My son is looking to buy a 2014 John Deere D140 with only 150 hours on it. I know the Tuff Torq 40 series transmission is light duty and a bit sketchy, but how about the Briggs 40 series 22hp V-twin. Do they have a halfway good reputation? Not too familiar with them so hoping to get some input from some people who are in the know and have some experience with them.
The engine is way overkill of that mower if it has a deck under 50"
The 100 series came out with a 12 Hp engine and that has just gotten bigger with every model upgrade .
Like all small engines , it is hit & miss because you don't know how the mower has been treated and if the owner is telling you the truth.
There is an old bloke up the road a bit who does horrid bodges to make old mowers run then sells them off because he is " down sizing to a smaller lot & no longer needs it ", he was selling mowers like that 12 years ago and currently has 3 for sale, one each on Face Ache, GumTree ( like Craigs list ) & Trading Post .
Another old bodger has a deal with a scrappie to resurrect old mowers bought as scrap and they are even worse .
His selling line is "cleaning out the old shed prior to subdivision " and that is the sort of thing he does .
Several customers made the mistake of buying one of his anchient junk piles with all sorts of horrid bodges .
A 2014 mower is 19 years old and with 150 hours that is ≈ 8 hrs a year
A 1/4 acre block would do at least 20 hrs a year .
So something does not add up .
#3
Hammermechanicman
Keep the oil changed and the engine will outlive the trans, deck and steering.
Thanks everyone for the input, after talking to my son he say's he's going to start off negotiating in the $600-$650 range. And it being a 2014 model it actually could have as little as only 7 full seasons of usage, on a 1 acre lot with a house and driveway on it. So it is actually is in a 20 hours per season range which does seem a bit more reasonable.
