Originally Posted by
conrad
Hey SEM,
What is your budget? It can take a long bit of looking to find a machine that suits...
You will usually only see used machines with high hours because they're such great machines that people don't regularly sell & upgrade. They tend to keep them until they can buy new again or maintenance cost becomes too high. Be aware that older machines will need more work as parts wear out... that old 2009 MT model of mine already had a small block engine rebuild (around 1600hrs, I bought it at 1800hrs), and when it came to the busy season I spent about $3k in a month on repairs (fuel pump, belts, pulleys etc. and a bunch of other stuff that I'd rather forget...) But hey that's the cost of business I guess! It was after that I'd had enough and decided to buy new. I don't regret buying it as it was what I could afford at the time, got it for just under $10k and it had the high dump and a 42" GHS deck. It was a price that let me dip a toe in and see if the machine would be a good fit for the work I do. Not trying to scare you off a used machine, but it pays to be aware of all possible issues and extra costs before you go in.
As far as things to check - just look for funny noises or vibrations ($$$), pulleys if worn will show a silver colour in the groove where the belt runs. And just check that all the grease nipples look to have been regularly greased. An easy spot to check is the deck pins that you undo to flip the deck up, if they look dry that would be sending off alarm bells for me. And check the service history if you can - oil & filter every 50hrs in dusty conditions I believe. Walker specify 100hrs in the manual, but hey this is Australia. haha. Other things different to the mid-mount ZTR's are the gear driven blades, if you feel any strange vibrations or noises from the deck be very wary. Anything can be fixed, but again it can be an extra cost so use it as a negotiating tool if you're keen on the machine.
I got a 42" Multi Deck on my new MT a couple of years ago. Good deck, but just doesn't quite have the same cut quality and finish as the GHS deck due to the different blade rotation needed to provide side discharge, you lose a bit of that "natural stripe" that Walkers are known for. But it's still definitely the most versatile deck option by a long shot. The mulch performance is absolutely amazing!
Having said all that I just got a new 48" GHS deck last weekend. This was mainly due to one of my biggest jobs - I had to do 2 laps mowing for want of an extra 3" to cover the entire nature strip width between roadside and footpath. Now I only need to do one pass, what took 2.5hrs to mow now takes 1.5hrs! Plus I wanted the best finish possible... I didn't buy a Walker to have 2nd best! I would suggest measuring up your jobs, if there's a lot of situations where the smaller deck will leave just a few inches of unmowed lawn you might find it better to use a 48" deck.
If you will mainly catch, my preference would definitely be towards the GHS decks. You can buy blockoff plates for them to effectively put them into "mulch mode". So far I've just been turning off the blower, letter the chute block up and mowing like that with my 48". Does require blowing if you want a super clean finish, leaves a few clumps.
Also might be worth contacting Walker Australia to ask if they know of any used machines for sale - those guys are pretty good and seem to have their ear to the ground and might give you a good lead.
Hope that helps... just ask if you have any other questions.