Help identify Craftsman lawn tractor

[bkenobi]

I picked up a mower today "for parts or repair" and it looks pretty fixable. They ran over a concrete chunk and blew one of the spindles out. I have an extra spindle from my work horse Craftsman tractor, buy I'm not sure if it's compatible.

The issue is the model/serial number tag is faded/delaminated. I can see the ghost of words/letters but am having a tough time picking out a series of numbers that help.

Ill post pictures later today (the ones i took yesterday are terrible). What i know is:
* the hood says DLT
* it has a 20HP Briggs opposing 2 cylinder (platinum iirc)
* hydrostatic trans
* 42" deck
* tag under hood says 46" deck
* standard 90s craftsman green color
* battery under hood
* fuel filler under seat
* no oil filter that i saw

I can get the transaxle and engine model numbers. Anything else other than pictures that would help?

 

[LittleBill21]

they take 3 minutes to bolt in? just see if it bolts in?

 

[bkenobi]

I understand that part, but having a manual and knowing the correct part numbers in general is very useful. I imagine the spindles from 42" Craftsman decks are identical for the most part. And I have to pull the old part off anyway since it's now multiple pieces so placing my spare on the deck to match up geometry will be done regardless.

 

[bkenobi]

I fired it up this morning to confirm the tractor mechanics worked and found that the engine runs well and moves forward and backwards. But the hydrostat doesn't like slow forward and clunks into higher speed. I'm imagining this will take some trans work to make right.

 

[Roadworthy]

You may find the transaxle is low on fluid. Many have a rubber filler plug on top but no place to check the fluid. so I drilled mint just below the seam and inserted a hydraulic jack plug. Now I can easily check the fluid - just fill to the plug. Mine uses regular 80/90W gear oil. The mower deck spindles are fairly common - I've replaced them from eBay. Obviously Sears didn't make the tractor. I don't know who actually made the tractor. Husqvarna? MTD?

 

[tomplum]

Sounds Husqvarna. 3 bolt spindles. Hydro- does this have the regular oil filter underneath? No 917.number on the tag below the hood or under the seat that can be made out? Though it wouldn't be the first with an under hood tag that didn't match the chassis.

 

[bkenobi]

I don't see a model under the hood, just the consumables list with wrong deck size. It's made by AYP/Husqvarna like everything else of that era. I read that the fluid should be filled to top less 1-1/4" which sounds like an easy check (assuming i can reach it). Is it just 80 or 90 weight oil? Other thought was confirming belt was tight but i doubt thats the issue.

 

[tomplum]

Hydros do not use 80w90. Likely was 10w30, fill levels are dependent of what transmission you have. Look also for missing bolts or broken brackets that hold the transmission in place. Some models also have a lower steering shaft support plate which hold lots of debris and keeps the clutch pedal from returning fully- which in turn allows the belt to slip.

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

I don't have a book with mine either. Tag faded off. I just go to the lawnmower place, which it's bigger than a parts store. Lay my spindle on the counter, they hand me a new one. Of course, it's over an hour away in Texarkana, but, they got the goods.

 

[bkenobi]

Oh ok. Just said 80 because that's what i thought @Roadworthy
was suggesting. I see many mentions of Hydro Gear oil at around 10w30 so will look into that. Another thread here suggested pumping out/replacing. Is that worth the effort since the manuals all say these never require service? Mine says 314-0510 on the seat tag but i haven't looked for anything on the case to confirm that is correct.

 

[tomplum]

Hydro Gear has a real helpful website. If the battery is in the back, you can access the top of the t/a and its expansion tank through the hole in the body.

 

[bkenobi]

Battery is in front/fuel tank is over transaxle. I looked in the service manual and it appears 20W50 motor oil is recommended.

Typically, an engine oil with a minimum rating
of 9 cSt (55 SUS) at 230°F (110° C) and an API
classification of SL is recommended. A 20W-50
engine oil has been selected for use by the factory
and is recommended for normal operating
temperatures.

 

[bkenobi]

I found the tag on the transaxle and it confirms it is a Hydro Gear 314-0510 166768 as expected. I looked it over and there is some leakage from the brakes. I don't know how much is coming out but it doesn't have a bunch of debris embedded in it, so I'm wondering if that happened when they grenaded the spindle. I don't see anything on quick inspection that looks problematic other than the evidence of a leak.

As for topping it off, it appears the filler is on the forward side of the fan blade and with no way to remove the fuel tank, I guess I'd have to access from underneath somehow. It looks like access to the rear would be by removing the back plate on the frame, but that doesn't appear to get me anything useful. I just pulled the wheels off my other tractor for the first time in probably 20 years. It obviously required a puller tool so since I already have it, I'll go ahead and pull these wheels too which will give a little clearance hopefully.

 

[bkenobi]

 

[bkenobi]

It looks like the fluid is either coming from the bypass port or the brake disc mount port. I'll pull the brake assembly off to see if I can tell which for sure, but I don't think it matters since I'd rather not rebuild the transaxle. If I pull the back plate off the frame where the bagger attaches, it looks like I'll have good access to the filler port and can either top off or possibly pump out the old fluid and replace with new.

 

[bkenobi]

I spent some time looking for the model number by using tractordata's list but I only found 3 close matches and none pan out. From looking at pictures, it appears that the dual headlight pod style similar to mine was basically made from 1998 thru 2001. The serial number on the Briggs motor indicates it was made 18 May 2000 so I suspect it would be a model year 2000 or 2001. Hydro Gear apparently has no way to match a serial number to date and I don't see any other codes that I could use to narrow it down. Seems like the comination of engine (19.5-20.5 HP Briggs opposed twin 461707-0145-E3) and transaxle (Hydro Gear 314-0510 166768) would be enough to get a small set of model numbers but finding a complete list to review is challenging.

 

[bkenobi]

I heard back from Hydro Gear and they say the transaxle was manufactured in 2010. It's the same serial number on both the housing and the seat so I suspect they meant 2000 since it's unlikely someone who swapped the transaxle would have bothered replacing the under seat tag too. In any case, I'm sure it was mfg in 2000-2001 at this point. I haven't seen any manuals that use dual front light modules on that year though. Wonder if the hood has been swapped.

 

[tomplum]

The body on yours is quite easy to remove. 1 bolt on either side of the foot pad, two in the back. Protect the seat switch harness.

 

[bkenobi]

I see the two 9/16" bolts on either side of the rear plate. I'm not seeing any near the foot pad but I'll look again. I jacked up the back end to determine if the shifting issue was some kind of mechanical or internal to trans. With it nose down, the trans shifted way worse so I'm pretty convinced the issue is fluid related (at least as a start). I got a fluid transfer pump so I'll top off or replace the fluid depending on how it looks once I get access to the fill port.

I found a site that suggested that the 1st 6 digits of the serial number are the month/date/year which would be 082100 or 21 August 2000. That meshes well with the date code on the engine which is 18 May 2000. The transaxle must be 2000 too since it's the original so Hydro Gear must have the date code wrong from the serial number. I'm quite confident now that the mower is 917.272### but I don't know about the last 3. There's a 917.272201 at my local shop that is very similar except for the wrong engine/deck.

 

[tomplum]

No need to remove the rear plate. Two bolts in the center of the seat springs. The two nuts in the front are under the foot pads.