Stiga Villa 'classic'

[sjoemie himself 3,115]

Hi all,

 

So I know this might not be everyones' cup of tea but here we are. Since we moved houses and went from 700m2 (7500 sq/ft) to 10.000+m2 (~2.5 acre) we were in desperate need of some more serious mowing capacity. 

Since me ol' 512D is not in running order and/or even has a mowing deck I was on the lookout for something else.

Since the budget is tight because we're renovating I set my goals on a sub 1000 bucks mower. Also it had to be a frontmower rather than a tractor for ease of use and the mowing deck had to be in good shape.

 

After a looong time I found this 'beauty': Stiga Villa classic with 3 year old mowing deck for €400,-/~$450,-. Knowing that a new bare mowing deck alone costs about 300,- I did not hesitate. Not much to look at but does the job.

 

Easy acces and simple construction.

 

Simple gearbox and chaindrive, 1 reverse, 5 forward gears.

 

Good ol' B&S 12,5 HP (Quiet I CANNOT agree with) 

 

Since buying it I changed the oil, sparkplug aircleaner(s) and added a new seat.

After mowing two times it threw a belt so I replaced that aswell.

 

Funny story about the front wheels and axle on the mowing deck.. they are almost always worn out, as were these. Although the wheels being plastic they had ground down the 16mm (5/8") shaft to about 10mm (~3/8").

So bought a set of new wheels which cost about $15 each and thought of buying a new axle.

I mean how much could a piece of 5/8" x 3,5ft  round bar possibly cost, right? 

Well, Stiga wanted $110,- for it 

Luckily our local 'tractor supply' sells C45 axle steel or 'silver steel' round stock by the metre which cost a whopping $6,50!

Bought that, cut it to length, drilled and tapped an M8 hole on each end and re-assembled everything. Back to mowing again!

 

Note: this was the before situation. Don't know why the wheels were'nt installed symmetrical here.