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I've been a member here reading things as I need info and am now in the market for a rider. I am currently looking at an AGCO 1716 Hydro with 44" deck that looks very well taken care of and 569 hours. My research puts it between a 2002 and a 2004. My lawn is pretty much flat with only a 7' elevation change from front to back. Granted this is a very gradual change so it really appears flat. No hills or gullies. The lot size is about .5 acre with 1900s/f house. I am currently using a Honda HRX 21" to mow and am getting really tired of it eating 2 hours of my day, twice a week. Not to mention the summer humidity is just killing me. )

My father-in-law has always had Deutz/AGCO/Simplicity since I met him 35 years ago so I am very familiar with them. My main question is, is this still a good tractor now on 20 years old? I FEEL like it is, but wanted to get some input from you all since there seems to be SO much knowledge and experience on this site.

I still plan to use the Honda to cut in and do the tight areas but use the AGCO to knock out the big part quickly.

If any other info is needed, shoot back and I'll try and fill in any blanks.

Thanks you all!

I know nothing about Agco's asI never see them
But with a mower of that age, considering the use it will be getting the only thing I wold worry about is the hydro
So quick & nasty check is to try and push the mower , brake & engine off but bypass in the run position.
A good hydro will be very hard to push a stuffed one will be easy to push.
I do my assesment on my tilting trailer
If it stays there when I tilt the trailer ( around a 30 deg slope ) then the hydros are good
If I have to push hard and it stops the instant I stop pushing it is excellent
If it pushes easy but still stops then I stop it is OK
If it starts rolling and runs off the trailer with no further effort then it requires service
If it runs away the instant the brake is released it needs replacing.
Now most times the mower is actually driving when I take it for a service so they have not totally failed yet .

agco being a beter brand probably use a servicable hydro and if it were me, I would be replacing the oil & filters just so I know when they were done .

bertsmobile1 said:

I know nothing about Agco's asI never see them
But with a mower of that age, considering the use it will be getting the only thing I wold worry about is the hydro
So quick & nasty check is to try and push the mower , brake & engine off but bypass in the run position.
A good hydro will be very hard to push a stuffed one will be easy to push.
I do my assesment on my tilting trailer
If it stays there when I tilt the trailer ( around a 30 deg slope ) then the hydros are good
If I have to push hard and it stops the instant I stop pushing it is excellent
If it pushes easy but still stops then I stop it is OK
If it starts rolling and runs off the trailer with no further effort then it requires service
If it runs away the instant the brake is released it needs replacing.
Now most times the mower is actually driving when I take it for a service so they have not totally failed yet .

agco being a beter brand probably use a servicable hydro and if it were me, I would be replacing the oil & filters just so I know when they were done .

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Excellent tips. I plan to look at it Tuesday so I will give it a go. The seller told me he bought it from a widow who didn't want to put the money in it to repair. It had a bad front crank seal, ran low on oil causing it to spin a rod and he (a pro mechanic) has rebuilt it with "some" new parts, assuming the bad parts. I will definitely try your method. What is an expected life from this tractor, having 569 hours and a rebuilt motor. In other words, would 1000 hours require some mechanical/chassis/deck major service? And based on my napkin math, that would probably take me 10 years to hit 500 more hours.

Thanks again, and for such a quick reply.

look up the actual transmission used in this mower & post it
Some one here will know what the "average service life" is for the transmission
Mowers used to have a design service life of around 10 years of average use and this was the same regardless of weather they are residential or commercial mowers.
However for a residential, a year is considered to be around 50 hours ( 25 mows @ 2hr each ) where as a commercial mower is expected to do about 500 hrs year (2 hrs a day for 50 weeks 2 x 5 x 50 )
The caveat here is the residential are expected to do those hours with almost no maintenance while the commercials are expected to serviced properly at least according to the scheduled service table.

However as turn over times have been reducing so has the service life

My commercial customers are happy to let their $ 15,000 Toros go at 5 to 8 years but expect the get at least 15 years out of the $ 30,000 Walkers
Especially as the Walkers cost at least 2 times as much as the Toros in scheduled services alone per annum .
Contractors usually service the mowers well because the cost of a service is way less than the cost of downtime and of course isa cost of production so goes into the customers billing rates.
Home owners OTOH see service costs as additional to the purchase price becaue down time for them does not cost money unless they have to call in a contractor .

Thanks for the replies. I may go look at this one tomorrow, but as of now, I'm still looking. May just end up buying something new.