Lawnflite 550 Ride On Mower Lawn Tractor 12.5 Hp Briggs & Stratton

This is my Lawnflite lawn tractor from the early 1990s (1992 I think), which I am selling because I was offered a nearly-new Husqvarna at a price I couldn t refuse. I have owned this mower for 3 years and it works well. The cut is superb (better that the Husky) and if you use the deflector chute it leaves virtually nothing visible on the surface. The deck is 30 rear discharge and it has 4 pretty solid hinged blades. The four blades (probably need sharpening actually) seem to virtually mulch the grass, but they just swing back if you were to hit something - so they don t get damaged. The cutting belt was new last year. The engine is a 12.5 hp B S which runs nicely. Plenty of power, but it is quite noisy as the exhaust was designed in the days when noise wasn t such an issue. The gearbox has forward, neutral and reverse. In any direction there are 7 speed settings and within each setting you can vary the speed by using the brake. By lawn tractor standards it is actually quite fast! I ve replaced some of the sterring parts so that it steers more accurately (for a mower!) Comes with the collector bag and the cute for that. Also has a tatty (see bad point below) rear discharge chute (I use this most of the time because it virtually mulches the grass). There is facility to attach a trailer (never tried). It has two pathetic lights which are next to useless but somehow it feels nice that they are there and work. Just has a new inner tube in one of the front tyres and they all hold air. Bad points: The starter and battery struggle to start the mower. It always starts, but it is a bit of a slow churn before it fires. The battery is two years old and I bought the same size as that already fitted. In reality, the space for the battery is quite a bit bigger than the battery itself and so I think the battery is probably a bit small for the engine. The cutter brake has been disconnected. I have the part, but I m not sure how to fit it. All this means is that the blade does not stop immediately when you raise the deck. I doesn t bother me, but the more safety-minded might want to connect it up. A new spring to operate it would be required. I have disconnected the switch that stops you being able to mow in reverse. In my garden, there are some tight spots where mowing in reverse is a great timesaver, but to reinstate this feature a wire just needs to be plugged back in. The chute that you use if you do not want to collect the grass is a bit broken (see photo for general idea of what it is). It has been taped-up and what it really needs is a bit of epoxy resin to stick it back together. It works, but could be better. I have a brand new assembly which I will list seperately as it cost me a small fortune! The buyer will need to collect from Arlingham, Glos as I have sold my car with a towbar.