Looking at an 1872

[baker]

Hello, I just wanted some advice on a possible purchase in my new future. There's an 1872 for sale in my home town. It has the 60" deck, hydrolic ports in the front and the 18hp Kohler engine. No rear PTO and no 3 point hitch. The seller was originally asking $1900 and is now asking $1750. I want to see if he will come down a little, but I don't want to offend him. Does it seem like there's a little wiggle room with his asking price?

Thanks in advance!

[john hall]

How many hours are on it? Whats the overall condition appear to be? Any recent repairs? Is it ready to mow grass now? These things can really influence the worth of the machine. Do you have a picture of it?

[baker]

Sorry, I forgot a few details. It only has 315 hours and it looks in great shape. All stickers and decals are present. No dents, dings or scratches. The guy selling it runs the small town tractor/mower repair shop. He works on everything from my uncle's Farmall tractor to my 1200 cub cadet. He said the only thing he did to it before putting it up for sale was put on 2 new front tires. They were holding air, but were weathered. Hope that helps. As far as pictures go, I can add the link to the craigslist ad.

http://cedarrapids.craigslist.org/grd/5580658221.html

[zippy1]

Looks to be in good condition. Check the bolts that hold the differential to the frame to make sure they are all intact, and not loose or wallered out... Or broken.
Look around the engine for leaks, seepage, and check and smell the oil for hints of fuel.
Also check the deck for loose or worn parts, but then again with that low amount of hours, it should be tight.
As for the price, that's hard for me to comment on, seeing I've only seen one for sale in my area, and I bought it.

[Dirty Steve]

If hours are correct, buy it. Very low hours for a 30 year old machine.

[Sam Mac]

Moved this thread to the whats it worth area. As for the value I respectfully disagree that it's worth $1750.00 about as high as I would go is $1000.00 and at that it better be mint.

[baker]

Thanks for the responses and suggestions. I will give it a thorough inspection based on the comments. I'll likely have a decision by Wednesday.

[Sam Mac]

This is a good thread from Zippy about his 1872. It should give you some ideas about what to look at and what you may be getting into.

http://www.onlycubcadets.net/forum/s...ad.php?t=42454

[john hall]

Looks good from the photos, I'd still look it over good and check the trouble areas suggested. Hopefully the guy will let you mow with it.

Regarding value, I'd look on Craigslist around you for a 2-300 mile radius and see what the asking price on these and comparable models is. If I needed a big mower and that one was rock solid, I would buy it. Having said that, that is based on Supers not being real common around here, so choices are slim to none, this is Deere country (the green paint alone doubles the value), jobs pay pretty good here so finding stuff like that dirt cheap means you have to be patient and willing to travel. Also I do my own mechanic work, paying $30-70 hr to work on a 30 year old lawnmower can go bad quick!

Having said all that, if you have intentions of adding 3 pt hitch, ag tires, blades, blowers, tillers, cabs, etc., then the price is probably too high to start with and its going to be a losing proposition unless you have all intentions of keeping the machine for a mighty long time to help justify the cost over time.

[OldSkull]

Value depends on how rare they are in your neck of the wood and the condition the machine is, Todd give you the best advise you can get and Sam pretty nail it about the price those machine sell for. I find one last week with a 46 inch deck and a rear PTO and no mention of how many hours he has so you can bet it's not a new born spring chicken. What turn me off was the $1950CA price tag ($1450US) this alone don't left any meat on the bones to take care of serious issue.

I know you all like pictures so there they are.