gllc<p>1.Here is the article dealing with buying a used walker.Go to:www.ibsc.com/lpu/w-talk.htm<br>this will answer alot of your questions.<p>2.I am going to give you my own experience with buying old Walkers.Sevral years ago I bought a 16.5 hp diesel Walker.It worked great in the summer,it just hummed like a kitten and had alot of power.We use our Walkers for snow removal and that is when we started to have problems.It started to put out alot of smoke,and when you are that close to the exhaust that is not good.We started geting headaches and feeling sick.So we took it to the kabota dealer in town in they replaced the ingectors glow plugs and so on we also had a hard time staring it even in our heated garage so we had to replace the starter.So before we knew it we had spent $1000.00 on repairs and it was still smoking.Some reading this might think the dealer did not know what they are doing but trust me they are great and work on diesel engines of this type all day.Well when we got the bill we soon realized we were spending more on that machine than it would cost to own a new one!We right away traded it on a new 20hp.Walkers are very reliable but like all mowers at a certian # of hours it is going to start to need parts replaced.In our area walkers are usually traded in at about 900-1500hrs.So if that walker is at a total of 3600 hours than I would be careful.Plus that short block may in the near future need an other re-build.You where scared that the hydorstats will need replaced soon,and that may be the case.I think that the life expectancy on the hydro's is 1500hrs.I think the case with that machine may be that the company knows it would be cheaper to be running a new walker.They are selling it privately which may mean that the dealer will not give him much for it so he is trying to sell it himself.In any case be careful!Look at the web site I gave you and decide for yourself.Or even email or call the Walker.co and ask what they think.In any case do some research. <p>I hope this will help! <p>from:Adam<br>AB Lawn Care