that works fine, but is way, way too small for my property. If one of my kids ever needs a mower, this will be offered. They may not want it, but I'll offer.

Sir Henry wrote: ↑

Fri May 31, 2024 9:17 am

Cool story. I always run my engines out of gas at the end of the season.

rickhem wrote: ↑

Fri May 31, 2024 1:32 pm

Sir Henry wrote: ↑

Fri May 31, 2024 9:17 am

Cool story. I always run my engines out of gas at the end of the season.

Here's a funny add-on. Since I was a little guy, and dad and I would go fishing, he always disconnected the fuel line to the outboard and let that run out before taking the boat out of the water. (small, tiller outboards) He said that the two strokes didn't fare well when left with fuel in the carbs. He just sold the 6HP Evinrude that him and his brother shared from back in the 1960s. I'm guessing that he didn't plan for the mower to be left like it was, it just worked out that way.