I went to the show last week hoping to bring home something to play with. Almost did several times and am really sorry I did not go after that nice D200 that was sitting at the show. Came home disgusted with myself. You can bet that next year I will be ready to pull the trigger a lot quicker.
Well I am feeling much better today. I got myself a Wheel Horse 417-8. The deck has a hole in it and one crack. Not hard to fix. There is no rust to speak of on any other part of the tractor. It will need a seat. I suspect that it was kept indoors most of it's life.
Now the hour meter says 2050 hours. I find that hard to believe because of the condition of the rest of the tractor. The 17hp Kohler is a series 2 and does not smoke and runs strong with no abnormal noise. Guy I got it from picked it up in Pa. and has had it for sale on Craigslist for about a month. All he knows is that he brought it home and put a new battery in it and cleaned the carburetor. My guess is that the engine was rebuilt sometime in the past or the hour meter is from another tractor. He is one of those guys who picks up junk for free.
I happily paid the guy. He asked $450.00 and I offered him $350.00 which he accepted and I will pick it up on Tuesday and bring her home.
At least my blues are cured for a while.