JD 650 Purchase Questions Please Help

[Tanner in Virginia]

Good evening folks,

I am looking at a used 1988 JD 650 tractor. It has a JD belly mower, and rear 3-point Land Pride finish mower. It is 4wd, and it has power steering on the left side, and all of the hydraulic hook ups on the right side for a front end loader it seems. It has the ROPS and a 3 point hitch set up. It has some weird looking pulleys hanging from the bottom of the front end, but I am not sure what these are for, any ideas?

The owner told me that the fuel tank leaked water in through the filler cap, and hurt 1 of the two cylinders. 1 cylinder is still good and their local JD mechanic had it running on the 1 cylinder but not on bad one obviously. The mechanic says it needs the one bad cylinder rebuilt and everything should be fine. It currently does not run, so I am not sure how to get it loaded on my trailer.

It seems to be in overall good condition, but based on the above information, how much do you think the tractor is worth with both mowers, and more importantly how much will an engine rebuild cost me for this tractor?

Please get back to me ASAP, b/c I am really interested in this tractor. Thanks.

 

[Machinery-Man]

I'd walk away from this one. Parts and rebuild will be as much as the tractor is worth. Have redone some of the compacts and they are now very expensive to service.

 

[John730D]

It is just a Yanmar engine. Easy to work on. Have rebuilt one with scored pistons because owner let it run without coolant. I'd buy it and wouldn't think twice.

 

[Jake Winn]

They are a really good tractor, but parts are getting hard to come by. Deere and Yanmar have had issues the past few years and getting repair parts can be an issue. I am a parts guy at a Deere dealer and spent 10 years in service before that. They are a well built tractor that is really easy on fuel. People say they are same as a Yanmar, and even though they are built by them, there are a lot of differences and parts dont always match up. Price would be the big factor. Figure high on the parts and go from there.

 

[Tanner in Virginia]

Thanks for the info so far.

He is currently asking $2000 obo for the tractor and the belly mower, plus another $500 for the rear Land Pride mower. Is that too much?

Also, what might those large pulleys hanging down on the front of the tractor/radiator area?

 

[d. coleman]

my brother has a large jd lawn tractor it to has pulleys up front for his leaf blower(bagger)that runs off crankshaft pulley on front of engine. d. coleman

 

[F-I-T]

Didn't the belly mower on those -50 series run from the front crankshaft pulley down in front to the mower drive? Could be an old belly mower set up. Maybe a Model 60 mower deck.

 

[Tanner in Virginia]

Don't know about the belly mower. The owner said he thinks that set up was for a front mount snow blower, but he wasn't sure.

The hydraulic connections on the right side certainly suggest that a front end loader was mounted on the front.

How hard is it really going to be to order engine parts for this tractor? I am nervous about being able to get the appropriate parts for a rebuild. Any more thoughts about engine parts?

 

[F-I-T]

Tanner:

If you go to jdparts.com and search the parts catalog for the 650, click the part in question to add it to your cart, then if you are registered, you can get prices and availability. That takes away a lot of guess work. I have two Yanmar powered CUT's, an 855 and a 4310, and they run great, but it does appear to me that the parts run quite a bit more for what you would expect when compared to a "domestic" engine. For example, a piston for the 650 is listed at $137.50 from Deere. But, everything is getting more expensive these days. I would say that you have a risk of getting sticker shock once you get it torn down and you begin to run into the "while you're in there, you might as well" parts.

Why not ask the guy to ask the jd tech what HE thinks it would take to fix it. I've seen a few that had a "bad cylinder" and it took a block to correct it, since they are not sleeved and pistons are only available in one oversize for a rebore repair. Could be risky/expensive.

 

[Tanner in Virginia]

Thanks for that info, even if it is depressing. I don't think this guy is interested in talking to his tech again to learn more about the engine.

I guess I should just walk away and find something else. Darn.

 

[F-I-T]

You might want to go to external_link and look at representative 650's near you that are running. Some with loaders, some with mowers, prices range from around $3200 to $5500.

Do these pulleys look like you were asking about?

 

[Tanner in Virginia]

Yes, that same exact pulley setup.

I have been looking at tractor house a bunch as well for tractors.

 

[Tanner in Virginia]

Anymore thoughts on the price? It is at $1800 now with the belly mower.