- Joined
- Aug 7, 2007
- Messages
- 1,140
- Points
- 3,101
- City
- Northern IL
- Vehicle Year
- Many
- Transmission
- Manual
So I just bought my first house and it has a kinda big yard (1.3 acres) so a push mower wasn't gonna cut it (literally 
) I started lawn tractor shopping on craigslist and found this bad boy:
It's a 1985 John Deere 216 garden tractor. It has a 16HP Single cylinder all cast iron Kohler that purrs like a kitten. The transmission is a 4 speed gear w/ granny first and the Variator clutch drive system. It'll creep slow enough to plow dirt and maxes out around 12 mph in 4th with the variator all the way high. It has a 46" deck and came with a 42" snow plow. It has the kind of rare (on the 200 series anyways) hydraulic lift on the deck and plow.
All I can say is that this thing is a whole class above any newer yard or garden tractor I've ever used (newer John Deere's included). I'm glad I went with the 24 year old model because it's true that they just don't build them like they used to.
) I started lawn tractor shopping on craigslist and found this bad boy:
It's a 1985 John Deere 216 garden tractor. It has a 16HP Single cylinder all cast iron Kohler that purrs like a kitten. The transmission is a 4 speed gear w/ granny first and the Variator clutch drive system. It'll creep slow enough to plow dirt and maxes out around 12 mph in 4th with the variator all the way high. It has a 46" deck and came with a 42" snow plow. It has the kind of rare (on the 200 series anyways) hydraulic lift on the deck and plow.
All I can say is that this thing is a whole class above any newer yard or garden tractor I've ever used (newer John Deere's included). I'm glad I went with the 24 year old model because it's true that they just don't build them like they used to.
