Back in 01 I bought my first ever riding lawn mower. A used MTD 11.5hp Briggs & Stratton, 32" cut for $400.00. It did well, however even though it still ran well when it ran, I have been having more and more problems with it. I have been looking at newer or new models but the prices didn't justify replacement. Till this past Saturday.
I was at Home Depot getting paint for our home and they had a refurb model on sale for $550.00. Full warranty, 90 day satisfaction guarantee. I asked why it was refurbed. It was returned because it did not stay started. So Home Depot thru manufacturer costs had it repaired and resold it, to me. The used parts for the repair (a fuel filter, a carb seat needle, and some carb gaskets) were still with the mower when I got it.
So I fill it up on the way home and cut my grass. Went to start it the next day and it started and died. It kept doing that so I disconnected the fuel line from the carb. No gas flow. I then removed the filter. No gas flow. I then removed the fuel line from the tank. No gas flow. Ahh I thought, the inlet port is plugged. So I opened the gas cap to take a look see. Gas poured out as soon as I loosened the cap, .
So, I got a brand new 2012 Poulan (Hursquevana parts ) 17.5hp Briggs & Stratton 42" cut with full warranty and a 90 day approval for $550.00. It's nice. Plain jane/no headlights, though it does have a beer can holder, . Six speed shift on the fly, mows in reverse, and an unbelievable very tight steering radius. It's suggested recommended area coverage is two acres, more than I need. You ain't gonna find a rider this nice for under a thousand hence the thread title. Heh, the last rider, used, cost me $40.00 a year to have/use. Less than the price of one cut per year if I paid for mowing service.

It's good to know how to fix things. Once scored a 500 monitor for >100 bucks because the idiots ate COmpUSA didn't know there were two friggin inputs on the thing!

had this problem with my snowblower. Very annoying.. as the cap has a build in vent, but the vent part broke on 2 caps. I finally just drilled s small hole in the top of the cap and also installed a splash shield. cheap parts. Oh, and the original tank started cracking, so I had to replace that. Cheap fixes I guess, but still, it shouldn't happen.

awesome... I need a new mower soon. Between me and my yard... I have destroyed and rebuilt my craftsman 3 times.

Same thing was happning with my moms old john deer.. it would run for a few min than die.. run again die... so just on a hunch i ran a phillips head through the breather in the top,,, no prohlems..

quote Originally posted by TheDigitalAlchemist: It's good to know how to fix things. Once scored a 500 monitor for >100 bucks because the idiots ate COmpUSA didn't know there were two friggin inputs on the thing!

HAHAHHHAH! I've seen far too many people confused by multiple available inputs on their monitor. And, if it came with multiple cables, they're gonna try and plug all of them in. Made for some weird results on computers that actually had multiple video outputs.

A friend of mine was over one day and asked when I was gonna buy a new rider. We had an old snapper lovingly refered as the Iron Whore by my two boys after they miss-read the block that said Iron Bore lol. I told him I couldn't afford a new mower at the time but hoped to possibly swing a new one over the summer. He said my brother has a realy nice John Deere that was our dads only 5 years old. Said something happened to it last fall during their last mowing and he parked it and bought a new "0" turn mower for their yard. Anyway long story short I got the mower for free and its in almost perfect shape. They even delivered it to me. I tore into it right away and found that a head gasket had blown. Purchased a $12 gasket and have been mowing with it ever since. Thing runs great and cuts perfect. God I love free lol.