Finally found me a 682
 

While doing my usual pa-rousing of Craigslist on a lazy Saturday afternoon at work, I stumbled across a freshly listed 682 with a 54" IH Blade, 44" Deck, and extra set of tires filled with liquid and nice chains for $600 about an hour away. The tractor was listed as "moving, need gone asap. No reasonable offer refused". Not to waste any time, I texted the guy and after he sent me a few pics I asked for, I offered him $400. He said $450, and with that, right after work, we were on our way.

Got up there about an hour later and took a closer look. Here's what I found.

The good:
IH Built before MTD buyout
Runs smooth, no smoke or odd noises
Repainted by the PO
Panels (except hood) are in great shape under the paint, no dents, etc
Spring assist :D

The bad:
The PO brush painted it (looks fine from about 8ft or so but up close...ugh) :bash2:
Fuel pump went bad so rather than replace with proper replacement, guy put on some weird setup (see pics)
Runs smooth, no smoke or odd noises - with choke most of the way out
Missing hydro set-speed control on dash (no biggie)
While it runs smooth, I believe it to be a Series I :-/
Missing left hand side (from drivers seat) engine shroud

So, after giving it a thorough looking over and taking it for a ride, I confronted the guy about it, and what I saw as negatives. I told him in the shape it's in (odd fuel pump, brush painted, etc) I would be a buyer at $350. He said he'd be happy to take it.

Got it home last night, pulled it off the truck and took it for a spin; instantly I knew this was a keeper for me, it was one of my top 3 machines to have. I have already ordered a replacement fuel pump, carb rebuild kit, and picked up some carb cleaner, fuel line, Hy-Tran, and filter. This coming weekend I'm going to pull the carb, rebuild it, change tranny fluid and filter, engine oil, and give a good looking over. I've already posted in the Wanted Section for a used Shroud so hopefully I find one sooner rather than later.

One question, though: should I be worried about this Series I engine? Like I said, it doesn't smoke and runs and sounds smooth as silk but I hear a lot of horror stories about them blowing up. I don't plan on using it on hills as I have a flat yard, so my gut tells me with regular maintenance I'll be ok, but what do you guys think?

Anyway, on to the pics!!

http://imageshack.com/a/img837/8035/du48.jpg

http://imageshack.com/a/img812/9028/1t4t.jpg

http://imageshack.com/a/img32/1059/pz14.jpg

http://imageshack.com/a/img541/6046/zp7r.jpg

http://imageshack.com/a/img208/6389/k75b.jpg

And the extras

http://imageshack.com/a/img687/4674/0qzy.jpg

http://imageshack.com/a/img703/5389/drcb.jpg

The deck (with an under-carriage I had laying around, the one that came with it was missing the hanger)

http://imageshack.com/a/img9/556/9h3k.jpg

http://imageshack.com/a/img687/5365/tkkr.jpg

http://imageshack.com/a/img837/303/k1et.jpg

great find, i love mine,. not bad at all, that blade is huge and mint shape , congrats:beerchug:

You have the 54" blade right? It does look wide.

As far as the series 1 engine goes; I agree avoid the hills as much as possible; that being said, dad's got a 782 with a series 1 engine and he mows his hills all the time. He has been using it on his hills since he got it 12 or so years ago and *knock on wood* no issues yet.

I looked through the parts off my blown kt17 and the PO must still have the side sheild you need. I do have the one for the other side though. The PO called me and told me he had the rest of the shields at his house. If he were close I would run up and get them. I'm sure you will find what you need there are plenty of dead kt17s out there. mine is waiting to go to the scrap man.

Congrats on the 682 Ryan! Yeah, the KT weren't the best engine, but if you keep it on flat level it should be fine. They usually don't give much warning before they go though, just FYI.

Congrats on the nice looking 682 Ryan!

your 682 is a early one and you are right its a kt17 series 1 the flat oval air cleaner must have not been used long I have only ever seen a few your tractor looks nice

Nice find on your 682!

Thanks for the responses, guys! I'm really happy with her and I hope to have her in running condition (minus engine shroud :bash2:) by this weekend. Can't wait to dig into her, I'll be sure to post pics of my progress as I make it.