Help needed quick before i make a purchase (Gravely 250Z)

[Gravely Pro 10]

I'm looking at getting a used Gravely 250Z with a 23hp Kawasaki and 500 hrs. The machine was used by a highway crew, fwiw. Anyway, they are asking $3000 for it and the first person i talked to said everything was in good working condition. Well today i talked to a different person and told them i was going to have to travel 5 hrs to pick it up. He then proceeds to tell me that you have to "wiggle" or play with the throttle to get it to start up. he said you "don't just turn the key". So obviously this got me worried not being able to see it for myself. my late 80's Gravely 2 wheel tractor with a Kohler 10 always fires right up, all i do is pull the choke and it comes to life. I asked the guy if it always ran, never stalled, etc and he said it ran fine once you start it.

so now my dilemma... think i would be able to talk a Gravely dealer into going over and checking it out for me (for a fee of course)? or does this sound normal? the guy really didn't sound like he knew his stuff as far as equipment goes. is it still worth $3K? i'm guessing if there is a problem it could be carb related etc. but i've never owned a Kawasaki.

Any advice appreciated! i will probably need to make a decision tomorrow...

[Travis Followell]

I don't think he knows what he's talking about. Wiggling the throttle would have nothing to do with it starting. Maybe the choke cable needs to be adjusted to close the choke plate all the way and thats all I know of that he could possibly be referring to. Go check it out before you buy it and possibly have a dealer check it out if you think there's a problem.

[Gravely Pro 10]

that's just it, i have no way of checking it out since i'm 5 hrs away from where it is. that's why i was hoping i could get a Gravely tech to look at it for me... do you think it's still worth $3k? i'm guessing the machine was around $7500 new.

[Mowingman]

Many of the Gravely ZTR's with the Kawasaki have an all-in-one throttle/choke cable. This setup had a lot of problems, as the choke often does not fully engage. Later, Gravely started using separate choke and throttle cables. I suspect this one you are looking at has the all in one cable, and that makes them very hard to get started when cold.

[Gravely Pro 10]

that's the answer i needed to know. is there a way to switch to separate choke/throttle, or do you think this will be a problem?

[Mowingman]

It should not be any problem to put on two individual cables for choke and throttle. I can not remember for sure, but I think Gravely has a kit to do that on some models.