Looking at buying a 310

[73Eldo]

Its a well used machine. It has what looks to be a non original Kohler M16s gas motor on it. It started and ran well. I was told it had been sitting outside for 7 months and had a lot of water in the crank case that turned out to be due to a cracked filler/dipstick tube. The new motor was put in with no thought to getting to the drain plugs so we sucked out the milkshake best we could and put some fresh oil in. I ran it for about 5 minutes around his lot then stopped to check things and found the leak/crack in the fill tube along with more milky foamy oil. I already have a plan involving a chunk of hose and my mini cutoff wheel to solve the drain problem. The throttle linkage is a complete hacked kludge that is so mangled it didnt really work. The key is behind the seat and the choke lever is under the seat so its sort of a challenge to get it started. The gas filler is just a hunk of hose extending up from the tank held with some wire through a hole in the rear cover. They wires to the key also tie to this hose. One of the axle seals may be leaking. Tires have tread on them but have some rather large cracks in the side walls. At the moment he has a new filler tube on order. He said he was asking $3200 but would sell it to me for $2900. He then knocked off $100 if I wanted to fix the oil tube myself. I may be able to get a few more off because of the axle seal. I also think cash will help, I was thinking $2500? Do you guys think that may be fair? Or am I crazy? I talked to a friend of mine that is a Kohler dealer and he said that motor is a slight evolution of their longtime standard 'K' series. Its a solid overbuilt unit that is hard to kill and not that expensive to rebuild if it needs it. Its a splash/dipper oil system so he does not think the water problem has hurt anything assuming it has not run that way. I guess that oil tube was a problem and they went back to their old design on the next generation. The carb is a known piece of crap that is not adjustable or supported by Kohler anymore and even had a hesitation issue when they were new. I guess the K series carter carb is the current one and they make a direct replacement for this vintage if I need it. I like how open the machine is. It looks like everything is fairly easy to work on. Thoughts? Comments?

 

[Tazza]

I'd like to change the oil a few more times if you buy it.
If it has enough power for you, and you think it would do the jobs you need it may not be bad if you can get it for $2,500. You can get a hydrostatic machine for around 8k, i think $2,500 would be fair.
You did say it looks like its in pretty poor physical shape, things like cracked filler tube and how you add fuel!

 

[73Eldo]

I'd like to change the oil a few more times if you buy it.
If it has enough power for you, and you think it would do the jobs you need it may not be bad if you can get it for $2,500. You can get a hydrostatic machine for around 8k, i think $2,500 would be fair.
You did say it looks like its in pretty poor physical shape, things like cracked filler tube and how you add fuel!

It did seem to have the power I think I need. At the moment I am stuck living in a regular city lot so a machine that small would easily go through the gate into the back yard. I know people that have small tractors with loaders if I need something bigger. That 310 is a hydrostat drive. The pumps are under the seat and driven by a belt off the front of the motor. There is even a overcenter idler setup lever to disengage the drive to the wheels for safety and easier starts. The loader pump is belt driven off the back of the motor. I read that it did come with a 'k' 14 or 16 horse motor so the current motor is a replacement and also explains the kludge controls and lack of a way to drain the oil. I am a oil change fanatic so its going to get changed as many times as it takes to get it looking clean. From what I can tell it only has one hydo oil tank and it looks ok on the dipstick. There is a spin on filter for the loader and each drive pump. Would you guys recommend changing the hyd oil and filters also? I may have to at least drain it to change the seal unless thats different oil. I sent a email to Mustang to see if manuals and parts are still made and who they recommend in my area. Owatonna is only about and hour south of the metro area so I could even drive down there if they would sell direct. The fuel filler does appear to be real filler hose and it does have a cap on it that looks like it may seal it just needs some sort of bracket to hold it. Once the oil thing is taken care of the next project will be building some sort of control panel with the key, hour meter, choke, and throttle in an easy to get to location.

 

[73Eldo]

It did seem to have the power I think I need. At the moment I am stuck living in a regular city lot so a machine that small would easily go through the gate into the back yard. I know people that have small tractors with loaders if I need something bigger. That 310 is a hydrostat drive. The pumps are under the seat and driven by a belt off the front of the motor. There is even a overcenter idler setup lever to disengage the drive to the wheels for safety and easier starts. The loader pump is belt driven off the back of the motor. I read that it did come with a 'k' 14 or 16 horse motor so the current motor is a replacement and also explains the kludge controls and lack of a way to drain the oil. I am a oil change fanatic so its going to get changed as many times as it takes to get it looking clean. From what I can tell it only has one hydo oil tank and it looks ok on the dipstick. There is a spin on filter for the loader and each drive pump. Would you guys recommend changing the hyd oil and filters also? I may have to at least drain it to change the seal unless thats different oil. I sent a email to Mustang to see if manuals and parts are still made and who they recommend in my area. Owatonna is only about and hour south of the metro area so I could even drive down there if they would sell direct. The fuel filler does appear to be real filler hose and it does have a cap on it that looks like it may seal it just needs some sort of bracket to hold it. Once the oil thing is taken care of the next project will be building some sort of control panel with the key, hour meter, choke, and throttle in an easy to get to location.

I learned a bit more about the 'm' motors. They were the same basic block as the tried and true K series with minor changes to things like the drain & fill locations and some mounting holes. It has electronic ignition and a non adjustable carb. Aluminum head. 15 amp alternator integrated into the flywheel.

 

[73Eldo]

I learned a bit more about the 'm' motors. They were the same basic block as the tried and true K series with minor changes to things like the drain & fill locations and some mounting holes. It has electronic ignition and a non adjustable carb. Aluminum head. 15 amp alternator integrated into the flywheel.

I forgot to ask, the thing flies backwards but you cant go forward very fast because one side is slow so you have to let off the other side to go straight. The left side does not have stop screws on the lever but the right does. At the moment the stops are set all the way out and thats the slow side. I saw there are turnbuckle things on the links from the handles to the pumps. I assume a little tweaking would get things better balanced?

 

[73Eldo]

I forgot to ask, the thing flies backwards but you cant go forward very fast because one side is slow so you have to let off the other side to go straight. The left side does not have stop screws on the lever but the right does. At the moment the stops are set all the way out and thats the slow side. I saw there are turnbuckle things on the links from the handles to the pumps. I assume a little tweaking would get things better balanced?

Had a chance to use the thing for a bit last night. Left side usually goes faster. I adjusted the link on the right side and its a lot closer now. After backing up for a significant distance the left side is actually slower but a quick stop and back forward seems to correct it and it goes back to being faster. Does this sound like a sign of a serious problem or is it pretty normal for a well used machine and is not likely to suddenly get worse? Are the filters sensitive? They are the big screw on ones and there is one for each side and a 3rd for the loader. If I buy the machine I plan on new filters and fluid. Anyone know what fluid belongs in this thing? I went to my local Mustang dealer and he said he should be able to get me the manuals for much less than ebay prices but since I dont own the machine yet I did not have him get them.