Opinion On Buying Older Used Legacy w/ FEL

I can't help with the clutch, but I personally put over 2000 hours on my 1977 MF1655/FEL doing everything that you mentioned and a whole lot more.

The Legacy has the same hydro and final drive as the Massey and a longer wheelbase which helps with ballasting, but it is a bit narrower making for less stability on slopes. As a bonus, it also has power steering which will be an asset. Armstrong steering gets old in a hurry with a full payload in the bucket.

While the price mentioned seems a bit high to me, the value is certainly there, especially if a parts tractor comes with it.

Note that a Legacy is a heavy 2wd GT, not a 4wd SCUT, but it is comparable when properly ballasted and equipped with 2-link chains. My MF1655 will outlift my MF GC2310 SCUT and push a bigger bucket through deeper snow. The SCUT has an advantage for doing dirt work with its 4wd and narrower bucket.

The advantage of having your own loader is that you have the opportunity to take on tasks at your discretion as time and weather permits. Renting depends on having enough time available to do the entire job during the rental period, if the weather also cooperates and the machine is actually available. At about $250 per day, 20 days over several years will cost $5000. Its a real bear to line up a full days work for a rental when you have several projects that need doing now. Something is going to be missed that you will remember two days later.

In my case, I have a third of an acre residential property of which I have tilled, excavated, backfilled, or otherwise disturbed over 75% of the surface over the years. In addition, snow removal on occasion absolutely requires a loader. A snow blower will get nowhere moving the 1200 sq-ft of snow that avalanches off of the house roof onto the driveway when the weather turns mild like it did 3 weeks ago. The pile was 3.5' deep for 40' and the full width of the driveway. Without my loader, I'd have to hire a wheel loader and a truck to haul it away instead of just moving it to the pile it in the back yard.

Having your own loader is golden. Mine owes me nothing after using it for 22 years, even after buying a brand new engine for it after 12 years. It has saved me over $10K just in snow removal, never mind redoing the 165' driveway or excavating for the garage and pool.

Thanks for the insight TUDOR. I messaged a member who is local and he also commented to the fact that GT prices are sky high in our area (there is a XL w/ FEL local with 600hrs and they are asking $13,500 :tango_face_crying. Looking more into it, this Legacy didn't have a deck on it when the current owner bought it, which makes me think it spent all its time with a loader on the front. Guessing that's not as posh a life as being a dedicated mower it's entire life. Regardless, the parts tractor has no motor, but has a 60" deck.

I do agree that having a loader at my disposal would be ideal, it's just hard to sell that idea to the wife when I have spent a lot of time getting our current lawn tractor equipped to handle the leaf barrage our neighbor casts upon use throughout the year.

jonshonda said:

Thanks for the insight TUDOR. I messaged a member who is local and he also commented to the fact that GT prices are sky high in our area (there is a XL w/ FEL local with 600hrs and they are asking $13,500 :tango_face_crying. Looking more into it, this Legacy didn't have a deck on it when the current owner bought it, which makes me think it spent all its time with a loader on the front. Guessing that's not as posh a life as being a dedicated mower it's entire life. Regardless, the parts tractor has no motor, but has a 60" deck.

I do agree that having a loader at my disposal would be ideal, it's just hard to sell that idea to the wife when I have spent a lot of time getting our current lawn tractor equipped to handle the leaf barrage our neighbor casts upon use throughout the year.

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To be fair the XL for $13,500 has only 68 hrs diesel/loader/2-stage blower/deck/and cab/. Don't ask me how I know.

kb4212 said:

To be fair the XL for $13,500 has only 68 hrs diesel/loader/2-stage blower/deck/and cab/. Don't ask me how I know.

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Haha! I'm talking about a different one in NW WI. Too funny!

Yours does look very nice, but unfortunately out of my price range and my Ariens Platinum blower would be pretty cross with me if I showed up with that fancy machine!

Andy said:

Okay, I knew he had one for sale a few months back new in the crate. How do you the like the diesel compared to the Kawasaki?

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I love the sound of a diesel engine. I don't really notice the difference in power or torque, the only difference to me is fuel economy. The diesel is certainly more fuel efficient.

jonshonda said:

Thanks for the insight TUDOR. I messaged a member who is local and he also commented to the fact that GT prices are sky high in our area (there is a XL w/ FEL local with 600hrs and they are asking $13,500 :tango_face_crying. Looking more into it, this Legacy didn't have a deck on it when the current owner bought it, which makes me think it spent all its time with a loader on the front. Guessing that's not as posh a life as being a dedicated mower it's entire life. Regardless, the parts tractor has no motor, but has a 60" deck.

I do agree that having a loader at my disposal would be ideal, it's just hard to sell that idea to the wife when I have spent a lot of time getting our current lawn tractor equipped to handle the leaf barrage our neighbor casts upon use throughout the year.

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I didn't get the mowing deck when I bought my MF1655. The intention was always to install a loader as a permanent fixture. It just took a couple of years to get around to building a bucket that would do what I needed before installing the loader. The loader has not been off the tractor since.

Unlike your wife, mine had no problem agreeing to the $6,000 purchase in 1982. In fact, she was on my case to buy a new tractor after only another 3 or 4 years so that I wouldn't have to fix mine anymore. While she was okay with it, the $10,000+ price tag for an equivalent setup in a new machine was more than I was willing to tolerate. I used that tractor until I bought my $20,000 SCUT TLB in 2006 after I retired.

If you have the LT all set up to handle the leaves, there is no real reason not to get the loader because the LT sure won't handle the list of tasks that you originally presented.

I think he is way overpriced, unfortunately. They just don't bring that kind of money anymore. Several legacy/loader combos have sold near me in the past year when listed for $3500 or less. They did not necessarily move quickly either. I have had a couple of these, and they are great...BUT...the 4x4 XL is much nicer to use for loader work.

A few weeks back I ran over to northern IL and picked up a 4x4/540PTO diesel XL with loader for $5500. I can't imagine spending nearly as much on a 2wd early legacy. About a year ago I picked up a 4x4/540 diesel XL with loader, deck, vac/bagger, 3pt blade for $6600. I thought that was a bargain at the time, and have since seen better deals. The 4x4 is so very handy for loader work. Any loader is great, and you will wonder how you ever got by without it, but 4x4 adds a lot of versatility to them. The XL loader is also much easier on/off, if you, like me, ditch it to mow a couple acres each week.