Anyone from the U.S.A able to help me please ?

[Scraperman]

If was any less expensive I wouldn’t trust it.

Thanks @Keif. I value your opinion. You have a much better idea as to the price of things over there than I ever will.

 

[Keif]

Thanks @Keif. I value your opinion. You have a much better idea as to the price of things over there than I ever will.

I just paid $3kfor a 3rd aux coupler kit, no hoses or fittings or install included.

 

[Scraperman]

I just paid $3kfor a 3rd aux coupler kit, no hoses or fittings or install included.

I don't know what one of those is but maybe things are a lot more expensive over there with you guys. Having written that, things have got ridiculousy expensive over here this last couple of years.

 

[Keif]

I just paid $3kfor a 3rd aux coupler kit, no hoses or fittings or install included.

And no bucket coupler either to be clear. Just the hydraulic valve/electronics/etc for machine side.

 

[Regy53]

did you resolve this? i do a lot with the usa so may know somebody nearby

 

[Scraperman]

did you resolve this? i do a lot with the usa so may know somebody nearby

Thank you for your offer of help @Regy53, it is much appreciated. It is a long story but basically I have a gearbox off a USA built ride-on mower that had a Curtis gearbox on the deck. They were always troublesome, that's why most now use belts to drive the deck. But I have kept this going for 20 years by continuously checking oil, backlash, etc. But it blew up last Autumn and now I need two of the gears and a shaft. I contacted Curtis and they said that they have the parts. It was all agreed that they would send me a Pro-Forma invoice, I would pay for the parts, arrange the shipping, and they would parcel everything up. They are only small gears and a short shaft. But I tried to pay on-line in dollars but my bank, HSBC, could not find the bank details that were printed on the invoice.
I contacted Curtis and they say that after the lady who owned the firm had retired the firm was absorbed by The American Concrete Pipe Company. And then Curtis gave me details of a totally different bank. All the time Curtis and I were emailing each other the emails were very impersonal and usually just one single sentence without any "Hello", "Hi" or any other friendly attitude whatsoever. I did email The American Concrete Pipe Company asking if it was plausible that what used to be Curtis were now using their bank account but have not received a reply.
@Keif has been very helpful to me on here and I would appreciate any help that you could give me because at the moment I'm unsettled about spending the best part of £1k on what seems to me could well be a dubious transaction. The Curtis web site is still running but I remain unconvinced about the legitimacy of it : https://www.curtismachine.com/

 

[Monkeybusiness]

Thank you for your offer of help @Regy53, it is much appreciated. It is a long story but basically I have a gearbox off a USA built ride-on mower that had a Curtis gearbox on the deck. They were always troublesome, that's why most now use belts to drive the deck. But I have kept this going for 20 years by continuously checking oil, backlash, etc. But it blew up last Autumn and now I need two of the gears and a shaft. I contacted Curtis and they said that they have the parts. It was all agreed that they would send me a Pro-Forma invoice, I would pay for the parts, arrange the shipping, and they would parcel everything up. They are only small gears and a short shaft. But I tried to pay on-line in dollars but my bank, HSBC, could not find the bank details that were printed on the invoice.
I contacted Curtis and they say that after the lady who owned the firm had retired the firm was absorbed by The American Concrete Pipe Company. And then Curtis gave me details of a totally different bank. All the time Curtis and I were emailing each other the emails were very impersonal and usually just one single sentence without any "Hello", "Hi" or any other friendly attitude whatsoever. I did email The American Concrete Pipe Company asking if it was plausible that what used to be Curtis were now using their bank account but have not received a reply.
@Keif has been very helpful to me on here and I would appreciate any help that you could give me because at the moment I'm unsettled about spending the best part of £1k on what seems to me could well be a dubious transaction. The Curtis web site is still running but I remain unconvinced about the legitimacy of it : https://www.curtismachine.com/

It must be a brilliant old ride on to warrant spending £1k on what shouldn’t really be a wear-part for the deck!…

 

[Scraperman]

It must be a brilliant old ride on to warrant spending £1k on what shouldn’t really be a wear-part for the deck!…

It has been a fantastic mower. Zero turn, collect or blow out the side. 20hp twin Kohler engine, and hydrostatic drive i.e. you can have one wheel going forward and the other going in reverse and because it is a 3 wheeler you can turn on less than a sixpence - literally. But the deck is driven by a gearbox which means that the blades can be timed which is better than a belt drive insofar as there is only a very small amount of grass in the front and centre of the deck which isn't cut. But because the spiral bevel gear on the end of the input drive shaft and it's 90 degree mate are so small and are taking 20hp they are being asked to do an awful lot of work. I have only managed to keep it going this long because I am always checking the backlash, blade condition, oil level etc.

After buying it I discovered that it was the one model from this manufacturer that you shouldn't buy for the reasons stated above. That's what happens when you are buying blind at an auction ! I only cut about 2 acres a week which includes the lawns and a couple of small paddocks.

 

[Monkeybusiness]

It has been a fantastic mower. Zero turn, collect or blow out the side. 20hp twin Kohler engine, and hydrostatic drive i.e. you can have one wheel going forward and the other going in reverse and because it is a 3 wheeler you can turn on less than a sixpence - literally. But the deck is driven by a gearbox which means that the blades can be timed which is better than a belt drive insofar as there is only a very small amount of grass in the front and centre of the deck which isn't cut. But because the spiral bevel gear on the end of the input drive shaft and it's 90 degree mate are so small and are taking 20hp they are being asked to do an awful lot of work. I have only managed to keep it going this long because I am always checking the backlash, blade condition, oil level etc.

After buying it I discovered that it was the one model from this manufacturer that you shouldn't buy for the reasons stated above. That's what happens when you are buying blind at an auction ! I only cut about 2 acres a week which includes the lawns and a couple of small paddocks.

View attachment 58841

I can pretty much guarantee that @doobin will know of a make/model of machine offering equal or better performance available off the shelf over here that might be worth considering investing in before gambling more money on a flawed-designed auction purchase that you are living with because you need to justify your purchase to yourself.
(I’ve definitely been in your shoes before by the way, sometimes it’s best to suck it up and move on!).

 

[Scraperman]

I can pretty much guarantee that @doobin will know of a make/model of machine offering equal or better performance available off the shelf over here that might be worth considering investing in before gambling more money on a flawed-designed auction purchase that you are living with because you need to justify your purchase to yourself.
(I’ve definitely been in your shoes before by the way, sometimes it’s best to suck it up and move on!).

There is nothing wrong with the performance of this machine and when you consider that I bought it s/h 22 years ago I really don't think that I have done too badly out of the deal. Sure, there are mowers with better designs of deck drives now, from the same manufacturer and from others such as Walker etc. Very few, if any, of the machines that I have bought over the last 60+ years have been perfect, they very rarely are. But running costs are important and I can guarantee that I have spent very little on the mower since I bought it. There comes a time with all machines, if kept for any length of time, that they end up costing you money. I can honestly say that with the exception of fuel, oil, filters, etc. I haven't spent any more than £300 in 22 years on the machine (and that includes a new set of tyres all round) and with mowing 2 acres/week for 22 years I must have mowed getting on for something like 1000 acres if not more with it. I can live with that.

 

[Monkeybusiness]

There is nothing wrong with the performance of this machine and when you consider that I bought it s/h 22 years ago I really don't think that I have done too badly out of the deal. Sure, there are mowers with better designs of deck drives now, from the same manufacturer and from others such as Walker etc. Very few, if any, of the machines that I have bought over the last 60+ years have been perfect, they very rarely are. But running costs are important and I can guarantee that I have spent very little on the mower since I bought it. There comes a time with all machines, if kept for any length of time, that they end up costing you money. I can honestly say that with the exception of fuel, oil, filters, etc. I haven't spent any more than £200 in 22 years on the machine and with mowing 2 acres/week for 22 years I must have mowed getting on for something like 1000 acres if not more with it. I can live with that.

You know the machine and your usage, and obviously know your way around a set of spanners.
If these gears aren’t the thin edge of the wedge (ie other components aren’t equally worn/about to fail) then get the new parts bought and fitted. Hopefully you’ll get another 22 years out of the rest of it!

 

[V8Druid]

It has been a fantastic mower. Zero turn, collect or blow out the side. 20hp twin Kohler engine, and hydrostatic drive i.e. you can have one wheel going forward and the other going in reverse and because it is a 3 wheeler you can turn on less than a sixpence - literally. But the deck is driven by a gearbox which means that the blades can be timed which is better than a belt drive insofar as there is only a very small amount of grass in the front and centre of the deck which isn't cut. But because the spiral bevel gear on the end of the input drive shaft and it's 90 degree mate are so small and are taking 20hp they are being asked to do an awful lot of work. I have only managed to keep it going this long because I am always checking the backlash, blade condition, oil level etc.

After buying it I discovered that it was the one model from this manufacturer that you shouldn't buy for the reasons stated above. That's what happens when you are buying blind at an auction ! I only cut about 2 acres a week which includes the lawns and a couple of small paddocks.

View attachment 58841

zero turn Scags - great weapons - no conversion to belt available Boyo ?? ...
got a Great Dane Super Surfer, stand on zero turn and it's a great tool - sadly no collector and although a mulching deck it still leaves a lot lying about ...
particularly wanted a stand on as baling out on a sit on was too 'sketchy' if in the tish ... just step off this ...... and I've had to a few times

I will not be letting SWMBO persuade me to leave this grow again this year, for the grandkids to have paths in the long grass to play in ... only got played in two or three times and the clear up took me an age

a cut after several weeks growth ... takes no prisoners, even in a foot of all sorts, but leaves a lot 'lying'

 

[V8Druid]

There is nothing wrong with the performance of this machine and when you consider that I bought it s/h 22 years ago I really don't think that I have done too badly out of the deal. Sure, there are mowers with better designs of deck drives now, from the same manufacturer and from others such as Walker etc. Very few, if any, of the machines that I have bought over the last 60+ years have been perfect, they very rarely are. But running costs are important and I can guarantee that I have spent very little on the mower since I bought it. There comes a time with all machines, if kept for any length of time, that they end up costing you money. I can honestly say that with the exception of fuel, oil, filters, etc. I haven't spent any more than £300 in 22 years on the machine (and that includes a new set of tyres all round) and with mowing 2 acres/week for 22 years I must have mowed getting on for something like 1000 acres if not more with it. I can live with that.

$50 / year ain't a bad return on the bits at circa $1000 to replace ... my Dane'll do maybe two deck belts a year/season and they'm IIRC 18 quid each

 

[Keif]

$50 / year ain't a bad return on the bits at circa $1000 to replace ... my Dane'll do maybe two deck belts a year/season and they'm IIRC 18 quid each

$60+ for a deck belt on any name brand z turn deck belt. My neighbors gravely is $115 for the big deck belt.

 

[V8Druid]

$60+ for a deck belt on any name brand z turn deck belt. My neighbors gravely is $115 for the big deck belt.

is that OE belts? ..... or do like I do and buy Fenner, or a.n.other recognised brand the right size

 

[Scraperman]

You know the machine and your usage, and obviously know your way around a set of spanners.
If these gears aren’t the thin edge of the wedge (ie other components aren’t equally worn/about to fail) then get the new parts bought and fitted. Hopefully you’ll get another 22 years out of the rest of it!

Getting the new parts bought is the whole problem. The problems have all been explained earlier. I am now trying to find a concern near to me in the U.K. who will make them for me. If I got another 22 years out of it I would also get the telegram from Buckingham Palace the same year.

 

[Scraperman]

zero turn Scags - great weapons - no conversion to belt available Boyo ?? ...
got a Great Dane Super Surfer, stand on zero turn and it's a great tool - sadly no collector and although a mulching deck it still leaves a lot lying about ...
particularly wanted a stand on as baling out on a sit on was too 'sketchy' if in the tish ... just step off this ...... and I've had to a few times

I will not be letting SWMBO persuade me to leave this grow again this year, for the grandkids to have paths in the long grass to play in ... only got played in two or three times and the clear up took me an age

a cut after several weeks growth ... takes no prisoners, even in a foot of all sorts, but leaves a lot 'lying'

I have investigated a belt conversion but I don't think anything was ever seen. There was a Walker that was almost identical and made about the same time and that was a belt driven deck but the shute going towards the box was all different. No doubt someone could have modified it but I was always very busy in those days and I wouldn't fancy such a project now. Your stand-on looks to be doing a good job but because I use mine to cut both sides of the farm drive, round the buildings and the lawn I need to collect. SWMBO (aka The Head Gardener) watches over me like a hawk. And plants things in the middle of the lawns - mowing them is like an obstacle race. The person who invented zero turn deserves a place in Heaven.

 

[Scraperman]

$50 / year ain't a bad return on the bits at circa $1000 to replace ... my Dane'll do maybe two deck belts a year/season and they'm IIRC 18 quid each

That's exactly what I thought especially bearing in mind the price of new these days.

 

[craig]

I am now trying to find a concern near to me in the U.K

Woollacott Gears – Precision Gear Cutting Services

Precision Gear Cutting is an essential process in industries that rely upon intricate mechanical systems.

woollacottgears.co.uk

You could speak to these

 

[Scraperman]

Woollacott Gears – Precision Gear Cutting Services

Precision Gear Cutting is an essential process in industries that rely upon intricate mechanical systems.

woollacottgears.co.uk

You could speak to these

Thank you for the link @craig. But I have had a big shock today. I found a gear making company not too far away who could make the gears and the shaft. They didn't reply to my 1st email so I sent it again and I got a "rough guide price" in return. £2,600.00 and I can hold the lot in one hand ! Something tells me they didn't want the job.