Picked up a X495 and a X740

[Mad_River]

Won two JD tractors this week on an online auction for less than $2k. I have to pick them up. No idea how many hours and if they even run. The X495 is a 2004 and the X740 is a 2009 and both were used by the Air Force for mowing on a base. They look to be all there except the 740 has a broken headlight assembly and both are missing seats and 3 62C deck gage wheels. Any advice on how I can get these into a 16ft moving truck? I couldn't rent a long enough trailer. The 62C decks are resting on the ground so I am not clear on how to get them rolling without either starting them or removing the decks. They may not run in current state and I am afraid to try to start them given that they look like they haven't run in a while. I know I should check the air filters to see if they are there / clean, change tranny/engine oils/coolant, and fill all zerks. Anything else I should consider as I get them running again? I plan to service and fix all broken missing parts then sell the most valuable one. I may sell my CC 2544. It only has 100 hrs but I need a bigger mowing deck and the JD quality is better. See pics below of the machines I got.

 

[Deere Dude]

What about a 3000# electric winch hooked onto a tie down inside the truck box and drag them up the ramps?

 

[eab3]

Agree with Deere Dude on winch. Come along would be cheap substitue. I would raise decks by either pallet forks or using prybars and ratchet straps or something to hold them up. Prybars, ratchet straps, cinder blocks, and short lengths of 4x4 post always seem to play a prominent role in my own projects of this sort. Ropes and bungees also always come in handy. Good luck

 

[tmsoko]

Check out Craigslist - I once planned to rent an 18' aluminum open deck trailer from a local guy. Found him on Craigslist. Cheap too.

Now, to the tractors - what a deal! Wow, how did you find out about these? I need to search harder. If you do end up parting one out, keep my contact. I need a fender deck and a deck lift cylinder. Been looking for a while with no luck!

Todd

 

[JDTank]

Not to be the negative one, but I don't think you got a deal at all. In fact, all you have purchased is headaches and problems.

Judging by those pictures, those machines have been abused, hard. All the tires are bald, you have serious hood damage on the one machine where the missing headlight assembly is. Just a new hood alone is $700. By the time you replace the hood and lights, your into it for $1,000. You haven't even touched the engine, transmission or deck yet. The paint is faded and likely scratched all to ****. I see they decided to paint unit numbers of some sort in black on the green paint, stupid.

Never in my life would I buy anything that came from a military base or anywhere it was operated by a Government employee. I have seen so many army personnel abuse equipment because it isn't theirs and they think it is funny. Those machines have likely been popping wheelies since new. Oh but it's ok, it's the taxpayers money right?

If you think you got a good deal, than I am happy for you, but personally, I wouldn't have touched those things with a 10 foot pole.

 

[Mad_River]

JDtank you might be right. I am hoping they aren't all used up and only parts. As parts they are worth more than I paid. I am military and I know what you mean when talking about young guys, but civilian landscape pros come in to mow so I hope they didn't too much screwing around like that. Wish me luck. I will look into the suggested ideas. I don't have a winch.

 

[JDTank]

JDtank you might be right. I am hoping they aren't all used up and only parts. As parts they are worth more than I paid. I am military and I know what you mean when talking about young guys, but civilian landscape pros come in to mow so I hope they didn't too much screwing around like that. Wish me luck. I will look into the suggested ideas. I don't have a winch.

If you plan to part them out, you will probably be ok. If the engines are in good shape with low hours, you could probably get $1,000 for each engine. Brand new I think the Yanmar diesels are about $3,000.

If you want to, more or less, "restore" them to great condition to sell as complete units, I would stop now. By the time you fix everything you will be into these things for thousands of dollars each. The last X495 I seen sell was a 2004 with 1000 hours on it, it was in fantastic shape except a few seat cracks. It went for $3,500. Since your stuck with them now my only suggestion would be to part them out.

I just took delivery of a 2012 X740 last week. I may be upgrading my seat to the SE seat in a month or 2, so if I do, would you be interested in my take-off seat?

 

[Mad_River]

I bought a come along and rope to help get it up ramps which I will also have to buy. I think I will use ratchet straps to lift the decks. If that doesn't work I will take them off. I don't want use a fork truck if possible to avoid damaging the deck or hydraulics.

Assuming they are running I will get some new tires. I figure the painted stencil on the hood and back should come off with paint remover and adhesive remover should get the labels and tape off. Degrease and pressure wash everything, then I will give them a good polishing, Armor All, and waxing. I will test compression and check play on all the bearings to see if it is time to replace them, especially on the decks, mid PTO, and front wheels. I have a tech man so outside of an engine rebuild I can do it all. I will update periodically as they come along. Thanks for the offers on parts gentlemen.

 

[JDTank]

I bought a come along and rope to help get it up ramps which I will also have to buy. I think I will use ratchet straps to lift the decks. If that doesn't work I will take them off. I don't want use a fork truck if possible to avoid damaging the deck or hydraulics.

Assuming they are running I will get some new tires. I figure the painted stencil on the hood and back should come off with paint remover and adhesive remover should get the labels and tape off. Degrease and pressure wash everything, then I will give them a good polishing, Armor All, and waxing. I will test compression and check play on all the bearings to see if it is time to replace them, especially on the decks, mid PTO, and front wheels. I have a tech man so outside of an engine rebuild I can do it all. I will update periodically as they come along. Thanks for the offers on parts gentlemen.

If you do end up having to forklift these, or stick anything underneath them, keep the front power steering hoses in mind. The hose on your left (if you were sitting on the machine) that goes into the hydraulic cylinder hangs down quite low. Like yourself, I wouldn't consider fork-lifting these machines. There is a lot of plumbing and linkage under these garden tractors, bend the wrong thing and your out of business. I am not sure about your machines, but on my 2012 X740, this same line I just told you about was rubbing on the main pivot bolt for the front axle mount. I simply wrapped it in wire loom. However, if someone did not do that on yours, that hose might be just about worn through from vibration. The first thing I did when they delivered my machine was crawl under it for an hour and look for any possible rubbing points. These things are assembled quickly and on brand new machines hoses are not always routed the best way. Take some wire loom and cable ties with you under there and you will be fixed up in no time.

If the tires are pumped right up, they are actually an easy machine to push. You will likely be able to push them right into the trailer. Also, the 16 foot trailer is more than enough room, these tractors are only 6 or 7 feet long. If you are tight on space, turn the tractors on a 45 degree angle inside the trailer, this will give you enough room.

 

[tmsoko]

How did this turn out? We're you able to load them up?