Impalajon
New member
Ventracs are made nearby and I have a few uncles and cousins that have had Steiners over the years so I知 familiar with them and have wanted a Ventrac for a few years now. I live on 33 acres in North Central Ohio where about half is wooded and the other half is horse pasture and lawn, and none of it is level. I have 2 streams and a pond so I also have a few wet spots. I rented a Ventrac with the rough cut mower last fall and I was able to clear spots I wouldn稚 think of going with my John Deere 3032 and a brush hog. I have a quote from a nearby dealer for a new 4500z and 72 mower and a few other misc options but have hesitating pulling the trigger because they are quite spendy. I saw a few sell at equipment auctions earlier in the year in the mid teens but they were used a little harder than I wanted. I致e been watching Craig痴 list for a used one with a few hundred hours but with low expectations since who in their right mind would sell a Ventrac after just a year or two? It happened last Thursday, a 4500z with 72 deck and 138 hours was listed for what looked like a decent price about 45 minutes away. It was at least $5K less than my quote so I called and left a voicemail Friday afternoon and received a call back Friday evening. It turns out the seller works for Ventrac and they can buy a new tractor with their employee discount every 2 years. He said he realized now probably wasn稚 a great time to try to sell but he had started the process to get his new one in December before the pandemic hit and he had to follow through with it. It had all the options I would have ordered if new so I told him I would be there a little after noon Saturday to take a look.
I have a distant relative that works for Ventrac so I got a hold of him and he knew the seller and spoke very highly of him. He also was aware of the employee discount and confirmed it was a very fair price. I planned on getting to the bank early Saturday to get the cash out of my account and make that Ventrac mine. Bank lobbies are closed these days so I ended up running to 4 different drive through branches of my Bank in a few different towns to assemble the cash. I don稚 keep >$20K cash on hand and neither do banks, apparently. I called him at 11:30 to let him know I was leaving and had 1 quick stop to make along the way. I texted at 11:56 to give him an ETA of 12:20 when I left my stop. I was at the last stoplight outside Orrville just 5 minutes away from his place when my phone rang, it was him. He told me the mower just sold? WTF?
I was stunned and didn稚 notice the light had changed so I after a polite honk from the car behind, I made a (legal) U-turn and headed back home. I called my relative that knew him and he was just as stunned as I was, and was very apologetic on behalf of his co-worker.
I realize that often in these cases the first person to arrive with cash gets the deal, but had I known anyone else was sniffing around at all, I would have made it clear during one of our communications that I would take it sight unseen. I guess things like this happen for a reason but couldn稚 help being disappointed riding around on my John Deere D-170 earlier this afternoon.
I have a distant relative that works for Ventrac so I got a hold of him and he knew the seller and spoke very highly of him. He also was aware of the employee discount and confirmed it was a very fair price. I planned on getting to the bank early Saturday to get the cash out of my account and make that Ventrac mine. Bank lobbies are closed these days so I ended up running to 4 different drive through branches of my Bank in a few different towns to assemble the cash. I don稚 keep >$20K cash on hand and neither do banks, apparently. I called him at 11:30 to let him know I was leaving and had 1 quick stop to make along the way. I texted at 11:56 to give him an ETA of 12:20 when I left my stop. I was at the last stoplight outside Orrville just 5 minutes away from his place when my phone rang, it was him. He told me the mower just sold? WTF?
I was stunned and didn稚 notice the light had changed so I after a polite honk from the car behind, I made a (legal) U-turn and headed back home. I called my relative that knew him and he was just as stunned as I was, and was very apologetic on behalf of his co-worker.
I realize that often in these cases the first person to arrive with cash gets the deal, but had I known anyone else was sniffing around at all, I would have made it clear during one of our communications that I would take it sight unseen. I guess things like this happen for a reason but couldn稚 help being disappointed riding around on my John Deere D-170 earlier this afternoon.
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