John Deere GT235 Project

Overview:
This year I determined it was time for a new mower. The ol' John Deere STX38 has given us great service for many years, but with a 1.25 acre lawn to mow, it was time for something newer and larger.

What to buy?
I looked at everything out there and I came to realize that there is something good about every mower from a price/features stand-point. I wanted the heft of a garden tractor, but I was also on a budget. For me, it came down to a brand new Sears GT5000 for about $2,600, and this 1999 John Deere GT235 ($2,500) which I found at a Simplicity dealer (wasn't used last year).

I was really on the fence between the two tractors. I could buy the Sears brand new for the price of this and I really liked the look and feel of the Craftsman (I've owned JD's before so I'm over the John Deere "mistique"). In the end, the main features that steered me towards the John Deere was a much more substantial deck with a full-width chute that won't blow the grass into windrows (very important to me) and foot-controled hydrosatic transmission (also very important).The motor in this tractor (17hp Briggs Vanguard) is smaller than the Sears GT5000 (25hp Kohler Pro), but it has proven to have more than adequate power. I was afraid the Sears might turn out to be a gas guzzler. Unfortunately I couldn't test out the Craftsman, so I could only make assumptions on how it would perform. Finally, Deere's keep their value quite well and parts are readily available. I drive by a JD dealer on my way to work, if they don't have the parts I need on the shelf (they usually do) I can get them the next day. So, I went with the used Deere. So far I've been very happy with it.

Buffing out the Paint:
First thing I did when I got the mower home was was give it a good wash job, then tune-up. The paint was faded, mostly from sitting outside on the dealer lot last year. The tune-up parts at the JD dealer were cheaper than anywhere else I checked, which suprised me.

Then I took some of the main parts off the mower like the hood and seat so I could more thoroughly clean in those areas and do a better job buffing the paint out. Buffing the paint is similar to how one would buff car paint (see Buffing How-To or Buffing FAQs). Buffing removes the light layer of oxidation off the paint surface. Once the oxidation is removed the paint beneath can look as good as new. Having buffed out hundreds of cars & trucks and I've learned how 'magical' the results can be. Plastic buffs out great too, and because the Deere hoods are molded plastic, this one came out litterally looking like brand new. I was pretty happy with how it buffed out.

Deck maintenance:
The deck needed a little work too. There were a few problems with the deck I didn't see when I was looking at the mower at the dealer lot. There were two small cracks in the metal on the front of the deck, one on each side where the nose roller mounts. Then, there is a shield under the deck that serves to better route clippings out the chute. Welds on one end of this shield were broke and it was just flapping under there. These issues were quickly fixed with the trusty Miller wirefeed. Next, there were a bunch of unsightly scratches on the L. side (probably from mowing under trees. The scratches were down to the metal and made the deck look awful. I didn't like looking at them on my "new' mower, so I got out the DA sander and took the paint down in the scratched area, primed it up, then blended in single stage urethane JD yellow with activator/hardener. It was a nice color match. I knocked down the overspray using blending clear and some slow reducer (using the two-gun method) so as not to make the repair visible. For paint tips, Click Here. There were some rock chips on the deck I touched up with a brush. Finally, a razor edge was put on each of the 3 blades and all zerks were greased. Now, not only does it cut well, but more importantly, it looks great for the neighbors!

Oil Pressure Gauge:
There are two things all mowers should have in my book. One is an oil pressure gauge, the other is an hour meter. The main problem with the oil pressure switch on this mower is it is calibrated to illuminate when oil pressure falls to 5 psi (according to the Briggs manual - some cars are the same way). Quite frankly, that's well into the danger zone and too low for me. Besides that, the sun makes it very difficult to view illuminated gauges outdoors.

I found a small set of gauges at Walmart for under $20. The inside of the gauge face measures 1-3/8" and overall it's 1-3/4" in diameter. Perfect! The gauges included an amp gauge, temperature and oil pressure. I could use the others, but mainly I only need the oil pressure gauge. So I will start with that first. To install it, I began by finding a suitable locatin on the dash. Then I measured the depth to be sure it wouldn't interfere with any of the electronics behind the dash. Everything looked good. I carefully cut the hole using a hole saw on a drill. I had to do a little enlarging with a file, but not too much. I mounted the gauge and put a dab of silicon RTV on the mounting bolts to prevent them from vibrating loose. With that finished, I switched my attention to the oil line.

The gauge set included a poly oil line and fittings. The poly line would have worked fine I'm sure, but I chose to use something more rigid like copper line. I would have preferred to use steel, but I was not able to easily find the right size line in steel. Copper was easy, our local hardware store had just what I was looking for at $.35/ft. Three feet is all it took.

I routed the line from the bottom of the engine, along the mower steering support frame (the welded frame that supports the dash and steering wheel), under the dash and to the gauge. I hooked up the gauge end first using the fittings supplied with the gauge. The next step was to remove the existing oil pressure switch and hook up that end. Fittings were supplied with the gauge that made installation a breeze. I considered using a "T" so I could use both the gauge and the pressure switch. But with the gauge, the switch isn't really necessary. I started the engine and bled the air out of the line (cracking loose the oil line at the gauge) and Wa-La ... oil pressure! I use 30W Mobil 1 and the pressure hovers around 25 psi. I'm happy with the way it looks and the whole installation only took an hour and a half working at a leisurely pace. Now I have something to look at while mowing!

I haven't decided wheather or not to hook up the other gauges. I considered hooking up the temperature gauge to the oil for oil temperature but I haven't found a good place to put the sensor probe, or if there is a 'real' need to spend time on it. But it's something I'm considering. A cool location to mount the amp and temp gauges would be on the fender.

Hour Meter:
I haven't installed an hour meter yet. I am going to check with Deere to see if there is a "factory" gauge that mounts on the dash as it appears there is a place for one. If so, I might go that route. Aftermarket units are readily available for about $30. If I go that route, I might just mount it under the hood somewhere. When I get to that point, I will post the installation.

Other Possible Upgrades:
A couple things I'd like to fab up are a 3-pt hitch, hydraulics and a small loader. I don't really need a loader so much, but you have to admit it would look totally cool. But hydraulics and a 3-pt hitch would be nice for adding a tiller. These might be projects for next year ...or some point down the road.

New Project:

Concrete Lawn Roller

Well here you see it, the essentials of a lawn roller that won't warp or rust. Project "Concrete Lawn Roller" has begun.

Rolling a lawn in the spring smooths out the little bumps that occur over the winter months. You know, the ones that shake your mower all over the place and work the fizz out of your beer! After a good rolling, it's like mowing on carpet! Nothing could be sweeter -- except that beer 'with' the fizz!

I've used steel and poly lawn rollers in the past, and they both have their strengths & weaknesses ...mostly weaknesses. Steel can (and eventually will) dent or rust out, the poly rollers can deform. It only takes a little deformation to make them useless. I know, my poly roller only rolls well on the sides which means I have to overlap 50% and takes twice as long. Besides, at 400 lbs, it really isn't heavy enough to work down the high spots. Sure I could just go and buy a new steel lawn roller for $160 every couple years, but that would take the fun out of it, no?

This concrete roller will be heavier and stay 'true' for many years. When I'm not using it, I can just back it into the weeds. If someone wishes to borrow it, I'll just tell them to back their car up and go ahead and load it up ...and watch their reaction. It should be a fun project.

The Concrete Pipe:
I bought a piece of concrete culvert at our local concrete culvert store (there's one near you, I'm sure). This one is 18" ID x 3.5ft long. It cost me $62, but that's contractor price. These have to meet federal size standards and as such there are standard weights depending on size. For 18" pipe, it's 168 lbs/ft. That puts this one at 588lbs. I will cement the ends but not fill it w/concrete. I estimate it will weigh around 800 lbs when finished including the metal framework, etc. I want a good roll, but I don't want to overly compact the soil as to interfere with grass growth. But if you want to make your own, you could go to a larger size. BTW, that's a dead deer in the back of my truck keeping the culvert from rolling --a dead 'cement' deer.

For what it's worth, if you want to make a concrete lawn roller, most concrete culvert places have a junk pile of pieces that are returned from jobs because of minor cracks or damaged ends. Our outfit will let you just have these pieces. Otherwise, they have to break them and haul away to a landfill (probably pay for disposal). When I went to pick up some pipe, they had just crushed all their damaged culverts. So I just bought a chunk. Anyway, I thought it would be worth noting.

Return again soon to see how the project is progressing.