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I just wanted to mow the grass......


WFarm

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My wife and I live on a 144 acre farm with maybe 4-5 acres we mow. The areas to be mowed are scattered about the place - the yard, an empty lot, around the barn and arenas etc. Back a few years ago I went to Lowes to buy a mower to go along with an ancient Sears (LT10-36) mower. I picked up a Husqvarna, and thats when this all started. :DFor every hour I mowed with the Husqvarna, twice that many hours were needed to fix it, along with parts. Finally it died dead and I sold it for parts. I then went shopping for a "real" mower - heavy, commercial, old, something as different from a Lowes Husqvarna as I could find. At a local JD dealer i found a 2001 Kubota diesel mower with a 54" deck. The hydro-gear was shot but the diesel engine was great and the thing was built like a tank, so I bought it and rebuilt the hydro, replacing both worn out pumps. We call it "The Beast". The wife was a bit intimidated by The Beast, so I said I'd look for something a little smaller and simpler. Saw an ad for a old riding mower nearby and went to look at it. It was a Simplicity 6011. It ran but definitely needed some TLC. I knew little about Simplicity's but a co-worker said they could withstand nuclear blasts and with a name like that it had to be simple, so I bought it. And the obsession began. We now own two old Simplicity tractors, the 6011 and an adorable 717 the wife named " 'Mater" after the Cars character. She nicknamed the 6011 Walle after the little Disney robot and got a Walle hood ornament for him. (magnet mounted!) I work on restoring vintage machines for a living and love to tinker and use these old Simplicity mowers. Just finished rebuilding the engine on the 6011, updated the ignition, rebuilt the deck, new belts and blades and a bit of restoration, including a set of new chrome hubcaps as the old ones looked like hell. They won't be show machines as both are used all the time around the farm. Anyway, I thought I'd join the group and share, as I have been watching and learning here for a while now.

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Welcome to the club. This is how it usually starts one follows ya home then another and so on. Pair of nice lookin tractors and you've won most of the battle having wife interested.

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Great Intro! Welcome to the club. Where in the world did you get new hubcaps? I'm looking for a set for my broadmoor!

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At first I priced getting the old ones repaired and re-chromed, but when you get to paying a man for the time to do the repairs and then the re-chroming, I was around 80-100 bucks per cap. So I did an Ebay search and finally after months several sets came up from a defunct dealer inventory and I snatched them up. NOS Simplicity, about $27.00 a pair. Bought two pair of 6" for both the 6011 and the 717 front wheels and a pair of 10" for the 6011 rear.

Finally broke down last month and sent the rear set for the 717 (8 inch) off to be repaired/re-chromed. Expensive but they look great now.

Now I mow in fear of scratching them. sm06

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Another member with the sicknesssm00 Welcome aboard my friend...you will fit in perfectly with the rest of us who are recovering tractorholics.sm02Some of us are better at fighting off the bug then others but we all share the same passion for this hobby!

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Welcome! I fear the day I branch out from 7100/900 tractors because it will just make the downhill slide even faster.

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Welcome aboard!

You have a nice couple of tractors. Sure look in good shape after you have given them the TLC they needed.

I just got a B-110, and would certainly like a B-112 - guess you can see a pattern of us on this forum, huh?

(oh, I also have a B-207, and a large unit - a 620 - which is similar to a small Kubota - but about 40 years older!)

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Hi WFarm! I have been singing the praises of my 6011 for 15 years. It started my Simplicity habit. If you want to see a pic of my 6011 go to SimpletrACtors.com and look in the gallery. Kent posted pics for me 15 years ago. I still can't post here today cause I exclusively use a smartphone now. I make up for it by posting tons on SimpletrACtors Facebook page. Good luck with your machines.

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I found those pictures a few years ago when I bought the tractor and started my Simplicity education! Love them!

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