I'm looking at buying a 127, thoughts?

[AndrewNoyes]

The mile drive is what they call the frame that the mower hangs from.
Thank you for your service.
Best, Andy

[pnwwoodworker]

So I'm back from looking that this 127, and I ended up not buying it. Here's what I noticed;

The Monarch hydraulic lift works great and is probably overkill for this tractor. The seller does have the original hydraulic lift system, it just needs two new gears. There was a lot more rust throughout than what can be seen in the photos.

Before starting the tractor I opened the hood and immediately could smell a burnt odor, hard to tell if it was oil but it was a bit foul, a bit burnt. Mostly coming from around the exhaust. Might have been a bit of fuel in that odor. It just didn't smell right. The oil was black but didn't smell burnt.

Before starting the seller said he needed to open the fuel valve. He said if it is left open while the engine is off it will flood the carb. The engine was really slow to start, maybe a week battery? It appeared to run good with higher rpms and even at moderately low rpm's. But at low, or what I would call idle, the engine would die. The seller said this was normal for these old Cub Cadets. PTO engaged and held.

There was a lot of slop in the steering. With the tractor sitting still I could turn the steering wheel an easy 90 degrees in either direction (180 degrees or more of turn). The seller said this was normal.

The tires were very well weathered, a bit dry, almost porous looking. The seat was well weathered and almost powdery in a way.

The snowblower was all beat up with bent edges on the auger. The seller said it didn't work very well so he just used the plow. The plow appeared to be in good condition. The tiller appeared to be in good condition. The lawn sweeper looked okay as well.

There were a few other quirks, and I didn't get that warm fuzzy feeling so I decided to pass. I didn't think it was worth $1200, at least not to me. I do appreciate everyone's help, now I'm just going to keep my eye out for another Cub Cadet, hopefully one in a bit better shape.

[rwairforce]

Sounds like you made a good assessment. $1200 will more than likely find you a good number of Cubs. Warm and fuzzy is almost a sure sign and when you don't get it, that's also a good sign. Good job noticing the shape of the implements. Those would have been the main reasons that the price was high.
Good luck with your search.
Yes, i have a 127 as well and just mowed with it yesterday. I didn't pay any thing close to $1200 for it a few years back.

[yeeter]

A thought:

There are various shipping services that members have used. I have used Uship I think, and I saw a forum section on one of the websites to post shipping needs.

So for $1200 you might be able to afford shipping, which would expand your search to a much larger geography and choice of selection.

[drglinski]

In my neck of the woods that's a 250-350 dollar tractor all day long.

[Randy Littrell]

Well, in my part of the country a tractor, tiller, blade and snowblower with 2 sets of tires would be worth $1200.

Go price something new with all those options. Can't even buy a crappy mower for $1200 any more.

Randy

[Yosemite Sam]

Welcome to OCC.

$1200.00 Does sound kinda high, but there is a lot of good stuff there.

If you didn't feel good about it, then you probably did the right thing.

I believe there are Fastenal stores in Washington. I personally have never shipped anything through them, but many members here have said their shipping prices are great.

That said, you could possibly find a pretty nice Cub Cadet with a front blade (and/or other attachments) from many locations in the US, and have it shipped for a great deal less than $1200.00

We here may be a little biased, but I think everyone will agree that a good old Cub Cadet is just the thing you need for moving snow (and many other lawn and garden jobs). There just aren't any tougher machines out there.

While there are a few parts that are harder to find than others, most of the parts needed to repair/rebuild nearly anything on a Cub Cadet that wears out are available.

Try putting an ad in the wanted section here on OCC and see what happens. Be sure to include in your ad that you need the tractor shipped to your area.

Good Luck

[Billy-O]

You got a great deal when you sold the MTD. I doubt most of us here on the OCC forum would flip out 6 bills for a blown motor. That's crazy! Maybe being up 6 isn't gonna make that 12 look so bad.