Looking at buying a use lawn tractor

[jagco]

Hi guy's I'm new here to this forum.

I'm looking at buying a, John Deere 216 Lawn 16hp 42" deck Tractor or a craftsman LT1000 21hp with 42" deck.

I did look at the 1's Home Depot has for sales man there was trying get me to spend $2300.00 on a lawn tractor. When I was there. I just bought a house with about 1.5 acres to cut and a little hill. "O" 2 guy's in Home Depot was not to happy with the 1's they bought kinda talking loud to the other sale's guy about parts or fixing it. I was listing to the guy's complaining and I walk away from the store. I started looking at use 1's.

Can you guy's tell me the pros cons of both model. Witch 1 should I buy. I can buy each for the same price $500.00 looks ok to me. I no nothing about lawn tractors.

 

[glennster]

I have 2 deere mowers, an l110 and a gt245. Also have a craftsman dlt 3000 20 hp 48 in deck. The deeres are easy to get parts for. The
craftsman, I need to order on line. Also have a cub cadet 122. And a hustler ztr . All good mowers but the deeres are the easiest to get parts
for. Just put a set of gator mulching blades on the gt 245, wow what a difference!!!

 

[Spudm]

If you want John Deere, go to an authorized John Deere dealer, not The Home Depot.

 

[jm.]

Do yourself a favor and forget the word LAWN TRACTOR, all that you have mentioned or looking at are simply put a lawn mower. Now which one to buy , service and parts will be better on the JD>

 

[David G]

I have a 123 and 104, small world.

 

[Brendon-KS]

Without hesitation I'd say go with the Deere 216. Although the 200 series was made in the 70's and
80's and are getting older they are still very functional machines. They are also built stout like
garden tractors were in that day in age and with the proper attachments are suitable for ground-
engaging garden work. The variable speed drive system is nice in that it allows you to vary the
ground speed in each gear "on the go". The K-series Kohler is regarded as a very good engine and
if needed finding parts for it is easy. If the machine is in good working order and looks decent
the $500 price sounds very reasonable.

 

[flying belgian]

I've got a JD. Can't think of the number right now but it is the all wheel steer. Love it. No repairs at all. Have quite a few hours on it. Thinking of trading it for a new one just like it.

 

[ss55]

There is also a "Garden Tractor" forum on this site. It is further down the list under "Miscellaneous".

 

[D beatty]

I have two Craftsman garden tractors with 50" decks. One was built in 1997 (22 HP) and the other in 1998(24 HP) that mow 3 arces .Outside of normal plugs, filters, belts,blades and batteries I have replaced one starter, one starter solenoid and one carburetor ( ethanol damage). The decks are just now starting to need mandrels rebuilt and finding it cheaper to totally replaced them. I have A Sears parts warehouse only 30 miles away and they have had the few parts I needed in stock. Biggest factor on how long a mower last depends on how you use it and take care of it. Even a Deere won't hold up if you don't take care of it. These garden tractors for being 17 and 18 years old still run like new.

 

[MSD]

Years ago I bought a used JD 210. I paid $800 for it with a snowblower. The neighbor bought a brand new JC Penny's mower for the same money. He never could get parts for it, was
broke down all the time. I used the 210 for 11 years, sold the snowblower for $250 and the 210 tractor for $1200. It is still running yet today. The Penny's one barely made 2
seasons. Buy the JD!

 

[Traditional Farmer]

The JD 216 is a true garden tractor if its in good overall condition $500 is a good buy.Hard to beat the older JD and Simplicity garden tractors.

 

[Dick L]

Dixie bought a LT1000 16 HP 42" cut Craftsman about 15 years ago. I still use it to mow around the horse lots. I have replaced the mandrels under the deck and both the drive belt and the mower belt and it is still going. I have over three acres of what we call lawn and close to an acre around the horse lots. I mow the larger parts with the Allis Chalmers C with a five foot Woods belly mower most of the time. I use the Craftsman to mow it all when it is wet enough for the tractor tires to cut in. The Craftsman takes three times as much gas to mow as the tractor does. I also have a 9523 Simplicity diesel with a five foot deck that I used to mow with that takes even less fuel than the Allis C to mow the same area. I use the LT1000 to feed horses morning and night with a lawn trailer and I burn more than five gallons of gas a week in just it. This may or may not be of interest to you but a slower RPM engine on a larger tractor for mowing will be cheaper to operate.

 

[Geo-TH,In]

I got my daughter a used JD102, used very little for $600. I like it because it has an
actual gear box for tranny, two idler pulleys on mower deck to prevent belt from coming
off. I like JD's. They seem to be better built. It also has a solid cast front axle.
Stay away from the stamped front axle. Motor on JD102 is a single cylinder briggs. My
JD275 has a kawasaki, which is better engine in MHO.

 

[Ron-MO]

I would almost recommend going older in good condition, or go all out with a more solid, more expensive heavy machine. I went the "mtd" box store route for several years, and was constantly battling with
their cheap stuff falling apart on me. I never could get more than about 5 unreliable years out of one, then I was out buying another. If you only do a small level lot, maybe, but with what I mow, I found
they are literally falling apart in a few short years, and the last "cheap" box store mower I bought I spent well over $2,000 on it thinking it was "good enough". The Kohler engine was about to fly apart in a
little over 5 years, and it was well maintained. That was the last straw for me, and I loaded it up and went to a Gravely dealer and traded in on a zero turn mower that cost nearly double that, but I believe
this mower will last a few more than 5 years with minimal care and maintenance, and this the second year and so far not one issue with it, and a normal mowing for me is roughly 3 hours if I stay at it, and
very little of it is level. The last 3 mowers I purchased from box stores had one issue right after another, springs that failed, china made bearings that failed causing the spindle to also fail when the
bearings spin in the aluminum, then came the last of them with the china Kohler engine that cracked the block when the upper crank bolts backed out under normal use. I know....a few years ago I swore I would
never spend that much on a mower, but ultimately I spent more replacing the junk that Lowes and Home Depot sell than if I would have done this years ago, and likely came out ahead, and had something that would
hold up.

 

[dr sportster]

If you have alot of rocks on your place that mower wheels will butt up against get one with a forged front axle. The Craftsman stamped axle will fail and split open and no matter how many time you weld it will still split.

 

[Mark-Ia]

The JD216 will last you many years, The Craftsman, not too many years. You can still get all the parts you need for your John Deere.

 

[jagco]

Wow guy's thanks so much for the info. Going to take a look at the john deere 216 this weekend. I never had a lawn tractor before. This is new to me.

 

[buickanddeere]

Unless the rear wheels bolt on with 5 lugs. The transmission is light or maybe medium duty. Deere upgrades from the scrawny tuff torq K46 to the K58 in the 310 and higher of the 300 series .

 

[jagco]

(quoted from post at 09:15:55 06/03/15)
Unless the rear wheels bolt on with 5 lugs. The transmission is light or maybe medium duty. Deere upgrades from the scrawny tuff torq K46 to the K58 in the 310 and higher of the 300 series .

When, I buy it. Will post a few pictures.