buying old Bush Hog: Learn from my mistake

[Missouri Pioneer]

Having looked around at both new and used, I bought a Bush Hog 307 from the original owner's son, who fairly described it to me, saying the gearbox leaked about a half a cup per day. I had him run it, and it sounded okay.

I lined up a guy who's done great work for me before and he agreed to repair it for a flat fee plus parts. The seals were reasonably priced, so I thought I could have a nice unit without investing too much money. So far, so good.

Problem was, he couldn't get the stump jumper off of the tapered shaft, despite using a hydraulic spreader (perhaps not right term). So, he took it to a nearby Bush Hog dealer and together they couldn't get it off without taking the gearbox apart, altogether spending a lot of time on it. He finally got it apart, and said the 25-30 year old unit appears to never have had a replacement bottom seal.

Turns out, it needs bearings, etc. and primarily due to the amount of time he spent on it, his bill will be $580. That's in addition to what I'm paying the first guy.

Bottom line, nobody's fault but mine, but it's costing me nearly double what I paid in the first place, which I had not planned on. Live and learn.

 

[teg]

Just about every buy I make, I know I have to invest a little time and money to make it right. If I had to pay anyone else to work on it, I would rather pay full price (which is not likely). I wonder if you could have gotten away with Corn Grease instead of oil in the gear box... maybe not since bearing had (?) to be replaced.

 

[Transit]

For what you have spent you could have bought new.

 

[2458n]

My vote would be fill it up with grease. To late now. Depends on how much you are going to use it i guess. 5-10 acres a couple of times a year does not really require tight equipment. This is such a popular trick I always take along a cresent wrench when buying so I know what the gears are working in.