2007 Scag Turf Tiger - 231 hrs $6500 -- Worth it?

[Niteseer]

Hi All

A question I'm sure has been asked a thousand times in as many ways. I have a small farm w/a few small hills and mow 8 acres w/MF 35 and John Deere 455. The MF 35 is having issues and the work load on the JD is heavy. Been looking at Scag for couple years mainly because there are several dealers in my area (closest 12 miles) and few dealers of other makes close by. Most people here say go with the dealer that is close and will work with you so I'm looking at Scag.

I feel most used Scags I've seen aren't worth the potential trouble, especially as my dealer is offering 0% financing 48 months. I've decided to go with the Tiger Cat II as I feel it will more than do the job and is a few thousand less than the TT. Having said that, I just ran across a homeowner selling a 2007 Scag Turf Tiger w/231 hours for $6500. He is 2nd owner and said he bought it w/50 hrs on it. Selling now because they sold their horse farm where they mowed 14 acres each year. He said they had a couple big tractors w/8' mowers and mostly used those for the mowing which is why this Scag only has 231 hours in 9 years. It seems to handle well, at least I couldn't discern a problem. The motor (29Hp Kaw DFI) seemed to hesitate a little each time I jambed the throttle forward but no smoke I could see. It looks as you would expect for a mower occasionally used and stored under an open shelter for 9 years. A little rust showing in spots. A little crud showing around the various parts of the engine. Looking at the oil filter and surrounding area, I could tell the oil probably hadn't been changed recently. He is willing to come down on the price a little. I almost pulled the trigger. If it was only 1 or 2 years old, I'd be riding right now and not typing on this forum. Compare this to the deal being offered by the dealer ($9500 Tiger Cat II / 0% for 48 months and, of course, a warranty) I'm wondering if I should just offer the guy $5500-$6000 and take it. Any thoughts on this? Anything else I should consider?

Thanks
NiteSeer

 

[Mad Mackie]

Condition, condition, condition!!!
A few thoughts,
Scag digital hour meters from that period had more than average failures. The hour meters on Turf Tigers from that period were connected to the PTO switch and clocked mower time and not machine total time and this is OK.
A Turf Tiger has a horizontal oriented crankshaft engine, an electric clutch that drives a V belt that drives a shaft, gear boxes and then back to a V belt to drive the three deck spindles. This is all good providing that scheduled maintenance has been performed on the machine. Although covered, stored outside in my opinion is not good. Maintenance items that are important, 40-50 hour spindle lube with special grease, scheduled overall machine lube, special deck driveshaft components lube and servicing, hydraulic drive oil and filter changes, blade changes as the blade bolts can get corroded and become difficult to remove, last but not least, engine servicing to include fuel filters, oil filters, engine oil and air filters.
Again, condition, condition, condition, servicing records!!!!
Now, a Tiger Cat II is the latest of their series and has a lot of improvements relative to Tiger Cats, Tiger Cubs from which they evolved and older Turf Tigers. Tiger Cats have a vertical oriented crankshaft engine and are direct V belt drive to the pumps from the engine crankshaft as is the V belt that drives the mower deck via the electric clutch, a less complicated machine than a Turf Tiger.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not against Turf Tigers they are great machines. I know operators that have put thousands of hours on them, but did the scheduled maintenance on them as time progressed.
Bear in mind that some older Kohler powered machines have a variable spark timing module that has become problematic, but there is an upgrade kit to remove this module and other spark related components and replace them.
Just a few thoughts from Mad Mackie in CT:laughing::biggrin::smile: