[Hooks]

I have come across a John Deere 318 hiding in a garage over here in Germany. Not sure the exact year. It looks to be in good shape. Everything is original on it with 1,000 hours on the Onan engine. I will be taking a closer look today. I offered €600 ($780). He said yes. Good deal or not? That is if everything is in decent condition.

 

[ToroWhirlwind1970]

If it's in good condition, that's a very good deal. Here is a photo of a
1985 318 on ebay right now that the seller wants $1500 for:

 

[bwdbrn1]

Yes, from what I've seen them sell for, that is a darn good price.

If you poke around on John Deere's FAQ site, they have lists that show the years of manufacture of their garden tractors.

https://groundscare.custhelp.com/app/answers/list/srchopen/true

Looks like the series ran from 1983 to 1989 by this list. Somebody more familiar with John Deere 318s might know for sure.

https://groundscare.custhelp.com/ci/fattach/get/51697/0/filename/936+-+Year+Models+-+1980s.pdf

 

[Hooks]

Well, so much for that. I took a closer look at the 318 today. I removed the side panels on the engine and found about 15 years of neglect. There was about one inch of oil sludge caked onto the whole block. Every component looked worn and showed that no one had ever put any money into upkeep. The rest of the machine was not much better looking underneath. I figured this would turn into a bottomless pit. What a shame.:dunno:

 

[Five Points]

Sorry to hear that, to bad the owner wouldn't be negotiable on the price to compensate for the neglect..All you can do is keep your eyes open for another one.

 

[bwdbrn1]

Well heck. Sorry it didn't pan out, but at least you got a chance to look it over before you committed to anything.