Looking at a 665A

[STLfirewood]

I'm looking at a Vermeer 665A wih the 65hp Wis gas on it. The machine looks to be in good shape. It has paper where a new short block was installed (10 hours on engine) It has a new belt new bearings and shaftfor the cuting wheel and a new drive chain. They want around $4500 for it. They are wanting to trae me that plus some cash for my Firewood Processor. What are the pros an cons of this machine? If I didn;t want to keep it could I sell it pretty easy?

Thanks Scott

 

[MOE]

The price doesn't seem out of line. The do seem to sell pretty well. I looked at several 665's. The seem like pretty solid machines. I ended up buying a rayco 1665 which has the same motor and same travel dimensions. The difference is it seems more compact and lower than the 665.

 

[arbor pro]

good machine

I bought a 665a last spring. Got a great deal on it along with a 1625 rayco. Mine has the 65hp diesel so plenty of snort to grind out large stumps. I figure I can grind about 3" diameter per minute with it - that's at least 3 times faster than my vermeer 252. So, a 60" stump typically will take about 20 minutes if I can get it in one sweep without having to re-set up.

Other than some ripped debris screens on my machine, I love it. I would like to put a wireless remote on it but, don't know if I can justify the $3k to do it.

$5k seems to be the average price for a 665 depending on condition. I've seen pieces of junk selling for $2500 and really nicely rebuilt ones for $10k but $5k seems like a fair price for one that runs good but has a lot of hours on it.

Scott

 

[johnny30]

I'm looking at a Vermeer 665A wih the 65hp Wis gas on it. The machine looks to be in good shape. It has paper where a new short block was installed (10 hours on engine) It has a new belt new bearings and shaftfor the cuting wheel and a new drive chain. They want around $4500 for it. They are wanting to trae me that plus some cash for my Firewood Processor. What are the pros an cons of this machine? If I didn;t want to keep it could I sell it pretty easy?

Thanks Scott

Actually started my business with a used 665a. I will be honest the one I had was really beat but still worked good. Wisconsin engines are very dependable and parts are easy to get right from their distributor. The thing I did not like about it was were the adjustments for taking up on the drive chain and it will use a lot of gas.

 

[NORTREE]

I traded in my 1957 Vermeer Model 10 on a brand new 665A on August 15,1988 and its still doing a great job!!I got 10 years to the day on the original tires and the second set are in great shape still!Vermeer put a starter on it under warranty and since then I have had them repair the governor and replace the carb other than that it has been normal maintainance.Oh,it is ready to be rewired again for the starter setup but over-all it has been a SUPER machine!!Those Wisconsins are GREAT engines but they don't like the cold weather for starting.The early 665's had a 2" x 3" frame rails that were prone to breaking and Vermeer retrofitted a lot of these machines with gussett plates.some where around '86 or '87 they started building beefier frames that were(without measuring mine) something like 4" x 6". I also have a '95 Vermeer 222 that I bought used back around '99 and it has also been a super rig!