well here's mine
2015 I was bored on my day off (which hasn't happened since), got on CL and found an ad for someone who had a tractor with a loader want to trade for a side by side.
So ok I'm thinking, scam. Decided to send message.
I had a 2004 Kawasaki Mule 3010 reg cab gas, bought it for $250 and cleaned it up and got it running. I had maybe $500 tied up in it at the most. I already had most of the stuff at the house that I needed, engine gaskets, etc. I had to buy parking brake cables and a few other odds and ends at the dealer. Got 'er up & going, GF loved it, we rode around on the snow some (and winter 14/15 was the last time we had decent snowfall thankfully). And then, it sat. November rolls around and I dug it out & got it going again after sitting all that time.
The ad I responded to, I actually got a response. Call this number ask for Chris. Well I'm still skeptical. I called anyway. Turns out, this guy has several tractors. Deere, MF, Ford, all had loaders, he likes to restore tractors he picks up at the local auction house. I told him I had this old Mule and didn't have much in it, but it was nice & clean, and ready to use. he said bring it to the town he lives in, about an hour or so away from me. Didn't really want to drive an hour but ok, I'll go look--I'm off work, might as well. It was Veterans day 2015.
I had to run to my brothers house, get his trailer, then go back home, load & tie the Mule down (don't remember if I used chains or straps, sorry), headed to his place. I show up and this guy had a bunch of tractors and parts.
Well we struck a deal. Trade my old Mule for a MF 1140. 1140 wasn't a popular tractor. He had actually replaced the engine with one from a 1145, and then bought the side panels from an 1145. As a hotrodder, he realized that the little turbocharged iseki (only 1145's were turbo) engine didn't have an intercooler, so he dug around in a junkpile and found a Volkswagen IC, plumbed it to the tractor, added a little baby puller fan on it and ran it. Yep, deal is finalized. Little tractor was cute, but I wanted it for the loader. he said it ain't got no power steering, everythign else worked other than the safety switches. I was ecstatic!! Got it home, unloaded it, and spread a pile of gravel on my shop driveway that I had been shoveling for MONTHS, it took maybe 15 min with the tractor. No power steering sucks with a loader.
Drove tractor into the shop and started looking at it. I had to fab up a muffler for it (no big deal) and put a rain cap on it. While I was messing with it I noticed that it has a tandem hydraulic pump, basically two pumps attached together. One was much bigger then the other. So I followed the suction pipes, one goes to the transmission and it's discharge runs back toward the top of the trans. The other pump runs off of a suction pipe that goes to a tank in front of the radiator, but it's discharge runs to a valve that the steering shaft goes into. What? It might have power steering. I dumped a gallon of oil into the tank, found a leak, fixed that with a clamp, and started the engine. Yup..power steering, works awesome too. Guy also said the 4x4 doesn't work, said something about a linkage. I got to looking, found that a clip had fallen off of the engagement linkage. I had one in my junk pile and installed it. 4wd works great now.
So I got a 4wd MF 1145 with power steering for about $600 (including fuel to go get it).
Ugly, shuttle shift, needs a clutch but as cheap as I got it, couldn't pass it up.
Same day I called the guy back and said man are you sure you want to do this? I got the power steering working. He went on to say that he was disabled from an injury in Afghanistan (he was in USAF), and he needed the Mule so he could get to the deer woods. It was veterans day. He needed the Mule, I needed the tractor, and he was good with that. Super good guy.
so if you see an ad that you might think is scam, or if it's questionable as to whether it is or not, don't give 'em any information just respond. Never know, it might be legit.
and BTW that's the second time that's happened....traded a 93 Mustang hatchback 4 cylinder straight across for a beautiful, and NICE 2004 Mustang V6 automatic....which I put almost 200,000 miles on without a single problem. The 93 was NOT nice, nor was it reliable. I got rid of it with 401,000 on it's odometer and to my knowledge it's still going. Owner said she was shooting for half million miles.
