I recently picked up a used Simplicity Landlord DLX. It is a year 2000 with a 17hp liquid cooled Kawasaki engine, 50 inch deck, hydrostatic, hydro lift deck, and just under 400 hours. The original owner (who I purchased it from) had is advertised for $1,200 and said it "Needs Work". It was only about 10 minutes from me so I figured I would go take a look.
When I got there I was amazed how good the overall condition was. The owner, an older gentlemen, told me the motor smokes a lot when it runs and that was the only problem. I started it and it was abvious something was wrong. I asked him if he had it looked and if he knew what the problem was? He told he had not, and instead went out and bought himself a brand new tractor.
At that point, I figured it could be pretty expensive to get it fixed....and it was hard to tell what the problem was. I took a chance and offered him $800. He accepted. He gave me all the original paperwork. He paid just over $7,000 when it was new in 2000.
I got it home and the first thing I did was check the oil. Well, he had a QUART to much oil on the motor!! I drained it down to the correct level, started it up and it smoked for about 5 seconds and then ran nice and smooth!! The tractor has run perfectly every time I used it since then. I just used it for the last time this season (I live in NY).
This is my first Simplicity tractor and I am very impressed. The quality of the machine, the cut, and everything about this machine is awesome!! In my opinion, this machine will run circles around anything that the big box stores sell!!