# Is this mower worth fixing?



## GravleyGirl

Hello, I just joined this forum because I have been having a series of problems with a Gravely Promaster 350 (1999) lawn tractor, which we have owned and used for about a year. 
When we bought it it had about 175 hours on it and in that time we've put about 25 more hours on it. During that time we've had four failures, one mildly catastrophic and two highly catastrophic. These were, in order, a spark plug electrode fusing, the PTO clutch bearing failure, the PTO switch breaking (a relatively mild concern), and now the engine has "self destructed" (the drive shaft seal has failed, throwing metal shavings throughout the rest of the engine).
The cost of a new engine is about $2500 with labor. The total amount of money we already have in the mower is about the same. It's a 21 horsepower, water-cooled, Kawasaki twin (and we have been unable to locate a rebuilt engine for it). 
The question is, on the basis of Gravely/Promaster model worth/quality, is this mower worth fixing?
I appreciate any advice or opinions. The family is stuck on what to do next with this mower after so many things have already gone wrong.


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## Hoodoo Valley

Welcome to the forum! Well, in my opinion, for the $2500, you can get a decent used or new mower. Seems though, that you could get another motor for cheaper even if you had to do some adapting.


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## Mickey

Don't know anything about Gravely so can't comment on their qlty or value.

To me, $2500 to replace the engine is a little too steep. Anyone with mechanical skills that can help with the fix?

Took a quick look and found Kawisaki vert shaft engines in the $1200 - $1400 range. Believe these were for air cooled models. Would also think one could buy a short block that needed all the bolt on stuff be swapped out for a less money.

If you have to pay for all the work and pay their asking price for the engine as well, it may turn out it's not worth the cost to fix. Sell it for a parts tractor and use the proceeds to apply towards a different tractor. Not a good choice for a tractor with so few hrs on it.

These engines were found in several brands. Shouldn't be hard to find a shop that can make repairs. Maybe you can find a better deal.


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## dangeroustoys56

Id just look for a tractor on craigslist with a twin cylender motor ( you didnt mention about a horizontal or verticle shaft) and swap motors- I bot a 18.5HP verticle shaft opposed twin MTD for $50 and a GTII horizontal shaft opposed twin 18HP for $75 - took some work getting them running ( wernt running when purchased)- but were cheep enough to purchase n see.

If youre tired of throwing money at it, then sell it as is and buy another tractor.


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## GravelyNut

ProMaster 350s are a high end machine to start with. Engines for them are not as easy to find as they used Yanmar, Kubota, and Kawasaki engines. New mowers of that type were 10K plus when new.


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## Hoodoo Valley

If I had it, and I wish I did, I'd make this a diesel conversion! Now that would be super cool!


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## GravelyNut

tractor beam said:


> If I had it, and I wish I did, I'd make this a diesel conversion! Now that would be super cool!


Gravely did just that. Called them PM 400s.


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## Country Boy

If you have need of a commercial machine like the PM 350, I'd say fix it. You won't find a new or nearly new commercial zero turn mower for $2500. If you just want a big deck, but don't have acres and acres of grass to mow, you'd probably be better off getting a high end consumer unit. Ariens had a 60" Max Zoom this year for $4999. Uses the same deck as the Gravely. Or, you could get a Gravely unit that's exactly the same except for paint color for a bit more. Ariens owns Gravely, so many of their consumer machines are identical except for paint. I work for an Ariens dealer, and I worked at Ariens for a while as well. We'd just swap out paint carts to go from one brand to the other. Commercial level stuff is a whole different ball game. Ariens is going to have a commercial unit this year based on a Ever Ride or Great Dane unit (they bought those companies out as well), but I have no idea as to price or size yet.


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## dangeroustoys56

What sounds funny to me is that such a high end commercial mower would blow an engine with such low hours and had that many issues.....


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## GravelyNut

dangeroustoys56 said:


> What sounds funny to me is that such a high end commercial mower would blow an engine with such low hours and had that many issues.....


Mower is 11 years old. Hour meter could have been replaced. Or it sat alot which can be bad for them also.


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## Country Boy

The PTO clutch bearing failing is pretty common, no matter the brand. Its a sealed bearing that is staked into the clutch backing plate. If that bearing overheats or gets dry, it will start to fail, causing excess heat buildup and melting the coil windings attached to the backing plate. Could have simply gotten a bad bearing from new. Seen that happen more than once. 

What interests me is this:


> and now the engine has "self destructed" (the drive shaft seal has failed, throwing metal shavings throughout the rest of the engine)


A seal failing won't cause metal shavings to go anywhere. The seal could have failed and the oil level got too low, causing a case of insufficient lubrication, which would cause metal shavings to be produced. That's generally a case of operator error, though, because checking the oil before running it would have indicated a leak. Even if the seal failed catastrophically while running, it would take a very long time for the oil to leak out to cause a full engine meltdown. You'd notice things like a slipping belt, oil on the muffler smoking, etc, long before it would seize.


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## dangeroustoys56

GravelyNut: I have lawntractors way older then that and have sat in weeds up past the hood for years not running , some even were full of water , after cleaning them up they run fine - Ive never had a motor let go on me.

Country Boy: reminds me about this lady that i worked with years ago - she bot this used car, drove it an hour to work, and half way home the motor nearly blew up because she never checked the oil before driving it the first time.

I got this one tractor from a guy around the corner- he said " i was mowing and it just quit" - i checked the oil and... there wasnt any - after i took the pan off, there was maybe a teaspoon of oil left in it. There were no holes in the block when the rod let loose- just those pesky metal shavings and chunks of the rod ..... 

I make it a habit to check the oil in my tractors before i use them ( even tho none leak/use any) - it also tells me when the oil needs to be changed by its color ( have too many to keep track of) .


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## oldtom

can go see buying out of china"" look alike 273 cylinders yammars diesel engines for very little the 1cly i got for less that $400.00 and that was with its air ticket out and at that cost Ican replace it evey year so far its two years old paint felloff finish on alua casting not as flash as in from japon but only has to run not for show


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## Hoodoo Valley

.......Pictures?


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## Richard-tx

Country Boy said:


> A seal failing won't cause metal shavings to go anywhere.



Agreed. There is something else afoot here.


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## Richard-tx

If you are thinking about selling it, you certainly won't get any thing close to what you have in it. Until the cause of the engine failure is determined I would not proceed with any repairs or even a future purchase. I have a feeling it was run without oil or some other failure occurred. I find it hard to believe that a crankshaft seal caused the engine to fail...but anything is possible.


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## johndear

I did a similar resoration and found a touchup site for tractor paint.


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## willy81

GravleyGirl said:


> Hello, I just joined this forum because I have been having a series of problems with a Gravely Promaster 350 (1999) lawn tractor, which we have owned and used for about a year.
> When we bought it it had about 175 hours on it and in that time we've put about 25 more hours on it. During that time we've had four failures, one mildly catastrophic and two highly catastrophic. These were, in order, a spark plug electrode fusing, the PTO clutch bearing failure, the PTO switch breaking (a relatively mild concern), and now the engine has "self destructed" (the drive shaft seal has failed, throwing metal shavings throughout the rest of the engine).
> The cost of a new engine is about $2500 with labor. The total amount of money we already have in the mower is about the same. It's a 21 horsepower, water-cooled, Kawasaki twin (and we have been unable to locate a rebuilt engine for it).
> The question is, on the basis of Gravely/Promaster model worth/quality, is this mower worth fixing?
> I appreciate any advice or opinions. The family is stuck on what to do next with this mower after so many things have already gone wrong.


IMHO you will be wasting your money fixing this unit as you will never get your money
out of it. Looked at these units for sale some are less than $1K Look for a new one
you will have a warranty and with proper maintenance should last a long time:
Cub Cadet ZT1 50 Mower Review, Price & Specification 

willy


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