Buying Advice 1992 JD 240 worth it?

[tpat]

I've been looking to buy a riding mower for awhile now and can't decide to buy new or used. A neighbor is selling his 1992 John deere 240 with 38" deck. Is this a good riding mower? It's in good shape but he's asking $1750. That seems kind of steep. Any advice for a newbie? Thanks

[Gale Hawkins]

My FIL a few years ago picked up nice new hydrostatic 48" cut at a farm store for about $2000 that is still mowing. Throw away mowers have their place.

[jenkinsph]

Setting price aside for a moment, how well this would work would depend on your lawn area. The 240 is a heavy duty mower compared to the big box store models seen today but is a gear drive mower. If you have alot of obstacles the hydro transmissions are easier to manuever with. The cheap hydro's are problematic though so that is a consideration too. Knowing more about your intended uses and lawn layout would help.

[LD1]

I didnt think they put that small of a deck on the 240.

The 240 IS a good mower with a GOOD kawasaki engine. I had one that dad bought new in 1989. Never any issues. My FIL also has one that is a year newer that he also bought new. I sold him mine when I got the ZTR.

His price is about 2x's too high IMO though. At the end of the day, it is still a 20 year old mower. And while better than box-store models......it still will show signs of aging after 20 years, even though may not be apparent.

[tpat]

Setting price aside for a moment, how well this would work would depend on your lawn area. The 240 is a heavy duty mower compared to the big box store models seen today but is a gear drive mower. If you have alot of obstacles the hydro transmissions are easier to manuever with. The cheap hydro's are problematic though so that is a consideration too. Knowing more about your intended uses and lawn layout would help.

I don't have a large yard...about half an acre. It is a flat, rectangular yard with not a lot of obstacles at the moment. I also plan on pulling a cart for landscape refuse and taking it to the neighborhood dump pile. I tried taking a wheelbarrow to the dump pile but it took me about 40 minutes round trip (there are some small hills, roughly half mile away).