Hello fellow Wheel Horse fans,
I have owned a 312-8 for a few years now, and it has been very good to me. The unit was obviously purchased used, and at the time of purchase I didn't notice that the 42" deck that came with it was much older than the mower. The deck I have has always been pretty junkie, but now started to have some actual issues. The center double "D" pulley has rounded out, and a spindle has broken. I have been looking into getting repair parts, or just buying a different deck all together since i can't find very reasonably priced ones. So here is where the question comes in.
I have found a reasonably priced unit in the area for sale that is a 516-H model. So a little larger engine, year or 2 newer, a 48" working deck, and hydrostatic would be a nice upgrade for me, but it sounds like this model was considered undesirable. Is this just because of the technology that was starting to exist at the time of it's release, or was it considered to not be that great of a machine? My 312 has about 1800 hours, and the mower itself runs great. The 516 apparently does not have working gauges at the moment, and burns some oil.
Any opinions on what you guys would do in this situation? Any opinions between the 12HP Koehler and the 16HP Onan engines?
Any help would be appreciated, Thanks.