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New to Forum, but just picked up a Landlord DLX


bnolte

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New to this forum, but this is my second Simplicity, my first was a Sunrunner. Got a good deal on it, 345 hours on the meter and a 2004 Vanguard 18 under the hood, with a snow plow, wheel weights, and chains for a couple hundred more than a grand. Everything works, but I need to make a few makeshift wiring repairs more permanent, and I would really like to track down an operators and/or service manual for it. Anyway, off to do some mowing!!
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Thanks, I mowed the whole lawn today with it for the first time, it is a definite upgrade over my 1973 vintage yellow and white tractor.
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Congrats on the purchase! The DLX was the most improved version of the Landlord, with foot controls, beverage holder, bumper, etc. I have the older version and love it. The 50" deck cuts great!
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Simple Kid: I do have a soft spot for old Cub Cadets. The tractor in the background is a 129, which dates to between 1971 and 1974 and has been my workhorse for about the last 5 years, at least when I wasn't working on it. It was pretty much built up from junk, it should have been a parts tractor for something else, but I fixed it up and even added a hydraulic lift from an engineless 1650 roller. I am pretty much an expert working on old Cubs. I also have a 102 that I did a nice restoration on a couple years ago, that has a few parts from the 102 I grew up with. The new to me Simplicity mowed great, but it seems like the hydraulic lift tops out about 2 1/2 inches or so. I suspect I may have to shorten the lift chain a link or so, but I still need to download a manual for it. Here is the serial # tag, I tried the Simplicity website with 1693382, but nothing comes up. I also have a picture of my restored 102 as it looked at the Arcadia MD Steam Show last September.




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welcome to the club. a simplicity is the best mowing tractor there is. and i have had alot of different brands. i hated my cub 129 for mowing. they have no turning radius . guess good for open areas but they are still tough tractors. i do miss my cub original .
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Perry, I have to agree with you on their mowing quality. I have a mix of terrain in my yard of between 2 1/2 and 3 acres, the front is mostly wide open spaces, the back has 7 100 foot long grape trellises and is dotted with small trees, bushes, a fenced in garden, plus well and propane tank caps. Running the perimeter, the Cub can probably keep up with the Simplicity, unless the grass was thick, then it was advantage Simplicity. Working around fences, trees, or making sharp corners, it was no contest! I knocked a half hour off my mowing time, and even though I was racing to beat a storm, the lawn looked professionally groomed when I was done. sm03 I had just rebuilt the engine on the 129 (Stens master rebuild kit, .020 overbore, and valve seats ground) and while the engine started up and ran strong I was confronted by a malfunctioning governor. It turned out to be a missing spacer between the block and the governor gear, but it took me 3 teardowns to realize itdz. In my frustration, I remarked to my Dad that I had half a mind to just go out and drop a bundle on a new or good used zero turn. He kind of agreed,and was willing to kick in a bit as a birthday present. A good used Exmark was the object of my desire, all the landscapers around here use them, and I have a servicing dealer only a couple of miles away, but anything that wasn't a walk behind and had less than 2000 hours was way out of my price range. Dad and I got the motor humming on the 129, and I had sort of resigned myself to tinkering with the Cub for another 5 years when I checked Craigslist on Monday, and found not one but two Landlords within an hour of my house that were low hours and around $1200. The guy I brought it from was a self-described Simplicity fan, and has a Broadmoor for his own use, and was fixing up another to resell. The only misgiving I have is that the nearest dealer is about 45 minutes away, so hopefully I won't need him too often.
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Use the MFG #, not the package number on the manual web site. From the pic of the label, I tried 1693379 and manuals for a Landlord DLX do come up - hopefully the correct model of your "new" tractor.
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I have an 18hp Vanguard on my John Deere GT235 and they are one smooth running motor. Still use the 65AC more often to cut the lawn because its just looks so much nicer when done.
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I read through the owners manual and oiled a bunch of places it recommended, and decided to tackle some rough grass that borders the private road across the lane. All was going well, but I had experienced an intermittent problem with the electric PTO, though everything checked out electrically, it would sometimes refuse to pull in. The PO told me he had a similar problem with it, and he indicated he thought the problem was electrical in nature, and thought it was fixed when he sold it to me, having replaced the switch and repaired a connector. I have had experience with magnetic clutches in the past, and knew the air gap between the plates was critical. Though I hadn't read the section on the PTO adjustment yet, I saw that the gap was adjustable, so I turned each adjusting nut in about 1/4 turn. With the ignition on and the engine not running, I was able to determine that I had fixed the problem, after operating the switch about 100 times or so without a misfire. With the engine running the mower engages and disengages cleanly, though it makes a bit of racket as it disengages. Next chance I get, I will fine tune it with the feeler gauges.sm01
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The manual I came up with covered a broad range of model numbers, and 1693382 was in the midst of this range. Since there are a number of possible configurations (different engines, lifts, etc) the manual covered them all, but the manual gave clear explanations on all but rebuilding major components.
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  • 2 weeks later...
I had a chance to go over the Landlord DLX a bit today, mainly I wanted to check out the condition of the mower deck and clean the underside of it. I found the usual caked on grass clippings, which I attacked with the pressure washer. The baffles were in good shape, but there was a fair amount of rust scale, especially in the area around the center blade. At some point, I will have to take the deck apart and sandblast and repaint it. The original paint on top was also loose in spots, I pressure washed as much off as I could, and when things dried out I hit the remaining rust and loose paint with an air powered die grinder equipped with an abrasive disk. The metal underneath was sound, so for the time being I painted the rusty spots with Valspar Red Oxide Primer.


While the mower deck was off, I took the opportunity to check the underside of the tractor. For the most part, everything looked good, there was fresh grease in all the right places. There was one place that I decided to pay particular attention to:


The bushing looks okay, but being a newcomer to Simplicity tractors, the bushing seems like it is built a little llght. I noticed no sign of recent lubrication, so I worked some heavy oil into the bushing. Do the older Landlords have a heavier part, and is this a trouble spot?
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