Thursday, September 15, 2011

John Deere 68

I picked this up from a former coworker last weekend.  Flat tire, torn up seat, wouldn't turn over, bad carburetor.  Zane and I ran down and picked it up last Saturday.  Even though the mower deck is in good shape we took it and the bagging attachments off after we got home.  When we pulled the inner cowling the gunk was so thick on the carb that the governor and some of the throttle linkage would not move.  We removed few additional shields and then pressure washed the mower. 
The left front tire would not hold air.  Being it was tubeless I decided to try an old trick.  First I pumped it full of air and then held the wheel under a garden hose.  Sure enough, air leaked around the bead - but even better - it was only on one side.  So I pried that side of the tire back a little and shot it with some lube and then pumped it up, it has held 5 days now.  Checked the plug, changed oil, cleaned air and fuel filters (will need to replace them this winter), shot carb with carb cleaner, put new fuel in and charged the battery (see here)
Then on Monday I bought a new battery.  Then I removed the old torn seat and replaced with one I had received for Christmas a few years ago.  Thanks to Bill Shortz for the help on that. We then put a little fuel in the carb it after a couple of cranks it fired up.

Here are the kids riding it.

2 comments:

  1. Hi there !
    I just bought the same mower and it has not run for several years but looks in good shape'
    It's missing a battery .
    I need to buy one and am not sure if it is a 6 volts or 12 volts one ?????
    Jurgen in Vancouver BC Canada.
    jhp@telus.net

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 12 volts id use a cranking amp of about 350

      Delete