What was I thinking?

Went and looked at a non-running Cub Cadet # 2182 super garden tractor today. Seller's Dad had bought new and And then went into the nursing home. Only had 357 hours on it. Looked new, and had 3 PT and PTO. Agreed to buy it, then seller ask if I was interested in the attachments for it, about 6 or 7 different ones, most looked like they had never been used, including a front end loader. I wanted to see the loader, so they started moving stuff to get to it. While they were getting it out I figured that there was no gas getting to the carb. Pulled fuel line off and blew out the crud, put back on and it started right up. Seller decided he needed a whole lot more for it now that it ran. No money had exchanged hands. Didn't buy it, but did charge him $100 mechanic's fee for getting it running.
Someday I learn to have a little patience.

Bad bad move. Think you were lucky he paid you the 100.

The loader is worth a grand any day of the week. Rear attachments are worth at least 100.00 each.

I know its hard to resist lol i once looked at an 8n that the guy was disgusted with and wanted to sell had done lotsa work and all it would do was pop n back fire. I saw right off that he had the firing order messed up thought about telling him but he was hell bent on getting a new compact so i figured everybody is happy paid him got a receipt changed the wires and drove it on the trailer, he wanted more money he wanted the tractor back he was swearing and gonna sue! Lol told him i had a good running 8n for sale and would give him a break sine i was in the area and only charge him 500 more than i bought it for plus 50 delivery fee! Got to laughing at him then felt bad told him seriously just gimme 50 bucks for the trip and the tip on what was wrong but he refused and actually called the cops! Lol after they checked the situation and told him hed be best off giving me the 50 bucks i was mad and said no way now! Cops laughed too and he got real extra mad so i beat feet with the tractor!

it depends on what he priced it, at but you know that cub cadet is 10 times the garden tractor you can buy new now with all the attachments it still may be worth picking up

Yep you never get one you want to buy running till you pay for it then after that is is yours and you can do as you please. Still remember an 8N we got years ago. Payed $800 for it and 5 or 6 pieces of equipment with it. My friend said how the heck will we load all this. I said easy Ill get the 8N running. Set a battery in it and yep had it running in 10-15 minutes. Had to rear flat tires but it would still move that way. Loaded every thing with it and of we went. Funny thing is the guy had left and then drove back by and when he saw it running just sped off

It still kind of depends on who is selling the stuff. If it is some smart butt, know it all, then I am dumber than a post on what is wrong with the selling item. If it is a widow or someone that is obviously in need I have fixed things and then told them it was worth more. If it was something that I really wanted I have paid them more money for the item. If I was trying to just make a buck I have told them what it was really worth and told them to advertise the item for that amount.

Got in a heck of a fight over a JD 3020 Diesel with the electric shut off. Found this one about 4 hours drive away from me. The guy said it just quit running and would not restart. He had changed the filters and still nothing. I tried to talk to him about what could be wrong with the tractor. HE knew more than anybody that was ever born about JD tractors and I knew nothing according to him. So I went and looked at the tractor. Never even got close to the injection pump. Did the deal. Paid him in cash and made him give me a PAID receipt.

HE got out one of his other tractors and pulled the tractor out into the street. He wanted to push it on the trailer with a loader. I told him I did not want to risk bending the fenders or three point arms up. He got all high and mighty again about how he wanted to load MY tractor. I told him I could get it myself. He stomped off an went to put his tractor away. I just took a jumper wire out of my pocket and hooked it to the hot side of the starter and the other end to the injection pump shut off coil stud. I bet the tractor did not crank over 5 times and it was running. I loaded it up and started binding it down. He came running back out and got all over me about "stealing" his tractor. I told him about how he knew so much more than I did so he should have KNOWN what was wrong with it. He took a swing at me and I knocked the wind out of him. Told him the next swing would get his jaw broke. His wife came out and was watching this all. I figured it would get ugly but she started to give him heck about how SHE had tried to tell him to listen to several other guys that had told him what was wrong with the tractor. I took off while she was tuning him up. All that was wrong was a bad key switch, no power going to the shut off coil. Middle son still has the tractor to this day.

So it all depends on the person doing the selling as to how I will act. Treat me fairly and I will help you out.

You helped the guy out by being honest and made $100. If you would have found out it was something real minor like that later, you'd feel bad and want to pay him more anyway.

I had the opposite happen when I bought my welder. It had sat for a couple years and wouldn't start. A lot of pipeliners looked at it but without being able to run it, walked away. It was listed at $750 OBO. I didn't want to insult the seller with a low bid so asked what was the lowest he'd go. $600! (which was what I was thinking of offering) I said sold! Then when we went to do the paper work, he said he would hold my money until I took it to the shop to see what was wrong. He said he didn't want to take my money if it needed a lot of work to get running. He knew it needed a new carb($326.00) but wasn't sure what else. I took it in and told them to let me know if it would be over $500 to fix. I called a few days later and they said it was running. I said how much and the guy said $800. When I asked why they didn't call, the guy said he thought I wanted it running. He said the seal for the mag was leaking and the mag needed partial rebuilding cause it was full of oil. When I went back and told the seller it cost $800, he felt bad and gave me $100 back. I ended up with a 1961 Lincoln SA200 Red Face for $1300 that load tested within 5 amps of original specs! I could double my money any day of the week but I need a decent welder around cause you never know what will need fixing next.

I have had the same problem here. Went to look at a Ferguson 20 in 1986 belonging to a guy who worked in the same office as my brother. He told my bro that he had at least 4 car mechanics look at it and one or two tractor guys....could not get it to start. When I arrived he told me how it had been his father's tractor and always ran real good but after his father passed on it would not run. He was kinda angry at the tractor and said he wanted rid of the f---ing thing! I had a look and noticed the wrong firing order, turned the crank to see it was free and it nearly broke my arm! Agreed on £40 (about$55) Went home got the trailer, a battery and some petrol,arrived back and switched the leads before he came out of the house, fitted the battery, added the petrol and it started first go! He was as mad as h3ll....not at me though. He cursed all the guys that had worked on it into Hell and back out again!!
We still use the tractor for small jobs on the farm to this day....And the children love driving it!
Sam

My Dad bought a self-propelled Cockshutt combine once from a widow lady that he went to school with. She told him that her no-good SIL had run the engine hot and the engine was stuck so she sold the combine to him cheap.

We towed the combine home. Tried the crank; engine would not turn over. I crawled under the combine, pulled the starter bolts and found the starter was stuck. Pried the starter out, took it apart and put on a new Bendix, re-installed the starter and the engine started right up.

This guy kept telling me over and over again how his "Master Mechanic" son had cleaned the gas tank, rebuilt the carb and tuned it up. Got tired of hearing this. We had agreed on $500 non- running for just the Cub, after I got it running price went up to $3000. As far as the $100 fix it fee, I had to remind him that if I hadn't got it running he would still only have a $500 cub cadet. Learned my lesson. I will not get it running next time until it's paid for and I have a receipt.

Yea pretty dumb move I never ever try to start something like that while its at the seller's place just winch it on the trailer and bring it home.

Bought a 1370 case from a JD dealer. When I looked at it they said it was traded from a guy that had the engine overhauled and couldn't get decent HP out of it. I looked at it and drove it and it looked good and drove good, everything worked as it should. When we put it on the dyno it had 120hp. I listened to it and it sounded fine so I asked if we had a deal and the salesman said yes. I asked a mechanic for a wrench and screw driver, pulled the cover off the pump. I found that the fuel screw had backed out. I turned it in to what I thought was right and ran it again and it had 200Hp. The look on the salesman and mechanic's faces was priceless. I ran that tractor for many years.

friend went to see a widow lady that had a pair of jd 730 diesels. she told him how hard they were to start, and he would need 4 batteries to make them run. he agreed on a (relatively) cheap price for the wide front 730. when he went back to get it, friend pulled it about 20" and it was running. after she saw that, the narrow front 730 cost $1000 more to a different friend.

(quoted from post at 04:23:22 08/12/13) Yea pretty dumb move I never ever try to start something like that while its at the seller's place just winch it on the trailer and bring it home.

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second that :wink:

Sorry but you had a verbal agreement, he had no right to back out.

Which is "more crooked?"

1. You hiding the fact that you know what the simple problem is.
2. The seller raising the price after you fixed the tractor's simple problem.

You were thinking that you were an honest person.

This is a long story, but one of my family legends!

I love my dad, but he's got one quirk - he makes deals with people when they dont know what they've got.

10 years ago he got into a deal to buy a Farmall 460 from the brother of a decesed farmer - the farmer had been gone about 10 years. The brother said he was selling it cheap because the transmission was 'broken' - locked up, wouldn't move. My dad thought it was just stuck between gears. The old feller was not a farmer like his brother.

So here's the scene - It's raining, the rollback is there to pick up the tractor, my dad wants to unstick it before putting it on the rollback - doesn't want to drag it. He's hoping the bad weather will keep the old guy in the house. Money has already changed hands.

Does the old feller stay in the house? Nope! He's right there on my dad's shoulder while he takes the gearshift out, gets his crowbar in position, gives the sliders a good whack and it pops out of gear.

Silence. Then my dad says "Well, I think that got it." The old guy says "You mean it's fixed?" "Yeah, I think so" replies my dad, careful not to look the fella in the eye. The look on that guy's face was priceless.

So that day we got a $3000 dollar tractor for $300. Strong engine, good TA, everything works, even the lights. My dad had it brought to my place 'temporarily' until he made further arrangements to get it to his place.

That tractor is still at my farm. My dad still calls it 'his' and assures me he's going to come get it, but 10 years on - I think it was a present!

(quoted from post at 15:50:56 08/12/13) Which is "more crooked?"

1. You hiding the fact that you know what the simple problem is.
2. The seller raising the price after you fixed the tractor's simple problem.

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1. not crooked, not up to the buyer to fix a sellers problem. It's up to the owner to fix the problem before offering it for sale.

2. crooked if there is an agreement to sell at a price. Otherwise if I go on his property to look, fix it, then he changes his price, that's his (seller's) business, there was no agreement. Problem becomes that when you agree and it's still on the previous owners property, you'll be hard pressed to get away with the item without the authorities being there.

Personally I'd feel pretty stupid if it was just a simple fix that someone could fix in a few minutes but I'm honorable enough to let them take it home.

Saw a 1960 MF35 on Craigslist real cheap, a $1,000 I think. Anyway the add said it needed transmission work, it was stuck in reverse. I emailed them the fix. They were most appreciative.

I've talked my way out of getting a very good deal too.

Actually, if I remember right, the common buisiness law is that some money has to be exchanged before a verbal agreement can be considered legally binding to by law. It only takes a small deposit to make a verbal agreement binding, $1 is enough. No money down, no agreement. I know, a man's hand sake should be his contract, but it is not legally binding in a court of law. A written reciept helps a lot for proof in court.

If no money was exchanged yet, and no hand shake was exchanged an the tractor sale, the $100 payment for fixing the problem, travel time and expenses was probably the best compromise for everyone.

I never try to fix anything before the deal is done unless I happen to know the seller. I figure that if you don't know what you have or how to make a simple repair it's your fault. I'm willing to pay a fair price for things and never lowball. What I hate are the guys who state a firm price and then if you walk away follow you going lower and lower. I looked at a 860 last year. Look real good. Seller was bragging about all of what he had done to this fantastic looking diesel tractor then said "why when I prepped it I used over 200 pounds of sand blasting it". That was my queue to leave. As I walked over to get in the truck he's behind me well I would take 5K, then 4500 then 4K. Hope he got it.

Rick