Prairiedog51
Member
Hello everyone. I'm looking to replace my old lawn tractor because it's getting arthritis pretty bad. I've found a JD LX279 trade-in at a local dealer and would like some educated opinions on it. It's a 2003 model with a 17 hp Kawasaki liquid cooled engine with 520 hours on the meter. The engine is clean, starts easy and runs smooth and quiet. Seems to shift and run smoothly and the PTO works good. Other than one long scratch on a rear fender the body work is cherry and not faded. It appears that the previous owner took good care of the unit. The front tires are about 30% and could be original. Rear tires are 60-70%. The 42" single stage snowblower runs decent and looks about 70% of new. The double bag grass catcher is well used and maybe 50-60% of new. Won't be using it anyway so that's no loss. The 48" deck looks pretty good for its age with no dings or dents or rust. The pulleys and spindles are all solid with no free play and the belt looks good. It does need the two front outside antiscalping wheels replaced but the other rollers and wheels are good. The blades need replacing or sharpening if that can be done with this machine. There are 3 other sets of used blades with it that look like they only need sharpening and I'm not sure why they were included if this machine always needs new blades. It also has a new seat, good rear tire chains (no weights) and a full set of manuals with maintenance notes from the original owner. The dealer is asking $1,700 for it but will let it go for $1,600. Is this a decent price for a machine this age and condition? If I buy it what maintenance should I do right away? The engine oil was changed about 40 hours ago and no one knows when it was last greased. Any other problems I should look for? I would appreciate any input as I have no experience with used lawn tractors. Thanks.