Ariens Emporer

PaulD · Sep 2, 2014

I recently acquired a 1969 Ariens Emporer lawn mower. Does anybody know if this is a desirable mower, and what the value of it mite be? The tractor is currently not running, the paint and tires are fairly nice, but some of the decals are starting to peel. Overall the mower isn"t in bad shape. Thanks in advance.

Tom Arnold · Sep 3, 2014

WHY did you "acquire" this tractor?

If you are not a collector/restorer, then put it up for sale on e-Bay or Craigslist and you will find out if there is a market for it or not AND...what someone will pay.

The Ariens brand is well known brand and there is a forum for them on Garden Tractor Talk and My Tractor Forum. I suggest that you join one or both of those sites and pose your questions there in the proper forum for Ariens products. If all you want to do is sell it, you may find a buyer that way.

As for value, I doubt very much that anyone would be willing to pay you more than one hundred for it and maybe not even that much, especially since it is not running. After all, the Emperor is a bare bones RER with a Tecumseh engine and a non-floating mower deck. Beyond cutting grass, there are no other uses for it.

Just the same, there are people who are into collecting some of the oddball models and you might get lucky and find one.

hemiguy56 · Sep 3, 2014

Hi.
My father bought an Emperor new in 1969 or 70. We used it to mow about 2 acres for 10 years until the motor blew. We put a replacement on it and ran it for another 5 or six years.
Then when I moved into my own house in 1985, I took it and used it to mow my 2 acres until 1998 when I bought a Wheel Horse.
During that time, I wore out another motor, put another replacement on it along with a few bushings and a clutch disk.
I gave it to a friend who used it for a while, but I don't know what happened to it after that.

It was a rugged mower, Only needed a few belts, and bushings here and there and two motors over 30 years of hard use. Sometimes mowing open field with grass 12 inches high. It mulched leaves great too!
It would be desirable as a collectors item, but it would certainly cut grass if properly rebuilt.
Probably has little value, but would be a fun project.

Good Luck,
John

PaulD · Sep 3, 2014

Thank you for the info, I acquired the tractor through a guy at work who said it was taking up space and wanted it gone... I had a little extra space so it followed me home.

504 · Sep 3, 2014

It cost about 325.00 new. I bought one in 1971, 7hp 26in cut. (It replaced a 4hp 24in cut) I really thought I had a mower(beautiful cut),now I use a 25hp diesel 60in deck!

504 · Sep 4, 2014

I will have to argue about a "non floating deck", you can lift one front wheel two feet in the air and the deck stays on the ground, a Snapper is a different deal.

RamblinMan · Sep 27, 2014

A mid 60's Ariens Emperor is what I used to mow lawns as a kid. The floating deck with bars on the underside of the deck along with trailing wheels kept from scalping the roughest lawn. Others used the multi-blade big deck mowers but the single blade Ariens beat them all. I got plenty of business after people saw lawns the Ariens had cut. My dad bought the Ariens new from a local dealer. When I started cutting grass as a job, dad bought an inventory of high wear parts. The deck wheels, front steering arm bushings and parts for the drive mechanism were replaced numerous times over a span of ten years. If the clutch slipped it would wear out faster. We did some machine work on the drive mechanism now and then to prevent that. I replaced the clutch once each summer. The 6hp Tecumseh was rebuilt twice in ten years. It had a cast iron bore. The carburetor throttle shaft would wear and cause it to run rough. Belts and tires lasted longer than they should have. You have to pay a lot to get the quality these days.

Ariens Emporer

PaulD

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Tom Arnold

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hemiguy56

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PaulD

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504

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504

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RamblinMan

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