Second hand ride on, good deal or???

DamoKen

Hi all, thinking of taking the plunge and getting a ride on this year to tackle a garden just over an acre in size.

Chatting with a guy who has a second hand Honda v twin 2216 he said he'd give me for 1500. He does it as a side line, takes in second hand ride ons and generally strips them for parts and sells on the parts.

However he said this was in perfect condition, engine is as good as new as is the gearbox so he'd rather just sell as is. One thing he said that will need replacing is the deck in 3 years or thereabouts.

I know nothing about ride on's so firstly does this sound like a good deal? Dealt with the guy for renting machinery before, decent guy who has gone out of his way to help me in the past.

Said he'd give me a 3 month warranty on it as well.

Any recommendations or advice on what to check much appreciated.

Cheers

Damien

DamoKen

Anyone? Went out and took a look at it, looks grand, started from cold but to be honest I'm not sure what I should be looking at. Talked a bit more about the deck, he said it could last up to seven but he's saying 3 as a minimum.

Main concern is the hours. There's around 1200 hours on it and it's 10 years old. Seems like a lot for domestic use only unless the previous owner had a massive garden.

Would this be normal?

Any replies appreciated. Got a few days to think about it before I make a decision.

_Brian

That's high enough usage there, averages nearly 5 hours a week.

I've a 36 inch mower and cut about half acre an hour.

Nekarsulm

Offer him 1200 (due to the high hours). Tell him you are putting the rest towards an engine swop. Worth a try.

DamoKen

_Brian wrote: »

That's high enough usage there, averages nearly 5 hours a week.

I've a 36 inch mower and cut about half acre an hour.

I was thinking the same. I'm getting a lend of it tonight to try it out. Want to see how long it takes to cut and use that as a gauge to it's previous usage.

DamoKen

Nekarsulm wrote: »

Offer him 1200 (due to the high hours). Tell him you are putting the rest towards an engine swop. Worth a try.

So would you say it's worth 1200 with that usage if it seems in good nick?

I'd imagine he would expect a bit of haggling and built a bit of wiggle room into his initial price.Not far off the asking if it's worth around 1200 with those hours.

No experience of ride ons so hard to know what's a fair price.

Delphinium

Why are you cutting an acre of grass? Sorry if its a stupid question but it is a huge outlay in time and money. Get a few quotes from a contractor and when you factor time and machinery cost and maintenance it will most likely be cheaper. Think what you could do with the time saved. What happens if you go on holidays or we have a long wet spell.

DamoKen

Delphinium wrote: »

Why are you cutting an acre of grass? Sorry if its a stupid question but it is a huge outlay in time and money. Get a few quotes from a contractor and when you factor time and machinery cost and maintenance it will most likely be cheaper. Think what you could do with the time saved. What happens if you go on holidays or we have a long wet spell.

Hi Delphinium, wouldn't say it's a stupid question and I did consider getting someone in, at least for times I'm too busy. 20 per hour seems to be the going rate, at least for the local gardener and he'd be doing it with a lawnmower so would take a day at least. To be honest haven't enquired any further as is I enjoy being out in the garden doing stuff, very relaxing way to spend a Saturday. Just didn't want to spend every entire second weekend cutting the grass, hence the ride on.

Plus with a ride on got a load of family more than happy to cut it for free

Cheers

blackbox

As the seller says, the deck is what is most likely to fail first. The engine will probably outlast every other part.

Have you priced a replacement deck?

DamoKen

blackbox wrote: »

As the seller says, the deck is what is most likely to fail first. The engine will probably outlast every other part.

Have you priced a replacement deck?

Hi Blackbox, priced one alright. Including fitting it would come in and around 500, that was just one quote though.

Decided I'm not going for it after a test drive last night. Few issues cropped up and noticed a sticker on the side I didn't see last time with the name of a tool hire company which would explain the hours clocked up.

Commercial usage is one thing but hired out to anyone on a weekly basis for the last 10 years is another, no way of knowing the amount of misuse it's been put through

Odelay

DamoKen wrote: »

Hi Blackbox, priced one alright. Including fitting it would come in and around 500, that was just one quote though.

Decided I'm not going for it after a test drive last night. Few issues cropped up and noticed a sticker on the side I didn't see last time with the name of a tool hire company which would explain the hours clocked up.

Commercial usage is one thing but hired out to anyone on a weekly basis for the last 10 years is another, no way of knowing the amount of misuse it's been put through

If he didn't bother removing the tool hire sticker, I doubt he did much else with it.

DamoKen

Odelay wrote: »

If he didn't bother removing the tool hire sticker, I doubt he did much else with it.

Was a bit surprised when I saw it, was dusk the first time I took a look so didn't notice. I did ask before I drove over was it used commercially and he said no, private owner so more than a bit annoyed.

A2LUE42

Would you not be better off to get a new one, at least then you have a couple of years of a guarantee and should get a lot longer out of it that a 10 year old machine with a lot of hours on it.
I was in the same boat and went for a new one in the end.

It just seemed a lot of money for something with no comeback and no idea of its history with the second hand ones.

In your example. 1200 + 500 for new deck = 1700. for 500 more you have a new one.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=103001340&postcount=1674

DamoKen

A2LUE42 wrote: »

Would you not be better off to get a new one, at least then you have a couple of years of a guarantee and should get a lot longer out of it that a 10 year old machine with a lot of hours on it.
I was in the same boat and went for a new one in the end.

It just seemed a lot of money for something with no comeback and no idea of its history with the second hand ones.

In your example. 1200 + 500 for new deck = 1700. for 500 more you have a new one.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=103001340&postcount=1674

Hi A2lue, way ahead of you! After last night misgivings I'd been having over the possible costs of a second hand machine won over so decided to rent a push mower for the next while when needed and save a bit more toward a new ride on. The extra 500 toward a new deck a few years down the road was already on my mind, problems starting it second time round last night convinced me, the sticker I saw after and just reinforced what I was already thinking.

Water John

I'm just waiting to get the price of a robot together. Would def go for one if the site is suitable. Number of types on the market, husqvarana, honda, robomow.

Cheaper than a new ride on. elecricity rather than petrol. No, using up of family time. The cut and mulching, is as OSI says very good for the lawn.

If getting a ride-on be sure to get a mulcher.

DamoKen

OSI wrote: »

How even is the ground? We used to have a ride-on at home for cutting or ~1 acre garden but replaced it with a robo-mower that costs about the same as a cheap ride-on. It's been going for over a year and keeps the grass at a constant perfect height and frankly the garden has never looked healthier.

Hi OSI, I did take a look at robo-mowers but was told your garden needs to be perfectly flat.

Both front and back are level(ish), wouldn't say perfect, fair few divots in the front garden but nothing a standard mower has too much trouble with (if you're relatively fit). Not sure though if it would be suitable for a robo mower. Maybe in a few years with a lot of tlc given to the garden. Only bought last year and the front grass was neglected a lot, shed load of moss and patchy areas with bumps everywhere.

fox0512

Stay well away...not worth that money...they are notorious for sulky carbs and compression drop on one cylinder...to many hours on that machine

Water John

Damo, don't know as I have no personal experience of robot mower but the Robomow link attached claims to manage up to a 36% slope.
Honda Mimo says 24 degree slope.

https://www.robomow.com/en-GB/platform/rs/