I have an
L185 and so far it has been a good tractor for me. It's a mid 70's with ~700hrs. About 70 of those hours are mine. I also have a Kubota 60" mower deck that is very stout.
I don't have my manual here at work, but I think it's about 15hp at the pto. It weighs about 2000lbs with the deck. 4sp gearbox with a Hi/Lo range. 3 spd PTO, 540 750 1000rpm. Not sure what the 3pt capacity is but I use a beefy 3pt 5' disk that is loaded with extra weight and it lifts that okay.
They seem to be a good, stout, basic tractor. And you will be amazed at how little fuel it uses.
Things to look for.... they do not have a water pump, water circulates via convection flow. So the cooling system must be kept in top shape and when mowing you need to keep the screen on the radiator clean. Following those rules I have mowed in 100+ degree weather with no problems. Since it has no temp gauge, make sure the "whistle" on the overflow tube works.
Watch for gear oil coming from the shifter boots, it mean the gear case vent tube is plugged. Lift up the seat you will see a little tube shaped like a sideways "?" mark. Unscrew it and run a pipe cleaner thru it.
If the mower runs off a front pto examine it very carefully. The shaft extends off the front of the engine's crankshaft. Look for lateral play in the shaft and the electric clutch. (bad support bearing) I didn't and ended up paying ~$400 for a new shaft and clutch.
I had another problem with the kubota mower. The belt did not maintain the same tension as I raised and lowered it. It went from too tight to too loose. So I added a spring loaded belt tensioner to improve the performance. Works great.
Parts are still available for now.
I like mine and mow about a 1/2 acre of grass routinely. As long as the grass is not too long, it will mow in 2nd gear, hi range, pretty easily.
If you think it has been maintained and not abused....$1800 seems pretty reasonable and it will certainly do better/fast than a similar priced riding lawn mower.
Well I guess that's more than 2cents worth.
