I've got maybe a weird question.
I'm an assistant summer camp director and my director is an older lady who's been having some mobility issues that have been getting progressively worse. Due to the layout of our camp, there's a lot of back-and-forth walking between the main building and the field and last summer I and one of the counselors used our pickup trucks to move things (like ice, meals, snacks, toys, and equipment) back and forth a lot last year, but it was always a little bit of a pain keeping the kids out of the way of the trucks dropping stuff off.
So I was thinking maybe an old golf cart or a used riding mower with the deck removed would be really useful for us, but we're a non-profit and don't have much to speak of as far as budget goes.
I'm a hobby mechanic and know my way around cars really well and definitely don't mind something that's a "mechanic's special," but I live in a condo so I don't really have any use for or experience with mowers or other small engines.
One thing I've noticed is that a lot of these used riding mowers that are cheap enough to afford (under $100, preferably under $50) have bad starters -- I assume from getting wet or grassy and general neglect. Replacing a starter doesn't look too difficult, but if I wanted to be able to start an engine to make sure it'll even run, would I be able to start it with a drill or an impact wrench on the flywheel bolt on top? Or maybe push-start it like a manual car? I'm not sure how much torque or rpms one of those small engines needs to be able to start and I don't really understand how a mower transmission works.
We do have a landscaping company, so it really doesn't need to be able to cut (although being able to cut would be a nice bonus) -- just needs to be able to move and drive and maybe pull around this little cart we have. Anything else in particular I should be on the lookout for while I'm shopping around that's unique to mowers instead of cars that I might not be thinking of?