Walk Behind Mower Buying & Pricing Help (MOVED FROM ANOTHER THREAD)

[lawn mower fanatic]

Re: Walk Behind Mower Buying & Pricing Help

Yeah, I suppose that will have to be my next step at some point. Do you have any thoughts on the older John Deere walk behinds? I know that the Kawasaki engines were good, and my dad and I have had nothing but good results from Deere's, so I'm a little bit inclined to buy older used, but at the same time I don't want to buy something commercial if it is less likely to hold up (due to wear and tear/abuse already on it over the years) or if it is over-priced...

I don't know what condition it's in, but here are some things to consider when buying used: http://www.lawnmowerforum.com/mower-buying-pricing/17772-things-look-when-buying-used-mower.html :smile:

 

[BrokenTiller]

Re: Walk Behind Mower Buying & Pricing Help

I don't know what condition it's in, but here are some things to consider when buying used: http://www.lawnmowerforum.com/mower-buying-pricing/17772-things-look-when-buying-used-mower.html :smile:

I tend to primarily buy used equipment, so I'm aware of the risks involved. The current owner obviously bought it used so the entire history is an unknown. The most recent owner seems to have taken care of it though, so it does have that going for it. Here is his description, followed by a couple of photos:

For sale is my John Deere commercial Walk Behind 38" mower.

It has 1065 hours on it, and runs great. This is the real deal and is one of the first models of commercial walk behinds that John Deere made.

I bought this a while back to reduce the time I spend mowing my lawn every week, and it definitely does that! with my old 22" push mower it would take me 2 hours. With this 38" mower it takes less than 1 hour. I'm selling it because it takes up too much room in my garage and I need to look for a 30" mower that the handles fold up on.

When I got it, it had a couple issues. I added a new PTO switch (to turn the blades on), fixed the shifter linkage, cleaned everything, fixed the ignition system harness and fixed some of the rust on the deck. I recently sharpened the blades and cleaned out the whole fuel system. The 14 kp Kawasaki motor starts easy and runs very strong.

It has 5 forward speeds and 1 reverse. Top speed forward is a running pace, so it makes short work of large lawns. And because it is a zero turn radius, you can work faster than a conventional riding mower.

The 38" deck width is nice too because it can fit through most gates.

This would be a great mower for someone who has a lot of hills to mow, or a backup for a landscaping company.

It also comes with the 2 wheel sulky.

If you have any questions, please let me know.

I guess, my thing is that if I decide to go look at it, I don't want to be wasting the guy's time. If I drive down there and it is good shape and I like it, I want to know what I'm comfortable offering the guy for it...

 

[lawn mower fanatic]

Re: Walk Behind Mower Buying & Pricing Help

I tend to primarily buy used equipment, so I'm aware of the risks involved. The current owner obviously bought it used so the entire history is an unknown. The most recent owner seems to have taken care of it though, so it does have that going for it. Here is his description, followed by a couple of photos:

...

I guess, my thing is that if I decide to go look at it, I don't want to be wasting the guy's time. If I drive down there and it is good shape and I like it, I want to know what I'm comfortable offering the guy for it...

So the mower was not used commercially?

 

[BrokenTiller]

Re: Walk Behind Mower Buying & Pricing Help

So the mower was not used commercially?

Based on the guy's post it does not sound like it. I wonder, however, if the 1,065 hours he states is the number of hours that he put on it, and its use prior to him is an unknown... I sent him an email asking for a little bit more information about its history. How much do you think it would be worth if it was and wasn't used commercially so I have a ballpark of what I should be looking at for it?

 

[lawn mower fanatic]

Re: Walk Behind Mower Buying & Pricing Help

Based on the guy's post it does not sound like it. I wonder, however, if the 1,065 hours he states is the number of hours that he put on it, and its use prior to him is an unknown... I sent him an email asking for a little bit more information about its history. How much do you think it would be worth if it was and wasn't used commercially so I have a ballpark of what I should be looking at for it?

I would say maybe $500 if it wasn't used commercially, $400 if it was. Maybe?

 

[BrokenTiller]

Re: Walk Behind Mower Buying & Pricing Help

I would say maybe $500 if it wasn't used commercially, $400 if it was. Maybe?

Thanks. Out of curiosity, what are you basing those values on?

 

[Ric]

Re: Walk Behind Mower Buying & Pricing Help

Based on the guy's post it does not sound like it. I wonder, however, if the 1,065 hours he states is the number of hours that he put on it, and its use prior to him is an unknown... I sent him an email asking for a little bit more information about its history. How much do you think it would be worth if it was and wasn't used commercially so I have a ballpark of what I should be looking at for it?

I'm going to assume with 5 fwd speeds and one reverse were talking about a belt drive, the other thing I would assume is that it was used commercially because 1065 hours fora homeowner unit would be a lot of hours. The unit new probably wouldn't have sold for anymore than 2 K to begin with and I base that figure on what I paid for the G 1336. I used my 1336 for 2 years commercially but only as a backup mower and had a little less than a hundred hours on the unit and sold it for $1200 and got just over half my money back. As old as that unit is and with the number of hours it has and with what he had to do to actually get the thing in operating condition, I'd have to ask what else needs to be done or will have to be done shortly. The other thing you may want to consider is the fact that who ever owned the thing used a sulky which can add to the ware and tear to the unit. Personally if it were me and I don't know what the asking price is I wouldn't go anymore than $250 maybe $300.

 

[BrokenTiller]

Re: Walk Behind Mower Buying & Pricing Help

I'm going to assume with 5 fwd speeds and one reverse were talking about a belt drive, the other thing I would assume is that it was used commercially because 1065 hours fora homeowner unit would be a lot of hours. The unit new probably wouldn't have sold for anymore than 2 K to begin with and I base that figure on what I paid for the G 1336. I used my 1336 for 2 years commercially but only as a backup mower and had a little less than a hundred hours on the unit and sold it for $1200 and got just over half my money back. As old as that unit is and with the number of hours it has and with what he had to do to actually get the thing in operating condition, I'd have to ask what else needs to be done or will have to be done shortly. The other thing you may want to consider is the fact that who ever owned the thing used a sulky which can add to the ware and tear to the unit. Personally if it were me and I don't know what the asking price is I wouldn't go anymore than $250 maybe $300.

Thanks. I had a couple more emails with him - he said that he bought it recently and has personally put 10-12 hours on it. The 1,065 hours is the total amount on the meter. He also confirmed that this model was made from 1996-2001 and he suspects it is one of the earlier models, so we're looking at a mower that is 15 years old to have that many hours on it. That's 70 hours per year which seems like either a lot for a homeowner, or a somewhat small amount for commercial use. I have no idea how many hours get put on commercial equipment but I have to think it is more than 70 hrs per season, even if you spend half your day running the equipment and you mow 3 days a week, that's closer to 50 hours per month.

Even with that said, it definitely seems to me that his asking price is high. Which is somewhat surprising to me, because not knowing any better I thought it seemed like a good deal. Glad that I asked you guys first... Right now I have a John Deere 175 Hydro that I use to mow with - if I do end up getting something else, what would you suggest I ask for it to sell it? It has some rust on floor board areas, but I keep it stored indoors. It starts and runs great, and I've been using it to mow my yard for the last 8 years and haven't ever had a problem with the engine.

 

[lawn mower fanatic]

Re: Walk Behind Mower Buying & Pricing Help

Thanks. Out of curiosity, what are you basing those values on?

Personally if it were me and I don't know what the asking price is I wouldn't go anymore than $250 maybe $300.

Yeah that might be a better price. I just look at other used mowers in similar condition to see what they are priced at, like these:

• $600: gravely walk behind
  
• $400: 32 walk behind mower - Yakaz For sale
  
• $400: 32 walk behind mower - Yakaz For sale
  

 

[BrokenTiller]

Re: Walk Behind Mower Buying & Pricing Help

Yeah that might be a better price. I just look at other used mowers in similar condition to see what they are priced at, like these:

• $600: gravely walk behind
  View attachment 15939
• $400: 32 walk behind mower - Yakaz For sale
  View attachment 15940
• $400: 32 walk behind mower - Yakaz For sale
  View attachment 15941

Ok, thanks. I think, based on the pictures, the JD is in better condition than those, or at least 2 of the 3 with the Gravely being the exception. And the JD does have the Kawasaki engine, which is a plus over those 2 as well. Either way though, it is certainly worth considerably less than his $800 asking price.