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New Mowing Experience, 17GTH-L before/after


Chris727

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Hi. I just got the Soveriegn into mowable condition today and thought I'd share some pics. Here is a pic when I first bought it.

The tractor was in rough shape, the KT17 had 1 blown rod. The deck had weeds growing out of it.

Over the course of the last year or so I had installed a 16hp Briggs into the tractor, and kept the KT for a later rebuild. The deck was rusting under the topcovers and had rusted a few pin holes around the outer arbors, otherwise it was still pretty rigid. It was straightened then sandblasted.

The pitted areas were primed with DuPont self etching primer. It was painted with PPG Omni acrylic enamel. Cost ended up being about the same as factory paint. I was unable to have the original paint computer matched because it was powder coat so I had the paint made to match Duplicolor DE1607 Chevy Orange. This way I can add hardener and it will be better than spray cans for large areas while small parts and touch ups can be done with easily obtainable cans.

The bottom of the deck was painted with rustoleom primer and then covered with wallyworld orange, I figured it would all wear off anyway. I didn't get around to painting the baffle:(

Here it is ready to mow!

The left side looks better than the right. I had taken the hood decal off when trying to find unfaded paint. There was also I suspect fire damage to the decal which had burnt the paint underneath. This also damaged the seat but I plan on replacing the seat and repainting the whole tractor later. Now for how it works: I mowed with it tonight and it performed well. This is my first machine with a hydro trans and hydro lift. I started small with an AC homesteader w/36" then a B110 w/42", then a 3410 w/42" and most of this year I was using a 1960 Simplicity 700 w/42" deck. The Sov. is a big improvement because of the lack of constant clutching and braking and the extra 6 inches on the deck is a big reduction on mowing time. I mow about 3-1/4 acres. I also like the seat with springs. It is much more comfortable than the 700's piece of foam from a boat seat sitting on a metal fender w/old T-nuts sticking up, after 2 or 3 hours of mowing it was very uncomfortable. The 48" deck works well, in deep grass I have to go slower or it will miss a little strip, and it scalps more than the 42. The only thing that I don't like is that the sov is a little harder to steer and seems to need power steering, I greased all of the grease fittings so thats not the problem. I think the turf mates ( dog bone tread) tires may be partly to blame. The B-110 has wide turf tires on the front and it is not hard to steer, nor are my other RBT's w/ studded tires. My old 700 was the easiest to steer of all. Overall I'm very pleased. I want to thank Bill(PhanDad), Al, and all others who helped me with info on the briggs conversion. Thank You! (I had lost most of my post after hitting the wrong button:(! so that is why at first this was a partially completed post) Chris
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Make sure you jack up the front end when greasing the front spindles so grease comes out the bottom. That helped the steering on my 716H a fair bit.
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Great looking paint on the deck, looks like nice job on engine, looking forward to seeing pics of the whole rig.
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Nice looking rig you got going there. Did you grease the stearing gear at the bottom of the shaft? I also use penetrating oil at the top of the steering column (with the small spray extension on), this allows oil to dribble down the shaft and lube any sticky areas down the shaft. I also spray the bottom of the steering shaft and steering gears with penetrating oil. I like the idea of jacking the tractor up and make sure grease comes out the bottom. JH
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Looks great Chis; super paint job. You can paint for me anytime. ;) FYI, a "front/back" stone guard is still available for that deck (assuming it's a 1691219). It's part number 1677261. It's required for mounting the turbo blower, but I like it for mowing also - it runs straight down the mouth of the deck and ties the front and back of the deck together. I didn't get my deck shell completely "straight" when I "refurbished", so I have to use a spacer on the back connection to prevent blade interference.
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