Craftsman Garden Tractors ("THOUGHTS ONLY")

[machmeter62]

For the last 35 yrs. I have shopped Sears for these tractors for mowing relative smaller lawns mostly. I don't know if this is still a true statement, but I think MTD still is the provider for Sears tractors?

In this hi-tech era now, I don't understand why the manufacturing of small garden tractors reliability hasn't improved with MTD; another couple of feet of wiring isn't going to create a large price increase? I think MTD still builds tractors for Sears? I am wondering if others here face yearly problems with their different makes of lawn/garden tractors for dependability issues?

The wiring harness in my opinion is a "complete joke" for reliability, with all the safety switches, and connections exposed in cheap connectors, and the worst possible place that absorb all the dirt,dust,& etc, and other possible wear, when in motion. It would seem that all the safety switches could have a central location for a continuity check instead of raising the tractor first, or have nimble hands for access. Our tractors are kept in a garage during the winter months, and yearly it has always been a question for starting, because the safety switches usually creating the problem? Is Craftsman tractors now considered the "bottom feeder" in quality too? Thanks for your thoughts!

I once owned a '52 MG-TD with an "Lucas ignition system," and the fear of starting it is still embedded in my mind, and always parked on a hill if available!

 

[hizoot]

I learned my lesson with Sears back in the early 90's. If it has a plug or engine on it... I will not purchase from them.

 

[Wolfy]

My father bought a new 12hp MTD in 1993. He also bought a new 18hp Craftsmen in 2004, still uses both. They only mow and once in a while pull a small trailer. They both run well and have been very reliable. For the money Sears offers real value. I think the key to making them last is using them for just that. If you have heavier chores a subcompact would be much better suited. And its unlikely Craftsmen is any lower quality than whats found at Home Improvement Stores.

 

[MESSMAKER]

I think a Craftsman garden tractor is a great deal. They are not built like a tank, but they do work pretty well. You can buy one for for about $2500. In 1960, they were 30 to 40 percent of that. A car was about $3500 then. What kind of car do you get for 10 grand now.

 

[deepNdirt]

Throughout the 60's and 70's sears had a lawn tractor that could be used as a light gardening tractor called the ( Suburban ) one of the best sears tractors ever, They were built by David Bradley in the early 60's and then was sold to Roper sometime in mid to late 1960's Roper continue to built them up into the 80's sometime in the late 80's MTD ,AYP and Murry started providing mowers for Sears, then in the late 90's Poulan had manufactured some Sears Mowers,
I found the sears information earlier in this year when I purchased a used Roper and was in need of information on who built it?
Seems the series of Sears tractor depends on who built it....
MTD was the manufacture of the high end None commercial Sears tractors although MTD also manufactures many low end branded name mowers as well,


In 1999 or 2000 (can't remember which) I went to Sears to purchase a new rider, Sears was selling both Poulan and of course their house mower (Sears) I started comparing and found many things I liked better on the poulan, Plus I could save about 200.00 on buying the poulan, The poulan was virtually the same mower but had the Industrial Intek engine with the spin-off oil filter and a larger fuel tank etc,etc, though over the years I've had to weld and patch up on the old poulan it Had made a good mower considering the terrain in was cutting,
I finally last year decided not to wast anymore weld on it and purchased a none running CC. I then put the 11 year old 17 HP engine from the old poulan over onto the CC and still continue to use the engine trouble free,
My son now has the poulan and has installed a 10 HP engine and still using it,

Incidentally 1 week after buying my poulan I went back and purchased the same Sears Mower I used to compare the poulan with, I give the sears to My In-law....
Her mower (sears) is still in like new condition, although she only uses it to cut every 2 weeks and on good level terrain, only 1 set of replacement blades in 11 years,

I'm sorry I came back to see others POV on Sears, and notice your heading topic Shouting (" HYPHEN ") not sure exactly what this is you want to know? or is this a Poll with a simple Yes I like them -or- No I do not like sears mowers? if this is a Poll I Vote Yes on sears....

 

[machmeter62]

I like Sears for their customer satisfaction policy. I also consider the value of the purchase, which includes design features, and quality of the somewhat simple engineering for durability and maintenance. My first one in '75 had a gear box failure shortly after purchase, and I returned it to the loading dock, and wouldn't accept a replacement, because of design weakness in the transmission for locking in a gear.

 

[SARG]

Couple thoughts about Sears.

I believe Husqvarna now makes their machines.

Sears is now just a different Kmart since they took them over.

And I would never...never buy one of their appliances ever again. Not so much because of the appliances........ but the incredible idiots that they hire for delivery. Plus I found the hard way you can get much better deals and treatment from the independent dealers.

 

[crazyal]

The best thing about Sears is their parts network. I ended up with my fathers old 20+ year old rider. I use it to move the rocky parts of the lawn. Just before I got it dad replaced the rusted deck, $200 and he had it. A coworker just had his Wheel Horse deck rust out. $690 for the deck and it's about 1500 miles from here and would need to be shipped freight.

 

[ultrarunner]

Sears took down the logo "Customer Satisfaction Guaranteed" no too long ago.

I asked a Sears associate about this last weekend and he said he is new and did not know about this.

I bought everything at Sears and also got my first credit card from them...

I now look at Sears a lot differently since I received a new card, called in to verify receipt and then went to buy a new range and tires only to learn that my card had been cancelled along with many thousands of others while at checkout... the clerk invited me to reapply and I declined... told him be cancelled once is one time too many.

Seriously, perfect credit and they cancel with a 30 year history???

My other pet peeve is the craftsman warranty items are disappearing or only being sold in sets... no more buying just the tool you need or socket that got lost...

Craftsman Tape Measures were great... own several of them... first one that every broke I took back last Sunday and learned they no longer sell Craftsman Tape Measures to the satisfaction guarantee now means nothing.

I was at a small Ace Hardware today and guess what... they sell Craftsman Tools including Craftsman Tape Measures.

I also wanted to buy new Sears Garden Tractor Blades and had my model number... tractor is 5 years old... the number didn't come up on the Sears Blade Finder Computer in the isle... first associate told me it was too old and then an older lady said this happens a lot... she went to the cashier area and pulled out a booklet and said here is the number for the part I need and she has them in stock...

 

[djradz]

For the last 35 yrs. I have shopped Sears for these tractors for mowing relative smaller lawns mostly. I don't know if this is still a true statement, but I think MTD still is the provider for Sears tractors?

QUOTE]

For quite some time (more than 17 years) Sears-Craftsman tractors have been built by AYP - American Yard Products. AYP also built Husquevarna and maybe a couple of other brands. Maybe not the top of the line, but better than some others. AYP parts are available at lots of locations, but especially online.

I've had my Craftsman tractor now for 16 years and other than finally having to replace the deck belts and main drive belt, and one very small rubber crankcase vent hose (~$5 on the Kohler twin vanguard engine), I have done zero maintenance other than oil and filter changes. I'm very pleased with its build and reliability.

 

[devildog1]

Gee all I can say is that I have a Sears 18 hp 44" cut lawn or garden tractor with a Kohler twin cyn. It's got to be 20 plus years old, and starts and runs great. had to re- inforce the mowing deck and put on new blades but---------, how could I complain?
DevilDog

 

[knightrider955]

I have a Sears mower that I bought new in 2004. The sears Garden tractors have been made by Huskqvuarna since around 2000 which is what I have. The smaller sears mowers were made by poulan. I like my GT5000 sears tractor just fine, I just wish I could have gotten it with a Briggs motor instead of the kohler.

 

[ultrarunner]

I have a Sears mower that I bought new in 2004. The sears Garden tractors have been made by Huskqvuarna since around 2000 which is what I have. The smaller sears mowers were made by poulan. I like my GT5000 sears tractor just fine, I just wish I could have gotten it with a Briggs motor instead of the kohler.

Mine has a Kohler too... why is the Briggs better?

We had some Kohler powered equipment from the 60's and 70's and the engines did not have any problems.

I know my Kohler is fuel thirsty.

 

[knightrider955]

Mine has a Kohler too... why is the Briggs better?

We had some Kohler powered equipment from the 60's and 70's and the engines did not have any problems.

I know my Kohler is fuel thirsty.

My kohler for some reason smokes bad for about 5 minutes when I start it. But not all the time. Sometimes it doesnt smoke at all. Doesnt matter if the motor is warm or not, its always done this. I t used to go through fuel filters like crazy until I out a automotive one on it. I called Sears when it smoked the first day I brought it home. It wouldnt do it when the service guy was there so they didnt do anything about it. Otherwise I have no complaints.

 

[GardenFence]

I think Sears tractors are great for the money. Would recommend them to anyone for medium duty mowing and general use. I had a 17hp from 1990 to 2001; lots of mowing on my 3-acre property, and misc. small trailer work. Sold it for decent money after 11 years of good service. Bought a 25 hp new in 2001, and still works very well after lots and lots of use. Did some minor repairs on both over the years; the base manuals are excellent and parts are easily available; even found some after market parts that were cheap and work like a charm.

 

[Jim Thompson]

FYI

Jim


ELECTROLUX Home Products ( now known as Husqvarna Outdoor Products Inc., formerly [ 6-2006 ] parent of Partner, Poulan, WeedEater, Diamant Boart, Dimas, Husqvarna including [in Europe] McCulloch, Jonsered, Partner Industrial, Target, which are now grouped under Husqvarna AB ). Manufactured products for brands / retailers: Agway, Atlas, AYP (American Yard Products), Central Park, Carolina, Champion, Coast / Coast, Co-op, Cotter Canada, Home Depot, Huskee, Jonsered, K-Gro, Kingcraft, Lowes, Maxim, Meijer, Menards, Mighty Mow, Poulan, Poulan Pro, Price Com., Quality, Quality Pro, Rally, Rally Plus, Ranch King, Sears, Southern States, Statesman, Tenn. Farmer, Turf Power, Walter, WeedEater, Western Auto, Winston Pro, Wizard, Wizard Plus, Yard Pro, and probably others.

HUSQVARNA Group; world's largest producer of chainsaws, lawn mowers and other portable petrol-powered garden equipment such as trimmers and blowers. The Group is also a world leader in diamond tools and cutting equipment for the construction and stone industries; formerly the outdoor products segment of Electrolux, as of 2006 Husqvarna is a separate company; parent of Dixon (2006), Husqvarna, Jonsered, Flymo, McCulloch (2008), Partner, Poulan, Poulan Pro, Weed Eater, Diamant Boart, Dimas, Target; chainsaws, power cutters, trimmers, brush cutters, leaf blowers, riding mowers, walk-behind mowers, tillers, generators, snow blowers, stump grinders, utility vehicles, hedge trimmers.

 

[FastPauly]

knightrider955;
Is it by chance a 25 hp Kohler twin? There was a particular production run of these ngines that were defective. The defect was that the head bolts were too long not allowing the head gaskets to seal properly. The leaking head gasket pressurizes the crankcase forcing oil up into the breather cavity....it eventually finds its way back into the cumbustion chamber causing the smoking. Sears tractors ended up having a lot of them. Kohler did realize there was a problem and offered a head bolt/gasket retrofit kit. These kits are still available and should fix the problem....if this indeed is your case.

 

[KennyG]

Personnally, I don't care that much for Craftsman mowers and don't own one. However, I maintain three of them for a civic organization that are used by "volunteers". I have been impressed by how the engines, transmissions, frames and axles have held up. It seems like I have a full time job sharpening mangled blades, replacing belts (top quality Gates belts seems to have improved that problem) fixing flats, straightening/replacing deck support hardware, etc, but I just change the oil and filters once a year and let them run.

Also, the parts availability on line has been great so far. I do have a steering bushing on backorder for the oldest one, so we'll see how that works.

 

[Carl in CT]

I don't own a Craftsman but my guess is it's like anything else you get what you pay for. If your uses don't justify a pricey higher end tractor like Simplicity or John Deere, etc then the Craftsman mowers seem to be a good choice. I would stay away from the box store mowers, even the ones that say John Deere or Cub Cadet on them. Cub Cadet mowers offer a lot of bang for the buck but I think you have to get into the 2000 or 2500 series or higher to get beyond the box store level. Personally I'm not a huge fan of Cub Cadet but that's based on an extremely bad experience with a Cub garden tractor bought new in the mid 1980's so maybe they have improved. Simplicity offers some mowers in the same price range as the Craftsman but I'd take a Simplicity over a Craftsman any day. You may get a larger tractor for your money with Craftsman but the Simplicity will be higher quality and nothing cuts like a Simplicity.

 

[stevem5215]

I've had and used several Craftsman tractors. They've all been of decent quality considering the money spent. I've also had older Cub Cadets from the 70's and they were very good quality and more expensive when new. And the Cub Cadets are still going. With original engines and transmissions even. Mostly the mower decks go bad in them and you have to find new unrusted out ones from someone who took better care of the deck. But otherwise the old iron with the heavy duty engines are better quality IMO. But for the money spent on a new Craftsman we bought in Nov of 09 at the Sears outlet it was worth it. Sure, it has the K46 hydro tranny but it was over 1/2 off list price. You can get some deals and that makes it worth it to buy them at the Outlet stores. This one has the Platnium engine with the spin on filter and the heavy duty design engine along with the mentioned K46 (which isn't so bad once you read the repair procedure in Parts and Repairs of this section) and with a heavier gauge steel deck on the Professional model along with the Cruise control and Foot control system (which is HIGHLY recommended by me and many others as the ultimate control) I'd say that I got my "value for the money" and it even came with a 2 year warranty at that price. As for the quality of Sears, well, let's say that the first thing I did when I got it was to download the manual and do every adjustment in the book (except the valve adjustment on the engine) and that makes the difference when you buy it cheap. You have to do some work yourself and whether or not you can that's one of the reasons Sears can and does have a bad rap for their products. Initial setup is a big deal to ensuring that the product is a good one down the road too. Along with taking care of it with oil changes and those same adjustments later. My "refurb" tractor has been good since then and I can't complain. And I still have my older one too. I bought a new deck for it from Craigslist from a guy who had one with a blown engine and was parting it out. It was worth spending $75 on a deck in good shape to fix the old tractor. And I even got some spare spindles now too ! I can only say good things about Craftsman products. Sure, sometimes you get a junker and have to fix it or trash it but when you get it for 1/2 off you usually aren't complaining much when it has some problems. I will agree the wiring harness on them is junk though lol. My one headlight blinks at night when I run it. Otherwise a quick crimp on the connector does the trick. A little higher quality connector surely couldn't cost them that much more like 10 cents vs 15 cents. Don't know how that goes but hey it's cheap to begin with.

Steve satisfied with Craftsman