Ledgemere Farm
Veteran Member
dealer ball point pen
You are a funny guy.
You are a funny guy.
Which is the most liked garden tractor for...
- Thread starter cmkh3
- Start date
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bontai_Joe
Platinum Member
- Joined
- Feb 24, 2004
- Messages
- 843
- Location
- northeast PA
- Tractor
- Deere 316 (Kohler) Deere 316 (Onan) Deere 210
I bought a rather ratty looking 316 in the summer of 2003 for $1000 and blew the motor about 3 months later. Got a replacement 20 HP moter for $1500 and am still in the process of repainting in in my spare time /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif. The old 300 series Deeres were all very substantial machines, ranging from the original 300 which came with a 16 HP Kohler in the early 1970s, to the 312, and 316 of the mid 1970s, to the 314, and 317 of the late 1970s and early 1980s. to the cream of the crop 318 and 316 fron 1982 -1992, and it's water cooled diesel cousins the 330 and 332. Price of a used 318 can be as low as $800 for one that is not running but still fixable, to as high as $4000 for a pristene 1992 low hour machine equiped with the rear PTO, 3 point hitch, and a couple of attachments. The 316 Onan powered tractor would be less than that because of not having the extra front hydraulics (came with one pair vs. the 318's 2 pair up front) to allow blade angling AND lift, and as you mentioned, no power steering. If you are serious about shopping for a used quality garden tractor, there are other excellent machines to also consider, the Cub Cadet 1250, 1450, 1650, the Ingersoll 4000 series among others, as well as the Deere 212,214, and 216 which have 4 speed manual tranny's and not many bells and whistles, but will hold their own against many other more expensive machines. The caution with these tractors is that as good as they were and still are, their age does require a minimum of upkeep and repair to keep them going. The newest 318 you will find is 1992, now 13 years old, but if you really look at the frame and tranny on the old 300 series tractors, you will see a machine that was heavily overdesigned for it's intended tasks, and will need to consider as I did, that the motor is to be considered a replaceable wear item. I expect my 1979 kohler powered 316 to last 50 or more years with maybe 2 engines in that time. Same with my newer Onan powered 316. They really were built that tough in my opinion. I consider the same to be true of the Cadet models I mentioned above and the Ingersolls as well as the Power King (Also known as the Economy or Jim Dandy tractor) machine of the 1970's.
As to finding one local to you, have you checked what has been traded in at your local dealers? And I include every brand dealer in you area? I'd also keep a sharp eye on the local newspaper to see what is there as well. And they will show up on ebay close to you, you just need to check every couple of days. I agree the good ones SEEM to always be 1000 miles away, but one will pop up near buy.
As to finding one local to you, have you checked what has been traded in at your local dealers? And I include every brand dealer in you area? I'd also keep a sharp eye on the local newspaper to see what is there as well. And they will show up on ebay close to you, you just need to check every couple of days. I agree the good ones SEEM to always be 1000 miles away, but one will pop up near buy.
yellowsocks93
Veteran Member
Yep 318s are great. I bought mine for $1900 not bad shape no repainting needed on mine but I did have to rebuild the motor for 1 grand. With all of the misc. parts I have gotten new for it like a new dash and steering wheel I have 3 grand total invested in the machine. 318s are hard to come by in my area and I spent many, many months waiting to take one in at my dealership with no luck.
