Garage find - O'l Red! Meet the Garden Tractor (GT)

[1 SX]

This is something different for me to tackle. Its a GT 5000 - 25 HP V Twin Kohler, high/low manual transmission with bolted rear wheels, 48 inch deck and it was sold at sears in around 2005 ish i'd say.
The back story is one day many years ago, it was put away for the winter, and the mice chewed a few of the wires/ignition coil wires.. but otherwise was running great, and has around 50 hours total use on it. The original owner bought it new, and installed a hour meter on it the day of delivery, and by the "tightness" of the steering, plus paint and tire condition under all the garage dust, i believe it.
So what i think i'll do is update this thread as progress emerges from the cleaning, to the actual nitty-gritty of getting it running again, as i have to look at all the wires, order some parts (sparkplugs, filters, coils, battery) change the oil and filter plus other miscellaneous odds and ends.
Here are some pictures of it seeing sunlight for the first time in multiple years. The tires are not dry rotted, and still had just a little air in them, that white on seat is old paper and not damage. I believe it will clean up great, and be a very nice addition to the family once its back alive again!.

Anything i should be on the look out for to address before i get it running again? Thanks

 

[CleanSump]

Don't tie a string to the governor and race it around my Mom's back yard.

 

[ls1mike]

Good find, those are great mowers! I have an older one with the 20HP engine and I use it move the boat and car trailer around.

 

[Skippy722]

As I was reading I saw the red and it looked just like the one I put out by the road yesterday lol! I’d say replace the belts as well, even if they look okay. Also check to make sure it’s not leaking oil out of the output shaft onto the drive pulleys, that’s why I condemned mine.

 

[Lubener]

I resurrected an old Bolens about six years ago which sat in my barn for around 15 years because a screw from the carb loosened and got sucked into the engine while running. I replaced / repaired what was needed to get it running. My advice to you is clean it up, replace any damaged wiring, coil, filters, plugs and engine oil. Clean out the tank if needed, replace rubber fuel lines only if they are dry rotted and you should be good to go. I would not worry about the belts,If they appear good, continue to use them as they will last a long time. There's no need to replace a lot of parts if they are still usable and likely will last many more years. You are not restoring a model T, it's a riding mower.

 

[1 SX]

UPDATE: Okay, i gave it a super basic clean to see what im dealing with!. Looks very usable, paint condition will look near new once i wax, rims will clean up bright white, and i'll lubricate and tighten bolts ect. Will take the engine shield off and clean out the acorns / dust while im in there turning it... Ignition coil wires look good, and should plug into new coils without issues. Will clean tank for good meausre, but it was just about empty when it was put away. Hoses all look good also, but will do fuel filter and a ethanol free fuel/MMO treatment. It does need a deck belt, but the drive belt looks good, it has years on it, but very little time.. All pully are tight, and spin free, even the brake is adjusted correctly, and works lol. Off to a great start. To note, the engine turns over by hand freely, and has great compression, so i have hope that mechanical aspects of it such as the motor itself and the transmission are in fine condition. I see no reason why they wouldn't be.

 

[ka9mnx]

As I was reading I saw the red and it looked just like the one I put out by the road yesterday lol! I’d say replace the belts as well, even if they look okay. Also check to make sure it’s not leaking oil out of the output shaft onto the drive pulleys, that’s why I condemned mine.View attachment 85180

Too bad because that seal is not difficult to replace.

 

[ka9mnx]

Great find and looking great!

These are easy to keep running for many years. Mine is a Craftsman 2005 18hp model and with simple maintenance, and keeping it out of the weather, it will outlive me.

My neighbor gave me his 2006 TroyBilt 22hp model a few years ago and for less than $100 it runs like new.

Our club owns a Craftsman 2006 18hp model that gets abused. Last summer it dropped an exhaust valve. I do the maintenance. I'm not used to working on engines this small! I tore it down and replaced the piston assembly, exhaust valve, used head (Ebay - new head is no longer available), gaskets, oil filter and oil all for $275. The regular driver says it runs better and has more torque than when new. I looked into a new engine and they were running $1,100! Harbor Freight didn't have a replacement.

 

[Skippy722]

Too bad because that seal is not difficult to replace.

It had a few other issues, which is to be expected of a questionably maintained lawn mower with over 600 hours on it, the seal was just my breaking point with it.

09 GLS’s looks awesome though! Looks almost new!

 

[jeepman3071]

They are fairly solid machines, especially with the heavy duty transmission.

Some things I would look out for:
-The belts might be due for replacement
-The blade spindles on these may or may not be greaseable, many were not
-The 25HP Kohler Commands are famous for blowing head gaskets. Probably not an issue yet, but it will happen at some point.

Overall they are very good machines. I have a Deere with the same engine pushing 900 hours of hard use. I had the head gaskets fail at around 200 hours, but the replacements have been fine since.

 

[Kira]

A neighbor had a newer Craftsman which blew two engines. I have no info on that.

He gave it to a friend who installed the engine from a very rusted out grey Craftsman.
A stack of washers at each corner and a bit of bonnet sawn off to clear the exhaust was all the old engine needed to fit. Pretty cool.

The subject tractor here has a gearbox! My friend's units are "hydrostatic drive", he tells me. I'm sure I'd know what I was looking at but I'd love to see one (drive unit) in cutaway form.

Still, with this resurrected red one and his Cub Cadet, mouse nests atop the engine which make hotspots and run-on conditions are all he ever mentions.
Sock 'o Mothballs to the rescue.

Guess who cross-referenced the dear oil filter numbers to more affordable / available car caliber filters.

 

[1 SX]

It was above freezing today in NY, so i was able to ceramic wax is the paint, and do a little more cleaning, and get a better understanding of what needs to be done. Can i go cheap generic on the ignition coils??. All wires look good to me. the deck will need a repaint, but zero rot. The transmission looks like it could be out of a Ford fiesta. my list of parts so far is just maintenance items, spark plugs, ignition coil's, belts, oil, fuel and air filters, carb clean, tank clean, rubber hoses look good. synthetic oil. Tighten all bolts and lubricate absolutely everything, tires hold air, and give the under carriage a thorough cleaning, sharpen/replace blades..

 

[1 SX]

 

[1 SX]

Good productive day. Im draining out the oil now, and will let it drain for a couple days. Oil filter was hand tight and came right off, still holding oil! Ordered the basic parts - amazon prime and they will be here Sat. Ignition coils, spark plugs, fuel filter, fuel pump, air filter, oil filter. I'll fill it up with a name brand Synthetic and run it a couple hours and change again. I'll make sure fuel lines are clean with the tank and carb, maybe tomorrow if its not too chilly. I'll probably get a Walmart battery to get it going by maybe the weekend. Once i know its running, i'll do the belts, and blades ect. Fuel of choice will be 91 non ethanol with a couple OZ of MMO in the gas. thanks for all your positive responses and information.

 

[Silver]

Love to see something old cleaned up. I'd take some acetone and cheap clearcoat to that headlight lense.

Goodness on that transmission. I remember the old reliable disc and rubber wheel on the snappers.

 

[1 SX]

Love to see something old cleaned up. I'd take some acetone and cheap clearcoat to that headlight lense.

Goodness on that transmission. I remember the old reliable disc and rubber wheel on the snappers.

Thanks!, the headlights,chrome and lens are in perfect condition, thats just water and condensation from the power washer. the bulbs are original and they might even still work lol,

 

[1 SX]

Update: It was about 10F outside, and moments like this is when i wish i had a usable garage/and or heating space lol but i made some more progress today. Drained, cleaned and flushed the fuel tank / and lines, plus gave the carb a quick once over. The ignition coils and all the maintenance parts will be here tomorrow, so if all goes as well as im thinking, it "should" be running tomorrow night. Here is a picture of multiple years old drained out of the tank fuel.

 

[1 SX]

Messed with hour meter this AM. It is a Tiny Tach battery operated RPM/Hour meter, but battery went dead years and years ago after it was sitting.. Tiny Tach will tell you to buy a new one for 55 dollars, so i figured if i broke it, i had to buy a new one anyways lol. So I "split" it apart in a few minutes, and found out there is a coin type cell battery "welded" to the backside motherboard, its a BR2325 Same type in a watch, and as luck would have it i had a new CR2032 coin cell battery on hand, so i removed the dead battery, lifted up the prongs that are "welded" to the battery, removed the dead battery, and installed the CR2032, That fit perfectly.. When i first connected the battery, it read 22.4 hours total use!, reset it, tested it and it worked fine, it read both time and rpms (hooked up to the cold start Elantra). Sorry for such a bad picture it was 4:47AM, dark, and -7 F.. I will use like a silicone or a glue or something to assemble the two halves back together and hopefully make it waterproof again lol, but for now, a little gorilla duct tape, and good to go!.. I did not take any pictures of it apart, as i never expected it to ever work again.... But it does!.. in other news, all the parts should be at the Amazon hub today, so ill pick them up and start installing everything. Also found the Chraftsman OEM factory service manuals, owners manual, and the Kohler OEM service manual on multiple different websites. But i have everything i need to know printed out like the wire diagrams, specifications, locations of every wire etc..

 

[jeepman3071]

Nice! What oil/filter will you be running?

 

[1 SX]

Nice! What oil/filter will you be running?

A name brand Synthetic, Kohler Pro filter.. Once its running i will change it in a couple hours again, then just change it once a year from then on out.