OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Restoring, Customising and Modifying Ride-On Mowers COX: 11hp Automatic Restoration Project

Hi everyone,
A few months ago my parents decided to give the grey nomad thing a go and left dads old ride on with me as dad didn't want it to sit unused too long. With christmas fast approaching I figured instead of buying dad some extra thing for them to lug around the country or try and fit in storage, that I'd have a go at giving the ride on a bit of a new lease on life.

Engine wise the old briggs & stratton has held up quite well as dad have maintained it quite well. So luckily it shouldn't need much more than a good service and a cleanup.

As for the steering and running gear i think I may have a bit of work ahead of me. So far without having got it off the ground I have noticed:
King pin and wheel bearing movement
Lots of slop in the steering
A lot of wiring that's barely holding together
A number of bent and loose linkages in the deck engagement system
Also a lot of excess squeal from both belt and cone drive components

Body wise I'll be re welding a number of pieces, straightening bent bits and giving her a respray. I'm hoping to replace all the stickers also as they aren't too bad now but will be ruined while prepping for the respray.

Anyway thats about where I'm at so far, any suggestions or comments are always welcome. Also if anyone knows where I might be able to get replacement stickers please let me know.

good looking little machine already , good luck with it menacer20 . a guy on ebay also a member here can remake them for you , good photos and accurate measurements and i think 3 to 4 weeks .

silensmessor is him , or just look up decals on ebay . another member might know someone up there in sunny QLD though .

haha. Yeah, took a bit of scrubbing to get it looking that good... Doesn't hurt that the sun blowing out the lighter areas hides the rust n dints also.

And thanks.. I'll have a chat to a few guys up here, if their not helpful though I'll contact him.

G'day Menacer,
Your machine is around 30 years old.
1983 to 1986 for the 09F3 models.

I notice it has the split rim wheels and narrow tyres (which where on older models).

I have rebuilt one of these from the chassis up, a while ago now.
I use 2 of these to mow quite a large block, a bit at a time, my wife and I ride one each, so we end up with a 60 inch cut.
I would like a large zero turn mower one day, but I can fix these old cox mowers myself.

Your mower sounds as if it needs quite a bit of work.

It can be cheaper to buy a second hand machine for parts, to keep the project economical.

For the noises you have, I would be dropping the cutting deck off and inspect all pulleys for wear in the grooves, replace bearings and belts if required.

Cox mowers can have drive cone to drive plate noise.
I sand my drive plates with a sanding disc and dress my cone (check plates for any grooves)

Check drive chain and sprocket.

If you have any questions on something specific, I will keep an eye on this thread.
From Mark.

Ok, so after a few weeks off on a cruise, I'm back to work and back to this project.
Wheel bearings have been replaced and movement in kingpins has been minimized. Took to the bonnet with the welder and although I dont think its quite square, at least its solid now. While i was removing the seat the weld under the foam holding the top of the bolt let go, so the angle grinder saw some action and now ill also have to try and weld a new bolt in without lighting the whole seat on fire. this weekend I'm in the process of trying to remove all slop from the steering and deck lowering linkages as well as giving it a new plug and an oil change.

In the next week or 2 I want to hit it with some paint and try n tidy up/fix the electrics. On this not I have 2 questions I'm hoping someone can answer:

1. Does anyone know what the paint code for this cream colour cox used on these old models is?

2. Is this model designed to charge its battery while running?

Anyway, thanks in advance for any help, I off to the shed! I'll try not to leave it quite so long before the next update.

G'day Menacer,

Hope you enjoyed your holiday. My 'er indoors' is always banging on about doing such a thing.

Re the battery charge. I just consulted the book of words. The last digit in the model number is a 2 and indicates it is pull start thus no alternator. And that's how it appears generally in the pics. But......

I notice in the photos that the pull start rope is missing.......and is that a starter lurking under the fuel tank??

Has it been modified to electric start?

The cowl numbers in your image are the model, type, then code.
This part list covers your engine type.
http://bsintek.basco.com/MDEXResultsPages/PDFDisplayPage.aspx?fileName=Z6lttJVJ1DajI
have a look at page 13.
I read it as your type has no alternator to charge your battery.
If it did, you would see some wiring coming out from under the flywheel.

As for paint colour, I used smooth cream, it is a common house colour.
It was close enough for me, but I am not particular.

You could phone COX MOWERS at Acacia Ridge in Brisane, for the colour code.

It's certainly electric start. Not sure if its factory or not though..And thanks mark, it does seem to read that way, I might have to take a closer look incase is is indeed retrofitted electrics...

I have got two of those, one is red and the other white, factory colours too. the red one has the seat start on the r.h.side foot plate and a B & S engine while the white one has a G400 Honda. Both have much bigger tyres all round. Very good mowers too.