My Mower

This is me on my new Husqvarna FastTractor. The good folks at Husqvarna saw what we were up to and they donated a tractor to our efforts. I really like it. Previously, I had a series of lawn tractors and while any tractor or any person is welcome int he mower gang, this FastTractor is about as cool as they come. See below for a series of tractors that I have owned and used successfully. It doesn’t take much to join the Mower Gang. Here are some examples. 

Yo, I just wanted to let you know that joining the mower gang is really easy and almost inexpensive. In fact, I’ll show you what is required. I used to rock a push mower, it was a craftsman with Honda power, but I knew it wouldn’t work if I was going to lead a GANG! I decided to put some dollars behind this effort and I visited CraigsList for a suitable mower for a gang leader. 

This is Al, he sold me a sweet, 18 horsepower lawn tractor for $250. It ran, drove, started, everything. It needed nothing at all. Lawn tractors are not expensive. I found quite a few of them for around $300 and if you are willing to fix something, you can get one for $100, maybe even free. Of course, you don’t need a lawn tractor to join the gang. You just need to show up and have a good time. Also, many people might already own a lawn tractor. If you do, we can race! Show up and I’ll put my tractor up against whatever you got! We race forward and backward.

Here is the Husqvarna in my garage. I mowed my postage-stamp sized yard using it. It took about 5 minutes. I need to bring this thing to someplace big and let it rip. But first, it has to look cool. 

Here is the Husky after a $5 can of Rustoleum plastic paint. I painted the hood and the back fenders to give it a sinister look. I’m not sure what modifications will come next, but I’m thinking about custom exhaust. The only problem is the exhaust shoots out of the front. 

Anyway, that is the story of my lawn tractor. I wanted to share it with you so that you understand that the Mower Gang is for anyone with any kind of lawn mower. This is not an elite organization. Run what you’ve brung. 

Update: My tractor didn’t do so well on our first group mow. It died after about 1/2 hour of mowing a dusty field. The culprit was a bad ignition module. When it got hot, there would be no spark. Fortunately, I found the answer on the internet, lots of people out there have lawn tractors and they love to tell you how to fix them online. My tractor was running again and it looked better than new. Check out my sweet new decals for my tractor. 

After most of a season and a lot of great publicity, I decided that maybe I should invest a little more into my mower. My friend Matt gladly took the Husky, which we call “The Screaming Swede” and promised to show up to Gang events with it, so I got something a little newer. Once again, I visited Craigslist and picked up a used John Deere. It was $800, so I was spending real money now. It is an L111

Here I am mowing a maze in some tall grass with the John Deere. It did great.

Here is a picture of my Dad rockin the John Deere at the Dorais Velodrome. 

Anyway, I again wanted to let you know that any and every mower is welcome at the Mower Gang events. Push mower, reel mower, riding mower, no mower, everyone is welcome to join the gang. I hope you’ll come out and have fun.

I bought this trailer off of craiglist for $50. It had a flat tire. I put a new tube in there and it was good to go. A trailer is a really handy thing to have when you are cleaning a park but it takes up a lot of room in the van, so I often leave it behind. 

This is Tractor Nick, he rocks a John Deere 214 (and sometimes a 140). Nick likes tractors, Nick likes tractors a lot and he loves to mow with them. Detroit is a better place because of Nick. 

That’s Tim (on the red machine), Tim mows all the time. Tim is a retired powertrain engineer, so he knows his stuff. He also gave his old machine to a gang member when he upgraded. 

This is Stuntman Mike, he rocks a Montgomery Wards tractor that Tim rebuilt for speed. He does wheelies.

The gang acquired this 212 John Deere. It was given to Guy because Guy shows up a lot.

That’s Fudge and Dr. Mike. They are demonstrating that you can fit 2 lawn tractors in an extended length full-size van. That was a big revelation because transporting tractors is almost as hard as mowing with them. The tractors in there are a JDL111 and a JD 316. 

This is The Franken Tractor. I paid $500 for it on Craigslist. It is a John Deere GT262 that is ugly as can be, but it was tough until the day it died. It is sitting outside behind my warehouse. If anyone wants to try to revive it, come on by. The engine is stuck. It is missing the top of the hood, so I fabricated a homemade hood scoop so that no one sticks their fingers into the intake fan. I put extra headlights on it because sometimes the gang mows at night time. This tractor can tow a field plow, push a snow plow, and to a garden tiller. It also mows 48” wide at a time and goes fast doing it. 

The Mower Gang is Sponsored by Vibrators.com because Tom, the mower gang founder (leader?) owns Vibrators.com.

Also Husqvarna USA is a sponsor because they donated a really fast lawn tractor to our group.