Question for you lawn maintenance guys or small engine guys

[landscaper]

I'm looking at buying a used commercial grade Ferris mower. It's the IS 3100Z. I'm not sure though whether it has the Vanguard engine or the Kawasaki. It has 800 hours on it but the guy says it has been babied and painstakingly taken care of. I don't really have any reason to believe otherwise. I'll know more about that after I test it this weekend. The question is whether or not that is a reasonable amount of hours for me to even be thinking about? How many hours can you expect to get out of a well cared for machine?

[jcthorne]

I'm looking at buying a used commercial grade Ferris mower. It's the IS 3100Z. I'm not sure though whether it has the Vanguard engine or the Kawasaki. It has 800 hours on it but the guy says it has been babied and painstakingly taken care of. I don't really have any reason to believe otherwise. I'll know more about that after I test it this weekend. The question is whether or not that is a reasonable amount of hours for me to even be thinking about? How many hours can you expect to get out of a well cared for machine?

Usually repower between 1800-2000 hours. Personally I would never buy a machine with 800 hours because the price difference from new to used is not worth the difference to me.

[landscaper]

I'm looking at buying a used commercial grade Ferris mower. It's the IS 3100Z. I'm not sure though whether it has the Vanguard engine or the Kawasaki. It has 800 hours on it but the guy says it has been babied and painstakingly taken care of. I don't really have any reason to believe otherwise. I'll know more about that after I test it this weekend. The question is whether or not that is a reasonable amount of hours for me to even be thinking about? How many hours can you expect to get out of a well cared for machine?

Usually repower between 1800-2000 hours. Personally I would never buy a machine with 800 hours because the price difference from new to used is not worth the difference to me.

By "repower" do you mean new engine? I'll only be using it at home. The mower I'm using now I have had for 4 years and it has about 100 hours on it. If I could get another 1000 hours out of the Ferris it would last me about 40 years. And at the asking price I'm saving around $6000 compared to the same mower bought new. If that train of thought is rational it sounds like it might be worth the gamble.

[redneck22ms]

we have a ferris where i work and it works fine. not sure how many hours are on it but its a bigger mower with a diesel. from what i've heard from our shop guys the thing is hard to get parts for. one of the front suspension arms has broken and been rewelded several times and the rear suspenson is sagged or bent so it wears out the inside of the tires. other than that it works good. and gets used mostly by seasonal 18-20 year olds.

[4dawgma]

Ferris makes the best mower on the market.

Edit:

1. Engines wear out over time.
2. 18-20 year olds can f-up a bowling ball.

[redneck22ms]

The one we have at work is an IS 5000 with 770 hrs

[GrizwalD]

Good mowers.... and if your saving 6k sounds like a deal to me. A commercial landscaper could put 800 hours on a unit in a matter of a few months and they usually last atleast a few years getting run for commercial purposes before needing repowered.

[sab316]

We've had mowers that we dropped a new engine into at 2,000 hours, or the first mower we purchased, that got babied we dropped a new one in at 3,500.

Depending on if they ragged it, really tried to cut fast chugging through tall grass, kept a check on the oil etc. You could get another 1,200 hours or another 2 hours out of it. I would check engine oil. Check Hydro oil. Check air filter, check all your pulleys on the deck. Make sure you can't grab them and move them, sign of a bearing going out. Get under it and look for old oil build up, look at the hydro pulleys and belt (drive belt) under it. Look at the rear seal on the engine, alot of them start leaking there and its your first sign of needing a new engine soon. Make sure it has plenty of get up and go when you push forward on the sticks, no whining from a wheel motor, etc.

When a wheel motor goes you're looking at about a $1,000. Same with hydro pumps. They may have just bought a new air filter and popped in it, take the cover off and if its a brand new filter, tap the cover on something and see if dust falls out. Most people never clean those out, if its clean, more than likely they do take care of it.

[landscaper]

Borrowed the mower Friday evening and cut my grass with it this weekend. It has a lot of "trailer wear" but it cranked and ran like it just came off the show room floor. No noise, no leaks, has obviously been serviced regularly. I cut between 3 and 3.5 acres with it with no hick ups and what usually takes me close to 3 hour to mow took right around an hour. Going to the bank this morning!