Would this scare you from buying???

r0GuE · Jun 5, 2013

Grandad4 said:
He's gone 5 times past the factory crankcase oil change interval. Obviously didn't read or just ignored the operators manual. Probably never changed any other fluid either... particularly the HST juice. I'd keep looking.

+1 run away. Let him bury it himself. I cannot understand those that neglect fine machines.

kevin37b · Jun 6, 2013

It would be easier to decide if it was a little closer to you . MY luck is I drive 10 hrs. to look at junk . I just think about other services that were ignored .

sixdogs · Jun 6, 2013

So, what did the OP do? Buy it, not buy it; look or not look?

BleedingOrange · Jun 6, 2013

If I remembered right, the OP said he lost interset and is not buying it. After that, since he wasn,t interested any longer, I asked him to post the link or tell us the asking price, but I don,t think he replied to that. I find, if something is priced right, I might be more willing to take a chance on it. If it is priced high, with obvious potential problems, I pass, and find something else. There are usally more around, if you aren,t in a great big hurry.

Dr_Zinj · Jun 6, 2013

Best suggestion is to test drive it first and run it through all of its paces (gears, speeds, turns, stops, etc.) keeping an eagle eye and a dog's ear alert for any sticking, sloppiness, squeals, knocks, smokes, etc.

Then make your decision.

wjsizemore77 · Jul 8, 2013

sixdogs said:
So, what did the OP do? Buy it, not buy it; look or not look?

Sorry for the delay in follow up. No, I did not end up going to look at the machine in question. I decided it was too far, and not a good enough deal to invest the time and fuel. I did end up buying a similar machine locally last week.

It is a 2002 bx2200 with a 60" MMM with 445 hours on it. It belonged to an older man, who passed on a few years ago, and his family was selling it to tie up loose ends. They had it advertised at $7800, but the guy said he would likely take less to get it sold. It looked clean in the pics ("old man owned... Must be a cream puff" I thought) so I went to look at it with ideas of offering $6500.

When I got there, it was a little more "used" than it looked in the pictures, but not terrible. It started and ran fine, mowed fine, etc. I could tell it was not the "cream puff" I thought I was coming to look at, and would likely need a little TLC (fluids, filters, etc). before serious use. The air filter was really dirty, sounded like the spindles needed grease, lift arm turn buckle bent. I was debating in my head whether to make an offer or not, and ended up deciding to offer $5500 figuring he would decline, or I would end up with it at a bargain. He took the offer. Ended up delivering it for me that night for another $50, and found 3 brand new blades and a brand new spare deck belt. Score!

Job number one the next day before doing anything was to pop in a new air filter, and change the oil. The ironic part of this whole story is when I went to remove the filter, it was the ORIGINAL FILTER that it came with (kubota gray, no markings, covered with 445 hours of dirt and grime). My heart sank a little bit, and I kicked myself for not catching this before. The oil I was draining was likely the original oil. I can't believe after all that, I missed it.

After the new air filter and oil change, I sharpened up the blades that were on it, and mowed for about an hour. Ran fine for a while, and then bogged down as if starving for fuel. As soon as I would let off the hst pedal, the RPms would catch back up. Classic plugged fuel filter. Now it's in the garage, sans deck, waiting on some new filters. After that, hst fluid and filter. Hopefully after that it will be worry free for a long time.

2458n · Jul 8, 2013

I had buyers remorse on my 245DT that I bought used with 300 hours fom a JD dealer. After 32 years I have pretty much gotten over it. Enjoy.

Bluegill2 · Jul 9, 2013

Yeah, it'll be fine once all serviced up!

LD1 · Jul 9, 2013

The filter dont mean anything about the oil.

Heck, I'm at 428 or so hours now, and have changed the oil several times, but still the original air filter. I do take it out and blow it out frequently though...

sixdogs · Jul 9, 2013

LD1 said:
The filter dont mean anything about the oil.

Heck, I'm at 428 or so hours now, and have changed the oil several times, but still the original air filter. I do take it out and blow it out frequently though...

Once you have blown that out a few times the effectiveness is lost. The price of new air filters is chump change in the scheme of things.

Same with anti freeze. I read somewhere that lots of engine failures are cause by old anti freeze that plugs up the galleys and causes uneven heating and damage.