The 425 came with a 54" mower deck and I used it as my primary mowing tractor for a while but the deck blew out a lot of debris out from under the deck which I didn't like. While mowing I found out that it used oil even though it ran well and I never noticed any blue smoke while mowing. I pulled the motor and rebuilt it, replaced the seat and grill and fixed everything I could find wrong with it. Then gave it a fresh coat of paint. The older I get the less inclined I am to fabricate a loader and I've now found a mini loader that I'm going to pick up tomorrow.
To prepare it for the loader, I've replaced the tires with 6 ply tire front and rear. The AG tires should aid in traction over the turf tires that came on the tractor. I've added 200# of cast iron to the rear wheels and filled the tires with windshield washer fluid for an additional 150# of liquid ballast.
