Need advice on a lawn mower

[Intheshop]

Clerestory's are cool.....that's sort of their mission.Look for images of railroad shops,along with early textile mills.They are an "active" system for extracting heat and fumes.

A spraybooth(doesn't need to be too big or expensive) that effectively takes up NO floor space........a loading dock,and an out of site shed/lean to roof system for "stuff",are several options that I'll never be without considering shop design.

Your air management and movement is the first priority,even before sq ftg.If it sucks to be in the shop.....uhh,what's the point?Best of luck with your build,BW

 

[KeithB]

If anyone is interested the address is 1919 Buchanan Road Evansville IN. When I type that into Google Earth it comes up within about 200 yds of the property. It does show topography well.

The following URL is the online map by the Vanderburgh County Assessor's Office. It shows the property boundary. The south side is 728' from the center of the road to the eastern border. The eastern border is 320', and the north side is 538' from the road to the eastern edge.

http://maps.evansvillegis.com/assessormap/?search=82-05-13-033-083.002-029&slayer=0&exprnum=1

(Just click on "Agree" on the opening screen)

You can match up the 2D assessors map image with the Google maps/earth image pretty easily. The north east corner of the property is in the flood plain and has a sewer easement. It is wooded and I plan to just leave it alone. The southern border is about 6' away and parallel to the driveway of my southern neighbor. My eastern neighbor is a piece of property owned by a guy that leases the right of way to the railroad. The northern edge is about where the trees intersect the road and butts up against city owned property in the flood plain. Western edge is the road and across the street is a nice little house on the hill. Buchanan Road basically runs around the base of the eastern side of the hill, where the land flattens out for several hundred yards and then drops off into the flood plain.

It's the biggest piece of commercial property left in the city limits, I have all city services - water, sewer, gas, electricity, cable internet - and I'm very close to major roads, but when I stand on the property I feel like I'm standing in a rural area. It's all trees and fields and nice middle class houses on the hillside across the road.

You can see the three buildings I plan to tear down, and the Google image shows the tilled fields on the southern half of the property.

My initial layout would be to orient the ridgeline east and west and put the building in the southeast corner of the property, with a drive coming in eastern edge (near neighbor's driveway), going around the building, and exiting near center of property. Doors would be on eastern end of building away from road. Storage along north side of building under eaves. Office and bathrooms on west end of building, bring in power and other services at point close to road to minimize cost. I don't want an entrance/exit too close to the northern side of property, there is a blind spot as you come south out of the tree-lined area of the roadway, trying to minimize traffic hazards.

So many good ideas here, so many things to think about!

 

[Brad]

How much snow/ice do you get in winter? South facing drive/doors benefit from direct sunlight in that kind of weather.

If you can find someone who will hay the land for you at no cost to you I would call that done.

Are you moving equipment yourself or hiring it out? Just wondering.

 

[Pistolero]

Amazing amount of info online these days.



So this existing "road", to left of fence, would be part of your proposed loop, and your building would be set well back, say
about where the existing metal building is on southern neighbor's place?

Sure doesn't look like "in the city". Can you shoot in the flood plain area?

Are you going to build a house there or just a shop and stay where you are?

Bill

 

[KeithB]

Winters have been warmer the last few years, not getting nearly as much snow and ice. Plan to orient doors and parking lot to south and east side of building. Posted notice at local farm Co-op for haying/mowing. Clerk said I should call county agriculture agent and share info with him/her.

Met southern neighbor today, just wanted to let them know what was going to happen next door. Seemed like nice folks, they pointed out various property features to me.

Plan to have professional machinery riggers move all equipment. I still have enough ties to University that I can tap into labor pool of engineering/technology students who want to make a few bucks, they can move all the smaller stuff. I have a pickup truck, Chrysler minivan, and an 8' trailer so it will be no problem moving tools and material. Also have folding cherry picker, hydraulic (manual) lift platform, several two wheel dollies, and four furniture dollies to handle stuff with.

 

[KeithB]

The road in your photo would be about where the northern end of the driveway would be. The southern end would be next door to my southern neighbor's driveway. The dilapidated lean-to type building on the right is about where I would put the new structure, only a little closer to the road. The further from the road the more it will cost to hook up utilities.

The white pole barn on my neighbor's property there is about halfway back to the property line. From the road the eastern tree/property line seems like its a long way away!

Can't shoot firearms in city so no guns but 200+ yds for archery is a definite go. And I'm sure I could shoot airguns outside. (After my long recovery from health issues I think it would be good upper body exercise to get back into archery.)

I'd love to subdivide property and build house there but wife doesn't like idea so for now it's a no-go. Once I get shop stuff out of garage we can think about building a single floor house somewhere and sell the one we live in.

 

[freebullet]

That looks like a real nice place to set up shop, Keith.

Bill mentioned propane & I thought you may be interested that some cities have loopholes regarding propane. Here for example you don't need a permit to install a propane tank less than 500 gal.

Lots of 499 gal propane tanks feeding shops around because it works out much cheaper in most cases. Just something to consider.

You could have a really nice archery/airgun range there.

 

[Gary]

That's inside city limits; talk about urban sprawl. Of course if they supply you with city utilities, should be ok. I live just under a two mile radius from city limits and there's talk about extending the city boundries for tax purposes, but not utilities. Everyone''s city needs money these days. To much "socialism" already.

 

[Bret4207]

Speaking as both a farmer and a cheapskate, the $6-10K you'll spend on a new zero turn would not be the way I'd go. I'd look for an older 35-45 hp farm tractor and put a 6 foot finish mower behind it. Even going through a dealer you'd have a much longer lasting unit for a lot less money. Something like a Massey 135, gas or diesel, would do you fine. Plus you can push snow, grade your driveway, run a PTO generator, drill or drive post holes, add a front loader, etc., and you'll probably get just as much or more out of the tractor itself as you paid for it. Good quality used implements hold their value too. New implements are like new cars, worth half as much as new the moment it gets off the lot.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[KeithB]

Brett, I appreciate your opinion. My options list from most to least desirable goes something like this:

1. Get somebody else to mow it in exchange for farming bulk of ground.

2. Pay somebody to mow it.

3. Buy mower/tractor and do it myself.

I'm resisting the "buy a toy" option. The most productive use of my limited capabilities is making machined parts, not mowing the grass. As I think about it though there is a lot of property to deal with, and having a multi-purpose tool such as a farm tractor might come in handy. I could always pay somebody else to use it.

Would a tractor the size you are talking about be large enough to break up/till the ground to plant a small garden? We stopped gardening when it became impossible for me to walk behind a tiller. That might warm my wife up to the place a little bit.

 

[Bret4207]

You could absolutely do a garden with a tractor that size. And do the bulk of the cultivating while the plants are small/short and some harvesting depending on what you grow and how much of it, ie- potato digging. However, if mobility is an issue, the raised bed system is the clear winner by leaps and bounds. No tractor/tiller required after installation. Might be worth a look.

 

[KeithB]

My wife mostly planted tomatoes, squash and cucumbers, various peppers, and at times lettuce, cabbage, broccoli and brussell sprouts. We don't can so all we plant is enough to eat right away and share with friends, of course until now we really haven't had the space on our residential city lot to plant much more than that.

Once the ground is broken up we have a Mantis tiller that is real handy to break up the top surface and get at the weeds in the rows. I doubt that any garden we would plant would be more than 25'-30' square. We have enough friends that are hard core gardeners and small farmer types that we can get all the corn, green beans, pumpkins, watermelons, and potatoes we can eat, so it doesn't really make much sense for us to grow them.

I'm going to call local ag agent office Monday and ask some questions and see what they have to say.

 

[Brad]

I agree Keith. Ideal is having someone do it for hay at no cost.
Even if it cost you to have it mowed you eliminate the cost of a mower, maintenance, and your time. A mower also needs some sort of a storage site.

 

[Bret4207]

Brad has a real good point. A mower/tractor of any type is a significant investment and if that isn't your primary residence, theft becomes a real concern.

 

[Intheshop]

A word of warning.....

Given a nice older resto'd tractor,with matched implementation,and even a moderate amt of energy,a pce of property can be transformed into what most only dream of.Just sayin,I've had several "classic" tractors over the years....they come and go but,the work they produce is,or can be jaw dropping.

Speaking of flooded small stands of woods....

The best,by far,3D archery range the Smith bros shot this year was appropriately called the,"pig pen".Think calf deep standing water.With barely distinguished paths,and that's being polite.Uhhh,you miss and,you will be testing those waterproof boots you bought?The shots ranged from 15-40 yds.Maybe,a total of 20 targets...most in sets of three's.One in this mud hole,his buddies laughing whilst themselves staged in other water hazzard'ry.

I got lucky and spoke to the 30 sumthin guy who set up the shoot....hey,age and treachery....so,smoked it HARD.To include a 40 yd "10" shot through a forked tree.The bros ended up pulling all my arrows.So Keith,you could really set up a nice bow range in that patch of woods.

We shot the pig pen in a driving rainstorm.It was up in the Pa. mnts.Start looking around for a clean used tractor.My last one took two years to find the deal.

 

[Bret4207]

Re- "Classic" tractors. Those considering going this route, please accept this well intentioned advice. Don't bother with the "N" series Fords, the 9N,2N,8N or NAA. Just trust me. Yeah, they're cute, simple, non-threatening, parts abound for them and there are thousands out that being sold at about 3-6x what they are worth. They are a $1k-1.5K tractor IF they have good rubber. Go into the Hundred series or Thousand series Fords,(600, 800, 2000, 3000, 4000), you have a whole 'nuther animal. The N series were built cheaply to overwhelm the market and their sole redeeming quality is that 3 pt hitch. Ford did succeed in that respect, wiping out all the other proprietary implement systems of the time. Yes, the N series are great little raking tractors or to tow a light wagon with. But for less money you can get a better tractor from the same era with the 3pt in the Ferguson TO-20 or 30. Or go a few years newer and seek out a Massey Ferguson 50/35/135, a Case 430/530, an Allis D14/15, Oliver 550, Deere 420, IHC 300/350 or any other make/model with a standardized 3 pt., live PTO, live hydraulics, standard 1 3/8 pto shaft and maybe even power steering! Just trust me and leave the N Fords, the McCormick F12's and W6's, the Case CC's, the Deere B's, the Silver Kings and CO-Op's, etc to the collectors and pullers. You want something to use with modern implements, then look for something from about mid 50's or newer. I can tell you this comes from per$$$$onal experience.

 

[Intheshop]

I had an 8N,about the only good thing about it was,sold it for a nice profit.The brakes simply don't work.And I went pretty far getting them working,even better than from the factory,new.

It's very similar to vintage shop equipment in that,there's a lot more to "rebuilding" or "restoration" than a cpl cans of rustoleum.Meaning,you have to do your research.Relying on an owners enthusiasm,well intentioned or not,may not be the straight dope.

 

[KeithB]

I was at the property the other day showing it to my BIL and the seller showed up to mow the grass. First time I met him, seems like a nice guy. He uses a Ferris zero turn rider with what looked like about a 60" deck. Looked well used but it started and ran fine. A former colleague of mine who taught small engine repair classes and fixed mowers privately and for several local repair shops as a side hustle recommended I look for a used Ferris.

Any experience with Ferris mowers? There is a local outdoor equipment place that carries the Ferris product line. It's a five minute drive down the road so I may drop in and see what they have to offer, maybe talk to them about used equipment or trade-ins and end of year close outs. We're getting close to the end of the mowing season, another month or two and we will be past the worst of it. If I had to I could probably pay the seller to come mow it a couple times after the sale.

I have a call in to the local school corporation's ag technology director. Would be willing to let them use land for test plantings and such in return for grounds maintenance. Also have calls in to local Purdue ag extension agent and the Indiana county ag agent, waiting for call backs.

 

[Pistolero]

No experience with Ferris, but a quick look at them online shows a really hell for stout framed commercial grade mower with
two things that jump out, good things. First, like my Great Dane, the mower deck hangs below the frame, so is
adjustable for height without screwing around trying to move the wheels. The other is a front suspension ---- my
Dane Super Surfer has no suspension, and on rough ground you have to slow down. The lack of suspension on
all others that I have seen is one reason why I prefer the stander - use knees for suspension. The solid axle type
with only a seat suspended are hard on my back when sitting and running on rough ground. So for a sitter, that
front suspension is a plus. Wow. A careful look at the photos shows a rear suspension, too. THAT is a big
plus for comfort on rough ground. I like it!

It has a transaxle, which I have mixed feelings about. My unit is made up of industry standard variable displacement
hydraulic pumps and industry standard hydraulic motors. Two pumps, two motors, belt to drive the pumps, and hoses
to and from the pumps and motors. Simple, open for access to repair/replace. If one motor or pump craps out,
you replace that separate unit, easy, any backyard mech can do it. A unified transaxle has all of that built into a
casing. If it craps out, I expect that it is work for a specialized shop, and cost BIG $$$. Now maybe they never
crap out, I have a John Deere 425 tractor with this sort of system, not zero turn, so only single pump inside, where
a zero should have two, although maybe they do some fancy valving inside the transaxle to get zero turn with one pump.
In any case, single big closed unit vs separate pieces linked with hoses.......I like the separate pieces, but my JD 425 has been
trouble free, although it has some seals on the control shafts that need replacing this winter, starting to drop oil.

The page I looked at said you could get a Vanguard (?) or Kawasaki motor. My experience is that the Kaws
are good engines, well engineered, will last if you feed them clean gas and change the oil and filter. No idea
about Vanguard, never heard of them. Might be Rolls Royce, or Briggs and Stratton, but I just don't know.
Probably somebody here knows about Vanguard motors.

Looks like a really strong chassis, with full suspension, both real pluses. Good motors in the Kaws, maybe their
unitized transaxle is wonderful, don't know. This is the modern trend.

Bill

 

[Bret4207]

Vanguard is a Briggs commercial product. I put one in my skid steer. Seems pretty good to me.