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Just bought new 7016H, how'd I do?


Isleblue65

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Hi, I'm new to the forum, and new to tractors or mowers with a steering wheel for that matter. Just moved from California with a postage stamp sized yard to Minnesota, and have a bit more lawn than I can comfortably mow in a reasonable Saturday afternoon time frame with a push mower. I looked at a few riding mowers and then saw an ad for a Simplicity 7016H. Having never heard of Simplicity, I ignored the ad for a few days and kept looking for mowers I'd heard of "Toro, Deere, Ariens, etc" -Now I know most of these lawn mowers, not tractors are in a completely different league from the Simplicity, but at the time I didn't. Anyhow, after only finding a bunch of worn out junk in the want ads over the next few days I decided to read up on Simplicity, and quickly found the Simple trACtors site and the huge following that you folks support with these great machines. I called the guy who was selling the 7016, expecting it would no longer be there, but it was. I rushed down to see the tractor which was amazingly clean. It's a 1977 with the 16HP Briggs and a 48" mower deck. The original owners and service manuals came with it and a stack of receipts for belts, starter solonoid, parts and service dating back 15 years. He also gave me a stack of 3 additional sets of blades for the mower. It has always been kept in a shed, and there is no rust or dents. The only flaw I could find is the top of the hood has some 1" cracks from vibration where it meets the tractor body. Even the 4 headlights and single back up light work perfectly. The tractor starts up within a few seconds every time and there is no smoke. When the PTO is engaged, I couldn't even hear the mower blades start up. The seller told me that he greased all fittings twice a season and changed the oil in the spring and fall every year. He only used it for mowing his 2/3 acre lawn and sold it because he bought a zero turn mower because he had a foot injury that made it too hard to press the clutch/ brake on the 7016. I got the mower for $440.00 I feel pretty good about my purchase, and after mowing my lawn in 1/4 the time (and it looks much better than with the push mower), I'm even more glad I didn't let this one slip away. Sorry about the rambling message. Just wanted to share my buying experience and introduce myself. Craig
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First off Craig let me say welcome to the club/ We are always on the lookout for a new tractor nut. I'm sure you'll be pleased with your purchase and it sounds as if you got a very resonable deal considering how well it sounds like it was cared for. We look forward to hearing about any issues ou might need to address. Take some time and get a good look around.
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Welcome Craig. I have a 77 AC716H, a mid 70s AC713S, an 82 Simp 7116H and a 61 Wards (Simp 700). You will love that tractor, and as most of us do, you will want to buy even more of them. By the way, my property size is 1/3 acre. I think that I need a couple more tractors, don't you?
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Thanks for the warm welcome. I think this is a great source of information and I'm glad to be a part of it. Rod, I'd say you should probably start looking for another tractor soon if you want to properly care for that yard of yours! :>) I only have 1/2 acre, but with quite a few trees and things to trim around. It took over 2 hours to mow and trim with the push mower. That worked for a few weeks, but then with a 1 year old son crawling around, time is often more important than exercise. I did change the belt to the transmission clutch & brake, battery cables and starter/ generator solonoid already. I plan on greasing everything before putting it away for the winter. Everything else on the tractor looks like it's in great working order. I'll be keeping my eyes out for a leaf vacuum and cart for next year. Craig
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Welcome aboard Craig. As far as the belts go, you should buy original belts from Simplicity, they are far superior than replacements. You got a good deal, now its time to add to the implements. JH
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Bunky, I'll be sure and get a picture up this weekend. Glad to hear I made out pretty well. I thought so based on the prices some of the Sovereigns were going for on Ebay and Craig's List (no, I'm not that Craig). I saw well used and rusty ones for upwards of $700. Of course it's the off season for mower sales now, and I talked the seller down from $490. He may not have had many bites. John, I got the belt from Napa parts. Next time I'll get a genuine Simplicity belt. I just need to find a dealer or service shop near Minneapolis.
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Welcome, Sounds like you got a great deal on that tractor..I woud like to get a newer model like that one day..I have had good luck with the green/blue belts from TSC..But sometimes the OEM belts are about the same price..I would choose OEM over the TSC ones but if there is a big price difference then I get the TSC ones..
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Craig, When my kids were little, I would ride them around on my lap while mowing the lawn, until they fell asleep. My wife would put the kid to bed and I would finish the lawn without a child in the way. It became a problem when the second one came along, so I mounted one of those bicycle seats, that you can put your child in, right behind the seat on my mower. Put the oldest in the seat, and the younger one on my lap. It was amazing. They would not last more than two laps around the yard before they would fall asleep. I never had kids in the way when I was mowing. Of course it did require that I synchronize the mowing time with the time that they would usually be wanting to take a nap.;):D One question about your tractor. My 716H (the AC version of yours) is a 77. It has the headlights in the grille. I thought that it was either 76 or 77 that they did away with the external headlights, and mounted the rectangular lights in the grille. I was just surprised that yours was a 77, but had the external lights. Also Craig, I have a snowblower with electric spout rotater, two snow/dirt blades with one being spring loaded, 48 inch mower decks(3), a rear liftable ball hitch, a trailer, a sicklebar mower, a moldboard plow, and a rototiller that I need to make the mounts for. Maybe sometime we will get a good snow here in VA, or I might decide to plant a garden. Have to be prepared. That is what they teach you in Boy Scouts. My youngest son just finished the requirements for Eagle Scout.;)
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quote:
Originally posted by HubbardRA
Craig, When my kids were little, I would ride them around on my lap while mowing the lawn, until they fell asleep. My wife would put the kid to bed and I would finish the lawn without a child in the way. It became a problem when the second one came along, so I mounted one of those bicycle seats, that you can put your child in, right behind the seat on my mower. Put the oldest in the seat, and the younger one on my lap. It was amazing. They would not last more than two laps around the yard before they would fall asleep. I never had kids in the way when I was mowing. Of course it did require that I synchronize the mowing time with the time that they would usually be wanting to take a nap.;):D One question about your tractor. My 716H (the AC version of yours) is a 77. It has the headlights in the grille. I thought that it was either 76 or 77 that they did away with the external headlights, and mounted the rectangular lights in the grille. I was just surprised that yours was a 77, but had the external lights. Also Craig, I have a snowblower with electric spout rotater, two snow/dirt blades with one being spring loaded, 48 inch mower decks(3), a rear liftable ball hitch, a trailer, a sicklebar mower, a moldboard plow, and a rototiller that I need to make the mounts for. Maybe sometime we will get a good snow here in VA, or I might decide to plant a garden. Have to be prepared. That is what they teach you in Boy Scouts. My youngest son just finished the requirements for Eagle Scout.;)
There was a discussion about this some time ago..I guess the earlier models had the external lights..I can't remember if the early ones had the vickers or sunstrand hydro though..
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Mowerman, Some of the early 700/7000 tractors did have Vickers hydros in them. Several club members have this series tractor with the Vickers in them. My 77 AC716H is a Sunstrand. When I first got this tractor, I traced the tractor numbers thru a Simplicity regional distributor, who told me what year it was made and got a factory parts manual for me. That was back before Kent founded this club.
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Hi, Welcome to the club and a big welcome to Minnesota. You'll love it here in Minnesota. I think you got a great price on the 7016H you bought. I have five tractors and one of them is the same tractor you have. It is a real work horse. Needs little maintance and just normal care and lube. If you need more info about where to get parts or service in Minnesota feel free to ask me. I'm in the twin cities area. Kip
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Did I read that you are going to "put it away for the winter"? I lived in MN for a number of years and putting away a tractor like that is just not right[:0] Get yourself a front blade or snowblower, you will need it. The Minnesotans really like to move snow and mow grass.:DI have a Allis 712S that I used with a front blade and it did a great job on snow up to about 12 to 18 inches deep. Just remember to plan for snow storage because the snow you get in October will be there in April. WELCOME to the club!!!! Dan aka IronPony
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IronPony is right about the snow thing. Welcome to the club. And we all like rambling on and on and on about our tractor or yours. Ken
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Rod, my 7016 has the factory front and rear light kit. The headlights are not the round ones on the side of the grill like on the old Wonderboy tractors, they are the angled rectangle housings with two small bulbs in each one on either side of the front grill. The light housings stick out to the side, they are not on the grill. By the way, I like your technique of getting the kids to bed. This may work with my son. He loves to sit on the seat (when the mower is not running) and turn the steering wheel and make motor sounds. The only reason I say I think it is a '77 is that on the front of the owners manual, someone has written in pen what looks like "R.T. Wagner" and "8/24/1977 Delivered". The serial number of the tractor is: 1690006-003451 if someone can shed some light on whether or not this is correct. Ironpony, I unfortunately bought a nice big Snapper 2 stage blower with electric start, 3 forward and 1 reverse gear about a month ago. This was before I thought I'd be getting a riding mower, much less a nice heavy duty tractor. If the Snapper wasn't such a nice clean machine, and also a great deal ($250), I'd sell it and look for a blower attachment for the Simplicity. Maybe next year I'll do that! I'll have to look around for one of those auctions that I saw photos of on one of the posts here. That is the perfect place to find some fun implements for the tractor. Just talking about it, I can't wait to pull it out of the shed tomorrow and mulch up some more leaves! I'll snap a few photos then too. Kip, Minnesota is great! Our neighborhood and neighbors are great, people are very friendly, there are lots of great family things to do around here, and I don't know how I was living in a house with no beautiful lawn, trees and a garden tractor for so long.
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Welcome aboard Craig. The MFG # of your tractor is 1690006. Model year 1975/76. You can get a close idea of the build date from the engine code number. Your engine model number should be 326431. The type number should be 0127-01. The first two numbers of the code will be the year of manufacture, the second two numbers the month and the next two numbers the day. The build date of the tractor is probably within a few months of the engine date if the engine is original to the tractor.
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This may have been a left over from 75/76 and sold in 77. I bought a 96' model year motorcycle in 99 still in the crate. It happens.
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Interesting. Thanks for the info Greg. The engine model is 326431, type 0190-01, code 7508221 That would put it as being manufactured August 22, 1975. So it's a few years older than I thought! By the way, what is the difference between the 0127-01 and my 0190-01?
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Welcome to the club.I have a Toro 11hp 2 stage that I find hard to part with. But I had a clutch problem one year and it was nice to have it as a backup, especially for the Mrs. to use if need be. So get yourself a snowblower attachment and keep that walk behind as a backup, at that price it would be a nice security blanket .
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quote:
Originally posted by Isleblue65
By the way, what is the difference between the 0127-01 and my 0190-01?
They have different crankshafts and the choke shaft in the carbs are different. I don't know what the differences are, but they have different part numbers from one engine to the other. There may be other differences. These are a couple that I noticed.
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Craig, welcome to the club. You will find that the $10.00 club fee is the best $10.00 you ever spent. Good luck with your 7016H.
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