Got it for $1025. Going to get it next weekend, it seems like a decent buy considering he has basically went through the entire tractor and deck and vacuum. It also comes with some extra parts. What do you guys think?
Oil & Fuel "Best" older Deere garden tractor w/ diesel
- Thread starter jmt1271
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Last one, hope I did ok.
Last one, hope I did ok.
mousedoc
Bronze Member
Great looking tractor, I think you did very well! Looks like someone did an excellent restoration job on it.
When I bought my 110 it came with an easy-vac as well, it did a great job on grass and leaves. Careful of rocks though as it can suck them up as well. You may want to fabricate an “arm” to hold the hose away from the rear tire or it will rub as you make sharp left turns.
Best of luck with your new toy…um, make that new tool!
When I bought my 110 it came with an easy-vac as well, it did a great job on grass and leaves. Careful of rocks though as it can suck them up as well. You may want to fabricate an “arm” to hold the hose away from the rear tire or it will rub as you make sharp left turns.
Best of luck with your new toy…um, make that new tool!
mousedoc
Bronze Member
If yours is like mine was, it has a steel impeller. Most small rocks or gravel won’t do any damage. Occasionally one would get wedged between the impeller and outer casing. This would cause the unit to squeal like crazy or jam tight and stall the engine, I’d just remove the rock and continue.
What damaged the unit was picking up larger rocks that bent the impeller. If the impeller gets bent enough, it becomes out of balance and starts to vibrate. I removed it a couple of times to try and straighten out the vanes. Eventually, I wasn’t able to keep the vibrations at an acceptable level and thought about buying a new impeller. Since I had used the vac for over 25 years and it needed new hoses (duct tape can only do so much), I decided to retire it to the scrap heap. I bought a new one (Cyclone) with a flexible impeller and have been using it for 7 years now without a single jammed rock or problem.
As for minimizing the risk, the only thing you can do is to try and remove as many of the rocks from your lawn as you can. The shape of the rock probably has as much to do with jamming the unit as size does. There was about 3/8” or so clearance between the impeller and outer casing and rocks thin on one end and thick on the other were the ones that would jam the unit. As for the ones that bent the impeller, they were sucked right on through so I’m guessing they were more towards the size of a golf ball.
What damaged the unit was picking up larger rocks that bent the impeller. If the impeller gets bent enough, it becomes out of balance and starts to vibrate. I removed it a couple of times to try and straighten out the vanes. Eventually, I wasn’t able to keep the vibrations at an acceptable level and thought about buying a new impeller. Since I had used the vac for over 25 years and it needed new hoses (duct tape can only do so much), I decided to retire it to the scrap heap. I bought a new one (Cyclone) with a flexible impeller and have been using it for 7 years now without a single jammed rock or problem.
As for minimizing the risk, the only thing you can do is to try and remove as many of the rocks from your lawn as you can. The shape of the rock probably has as much to do with jamming the unit as size does. There was about 3/8” or so clearance between the impeller and outer casing and rocks thin on one end and thick on the other were the ones that would jam the unit. As for the ones that bent the impeller, they were sucked right on through so I’m guessing they were more towards the size of a golf ball.
jeffinsgf
Veteran Member
Man, you sure went from, "I'm thinking about an older diesel Deere for around 3-4K" to an old gasser for 1K in a hurry. The 214 looks okay, but it is not one of the more collectible models. The diesels and some of the bigger gassers will handle more and different jobs, but if mowing is your goal, I think you'll be fine.
A mower is exactly what I am looking for. A heavier duty one than the $1k would have gotten me if I went new. As soon as I realized these could be had in this price range I decided I wanted one. The kicker is that this is 60 miles north of where my wife and I are from. And we were talking about going "home" for easter. So everything just kind of fell into place.
EquipmentJunkie
Platinum Member
I am going to say that my family's experience with a Deere 332 was lousy. It rattled, ate belts, scrubbed rings around trees, cut terrible, and had a slow hydraulic deck lift. Everybody in our family loved to hate it.
Maybe we had a lemon, since most other 332 owners thought their machine was great. My father finally got tired of his 332 and traded it off for a Deere 455 all-wheel-steer. What a difference! The 455 is everything that the 332 was not.
If you switch to gas engines, most any lawn & garden tractor that Deere made from the late '60s until the late '80s was way above average. The only exception is the 314 which had a steering box that could turn its operator's arms into those of Popeye. My brother has an old '71 Kohler-powered model 120 which is great! The classics are the 140 and the 318...arguably the best lawn & garden tractors ever made.
Your 214 looks to be in exceptional condition. Best of luck with it.
Maybe we had a lemon, since most other 332 owners thought their machine was great. My father finally got tired of his 332 and traded it off for a Deere 455 all-wheel-steer. What a difference! The 455 is everything that the 332 was not.
If you switch to gas engines, most any lawn & garden tractor that Deere made from the late '60s until the late '80s was way above average. The only exception is the 314 which had a steering box that could turn its operator's arms into those of Popeye. My brother has an old '71 Kohler-powered model 120 which is great! The classics are the 140 and the 318...arguably the best lawn & garden tractors ever made.
Your 214 looks to be in exceptional condition. Best of luck with it.
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