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Didn't think they were going to all come down before the snow started to fly this year.The 420 was pulled into the mix this year. It took 10 outings with 3 tractors and 2 broken rakes to get them under control. The 418-A with 42'' SD did the mulching and blowing them into the woods as well. Glad it's over..The raking does keep the upper body strength in check.

Can't say how the backpack blower would do buy my homemade Wheel Horse blower works great on gravel.

@JCM Who would think of that?!

It's been too wet to try out my blower. I've got a reducer to choke it down a but if needed.

Sure was nice with the dry weather. WH tub cart, HHHOOWWWAAARRRDDD!!! and my Flowtron leaf mulcher. Compost for the garden! @stevasaurus needs to chime in with some leaf plowing pics and video's!

This year was so dry, I didn't need the Horse this time. Picked a day when the wind was strong and in the right direction and it was easy to blow them into the street. But here are a few of my favorite picks...

Dry weather helped to make short work of my leaves this year. We went about 30 straight days with zero precipitation. It's much easier to blow and pick up dry leaves than wet ones. And the Cyclone Rake is much happier with a lighter load. I do leaf removal once every week until they are all down. One more pick up (number 5) after Thanksgiving and I will be done for another year. By the way, all those leaves that are dumped in the back of my property will turn to rich, dark dirt in about two years.

Anyone have likes or dislikes using a STIHL backpack blower for fall cleanup ? How would it work on a 200' plus long packed crushed stone driveway removing debris ? Thus far the JD with 60'' auto connect drive on deck works great in a 3rd of the time anything else has done. Are the backpack blowers comfortable to use ? . weight. noise level etc ? Thanks for your input.

In the 80’s when I was in the lawn care business I started a business called Leaf Releaf (spelled wrong on purpose!) I had a small Echo handheld blower, two 8hp walk behind blowers, my Work Horse GT-1800 with snowplow/dozer blade and an F-350 dump truck with a box on the back and a Giant-Vac 12” leaf vacuum mounted on a pipe hinge on the back of the truck. My method was this, clean around the house and trees with the handheld blower then blow the leaves in a line with the big blower until they would pile up and start curling back at me. Then take the Work Horse and push the line to the truck mounted vacuum, or out to the road where the highway dept. would pick them up. Funny thing was that I would have friends come help me for free just to push the leaves with the Work Horse!!! I remember one time I had blown a large windrow of leaves when my friend stopped by unexpectedly. I knew that in that line of leaves was a stump! However I didn’t think it was a big deal because I thought I was going to be the one pushing the line. Before I knew it, and before I could get his attention he was pushing the leaves out to the road. You know that decal that says High Fixed Objects May Not Trip Blade that is on the moldboard? Well it’s true! He hit the stump and since he was going at a good clip then stopped dead, he went over the hood and landed in the big pile of leaves he was pushing!!! I didn’t know if I should laugh or be worried that my tractor was damaged! Turned out everything was fine and we just laughed about it! It’s just one of the stories I have with my trusty Work Horse. Thanks for reading.

Funny you mention that @squonk about Steve. After the 7th outing will the battle of the leaves I remembered a video of him plowing them Never seen that one before. Who thinks of something like that. I almost hooked up the 48'' blade !

@wallfish and I agree on not going all @Pullstart and getting hurt having it laying around!

By long term, how long are we talking? As far as I know, ATF or motor oil can sit on a shelf for decades without any problem. I don't see why sitting in a transmission would be much different. The 875 that I bought in 2019 had been sitting in the owners garage for almost 10 years without being used. Everything was fine when we started and drove it unto my trailer. I didn't change the fluids for several months.

Save those pictures for next year, calendar worthy for sure.

Finally done with fall clean up!

I don’t recall if it was posted on this forum yet, but 2023 was the final year for Honda’s production of gasoline powered lawnmowers. Everything through 2024 and anything left in stores still - was made last year. I had assumed they were just bailing on the outdoor power equipment market. I was thinking, perhaps, it just wasn’t a money maker for them since there were so many cheap mowers on the market making their premium priced things unattractive. Today I found that they are instead transitioning 100% of their walk behind mowers to battery powered. Honda electric mowers They are also introducing battery powered zero turn mowers . It appears these are larger format/semi-commercial models with evidently enough battery capacity to cut up to 15 acres “in ideal conditions.” Ground speed doesn’t seem impressive though. Hmm… I would suspect that their snow equipment and tillers will be following along too in the not too distant future. Almost 2 years ago we stumbled into the little battery/motor combo unit they are making to retrofit a small engine. We discussed it here. Looks like this is what is making it onto the mowers. In fact, I was again looking at that product tonight when I stumbled on to this other news. A recently acquired model 551 Suburban has me wondering if I repower with electric or an engine… I mow my yard with a Honda gas powered mower (no, I no longer use a Wheel Horse). It takes me about an hour to do it if I push the thing as fast as i can and the grass isn’t too high. It appears none of their standard offerings would get me to the end if I didn’t buy a second battery. For a typical homeowner there are a lot of upsides to a battery electric lawnmower. And of course a big monetary downside. Certainly not one size fits all, but I think the benefits can outweigh the disadvantages for those already shopping in this price point. In the case of Honda, the electric versions are similarly priced to the gas models (Honda is expensive in this market). This is on parity to the other premium products. May be easier to swallow for the higher end consumer. It would also be nice if some manufacturer would offer a battery platform that could handle the mower, snowblower, leaf blower, trimmer, tiller, vacuum cleaner, blender, stand mixer, shop vac, air compressor, drill, saw, table saw, inverter, etc all from same battery and charger. Get all your work, household, and recreational equipment using the same battery and we’ll know we’ve made it. Milwaukee comes closest to this, but limits everything to 18v which doesn’t seem like an ideal fit. And nobody is connecting the dots between shop and household applications. There’s bound to be some kind of big leap forward in the next decade regarding consumer product battery formats that will have us looking back wondering why we didn’t get there sooner. Anyway, Honda - who has been reluctant to make the leap into electric vehicles - making this big transition in other markets seems like interesting news for this group. Steve

My Leaf Blower

I just drive over them. You are supposed to rake them ?

Sustrand hydros have a lot of fluid in the transaxle very little space for air. That means condensation from temp change is not a big issue. Even old Sunny's when you open the transaxle never see any rust like you would in a gear drive...

@stevasaurus will make a point of , stoping , every separate , issue, usually as any related , thought comes up, had a stroke in my left eye , that effected , detailing , had to go to a RETINA SPECIALIST , for that , included , getting injections into the eye ball. as some of us get older , we change , regularly adapt to what used to be. function . will make apoint of stopping , every detail for you . used to work with a bunch of guys . that never did anything , or went anywhere , kind of like living in a closet . when ever I came back from a trip . it was always the same , well where in the hell did you go this time ? none of them could relate to anything , that my wife and I , had seen , by the way , have you ever , been to the CN TOWER IN CHACAGO ? PROBABLY NOT , go at night , so you can see the aircraft , lighting , hanging in the sky , against a very well lit city . the room you are in is all clear safety glass , top to bottom , you get there in the freight elevator , when the door opens , its a light show , thats hard to beat , hope the periods helped , pete

I love my Stihl backpack blower. It is not particularly comfortable, but I can tolerate it for the length of time I have to wear it. It moves a ton of leaves. I have crushed stone in front of and around my pole building. Aside from blowing a few stones, the blower does a great job of moving the leaves and other debris.

Absolutely! I have just under 1/3 acre city lot & I have 7 tractors! Seems normal to me......

After the dust settled and all the RS members left. A solitude trail ride until September 2025

After I sent my last post I realized this is a big opportunity for Honda… Honda already sells all kinds of different products and they have both a loyal following and a good reputation. If they were to introduce a huge array of battery powered stuff covering all bases from tools, to household, to recreational they could dominate. With their network of car dealers, atv dealers, motorcycle dealers, lawn mower shops, generator sellers, boat dealers, and all the big boxes that already carry their stuff they could offer - and sell - just about everything imaginable with their battery platform attached. They are far too conservative a company to take advantage of this though. Steve

Cold temperatures are really a challenge for charging. Certain battery types don’t like to accept input power when cold or do so at only low currents, so often have Battery Management Systems (BMS) that shut them down at cold temperatures. In electric cars I would guess this is mostly related to inability of the battery to accept the input power that comes from regenerative braking. The batteries themselves actually warm up significantly when power is drawn from them. So they have an initial sluggishness but can self-warm and get the chemistry going better. We’ve been working with some specialized lithium batteries at work and are seeing this happen…after an initial struggle to get going they warm up and act almost like a normal day. The problem isn’t solved though. Conversion of stored chemical energy to electrical power is kinetically limited, so is a fact of life. Conversely, kinetics also gives the potential for undesirable runaway when all has gone bad. 🔥 For stuff that can be left plugged in or has detachable batteries this is really only a problem of learning new habits. Toro, DeWalt - and probably others - have had some battery powered snow blowers on the market for a couple of seasons. They get generally good reviews. Not suited to every purpose or application, of course. But they work where specified appropriately. Steve

I recently used an old quart of oil. Mainly to cut the bottle and use it as a funnel. This is what we found in the bottom. @ebinmaine mentioned additives settling out.

I'm with Trina. The fuel itself is bad enough and the exhaust just about makes me sick. The Motor Medic Motor Flush I use doesn't have a lot of odor but what there is isn't bad. This is the first time I thought to save it. I'll let it sit a while and strain it into another 2 qt bottle. I don't see why it can't be used again. I can't guarantee it actually works better but, so far, every one I've done have been about like this one. But then again, it could be that I haven't started out with a really bad one.

My kids like to make big piles too, I have to remind them the mower vac doesn't like big piles and just drag them away from trees and objects I can't get close too. I have to remind myself they're trying to be helpful and just roll with it

My wife always volunteers to blow leaves with her E-GO blower, but I say just do the sidewalks. She tends to blow everything into piles that the Cyclone Rake can't handle when the mower height is only 2.5". I blow away from the base of trees, and flower beds. I then spread them so there are no piles. I've got it down to a science.

With that much area to rake, a cyclone rake is worth every penny, trust me. Hook it to the 418-A, it will eliminate your three step/three tractor process down to one step. Buy one and just do a few push ups every couple of days for the upper back.

Yer gonna change the oil or are yer cheap! (or both)

I had a red max back pack and moved it along. To heavy for my back issues but man it moved the leaves... Noise and vibration were issues but not to bad... Went with Dewalt's 20v line and works great for what i need on 3 suburban lawns... use it for gutters too with an extension...

May be a good idea to spin it once a month. Could be done with a drill on the input pulley.

Now that's interesting... I agree that the smell of diesel is off putting. Trina in fact dislikes it severely. Enough so that we'll likely never own a piece of diesel equipment. I hadn't considered the usage of a flush. Bought right, it's only a couple dollars more than diesel or K1 and may very well work better. You stop up anytime 😊

I've had an older Stihl backpack blower here but rehomed it in favor of a single hand held model. It worked GREAT for relocating whatever was light enough to move. Leaves of course but also nuts and small stones. You can get used to the correct positions to reduce that. The reason I sold the backpack type was my own personal people chassis was incompatible with the pack size. You've met me. I have an exceedingly long/tall back. If I was shaped more like a human and less like a Bear 🐻 I'd have kept it. This of course depends on you. Likely you'll be fine for 15 to 30 minutes even when you first get one. That time can be built up just like any other activity. I'd be more concerned with vibration than noise. And again that's something you can adjust with the right clothing and hand protection. Noise is easy. GOOD PPE is essential. One BIG advantage to using a blower is that you'll be able to get leaves out from under places you've not reached in years because you won't need to move the things around. If you store stuff on pallets it's even better. Would I recommend you buy one? Yes.

Good question! I think they generally just get the key turned off and left for a long long time. It would be interesting to know if there is a long term storage procedure…

@JCM Do you have a blower or back pack? Much easier on the body. Nice looking tractors and your property as well.

Dewault line does exactly that. 20v / 60v Ive had their mower, blower, line trimmer, shrub trimmer, tree saw, chain saw and loping shears for 4 years. Outstanding performance. Same batteries as my hand tools. Mow three lawns a week. No issues. 8 ah - 12 ah batteries... Just bought the snow blower and extra set of batteries. We'll see... Only issue: 60 v snow blower batteries work on anything, 20 v work on anything but the snow blower... no big deal, i love the added time on my leaf blower using the 12 ah 60 v battery!!! Ill post up opinions after first snow... There is no denying the convenience... no gas, no oil, push a button and go. Quiet, no smell... Zero maintenance. re:

back! We are always warning folks from this side of the Mississippi… if you smell somethingnit’s probably @squonk. Sorry you gotta love so close to him! @rjg854 will keep him away from you though!

I had the exact same thing when I got my 314-8, although I never put in 3rd and let clutch out at full throttle. I usually engage 3rd at low rpm, then run the throttle up. I did end up getting a set of front wheel weights back when I first started mowing with it. Definitely helped keep the nose down if I popped the clutch too hard. then my gas damper failed and the I had to pull up on the clutch to get it to go. Fixed that with the factory clutch return spring that mine didn’t have.

Having come from @stevasaurus I wouldn't expect anything less than prefect.

I've got an HF 20 ton here you're welcome to.

That could very well be true Steve. The oil I drained out of it was black but looked good. I also can't help but think the stuff I use called motor flush has something to do with it as well. I dumped a quart in, ran it some then stir and drain again the next day. The first time it was black. The second time it was tea colored. I should have posted pictures but I dumped both batches in one container to save to use again. I've done several transmissions with this stuff and every one looked clean. Maybe a coincidence? I mainly started using it because I hate the smell of diesel and it lingers. I've always wanted to visit Maine. Sounds like a good reason to me.

Hope you have a speedy recovery Pete!

That's good news. Keep after that therapy - it really helps the recovery. My wife has had a knee replacement and some back surgery. The physical therapy was key to her recovery.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advice_to_a_Friend_on_Choosing_a_Mistress Full text is about halfway down. For many years racoon was the traditional Thanksgiving dinner. That changed in the 20s when one was sent as a pet to the Whitehouse and gained media attention. That and the advent of industrial turkey farming.

No sir, that’s a very clean one!

I am 74 and have driven vehicles with a clutch all my life. However, there are those who have only driven automatics. Many of them have a difficult time getting the feel of "clutching". It's not a matter of just taking you foot off the pedal and expecting the tractor to start to move smoothly. Feathering the clutch is a learned technique. Having said that, clean pulleys and a proper belt, along with proper adjustments, make all the difference in the world.

I think that everyone should get a chance to play with the detente balls and spring...push those things together and try to get a shaft by them...while sliding out an Allen wrench and keeping the setup together.

This is going to be a well followed thread by a lot of folks here Steve. Your videos are great. Now that i have the basic knowledge of the 3 speeds it will really help in understanding the 6 speeds. I'm looking forward to learning more from you.