The John Deere riding mower died last fall. It would barely idle, nothing more. We replaced the carburetor, but it didn’t help. It turns out the intake valve wasn’t opening enough. So I took apart the crankcase and checked things out. The camshaft lobe that drives the intake valve was worn down to nearly nothing. The hydraulic lifter was also stuck. So I ordered a new camshaft and lifters for $40. Today I put everything back together, and it runs great!

In the meantime, our neighbor Jon found a two-cylinder Craftsman mower for us. It ran but not well. I ordered a tune-up kit and Isaac helped replace the carburetor, filters (air, fuel, oil), and oil. It’s up and running now as well.

So now we have two riding mowers, a garden tractor, a tow-behind field mower, and of course, the Case tractor. The clutch has gone out on the Case, so we’re clearing space in the barn to bring it in, split it, and fix it.