As I contemplate my ever-growing list of things to do, I notice that it's almost Spring and time for the neighborhood's annual race to see who can mow their yard first. And with that in mind, I see my old Deere's dire need for service and maintenance.

The routine maintenance part of it is no big deal -- I can tackle that. It's the fix-the-broken-stuff part that has me thinking. Not taking things too seriously -- and having watched too many hot rod shows on TV -- I'm thinking it's time to be creative with the whole thing.

A few basics:
1. My little LX176 is almost 25 years old and I don't abuse it, but it's well beyond the point of "let's keep it pristine."
2. This mower has no front grille at all, thanks to an "incident" with a dead pine tree a while back. I have some perf steel cut and bent; I just need to paint it and then rivet it into place.
3. The engine cover hinges have broken (one's gone entirely), so I'm "full Bubba" when it's time to have that open. I tilt it forward as necessary, then hang the trailing edge from the garage door rail using a bungee cord.
4. This mower is bigger than what I need for this yard -- I had it at the previous house, where I had a lot more yard, and I wasn't about to get rid of it when I moved here. Some neighbors look at me a little funny about it sometimes. I don't care.

This morning, I've been thinking about painting the whole thing gray or drab green and applying the Warhawk shark face to the front end.


Stock LX176:


Warhawk face:




I'm wondering if my local Sign-a-rama or such can print the Warhawk face onto some vinyl, making it such that I don't even need to paint the engine cover. Let's face it: my art skills aren't so good.

I'm also wondering now if either a) I'm putting way too much thought into this or b) there's something even more creative I could do.

If you're going for the wrap around mouth and the menacing shark eyes, it would to be cool to paint some fins on the outer edges of the front deck.

I can email you someone who makes really inexpensive decals if you have the file, I'm sure he could do it.

Drop in a small block V-8 and mount some 18" wheels!

I run a similar vintage LX 172 as my trimmer mower. I use it on side hill banks where my big 60" width deck X700 tears up the turf.
My LX 172 had the similar broken hood hinges, new aftermarket plastic hood components are near $475 so I came up with a plan for a home repair.

Look Here: https://www.greentractortalk.c...today.20295/page-130
Post #2594 on 04/27/21

It's a $20 repair, and it's really nice to have the hood open as designed again.

You can email if you have any questions.

Go with the OD, some D-Day invasion stripes and vinyl the shark bite. Couple of pipes for "gun barrels".

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:
I can email you someone who makes really inexpensive decals if you have the file, I'm sure he could do it.

Thank you, Jesse, I'd be curious. I have a .png file -- hopefully it could be enlarged well without distorting.

quote:

Originally posted by architect:
Drop in a small block V-8 and mount some 18" wheels!

That sounds like great fun, but the Finance Ministry here would likely veto it.

quote:

Originally posted by cee_Kamp:
It's a $20 repair, and it's really nice to have the hood open as designed again.

That looks like exactly what I need to do. Thank you for that!
Between you and PHPaul, I think I can keep the old Deere running for a good long while.

Jesse be sure to post some pictures of the bad boy when you’re finished. It might inspire the rest of us…

quote:

Originally posted by sigmonkey:
Go with the OD, some D-Day invasion stripes and vinyl the shark bite. Couple of pipes for "gun barrels".

I like it.

Krylon "Spanish moss" is relatively close. (And cheap.)

quote:

Originally posted by .38supersig:
If you're going for the wrap around mouth and the menacing shark eyes, it would to be cool to paint some fins on the outer edges of the front deck.

And a 3D dorsal fin on top of the engine cover.

Even if you're not artistic, something simple like this old school Army paint job would be easy to do with some OD green paint, a cardboard stencil of a star, and a can of White spray paint.

quote:

Originally posted by cee_Kamp:
Look Here: https://www.greentractortalk.c...today.20295/page-130

Holy cow! Now here's gettin' geeky with your mow!

Something like this:

GO big, really impress them



If you paint it, do camo, with the leaf pattern, that way your neighbors won't see you mowing...

quote:

Originally posted by vthoky:


Thank you, Jesse, I'd be curious. I have a .png file -- hopefully it could be enlarged well without distorting.

Email sent.

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
If you paint it, do camo, with the leaf pattern, that way your neighbors won't see you mowing...

I camo painted a tool box a while back.

Anybody seen that thing lying around?

I think a scale version of a GAU-8 would fit nicely in place of the missing grill.

^^^^
That might have helped me defend "Old John" from that old pine tree!

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:

quote:

Originally posted by vthoky:


Thank you, Jesse, I'd be curious. I have a .png file -- hopefully it could be enlarged well without distorting.

Email sent.

Hey Jesse, could you send me the info also? Thanks

quote:

Originally posted by Rightwire:
I think a scale version of a GAU-8 would fit nicely in place of the missing grill.

I can scale up the barrel & 3D print it for you (or you can have the files if you have a 3D printer).
For reference, the OD of the barrel unit is 14mm x 35mm long - for ~4x lego man