you can get their regular duralast tractor battery all day long for 30 bucks, not a bad deal. I opted for the duralast gold which is rated a bit higher CCAs for 10 dollars more, then they nailed me with a 10 dollar core charge on top of that because I forgot to bring my old one.
I went the gold route because the guy said they only honor a 90 day warranty on their tractor batteries. Duralast car batteries are 3 year so I was kind of shocked to hear that. I figured if anything maybe the gold series would last a little longer, but who knows. Either way I went, it beats strapping a car battery to the thing. I am going to have to look at some diagrams and see what I can do about the proper battery hold downs. Bungee cord is doing an OK job for the time being.
I noticed today my right side (if you are sitting on the tractor) front tire has got a little gangster lean on it. Thinking I may have a bent spindle, or just an extremely shot bearing. I'll have to look into that another day though, I needed to get the yard cut.
I added the in-line filter but will have to re-route it by adding a brass elbow (added to parts needed list), it's interfering with the throttle linkage a wee bit now.
I wanted to get a see through filter but I did not see any that looked suitable for this application.
Got the grass cut, but I have got to do something about this deck to level it out a little. The left side is just a bit lower than the right. The cut does not look bad but the deck gets hung up on a little hill in the back yard and dug a big hole for me. I also need to replace the roller at the front of the deck, it's not touching the ground anymore, been used up.
Between the front seal leaking and a little blow by here and there the 1450 consumed just over a half quart of oil to cut my half acre yard. It also seemed to be thirstier today than the last time I cut, I used about 3/4 of a gallon today and only ran the thing an hour tops. I think that is due in part to the throttle linkage being hung up on the fuel line.
I'll keep using it as is for now, but I am going to have to rebuild, replace or repower at some point in the near future because I will get tired of smelling oil smoke and burning up pricey oil through the cylinder real fast. I love driving this tractor though, it's a powerful machine. I love just bumping the lever forward a hair and creeping really slow as I trim in around things.
Here's a pic of the house with my cub out front. lots of dead spots in the front yard yet, hoping it gets a little greener since we have had all that rain lately. I think it needs some sun more than anything.
After I put the cub up for the day I got out my saw and cut down a couple saplings that came up I have been meaning to cut. Also cut a branch here or there on the pines in the back and north side yard, so I am not pushing them out of the way to mow under them. I've been ducking them for years and figure I had better take care of them now before my luck runs out and I get hurt or knocked off the tractor. This cub also sits up a bit higher than my old MTD 12.5/38" so it's harder to get under the trees as they were. Did not get stuck today though!
Still a ways off from what I want this tractor to be, but it has more than proved to me that it is up to the challenge. Seeing 1450mike's restoration thread bumped up and seeing those pics made my night when I came to the forum to post my updates. I didn't know a QL could look that good.