Gambled on a G5200 Today

[joleat]

Without doing much research on the G5200, I took a gamble on one today for $1300. It has 1235 hours and looks better in person than it does in the picture (seller's picture). I need to clean it up a bit and snap a few pictures of my own before I dive into maintenance.

My old Cub Cadet LTX 1042 is on its last leg, so I've been keeping an eye on marketplace for a couple weeks. I didn't have a particular model in mind, but I knew I wanted to move into something more robust. I was watching for a Gravely or an old Ford, but had hopes of maybe landing on a diesel Kubota or Deere. Time will tell if the gamble was worth it.

I look forward to learning about it. If anyone has experience with this model and wants to share anything I should know, please feel free to do so.

 

[lmichael]

Good lookin machine there. Looks like it's all there. Many times on old machines all the missing things are the hardest thing to go through. And you're right that is a FAR more robust machine than the little Cub you're replacing. These Kubotas are like tanks. Thick steel, heavy drive shafts grease fittings everywhere you look, and they weigh way more than you might expect. Mine (G2160) replaced a nice little Honda 4514 (really nice little machine like a tank in it's own right) but just the mower deck from my G2160 weighs almost as much as the entire Honda machine did.
Of course I am really feeling that weight and size at my age.
In any case you will grow to love the music of that little diesel humming away as well. Congrats on the "new" machine.

 

[Like Tractors]

Without doing much research on the G5200, I took a gamble on one today for $1300. It has 1235 hours and looks better in person than it does in the picture (seller's picture). I need to clean it up a bit and snap a few pictures of my own before I dive into maintenance.

My old Cub Cadet LTX 1042 is on its last leg, so I've been keeping an eye on marketplace for a couple weeks. I didn't have a particular model in mind, but I knew I wanted to move into something more robust. I was watching for a Gravely or an old Ford, but had hopes of maybe landing on a diesel Kubota or Deere. Time will tell if the gamble was worth it.

I look forward to learning about it. If anyone has experience with this model and wants to share anything I should know, please feel free to do so.

I bought one new in 1993, I now use it occasionally, just because I like running it. A BX2380 and a B2650 with a rear finish mower do the job most of the time.

 

[lmichael]

I bought one new in 1993, I now use it occasionally, just because I like running it. A BX2380 and a B2650 with a rear finish mower do the job most of the time.

That looks great!

 

[joleat]

Thanks all! Like Tractor, you have a real gem there!

The guy I bought mine from told me it can be a bit difficult to start after being parked for a while. According to him, the original owner told him it's been like that for a while. Sure enough, it took some cranking to get going this evening, but I was able to fire it up without starting fluid. I suspect maintenance has been deferred for a while. The guy I bought it from bought it last year, but he is disabled and it was just too much for both him and his property.

I snapped a few more pictures when I got in from work. I haven't had a chance to do anything to it yet, so these pictures represent the condition it was in when I bought it. It was, at least, garage kept, so it's in pretty good condition in terms of looks.

So far, I know I'm going to be looking at new tires (dry rotted), new filters, and new fluids. The steering has a bit of slop, but nothing compared to the Cub Cadet being replaced. I can live with it for now. I need to dig into the PTO lever linkage and belts to see what kind of adjustments can be made. At this point, my seat time is obviously minimal, but I noticed the deck belt sometimes still receives slight power with the PTO lever in the disengaged position.