Finally Purchaced my first ZTR!!!

Hey guys. I have been mowing with a walk behind and a front mount John deer F525 for a while now. It has been rough on my body, here in the FL Sun. But I just finally was able to get the money together for my first ZTR Rider. Anyhow its an 03 Scag Tiger Cub 52 inch with a Kawi that has 3200hrs. I know the hours are up there, but it seems to run great. The spindles seem to be tight and the hydros were suposed to have been replaced last year. What Im wondering is, what should I do to this mower for preventative maintenance? I will be changing the oil tomorrow. Any thing that you guys can tell me to look at or for would be very helpful. How do I know when the hyro fluid needs to be changed? Is there any other preventative mant. that I should do before I start mowing with it? Thanks Guys!

[CHEESE2009]

Lawn care business tips

Send it into a dealer & have them inspect & maintain it. Let them give you the real heads up, instead of figuring it out on your own in the middle of a job. It will be worth the bill you'll have to pay in the long run. Last thing you need is for it to blow up! Isn't that how Scags like to retire themselves, or am I wrong?

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Originally Posted by CHEESE2009

Send it into a dealer & have them inspect & maintain it. Let them give you the real heads up, instead of figuring it out on your own in the middle of a job. It will be worth the bill you'll have to pay in the long run.

Last thing you need is for it to blow up!

This is great advice. Bottom line is, unless you are trained in the maintenance of power equipment it is best left to those who are. If my yard needs anything but mowing, I am clueless. I think I will have to overseed my lawn but I have no clue what kind of grass grows best in my area. I MAY be able to do it myself but I'm not so sure. lol

Maintaining a machine is much the same way. It can be done by the owner but there are a lot of things that need to be checked that the owner may not think about. I would suggest taking it to a good Servicing Dealer and asking them to take a look at it and suggest things that may need done. Tell them to call you before they do anything to it and tell you how much it will cost. Then you can specify what you are wanting to have done to it now and what needs to be done later.

These are some of the things that typically need replaced at least once per year:

-Oil. Once per year or every 100 hours, whichever comes first.
-Oil Filter. Replace with every oil change.
-Air filter. Clean at least once every 25 hours and replace as necessary (at least once every 300 hours).
-Fuel Filter. Replace with oil change.
-Spark Plugs. Replace at least once per year.

My personal recommendation is to have all of the above replaced at least once per year. If your machine runs more than 100 hours per year replace the oil and oil filter once per 100 hours and again at the end of the season. So, this means if you will run only 105 hours per year then you could probably do this at the end of the season but if you run 150 hours you need to do it at 100 hours and then again at the end of the season. If you get your hands on an owners manual it should tell you what the correct service intervals are for your engine. There are certain things that should only be attempted by a properly trained service technician. Some of those things are:

-Clean cylinder and head fins.
-Clean combustion chamber.
-Clean and lap valve and seat surfaces.
-Adjust valves.
*All of these should be done at least once per 300 hours or once per year.

Adjusting the valves is very important. Valves that are out of adjustment can cause a severe overload to your starter and cause premature starter failure.

Dirty air fins will cause your engine to run too hot and in the end will cause premature engine failure. **Grass and other debris in the engine fins can cause a fire!!**

Again, take your machine to your Servicing Dealer and ask them to make recommendations. This doesn't necessarily mean these things have to be done but they are trained to look for things that need to be done. The last thing you need is for your machine to break down and cost you an unnecessary repair bill in the middle of mowing season because of preventative maintenance that was not performed. These things tend to come at the time you need your mower the most!

[picframer]

I agree with the others, I would take it to the dealer. All of our equipment from chain saws to mowers are serviced by the dealer, I can rebuild any engine, in fact I built race engines in the 80's for cars and motor cycles to make some extra bucks for flight school however I won't touch our equipment.

It may cost a little more but to me it's cheap insurance, if something goes wrong it's not my problem.

In response to your statement Breeze...yes, scags either blow up as mine did or in some cases burst into flames and ruin peoples lives ha