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close second to Simplicity


rokon2813

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Mowed the whole lawn yesterday with a 1970 Sears Suburban Custom 7. No pretty stripes but it sure did a nice job for an antique. It has to be as close as Ive seen to the quality of a Simp or A/c mower. It also is semi free floating. It hangs on 4 arms that are free to rise up with 2 wheels on the ground so it follows the contours instead of scalping like all the new stuff. Also rides better with the old tractor style spring steel seat mount. The little 7 hp could use some help but it is original. And its a foot dragger. All in all its close but still not orange or yellow.
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Yes i think you said it Right close 2nd.. LOL There's a Few close second's but still not a Simplicity... LOL...
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Read this link- http://www.simpletractors.com/club2/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=17250 Dutch summed it up pretty good.
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The only tractors that come close to a Simplicity are, in no particular order: 1. Any Allis-Chalmers, Deutz-Allis, Agco-Allis or Agco 2. New Massey-Fergusons 3. The very oldest Montgomery Wards 4. An oddball JC Penney Everything else is just a lawn tractor, garden tractor, or a lawn mower... :D
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  • 5 weeks later...
I do love the Simplicity tractors. I wonder if that is why I own 5 of them. But the Old Sears Tractors are alot of fun also. Like the Simplicity, they has some steel on them. The transmissions were tough, the engines were built to last. The mowers were quite heavy and had quite a bit of freedom when it came to following the contours. Only problem was the color. I like orange-red
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The Sears Suburban you are talking about was built by Roper. They are strong, well built tractors. I have a 12 Hp version sitting in my back yard. They can be a pain to work on, and the mowers are a pain to keep in adjustment. Also, because of the four bar front linkage, the mowers move only up and down, but will not allow one side to come up farther that the other. The mower will get you stuck easily on rough ground. I can use the 48 inch Simplicity mower in places that I couldn't mow with the Sears because the mower would lift one side of the tractor and get is stuck. The Sears tractor is temporarily dead since the ignition died and Tecumseh no longer makes it. Be back up and running when I get time to mount the Kohler in place of the Tecumseh. They may be a somewhat close second to Simplicity/AC in drivability, but are nowhere close on reliability or maintenance. Front axles and steering tends to wear much more and have more problems than Simplicity. Belts are also much more difficult to deal with, and removal and re-attachment of the mower can be a real chore. It doesn't appear that way till you have to do it.
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Rod I can have my mower off or on in about 3 minutes on the custom 7. Pull the four clips on the lower end of the mount bars and drop the belt, lay down 2 boards and back off the deck. I leave the lift and the 4 lift bars on the tractor. Also mine does float side to side also. Im not sure what you mean by 4 bar front linkage, mine has 2 front and 2 rear. Basically one on each corner. Maybe I'm missing something but it mows great or maybe the smaller tractor is easier to deal with.
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Dan, Mine had an upper and a lower on each side of the front. This makes four and binds up rather than rotate. It is also very difficult to hook up all four bars without help because the bottom bars are in tension and the top ones are in compression. And I know that my tractor was made by Roper.
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Rod, Replacing the engine due to no spark? How about an external coil setup or adding one of those electronic modules talked about in another post?
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John, No points on this engine to use with an external coil or to replace with the electronic unit that Dutch is talking about in the other post. Another member is working up a design using a small sensor and a Chrysler electronic ignition module. The cost of these parts is more than I feel the Tecumseh engine is worth. I'd rather have a Kohler or a B/S, and I currently have the extra 12 Hp Kohler. Gonna take a little engineering, since it is off of a Cub Cadet and they don't use flat bottom engines. Mounting ears are up on the side about 2 inches above the bottom of the oil pan. Oh, Well, I'm going to put a front end loader on that tractor anyway when I get the time to build it. Mounting the engine is a small thing compared to the loader, the power steering, and the AC410 front axle that I'm putting into this tractor. Guess maybe when I'm finished this one can be called a "Sears-Allis"
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I have a B2400 Kubota (hey its orange) along with my 11 AC/Sims and it mows very close to the "Simplicity cut", it stripes the lawn too! It has a full floating deck.
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quote:
Originally posted by Kent
The only tractors that come close to a Simplicity are, in no particular order: 1. Any Allis-Chalmers, Deutz-Allis, Agco-Allis or Agco 2. New Massey-Fergusons 3. The very oldest Montgomery Wards 4. An oddball JC Penney Everything else is just a lawn tractor, garden tractor, or a lawn mower... :D
#5 Wheel Horse:D
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He forgot the oddball Homelite too ;);) Wheel Horse do seem to run nearly as long and have just as many implements available:D}:)
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My grandad has a wheel horse and I wouldn't give you a swift kick in the behind for it. Engines in sideways, belts around corners, belts you can't get to without an hours worth of work. Not to mention some very poor engineering.
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quote:
Originally posted by iweld
My grandad has a wheel horse and I wouldn't give you a swift kick in the behind for it. Engines in sideways, belts around corners, belts you can't get to without an hours worth of work. Not to mention some very poor engineering.
Hmmmmmmmmmm..... I have about the exact opposite opinioin as you do. Been running the 1973 and newer models since 1991 and only ever broke two belts, compared to a half dozen or more Simplicity belts in half the time period. Ever try changing a hydro belt on a Simplicity??? Never taken more than 10 minutes to change a belt on a Horse. Besides I'd rather change a belt in an hours time than have to spend 4 hours breaking down a tractor and rebuilding a bevel gear box..... I always thought the engineering was pretty good, easy to work on, easy to service. They also re-sell well
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Wheel Horse USED TO BE the local made product around here until Toro got involved a few years ago. The WheelHorse built tractors are tough tractors.I don't know much about the Toro built ones. I've heard there was some sort of agreement when Toro bought them to keep the WheelHorse name for a certain number of years.I look for that agreement to expire,and the name to be lost.
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At the time of the take over Wheel Horse was making the 300,400 and maybe the 500 series tractors which are basically the same frame as what was made from 1973 on up using all the same attachments. Toro contued thses series calling them the "Classic". They quit making the Hydro versions of the Classic about 1997 and I have heard said that this is about the last year for the Gear drive classic too. Now its all Psuedo stamped steel frame machines using some of the old WHeel Horse inovations like the Quick-Tach system. The new cheapened up tractors with a big price tag don't exite me, just as when Simplicity dropped the Soveriegn in favor of their new wonders. I'm not interested in buying new anymore.
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Naaa, not badmouthing anything. I just don't care for the new stuff on the market, regardless of brand name.
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  • 4 weeks later...
Pouring rain today. Been raining every day. Didn't want to screw up the Simplicity. Called on the Toro 8-32, between raindrops, to cut 2 1/2 wet acres. It soldiers on, doing yeomen's service, despite scarce appreciation. It's brushhogged pastures, cut grass on rainy days, almost been sold, too many times. Got a good wash, clean, and blow dry today. Like the 87 year old man, who smoked and drank to excess, "If I'd only known I'd live this long, I would have taken better care." A
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Boney-foot draggers gots no place to put yer feet8I don't know how they do it?maybe somebody will tell us...can't imagine just letting your feet "hang" or "drag" for all the time it takes to mow a decent size lawn?8D
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