Buying Advice John Deere 2305

[Inkmann]

I am purchasing a new home and can buy a John Deere 2305 from the current home owner as a side deal.

I can't find the year on it but an attachment is stamped 2007. I'm assuming 2008 or later.

Has 131 hours, looks immaculate, garage kept, 62" belly mower and a 200 series bucket without a scratch on the blade or bucket.

$10,000 is the price, non negotiable.

What do you think?

I would like to add a snowblower before winter.

Thanks
John

 

[TripleR]

Sounds like a good buy to me, year of manufacture isn't a big deal, hours and condition are what is important.

 

[kennyd]

That sounds like a excellent deal. Any dealer can run the serial number to give you the year and any warenty/service works performed by JD as well, but like mentioned above, its hours usually that counts and not the year.

You can search these sites for comps:
Used Farm & Agricultural Equipment - John Deere MachineFinder

and

Used Tractors For Sale at TractorHouse.com: John Deere Tractors, used farm tractors and farm equipment, tractors for sale, Case IH, New Holland, Agco, Kubota

 

[Wagtail]

What kind/size of property are you purchasing and what sort of work are you expecting out of your rig?

It sounds like a very good buy but if it's undersized for what you want to do in the future it could become more of a frustrating and expensive 'trade in' for what you actually need.

 

[adirondackmtnman]

Around here a similar tractor sitting on a dealer's lot would be around 13k...maybe more in the condition you're looking at. I think you'd come darn close to the 10k for a trade-in value. Sounds like the property you'll be maintaining is the same the machine has seen since new, so unless you plan on doing something substantially different than the previous property owner, you'd be in good shape...Me, I'd offer him $9k, and see where it goes...no harm in trying to dicker a little on his asking price, plus the bargaining's the fun part!!! Good luck, and let us know how it works out, and post pics!!

Sent from my LGL35G using TractorByNet

 

[Shawk]

Assuming everything checks out, that sounds like a great price to me too. :thumbsup: That machine would go for more around here as well. Best wishes!

 

[mcfarms]

That's a pretty good price! I did a bunch of shopping (including eBay) for tractors before I ended up buying my 2305 last week. Mine is a 2010 with 200CX loader, Quick Hitch power broom and 132 hours. In my case, I stole it for $8,500; but 10k is a great buy for what you're getting!!!!

 

[mattmayo]

My only advice would be to look around this site on the rear end housing issues of the 2305. Supposedly they beefed up this housing in 2007. My dad and I have a 2006 model and only has 157 hours on it. With normal bushhoggging the thin alumninum case cracked and the bearing is out. The cost of repair will be north of $3000. The 2007 model might have better reviews.

 

[Shamus M]

Sounds like a good buy to me, year of manufacture isn't a big deal, hours and condition are what is important.

Not so true with the 2305. If you buy the wrong year machine and don't use the pto without babying it very carefully, you will wind up with what was originally a 10k machine (such as this guys case) , a boat anchor. Accidentally hit one of those hidden stumps or what have you and your toast

 

[yelbike]

My only advice would be to look around this site on the rear end housing issues of the 2305. Supposedly they beefed up this housing in 2007. My dad and I have a 2006 model and only has 157 hours on it. With normal bushhoggging the thin alumninum case cracked and the bearing is out. The cost of repair will be north of $3000. The 2007 model might have better reviews.

Mine was 2008 with the confirmed "upgraded" case and still broke. Repair estimate from the CANADIAN dealer was $9800.

 

[Coyote machine]

See what the current owner knows about the year- get the serial number and any repair/maintenance records he might have, etc.
Check it out thoroughly before you purchase to make sure it is not one of the 'bad case' series.
If it checks out OK then buy it.
Good luck.

 

[rtgt]

As others have said, have a JD dealer run the serial number and see if it has the upgraded rear end / transmission case. If it is the newer case, the money the seller is asking is inline with what most sell for. If it is an older / weaker case, the resale value isn't as good (to an informed buyer)

I have a 2010 model 2305 and when I recently bought a rotary cutter I found out about the transmission "problem". Not the hard way, but by posting my purchase, others enlightened me.

If you are going to consider using a rotary cutter, tiller, post hole digger, etc, I would suggest you would be better off with a different tractor. If you are just going to finish mow an established lawn, plow snow, etc, the 2305 is a fine tractor. Use the PTO with some common sense and you'll be fine.

I have put 300+ hours on mine, mowing and moving snow and it has done well. I an going to start using a tractor for a little more harder work (i.e. bush hogging) and before I start that I am going to upgrade the tractor to a more suitable model. I don't want to risk lunching the transmission using a rotary cutter.

 

[johnwilldo]

Yelbike,

I am curious to know if your brush hog had a stump jumper and a clutch. Do you store your brush hog out in the elements? I have heard that the plates of the clutch get rusty and do not protect your tractor as they should. I know that I can test mine by attempting to rotate the blades with the tractor off. I store mine in a heated garage. My 2305 has just turned over 400 hours and I have at least 100 of those hours using the brush hog for brush and field mowing. The horror stories that I read about the case cracking cause me concern so I try to make sure that I do not try to tackle large brush items or small trees.

 

[yelbike]

Yelbike,

I am curious to know if your brush hog had a stump jumper and a clutch. Do you store your brush hog out in the elements? I have heard that the plates of the clutch get rusty and do not protect your tractor as they should. I know that I can test mine by attempting to rotate the blades with the tractor off. I store mine in a heated garage. My 2305 has just turned over 400 hours and I have at least 100 of those hours using the brush hog for brush and field mowing. The horror stories that I read about the case cracking cause me concern so I try to make sure that I do not try to tackle large brush items or small trees.

I don't have nor have I ever had a brush hog. Sort of on my wish list, I don't know how much I really would need or actually use one.

My failure happened with a tiller, it did have a brand new slip clutch as the tiller was only roughly two weeks old. I'm not 100% sure of the real cause but the tractor did stall from striking a buried object. The slip clutch had been adjusted as best as I could. The clutch had slipped before and has since but that time did not I suppose. Sheared the stub PTO shaft at the designed weak spot. The broken parts alone were just over $500 plus the case and 45-50 hrs labor at jd stealership rate. Insane!! That tractor does almost no PTO work anymore. Mower( and some have had failures using the MNM also) and BH use only. That's why I got the 2320.