Help identify Craftsman lawn tractor
- Thread starter bkenobi
- Start date
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.