After having bad luck with two out of three John Deere I’ve decided to look at Kubota’s
My budget limit is about $1000 and I will be mowing about 2 acres. I’m willing to put some sweat equity in where needed to keep the thing running good and be reliable. currently I’m looking at a TG1760 with 800 hours that has a bad carburetor and a G 5200 with 2000 hours that the current owner says could be taken to a dealer and have gone through and maybe only need a beltand that’s it.
I can get the TG 1760 for 450 maybe less he wants 1800 for the G5200 but has let me know he will deal on it. I like the idea of having the diesel but it is about 20 years older than the 1760 and they’re both water cooled so I would hope the gas engine on the 1760 would be good for at least 1500 to 2000 hours so all have to worry about on it would be the hydrostatic
Buying used equipment is a crap shoot, many times you get other peoples problems. Sounds like both units need service work and depending on how far you want to go, you easily be to the $750-$1000 in added costs to your purchase price. That being said Kubota makes good units, but if I new they both would have to need a lot of TLC to get them into good condition, I personally would stay away from both units, in that condition.
I figure the best thing to do is take the winner to the Kubota dealer and have them go through it. The question is once they are both given a clean bill of health woul the G5200 be worth twice as much as the T1760 because that’s what it will end up costing compared to the 1760
Only you are able to answer that question. I am not standing next to each unit to see how it looks or runs. Your best source to answer that question is your local Kubota guy, there again how much do you trust your local guy? Finally, hours on a unit mean very little in my opinion. How the unit was used and maintained mean far more to me. Bottom line is how much of a betting man are you?
G5200 is diesel. DIesel costs a lot more to fix and maintain. Keep that in mind. Gas is cheaper all the way around. Used equipment, especially lawn equipment, is as said a crap shoot. If it looks like it's been loved, you might be ok. If it looks well used, it probably is. Do you have any mechanical skill to fix things?
Also worth mentioning, the G5200 is an old mower and some parts may or may not be available anymore. T1760 is also old and I know for fact that Kubota does not support the engines at all now, and I am told the transmission as well. Changing the carb on a 1760 might be a fun project if you have never done one. As long as the bolts come out cleanly from the elbow you are ok, but if they don't.....you get to buy an elbow and blower housing, which is also fun to change (remove radiator, etc). good engines, but remember-this stuff is aged and you WILL have to do some work to them. Water pumps are common failure points. On that note, so is the fuel pump and if the original fuel pump is still on it, and you purchase the mower, replace the pump asap with the new style. THe original fuel pump had a weep hole, when the internal diaphragm ruptured-which they almost all do-it weeps fuel out of the hole, which is directly over the top of the muffler, and fire usually results. Deere had a problem with it (neighbor burnt his up) and I had a good friend who burnt his 1760 up too because of this. There was a recall on it at one point but it's probably expired by now, and kubota doesn't support the engine anyway so you have to go through a kawasaki dealer.
If it were me and obviously it's not, I'd be looking for a G1800 or G1900. G2000 if you like gas burners but the G2000's are gas guzzlers. If you find one that works/runs, and has a non-rusted deck, for $1000 or thereabouts, latch onto it. 4 wheel steer models are easier to steer than 2 wheel steer models (go figure). I still have both, mine is 4ws and dad's is 2ws. He loves his. The deck is rusted out on mine.
#6
NJMower
You've had bad luck with John Deere, so you are looking at two non-running Kubotas. Personally, I think your luck would improve a lot if you sucked it up and paid for a good running machine with lower hours.
Well I looked at both the Kubotas along with about a dozen other $600-$1000 mowers and finally ended up with a one step above MTD generic 2006 Cub with a 50" deck. It has 600hrs but appears to have been well cared for and serviced every year. If it can get to a 1000hrs without major repairs I'll consider it win!
