Hello All
I saw an add on our Craig's List yesterday morning that seemed almost too Good to be true that read "John Deere 316, 50" Mowing deck and Power Flow grass collector $200.00". I called the seller and he was not mechanical at all. He told me that it was Not running but was complete. The Tractor had lived almost all of it's Life on the shores of Florida close to the ocean and was a One owner Tractor. I asked if it was a twin Cylinder engine or a single cylinder ? he said it is a twin. I knew then that it had to be a Later Model 316 that the factory Placed the Onan P-218 in. Once we finished Talking I told him that I would Take it sight unseen as I figured that the Power flow was worth his asking price, we then set up a time for me to come get it. I drove there Yesterday afternoon it was 110 Miles from my house. I about Died when I saw How Rough it was, but I still was Interested in it.
He said in his add that it came with an extra set of Rear tire's and wheel's but he had forgot that he had sold them a few weeks ago so he said the Price was now $150.00. The top of the air breather was missing as well as one of the pedestal screens and the seat cushion was destroyed but I did notice that it had the Flip up style seat on it. The wiring had been messed with bad as all of the safety switch's had been By-passed with a wire loop and the spark Plug wires had seen better days. It had No battery so I ran jumper cable's from my truck directly to it's battery cables and tried to turn the engine over. The dash light's came to life but when I tried to start it, it simply made a clicking noise like perhaps' it had a starter issue or bad ground somewhere in the wiring harness. I did manage to turn the engine over by hand once I pulled it's spark plugs and it was not froze up. I saw the Hour meter and heard it clicking as it was working and it showed to have just 349.4 Hour's on it.
The engine looked spotless with no apparent oil leaks and the inside of the carburetor throat was clean so I was wondering if perhaps' this Tractor did only have 349.4 Hour's on it ? The tire's all looked to be original with Lot's of tread and all of them held air which also told me that it may have been a low hour Tractor. it was apparent that this Tractor had been Mistreated most of it's life, but the 50" Mowing deck was solid with no through rust and all of the spindle bearings spun free telling me that the bearings were good. he had Most of the Power flow unit being the Plastic tubing as well as the Portion that hook's directly to the deck and the Rear hitch assembly. I asked him if he had the Hoper to it and he said that they were fabric and rotted out so he threw them away. There was also a Spare floor Pan that evidently went to a gear Tractor as a Model 214 or 216 that he tossed in on the deal. he had Both side engine cover's one is real nice the other one is rusty but not bad enough that it could not be sanded down and re-painted.
he was Kind of embarrassed that it would Not even turn over and said to me I guess it is just a Pile of parts, then he offered it to me for $75.00. I haggled a bit more and ended up getting the entire Package for $50.00 and he helped me load it all. I am Going to get the Onan P-218 Up and Running. If it run's good I know where there is a Super Nice 317 with a Blown Kohler engine in it that I can get for $100.00 and it also has a 50" mowing deck on it. My Plan's are if this Onan run's out right. to Pull it out of this 316 then to Buy the 317 and take the Blown Kohler out of it and replace it with the Onan engine. I can cut the Onan Motor Mount's from the frame rails of this 316 and Transfer them over to the frame rail's in the 317 to make the engine Transplant a snap. here is my Poor beat down John Deere 316, I Just did Not have the Heart to see it end up in a Scrap Yard as I feel that I can certainly do something with it & it's serial number Put's it as a 1991 Tractor. Regards, Hammerdown
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I saw an add on our Craig's List yesterday morning that seemed almost too Good to be true that read "John Deere 316, 50" Mowing deck and Power Flow grass collector $200.00". I called the seller and he was not mechanical at all. He told me that it was Not running but was complete. The Tractor had lived almost all of it's Life on the shores of Florida close to the ocean and was a One owner Tractor. I asked if it was a twin Cylinder engine or a single cylinder ? he said it is a twin. I knew then that it had to be a Later Model 316 that the factory Placed the Onan P-218 in. Once we finished Talking I told him that I would Take it sight unseen as I figured that the Power flow was worth his asking price, we then set up a time for me to come get it. I drove there Yesterday afternoon it was 110 Miles from my house. I about Died when I saw How Rough it was, but I still was Interested in it.
He said in his add that it came with an extra set of Rear tire's and wheel's but he had forgot that he had sold them a few weeks ago so he said the Price was now $150.00. The top of the air breather was missing as well as one of the pedestal screens and the seat cushion was destroyed but I did notice that it had the Flip up style seat on it. The wiring had been messed with bad as all of the safety switch's had been By-passed with a wire loop and the spark Plug wires had seen better days. It had No battery so I ran jumper cable's from my truck directly to it's battery cables and tried to turn the engine over. The dash light's came to life but when I tried to start it, it simply made a clicking noise like perhaps' it had a starter issue or bad ground somewhere in the wiring harness. I did manage to turn the engine over by hand once I pulled it's spark plugs and it was not froze up. I saw the Hour meter and heard it clicking as it was working and it showed to have just 349.4 Hour's on it.
The engine looked spotless with no apparent oil leaks and the inside of the carburetor throat was clean so I was wondering if perhaps' this Tractor did only have 349.4 Hour's on it ? The tire's all looked to be original with Lot's of tread and all of them held air which also told me that it may have been a low hour Tractor. it was apparent that this Tractor had been Mistreated most of it's life, but the 50" Mowing deck was solid with no through rust and all of the spindle bearings spun free telling me that the bearings were good. he had Most of the Power flow unit being the Plastic tubing as well as the Portion that hook's directly to the deck and the Rear hitch assembly. I asked him if he had the Hoper to it and he said that they were fabric and rotted out so he threw them away. There was also a Spare floor Pan that evidently went to a gear Tractor as a Model 214 or 216 that he tossed in on the deal. he had Both side engine cover's one is real nice the other one is rusty but not bad enough that it could not be sanded down and re-painted.
he was Kind of embarrassed that it would Not even turn over and said to me I guess it is just a Pile of parts, then he offered it to me for $75.00. I haggled a bit more and ended up getting the entire Package for $50.00 and he helped me load it all. I am Going to get the Onan P-218 Up and Running. If it run's good I know where there is a Super Nice 317 with a Blown Kohler engine in it that I can get for $100.00 and it also has a 50" mowing deck on it. My Plan's are if this Onan run's out right. to Pull it out of this 316 then to Buy the 317 and take the Blown Kohler out of it and replace it with the Onan engine. I can cut the Onan Motor Mount's from the frame rails of this 316 and Transfer them over to the frame rail's in the 317 to make the engine Transplant a snap. here is my Poor beat down John Deere 316, I Just did Not have the Heart to see it end up in a Scrap Yard as I feel that I can certainly do something with it & it's serial number Put's it as a 1991 Tractor. Regards, Hammerdown
