Cliff's latest toy

We were at the point, this summer, of needing a new riding lawn mower. Most of the ones you buy at places like Sears or Walmart are only good for a few years and the cost is far too high. Because Cliff loves older tractors so much, he opted to buy a twenty-year-old John Deere Lawn tractor; something he can paint and tinker with, and that, hopefully, will outlast any of the new junk lawn mowers out there.

By the way, both Lowes and Home Depot sell a lawn mower carrying the John Deere name; John Deere caved to the demand for a cheap model to compete with other brands, and the quality is poor in that particular model. They should have refused, like the guy with Snapper who said no to Walmart.

So anyway, here's Cliff's new prize. Our son has been a storehouse of information; he's made a hobby of learning all about John Deere lawn tractors, and Cliff is on the phone with him almost daily.

The previous owner had mowed five acres with it, and he'd had trouble with flat tires due to thorns. So he had the tires filled with foam. This made for a very bumpy, uncomfortable ride, and Cliff is wasting no time getting pneumatic tires on this baby.

This front tire was so heavy, he decided to weigh it before he started destroying it.

Wow, that's one heavy tire! After he put the new tire on and inflated it, the weight was 13.5 pounds.

The only way to get this tire off the wheel is to cut it off.

Ewwww, they call that foam? That's down-right nasty.

Nasty, nasty, nasty.

Cliff got a couple of extras with his "Little Johnny": A blade...


And wheel weights.


That ought to give him plenty to play with for awhile.