Lincoln Locking riding mower?

RatLabGuy

RatLabGuy

You look like a monkey and smell like one too
Joined
May 18, 2005
Location
Churchville, MD
Okay before you laugh, here's the deal.
I have a crappy 'ol Craftsman riding mower, rear drive axle seems to be a standard open style. My yard has some slopes/hills to it, and I'm a reasonable small (140lb) guy, this !@#$ thing often gets stucks w/ wheel spinning while turning up on the hill, esp when grass is a little damp etc. I sit there looking like a bafoon bouncing on the seat for traction, meanwhile rubbing all the grass out LOL.
I know it sounds looney but I'm wonderin' would it be so crazy to just weld that rear axle? Its a lawn mower, 98% of life spent on teh grass, and when not its going from garage to yard.
 
Friend of mine has a John Deere 420 w/ diff lock switch. It is very nice on wet days or on those troublesome hills.

The only difference is that he can unlock it, which you would not be able to. Which might get annoying after awhile.
 
Yeah, if you welded it you would just end up tearing up the rest of your yard and having a shitty turning radius. Go with better tires/tire weights/less air pressure/tire chains/leaning-bouncing-trying to hold the spinning tire. Worked for me and my backyard was a bitch.
 
Go to the nearest supplier of tractor tires, have them put fluid in it. Maybe also some wheel weights.
 
Another thing, what kinda tires are you running? If they are bald turf tires you also may want to consider changing them. -Josh
 
Don't know what kind/brand of tires they are, but they seem reasonably beefy/knobby for mower tires. Its not a big mower (like 38" deck). Tread pattern kinda reminds me of the classic BFG style w/ rows of lugs etc.
I considered just airing 'em waaay down to like 5-10 psi, but I figured the cut quality would go to crap b/c it wouldn't stay real level. Maybe I'll try it though just for kicks haha (airing down mower, that's funny haha).
Maybe I could just add alot of weight to the back too, any idea where I could get a brick of lead or heavy steel or something? Well geez look who I'm talkin' to.
Oh I'm in Winston.
 
RatLabGuy said:
Don't know what kind/brand of tires they are, but they seem reasonably beefy/knobby for mower tires. Its not a big mower (like 38" deck). Tread pattern kinda reminds me of the classic BFG style w/ rows of lugs etc.
I considered just airing 'em waaay down to like 5-10 psi, but I figured the cut quality would go to crap b/c it wouldn't stay real level. Maybe I'll try it though just for kicks haha (airing down mower, that's funny haha).
Maybe I could just add alot of weight to the back too, any idea where I could get a brick of lead or heavy steel or something? Well geez look who I'm talkin' to.
Oh I'm in Winston.
Click to expand...

Find an auto shop and ask if you can buy some used wheel balancing weights. My friend who has the 420 bought a 5 gallon bucket full of lead weights for cheap for his pulling tractor.
 
if it's a craftsman, chances are the gears are made of a vinyl base material that you can get metal replacements for.
 
Wolfpack OffRoad said:
Time bomb waiting to go. Get a rock ready d60. You should not have to worry then. :flipoff2:
Click to expand...

Some how I KNEW this is where this would end up.
Many times I have thought, hm, maybe I need bigger tires, which is followed by, oh, they wouldn't fit, I'd have to lift it a lot.
Then reality hits - "hey dummy its a lawnmower, it wouldn't be too functional 12" off the ground", hahaha
 
RatLabGuy said:
Some how I KNEW this is where this would end up.
Many times I have thought, hm, maybe I need bigger tires, which is followed by, oh, they wouldn't fit, I'd have to lift it a lot.
Then reality hits - "hey dummy its a lawnmower, it wouldn't be too functional 12" off the ground", hahaha
Click to expand...

Yeah it would if it had an 8ft. finish bushhog. :D
 
look into getting the tires foamfilled, it adds a bunch of weight to them, and also youd never have to worry about flats again.
 
My old yard had a good incline to it. So I filled my '98 model 16hp Craftsman tires with water shortly after buying it. After filling all 4 tire about 3/4 full makes it a heavy beeatch with a low cg! Its a hill climing and pulling machine now. The diff might die tomorrow but she's been a good one.
 
I like the idea of water filling the tires... Should work well.
 
My only concern w/ the watery tires idea is, as mentioned, weight.
This is a, er, well-used 12 hp beast that has not been terribly well maintained. Don't want to kill it.
Although that WOULD be kinda funny.

You said 3/4 filled? Not all the way? You just put air in for the rest? Does that make it sloshy, haha?
 
Most agricultural tires are only filled 3/4. Then you simply add air on top of the water. You need to make sure the valve stem is on the top so you don't get a bath. I engineered an adapter that connected to the hose pipe and slipped over the valve stem. I removed the valve core and all the air then added water with the valve stem at the top of the rim till it runs out. Reinstall the core and add air till it doesn't look flat. This adds the weight where you need it most, on the tires. I first tried just my rear tires to keep them from spinning when I turned up hill. That didn't work well, it didn't want to turn at all. So I filled the front and haven't had any trouble since. I have even used it to tow my Bronco up the hill in the neighborhood after running it out of gas. Not to bad for a 16hp mower to pull a 4k lbs rig up hill to the house.

But if your not into the fill the tire thing, I believe I've seen weights that go on rim that you fill with water at either Northern Tool or Tractor Supply.
 
Water will freeze and cut your tube/tire, make sure you use some kind of antifreeze.
In case you want to move it during the winter.
That's what they do on tractor tires.


Just a thought.
 
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