# Any Gravely fans?



## Ingersoll444 (Sep 17, 2003)

Things have been pretty slow over here in Gravely land.

Anyone have, or have you had a Gravely. If so , what did you have for attachments.

As for me, I have two old L's. A 1944, and a early 60's. Bolth have the 30" mower deck.


Anyone else?


----------



## MowHoward2210 (Nov 2, 2003)

I hear they don't make the old Gravely 2 wheel tractors anymore. 

Were the newer ones as rugged as the old ones like you have, Paul?


----------



## Ingersoll444 (Sep 17, 2003)

> _Originally posted by MowHoward2210 _
> *I hear they don't make the old Gravely 2 wheel tractors anymore.
> 
> Were the newer ones as rugged as the old ones like you have, Paul? *


The newer two wheelers? Oh you, they were tanks. Still, High quality, but more feachers. LOTS more money though.


----------



## MowHoward2210 (Nov 2, 2003)

*Ingersoll444*

Do you have any pics of your Gravely L's?


----------



## Ingersoll444 (Sep 17, 2003)

*Re: Ingersoll444*



> _Originally posted by MowHoward2210 _
> *Do you have any pics of your Gravely L's? *


I just posted a few in the "shade tree" fourm under the "how old is old" topic. I will try to get some new ones this weekend. Those were from when I got them.


----------



## MowHoward2210 (Nov 2, 2003)

Thanks, I missed that thread somehow. Might look into buying an old one sometime. Are the attachments hard to find for the older models, or did they stay universal all those years?


----------



## Ingersoll444 (Sep 17, 2003)

> _Originally posted by MowHoward2210 _
> *Thanks, I missed that thread somehow. Might look into buying an old one sometime. Are the attachments hard to find for the older models, or did they stay universal all those years? *


Prettymuch universal. They did make some changes in, I think, the early 80's. There were also adapters to mak the newer,80's plus] fit the older tractors. 


As for avalablity? Great. Lot's of stuff out there.


----------



## aegt5000 (Feb 22, 2004)

Hello to all in Gravely Land

My brother bought a Gravely 4 wheel riding tractor about 5 years
ago at a open house sale. The guy who sold it said he was the original
owner and purchased it in the 70’s. The only attachment he had for it 
was the deck, but it was crushed when run over by a truck delivering
gravel to this guy’s house. This happened about 5 years before the sale
and the tractor just sat in his shed. 

Well my brother wound up buying it with no attachments, took it home
and called me. We had it running by the end of the day and he put it
away in his shed where it has sat for the last 5 years. 

So this poor thing has been laying around for 10 years without a mission.
It’s red and if I recall it is a model 812 or 816 with a 2 cyl Onan, hydraulic 
lift and gear trans.

I have been thinking about getting it going again, but I understand that 
Gravely no longer makes garden tractors. I could probably get parts for
the Onan, but it’s the rest of the tractor that worries me.

Can you still get parts for these things ?


----------



## Ingersoll444 (Sep 17, 2003)

LOTS of parts out there. You can get just about everything for it. Used parts and attachments come up all the time, and there are a few real good online dealers for parts. Want a great tractor? Grab it!


----------



## Sergeant (Sep 16, 2003)

For parts for the Gravely I would contact Ariens Corp. Even though they do not make the tractor anymore most of these big companies have warehouse stock piles of part's. I know I was able to get IH made parts from MTD for MY Cub Cadet 106. So I bet Ariens Corp has the parts you need.


----------



## aegt5000 (Feb 22, 2004)

Ingersoll444 and Sergeant….

Thanks for the feedback guys :cheers:

Would you be able to post any sites that I could use?
I have been looking around but all of the Gravely sites I have found 
seem to focus strictly on the 2 wheelers.


----------



## guest2 (Dec 27, 2003)

aegt5000
See if there are any gravely clubs on yahoo and maybe also a gravely classified. Usually club members will give an honest description and a fair price. Also check ebay but if you can find the seller at one the clubs you might be more comfortable bidding. I've done this for some bolens parts and found it to be an easier way. Decks should be easy to find used, just ask the seller any questions you can think of and try to get something complete and if they have gear boxes on the deck ask about the condition of that also.


----------



## Ingersoll444 (Sep 17, 2003)

Richard's 

I have used Richards and have had good service.


Also no web site here, but another place that has real nice people is Antram enterprises. Real nice people and they have a kick A$$ catalog. No web, but here is there number, and email

1800-324-6842 email [email protected]


for info, and good place to staer is here......gravely info 


Good luck, and happy hunting.


----------



## Chipmaker (Sep 16, 2003)

My friend has an old Gravely Super 8 convertible. It does run but needs some work. He has just about all the attachments that were ever made for it as well. He has a commercial 40" mower for it which is kind of hard to find one anymore. The rotary plow, sulky, tiller and 30 inch deck and some other items which I forget off the top of my head........And in case your interested, he wants it all gone for $300 for everything he has . Only problem is he is not interested in shipping as it would involve having to carry the items to a trucking company and palletizing everything down, but if your in the area and looking for a heap of Gravely items and a tractor the price is hard top beat. Heck he has over $200 in the commercial mower deck alone in bearings and belts and other assorted parts. The motor had what was supposedly a rebored / reworked cylinder installed on it, but it still smokes a bit during use. I had thought about buying it and stripping it all and ebaying it piece meal, and from the prices the used stuff brings, I could make a lot of money off it, for what would be invested. The tractors gearbox is in excellent shape. It has that oval shaped cylinder head engine in it.


----------



## Ingersoll444 (Sep 17, 2003)

WOW CM. wish I was closer!!!!!! REAL good price for that stuff. So how far IS alabama from NY?


----------



## Chipmaker (Sep 16, 2003)

I'd say about 12 to 14 hundred miles or so. 

You mentioned Richards as being reliable for parts. IIRC during ther time that I had my friends Gravely in my shop working on it, IIRC it was Richards in West Virginia that he purchased a supposedly good serviceable cylinder from. It was supposedly bored out to .010" over, and have new guides etc in it. He ordered it and the piston and rings to fit this freshly redone cylinder. From the start it smoked really bad and no amount of running for break in made any difference on oil consumption. It would literally suck a crankcase of oil out in about 10 minutes flat. I pulled the cylinder off and gave it a good going over. The darn cylinder was bored on a taper, so much that when the piston was in the downside of the stroke, the inner edges of the piston rings would be visible. I called Richards up, and they denied that they would send out a cylinder such as that. We then took the old cylinder and had it bored to fit the new piston, and it worked pretty fair, but it really should have been bored even larger in diameter, as it did not quite clean up enough, but at least now it would run and not suck out oil in a matter of minutes.

My friend did not want to fool around with this Gravely anyhow, and only wanted to get it running so he could sell it. It was given to him as payment for some welding he did for a fellow. He spent all weekend welding various items around his farm, and when it came time to get paid the fellow simply said he never paid for labor in cash and only bartered etc for it. So my friend left with the Gravely and all its accessories for his days wages...........He was only a yongin at the time right out of trade school. The Gravely and accessories were just setting in the yard for years until he finally moved them from his fathers house after his father died, and decided he would try it for his grass cutting jobs around his new house, which he soon found out a small cheap push type mower was a lot quicker. Now his wife wants it all gone and so does he.


----------



## Ingersoll444 (Sep 17, 2003)

Wow never heard a problem with Richards before, but I guess any shop has had there bad times.


and only 1400 miles? Hey thats not bad, about 3-4 hours??


----------



## guest2 (Dec 27, 2003)

Hey Paul
Two words; ROAD TRIP!!!!!


----------



## Ingersoll444 (Sep 17, 2003)

> _Originally posted by sixchows _
> *Hey Paul
> Two words; ROAD TRIP!!!!! *


LOL Not sure the wife would think that way. 

No realy some of our best weekends away have beed on road trips to get parts. Went to Toronto to get a QP for my Mustang, and spent the night in Niagria falls. Then picked up a parts car in Elmira NY, spent the night in Corning, and went to the glass works. The best though? Went to Maryland to pick up a bunch of stuff. Hood, fender, trunk lid etc. Drove down one morning, got a hotel in Herrisburg Pa. Drove to grab the parts, then the next morning went to Hershy park. Had an AWSOME time! Don;t know if I could talk her into a trip THAT far for tractor parts though


----------



## Ingersoll444 (Sep 17, 2003)

> _Originally posted by aegt5000 _
> *Hello to all in Gravely Land
> 
> My brother bought a Gravely 4 wheel riding tractor about 5 years
> ...


aegt5000, any thing come of that old Gravely rider? Still sitting in a shed, or doing some hard work for some lucky owner?


----------



## Deerehunter (May 28, 2004)

I just started messing with the Gravely 2 wheel tractors within the last couple months. Wanted to get one with a blade so when we only get a couple inches of snow, I wouldn't have to break out the snowblower. Well, as with all fun things, I ended up with 5 model L tractors, 3 of which will run, one a with stuck engine, and the last is in shambles because I robbed parts off it. The engine turns on this one, but has very low compression. Also have 3 L carcasses that I'm parting out on eBay a little at a time. 
One of the tractors I have I purchased at the Jacktown Swapmeet in May for $40. It was missing the hood, carb needed TLC, handle bars were bent up because it got pushed over a bank. The best part is it has the gear reduction wheels on it. The guy was trying to sell it for $50 the first day of the meet. I didn't see it since I was trying to sell stuff of my own. I came across it on the second day while another guy was trying to buy the mag. The seller tryed to get him to buy the whole thing for $40, but he only wanted the mag. Seller wanted $25 for the mag. He left unsure what he wanted to so, I stepped in looked it over, the motor turned and had good compression, so I bought it. The seller told me that it ran before it got pushed over the bank. When I finally got a chance to work on it, I got it running and the best part is it doesn't smoke. Only thing is, it won't keep the oil pressure up. I'm thinking maybe the pump or the pickup tube is blocked. Just goes to show how tuff these tractors are. One of the others I have smokes like skeeter fogger. Think it may have a broken oil ring since it has good compression. 
I also picked up a rotary plow for $50 at a consignment sale, have 2 sickle bar mowers, a brush hog and 2 dirt or snow blades. I had to buy a carb kit for one and almost fell over when they told me $53 for the kit. I now need some short gaurds for the sickle bar mower and afraid to see what they want for them.
I tried out the rotary plow the other day on my cousins garden and what a job it does. I love that thing :loveit:


----------



## Ingersoll444 (Sep 17, 2003)

Welcome to the wonderfull world of Gravelys. You can't just have one L, have to have a few.  


Sounds like you have ran across some good deals. $50 for the RP is amazing. In my aera, the Gravelys are not that common, so stuff is kinda hard to find. Just have the 30" decks on mine. Any pictures of your L's? Would love to see them.



As for the losing of oil PSI. I have not one one yet, but hear the pick up tubes can get pin holes, or plug up with gunk.


----------



## Deerehunter (May 28, 2004)

Ingersoll444,
Here's a link to my Gravely's. The one with the gear reduction wheels is my favorite and also the one that is giving me problems with the oil pressure. Don't mind the hood that is on it. I had to "Rob Peter to pay Paul" so to speak to get it where it is now. If I get time this weekend, maybe I'll pull the motor to see what the pickup tube looks like. Is it possible to pull the motor without having to drain the oil? 

You will notice in the picture of the other 2 L's, one has a rag in the intake. The reason is because I don't have enough carburetors [good ones] to go around. Besides, that is the one that smokes like heck. The other one leaks oil from a couple different spots. Enjoy



http://img42.photobucket.com/albums/v130/Deerehunter/Gravely Tractors/


----------



## jodyand (Sep 16, 2003)

Nice old Gravelys what is that white tractor in the background.
<img src=http://img42.photobucket.com/albums/v130/Deerehunter/Gravely%20Tractors/Grave002.jpg>

<img src=http://img42.photobucket.com/albums/v130/Deerehunter/Gravely%20Tractors/Grave001.jpg>


----------



## Deerehunter (May 28, 2004)

That is actually a blue and white tractor. To be exact, it's a John Deere Patio tractor, a 110. Picked it up at a local none John Deere dealership. Came with a snowthrower and mower deck. It's a none running tractor due to the fact the dealership cobbled some parts off it. When they received as a trade some 8yrs? ago, it ran. The engine is loose and probably will run with the necessary parts. Under the blue tarp is a 2 row John Deere corn planter. Was horse drawn, but got converted, sometime during it's life, with a drawbar for a tractor.


----------



## jodyand (Sep 16, 2003)

You need to fix that old Patio tractor up they are getting harder to find and worth a little money. And that old corn planter is another nice find.:thumbsup:


----------



## Deerehunter (May 28, 2004)

Parts are even harder to find. Ever see what a hood or seat brings on eBay  mg: Hope to get to it some day soon. The reason I bought the planter was because it had the markers, fertilizer pots, and seed pots. And it will even plant


----------



## jodyand (Sep 16, 2003)

Thats good to hear post some pictures of the planter one day would like to see it.


----------



## Ingersoll444 (Sep 17, 2003)

> _Originally posted by Deerehunter _
> *Ingersoll444,
> Here's a link to my Gravely's. The one with the gear reduction wheels is my favorite and also the one that is giving me problems with the oil pressure. Don't mind the hood that is on it. I had to "Rob Peter to pay Paul" so to speak to get it where it is now. If I get time this weekend, maybe I'll pull the motor to see what the pickup tube looks like. Is it possible to pull the motor without having to drain the oil?
> 
> ...



Nice tractors you have there.

As for the pick up? You don't have to pull the motor. The pickup is in the trans part of the tractor. You pull the axle housing off to get to it. I THINK it was the left side. 

For the now Gravely guys out there, the old L's had pressure lube to the motor, AND trans. The trans is the resavore, and it is sucked up, fed to the motor, then spryed back to the trans. Nice setup, and probably why there are so many of these 30,40, 50,and yes 60 year old tractors around still.


----------



## Deerehunter (May 28, 2004)

> _Originally posted by Ingersoll444 _
> *Nice tractors you have there.
> 
> As for the pick up? You don't have to pull the motor. The pickup is in the trans part of the tractor. You pull the axle housing off to get to it. I THINK it was the left side.
> ...



You are right. For some reason I thought I had to pull the motor in order to check the screen on the pickup tube. If I have to change the pickup tube for some reason, then I would have to pull the motor.


----------

