Help with pricing a BCS 850 with attachments

[mainerr]

Hi Folks.

I've been speaking with a guy in New Hampshire about buying his BCS 850. We are working on coming to terms on a price and I was wondering if I could get some input on what's fair.

It was used in a residential location only.

BCS 850
Sweeper (don't know size yet)
Snow thrower 28"
Tiller, 26
Mower, 38"


New retail value for all of this is ~ $9,820.00 plus tax. I'm thinking about 90% off due to it being used so about $900.

What do you think?

 

[Ford850]

When I asked about value of my BCS 605, someone posted the bluebook link and suggested 70% of MSRP as a selling point. I think that might be on the high end but probably fair if the tractor was stored inside and had no weather wear. Grounds Maintenance(R) Equipment Blue Book(R) - Rotary Tillers - Bcs America
If you can get all of what you listed for $900 it would be a steal in my opinion.

 

[mainerr]

Hey Ford850.

I just spoke with a BCS dealership in Brunswick Maine and they suggested if the machine and implements are over 5 years old, that a 50% discount is reasonable. Of course, the stipulation of hours / usage applies.

Anyone else have experience? I dont' want to lowball, seems like $900 bucks is too low now?

 

[mikelandis721]

I'd start off asking if the price is firm and even if he says yes. ho hum a bit and say you'd give 7k, he might say no right off the bat but then you can negotiate, maybe up to $7,500. Really depends on how hold it is, regular maintenance, etc.
Check the sweeper, if the "bristles" are all torn up you can point out that, etc.

 

[farmerboybill]

Assuming an nice machine with no repairs needed, $900 should barely buy the 850 by itself. I'd say $1100 for the power unit. It's easily worth $1500 in the spring.

Sweeper is going to be 40" Caravaggi with BCS stickers on it. $300 for it, they're hard to sell.
Snow thrower is likely a 28" - $500. They're still making them very similar & they're a good thrower
Everyone has a tiller, so they're not terribly valuable for resale - $200
38" mowers are very expensive and somewhat sought after. It should be worth over $800

$2800 is a pretty safe price for both you and him. He could get more and you could pay less, so it's fair for both.

When you go look at it, be sure to spin the handlebars. I've have many machines that were used in tractor or pusher mode only, and they froze in that position. My current 850 required disassembly , a torch, and a 50 ton press to break it loose. BCS didn't think it was necessary to buricate the pivot. If you're handy with a welder, you can drill a hole in the outer pipe and weld a nut on the hole to install a grease zerk.

 

[mikelandis721]

I miss read the post. thought it was 900 off retail. My bad.

 

[cmyoung2]

I tink FBBill is probably close. I bought a 850 with bio100 chipper, 38"mower, 48'"sickle bar, 30"tiller, sulky, 30"combo mower(for sale).
Bought it maybe 2 years ago, maybe $5000, and had to drive 800 miles to get it, but I had looked for quite a while to find it. No regrets.
With some of this hard to find stuff, 50% of retail might be ok if it is in good shape.

 

[mainerr]

Assuming an nice machine with no repairs needed, $900 should barely buy the 850 by itself. I'd say $1100 for the power unit. It's easily worth $1500 in the spring.

Sweeper is going to be 40" Caravaggi with BCS stickers on it. $300 for it, they're hard to sell.
Snow thrower is likely a 28" - $500. They're still making them very similar & they're a good thrower
Everyone has a tiller, so they're not terribly valuable for resale - $200
38" mowers are very expensive and somewhat sought after. It should be worth over $800

$2800 is a pretty safe price for both you and him. He could get more and you could pay less, so it's fair for both.

When you go look at it, be sure to spin the handlebars. I've have many machines that were used in tractor or pusher mode only, and they froze in that position. My current 850 required disassembly , a torch, and a 50 ton press to break it loose. BCS didn't think it was necessary to buricate the pivot. If you're handy with a welder, you can drill a hole in the outer pipe and weld a nut on the hole to install a grease zerk.

Thanks for the post.

Today we agreed upon $2,300 if I take a look at it and it's all in great operating condition. I will be seeing it this weekend.

Here are some photos of it.

 

[mainerr]

I miss read the post. thought it was 900 off retail. My bad.

No problem Mike, I appreciated you taking the time to offer your advice.

 

[mainerr]

I tink FBBill is probably close. I bought a 850 with bio100 chipper, 38"mower, 48'"sickle bar, 30"tiller, sulky, 30"combo mower(for sale).
Bought it maybe 2 years ago, maybe $5000, and had to drive 800 miles to get it, but I had looked for quite a while to find it. No regrets.
With some of this hard to find stuff, 50% of retail might be ok if it is in good shape.

Thanks for sharing your experience. I think 'no regrets' is ultimately where I will end up when I can replace my 25+ year old snowblower (no complaints, still a great machine) and 15 year old garden tractor (hydrostatic transmission is on the way out) and wind up with a machine that can suit me for a long, long time.

 

[leonz]

Please do not try to low ball the seller when it comes to one of these units and implements as your only going to insult
him or her.


You have to remember that repair parts and spare wear parts are still available for these machines.

The gear drive systems in these "2 wheel tractors" are both designed and built very well and built to last and designed for the small alpine farmer to repair and maintain if repairs are needed.


And you must remember that they are gear driven machines that are designed to last and ment to last and be used in very hilly conditions in the Dairy Farms, Vineyards and Orchards in Europe and they have 5 plus decades of reliability built into them.

Rotor bearings, tiller tines, sweeper discs, shear pins, mower spindles with bearings and mower blades are replacement parts.


If you want this machine and its attachments understand that they are built to work and keep working and don't try to low ball
the seller as it will not go well for you.

Your looking at buying one of the used Mercedes of rototillers(Grillo being the other) so keep that in mind as they work well and last a very, very, long time long time and are real well made small alpine farm equipment.


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Hi Folks.

I've been speaking with a guy in New Hampshire about buying his BCS 850. We are working on coming to terms on a price and I was wondering if I could get some input on what's fair.

It was used in a residential location only.

BCS 850
Sweeper (don't know size yet)
Snow thrower 28"
Tiller, 26
Mower, 38"


New retail value for all of this is ~ $9,820.00 plus tax. I'm thinking about 90% off due to it being used so about $900.

What do you think?

 

[farmerboybill]

From the pictures, it looks to be a well cared-for, low houred machine. It appears to have a Kohler Command engine. I figured it would have a V-twin Briggs. Ask them if they repowered the tractor. The bagger attachment shows that it was either super well cared for, or not used much. The fabric starts to look pretty tough after several summers of rubbing things while mowing past them. It looks like maybe the gearbox leaked out some oil, or someone spilled on it. The three pieces on top are not part of the machine. Bonus on getting the quick couplers. I'd adjust the value up on all attachments if they're as nice as these are. $4000 wouldn't be out of line...

 

[mainerr]

It appears to have a Kohler Command engine. I figured it would have a V-twin Briggs. Ask them if they repowered the tractor.

I don't understand what this means. What does it mean to repower a tractor? Is the Kohler engine worse than the Briggs?

 

[Ford850]

I don't understand what this means. What does it mean to repower a tractor? Is the Kohler engine worse than the Briggs?

Repowered = replaced engine
But they did make the 850 with both engines over the years. The earlier B&S on the 850 was 12.5hp I think. Then later they offered the Kohler in 12hp or the B&S in 14hp if I remember correctly.

 

[mainerr]

I picked up the BCS this morning. It was not repowered according to them.

However, it does not have an ignition key. I believe this is the replacement part - BCS America Part 58.4586, KEY FLAT COBO 1418 | PartsTree.com

Also, I found out that the machine came with an additional implement - a water pump.

Thanks for the help to everyone in this thread.

 

[mainerr]

I picked up the BCS this morning. It was not repowered according to them.

However, it does not have an ignition key. I believe this is the replacement part - BCS America Part 58.4586, KEY FLAT COBO 141918 | PartsTree.com

Also, I found out that the machine came with an additional implement - a water pump.

Thanks for the help to everyone in this thread.

It appears that key may not work, that part I think is for a diesel engine. So far I've just found this guide... http://www.earthtoolsbcs.com/pdf/LOMBARDINI_keys.pdf

I am having trouble locating the proper key for this switch... any ideas? Picture below.

 

[farmerboybill]

My guess is it's a generic "Equipment" key. I'd contact Earth Tools or take it to a trusted local Kohler dealer.

 

[mainerr]

My guess is it's a generic "Equipment" key. I'd contact Earth Tools or take it to a trusted local Kohler dealer.

Thanks Bill. I took out the switch and will be bringing it around to local dealers to try my luck with local stock first.

 

[Ford850]

Congrats on a great purchase!

 

[mainerr]

I am having a lot of fun tuning up the machine. Got to use it for snowblowing recently in a decent storm. Compared the snowblower to my two stage 8HP and the BCS single stage trounced it.

A few questions,

1. The manual states to use '80W90, GL-5 (EP) gear oil'. I learned that the machine has synthetic gear oil in it presently. Is there a synthetic gear oil on the market that you specifically recommend?

2. Can I use the same synthetic gear oil in the implements that I use in the transmission of the power unit?

3. The pump included is this Cadoppi. Is my best bet to call Earth Tools for hoses and filters, or is that something I can just put together with parts from a hardware store? I don't have much experience with pumps.

New retail value for all of this is ~ $9,820.00 plus tax. I'm thinking about 90% off due to it being used so about $900.

Also wanted to clear up this part in my original post (quoted above). I had recently learned about Cunningham's law and tried to employ it


Thanks again.