Commercial Mower Value Question

[Midniteoyl]

If it cost over $8500 then, it will still cost over $8500 today for the same quality.. Maybe more.

 

[bertsmobile1]

I have been staying out of this one to date, but I will have to agree with the last couple of posts.
To get a true comparison you have to forget about the numbers of dollars & convert it what you are really spending, hours of labour.
Prices have come down & so has the quality but the value in hours worked remains fairly constant over the short period.
So if it was $ 8000 ten years ago and labour was $ 20 / hr = 400 hours ( 10 weeks wages ).
Thus a mower of equivalent quality will cost you at least 10 weeks wages at the current wage level .

Naturally I have used Ozzie hourly rates to do the above illustration.

As it is family member there is family politics to consider & I ain't going down that path.

While it may have been serviced well there are all sorts of things like deck mounts that are most likely flogged out and these are usually weld on items on commercial mowers so deck restoration can easy cost more than you paid for it.

 

[Ric]

The mower has 1500 hours on it. I just had all the spindle bearing replaced, new blades, and the blower bearings/fan all upgraded to the latest version that fixed a bunch of issues with past versions. The shop went through everything else and didn't find any issues anywhere. It's been used, but it's been maintained. It works great. All the specs are below. I believe it's a 2008 or 2009. If it's worth 4500/5000...i'm going to likely sell it for that instead of sell it to my father-in-law.

If the mower has 1500 hrs on it I wouldn't look for it to last much longer without some kind of overhaul a long with other things. The problem you are going to have trying to sell it and get any amount of money for it will be the hours on the engine and the age of the mower. I look at that mower and I see a mower that will nickel and dime someone to death, I mean it's already cost you $500 and what's the next expense or repair going to cost you.
I know people are taking about the quality of the mower but what is quality worth in repairs vs a new commercial for 6 or $7000 with a 3 or 5 yr warranty. If these guys think it's such a great buy at the price you're quoting then sell it to one of them and get your money.

 

[Midniteoyl]

Ya, at 1500hrs, its not worth $4500+ to me.. Maybe $2500, which what you have into it.

That said, you have the unit now, bought at a decent price, and its running and mowing good. I would simply keep it and use it. Maintain it the best you can and when something major breaks then go get another one. Depending on your usage and mowing style, it could last you several more years and be well worth the money. Using and maintaining this one will also allow you to learn ZTRs, what you do like, what you dont, whats a compromise, etc, and allow you to be much better informed when you go to buy a new one.

 

[Carscw]

Wow I just now found out that 1500 hours makes a mower no good. I better bring all my mowers to the scrap yard.
This mower cost $8500 new. If you spend that much on a mower and think 1500 hours is a lot then stop spending that much.
Most lawn care guys would have to buy a new mower around every 18 months if they only kept them for 1500 hours.
Keep this mower and put another 1500 hours on it.
I buy used mowers all the time and resell them I know what they are worth.

 

[Midniteoyl]

Ya, at 1500hrs, its not worth $4500+ to me..

Wow I just now found out that 1500 hours makes a mower no good. I better bring all my mowers to the scrap yard.
This mower cost $8500 new. If you spend that much on a mower and think 1500 hours is a lot then stop spending that much.
Most lawn care guys would have to buy a new mower around every 18 months if they only kept them for 1500 hours.
Keep this mower and put another 1500 hours on it.
I buy used mowers all the time and resell them I know what they are worth.

Read it again.. In the end, its worth what ever you are willing to pay for it.

 

[Ric]

Ya, at 1500hrs, its not worth $4500+ to me.. Maybe $2500, which what you have into it.

That said, you have the unit now, bought at a decent price, and its running and mowing good. I would simply keep it and use it. Maintain it the best you can and when something major breaks then go get another one. Depending on your usage and mowing style, it could last you several more years and be well worth the money. Using and maintaining this one will also allow you to learn ZTRs, what you do like, what you dont, whats a compromise, etc, and allow you to be much better informed when you go to buy a new one.

You say at 1500hrs, its not worth $4500+ to me and I think that's the way most people will see it, especially considering the price difference between it and a new unit. That's why I said if he could get his father-in-law to give him the money he paid plus the $500 he invested in repairs I'd take it or keep the thing and run the wheels off it and then get a new unit. Personally I'd just keep the thing if it was doing as good a job as he said. I would have to believe that the guy who had the mower and sold it for the $1900 figured he did pretty well to get that much.

 

[merkaba]

Thanks everyone for the input. The mower really is quite overkill for my yard. It takes me literally 30 min to mower my lawn. If i can get between 4500-5000 for it...i think i'll sell it and switch to something newer, with a smaller cut. I posted it on craigslist today. We'll see what happens. Otherwise...i'll keep it, and enjoy it. Does anyone have any recommendations for what a good upgrade would be that has the ability to add a vacuum bagging system like this one? I have dealers all within 30-45 minutes from me, so brand is not a big deal. Cleaned it up a tad for photos today