The Mystery Machine
As you have probably guessed, this
was not a John Deere to begin with. This baby was born a Hesston,
model H180 Front Runner mower. Believe it or not, this had an 80"
cut front mounted mower on it. It came with a Kohler 18 hp. model
K482, 2 cylinder engine and it has a hydrostatic transmission. It's
probably hard to tell from the picture, but this tractor has articulated
steering, similar to the large 4 wheel drive farm tractors. The pivot
point is between the engine and the bed. When the current owner bought
this, it was in pretty sad shape. The mower deck itself was a total
loss. He tore the tractor down piece by piece, all the way down to
the frame, cleaning, inspecting, repairing and modifying. The engine
was completely rebuilt, he modified it to a 2 seater, the hydrostatic control
system was changed and replaced with a hand lever and cable from a John
Deere combine. He installed work lights, warning flashers and a radio.
The owner uses it mainly for a spray buggy, he used it similar to a Gator
before that. It's top speed is 11 mph. If you saw it up close,
you would swear it was an original John Deere.
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