I'm done with anything made by Craftsman if it has a gas engine

Soft Cars said:
I've got two of these little Craftsman mowers and they've been real good.

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Sorry to spoil this Craftsman hating thread. :giggle:
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Ok - a 917 model is a Husqvarna. A 247 model is MTD. I worked in that area at a Sears store for 6 months or so earning hobby money and buying tools at a discount or on sale or closeout.

Good thing I had a well paying day job.
 
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Warstud said:
My parents bought a lawnmower and snow blower years ago when they were painted green . Not sure of the year but both were beasts . (y)
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I've got a 1994 MTD snowblower (made in Ohio) with a 10hp Tecumseh that has held up remarkably, considering its been through nearly 30 years of South Dakota winters.
 
Skol8480 said:
I've got a 1994 MTD snowblower (made in Ohio) with a 10hp Tecumseh that has held up remarkably, considering its been through nearly 30 years of South Dakota winters.
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The old MTD stuff was decent. I grew up learning to mow yards on my parents' 1980s Yard-Man tractor (MTD made) back when they were red and white. It had a 46" deck, 5 speed transmission and opposed twin 14hp Briggs. They sold it in 2005 to get a bigger mower, and it definitely had over 1000 hours on it. That was also before I knew how to change oil or maintain anything, pretty sure my father changed the oil twice while he owned it.
 
Yup. Lowest bidder gets the contract for Craftsman. Sears isn't what it used to be. Sears is now a big conglomerate looking for a mass produced item to sell regardless of quality/durability. Sears unfortunately is not what it used to be and likely will be non existent within the near future. Buy from an actual mower dealer in your area. Ask questions and they will understand what you need for your yard based upon their customer base. I would look for a Honda mower because they are exiting that market which = sale price, however their mowers are top notch!! PS. Have you considered a 32 or 36" commercial walk behind? You can find them used for a good price and they will stripe your lawn like no other.
 
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Just pulled out my '96 14.5 BS powered green Craftsman at my 2nd place. It was my main mower at my primary place until 5 yrs ago. It mowed and plowed snow all the prior years. Other than a carb and adding a shut off valve it has been minimal problems.
I had to jump the solenoid to crank it up, probably one of the safety switches are acting up which is common.
Owner's manual has the wiring schematic in it making my life easier.
It's been one tough lawn tractor, I beat on it hard plowing snow with the 42'' blade kit.
Nothing is made like it used to be and nothing gets more abused than ICE powered lawn equipment by homeowners.
I've got a lot of old Craftsman stuff. Worked for Sears for 46 yrs. until 3 yrs ago. The new stuff, no way, but the old stuff was as good as any brand if taken care of. Knowing the fellow techs who worked in the mower shop back then helped educate me on how to keep them going when I was a new homeowner.
Sears is long dead. Only a few smoking embers remain. I'm trying not to abuse all my good well-made USA tools now.
 
My local Ace Hardware store is about as mom-and-pop as you can get. A total of three employees, only one if it's the first day of hunting season. They are closed on Saturday afternoons and all day Sunday. They have two Craftsman gas chain saws on the shelf and I casually looked at them. Both were made in Vietnam, so it's a guess on who makes them. I'm sure they'll be on the shelf for quite some time, especially since the owner is now pushing the E-Go electric line.
 
I have a Craftsman pressure washer that is about 25 years old. The BS motor on it is total crap. The carb is mounted in the fuel tank and there is no way to completely drain it. So over time water builds up. To get the water out you have to take the carb out and the wipe out the tank and let it dry.

I finally canned it after the primer bulb failed. Worked great other than that.
 
grampi said:
I have a Craftsman lawn mower and a Craftsman snow blower. I purchased the lawn mower new about 3 or 4 years ago. The engine is a 163CC B&S which is fine, but the rest of the mower is a total POS. The exit chute on the housing was designed out of cheap plastic, and it falls off even if I bump something lightly with it. It's also held in place by a rod passing through two eyelets, with nothing on the ends of the rod to hold it in place. Engine vibration causes the rod to come out on a regular basis. I have since modified both so they at least stay on now. The gas cap will also loosen from engine vibration and come off while mowing. I haven't figured out a mod to correct this issue yet.

The snow blower was purchased from the original owner who purchased it new in 2018. He never used it, so it was still basically brand new when I bought it. I have literally used it 4 times, and it's now leaking oil. I remember when Craftsman made quality products. I guess their quality control has gone to **** since they started having all of their stuff outsourced, or bean counters within the company are dictating the corner cutting. Either way, I'm done buying anything with the Craftsman name on it if it has a gas engine on it...
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Is it possible that the blade is slightly out of balance? That can cause a vibration issue.
 
gman2304 said:
I have 2 JD JX75 and 1 JD 14SB commercial grade 21” walk behind mowers. The 14SB has a bad blade brake clutch so it’s my parts mower. All have the Kawasaki 6 HP pressure lubed engines with oil filter, 5 speed Tuff Torq transmissions, aluminum deck, blade brake clutch etc. I gave $70 for the one on the right about 10 years ago, and $150 for the one on the left about 18 months ago on Craigslist, and I gave the seller $150 cash without even haggling with him! They’re both 1998 models and sold for about $700 each 25 years ago. I check CL often ( especially in the winter months ) and snapped them up, knowing mowers like these are no longer built and are much more robust than anything on todays market. I wouldn’t trade either one of my 25 year old JD mowers for any new 21” gas powered mower from Lowe’s, Sears, HD etc.
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Outstanding engines. I bought a Snapper that was re-engined with that exact Kawasaki engine. What a smooth runner.
 
I have a 2004 Craftsman 9hp 30” snow blower with a Tecumseh. It runs fine to this day. The electric start broke around 2009 so I pull start it.

Why Craftsman, because $649 was all I could afford. A garden center Ariens was way over my budget.

My wife’s cousin bought the exact same snow blower in 2020 for $299, what a deal. It had a different name but basically the Sears outlet store or whatever it is or was called.

This place

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Sears Outlet is now American Freight - Appliance, Furniture, and Mattress

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Bought a new craftsman snowblower in Nov/22. First year the wire broke changing gear from forward to reverse(not moving, of course). Took in for repair. 2nd year used twice all winter. 3rd year(now) will not start. Finally got it going after draining carb of gas and reassembling. Now will not move in gear. Going back to the shop for 2nd time in 3 years. Probably a total of 3 hrs use, and 3 major headaches. I agree 100% with original poster. I'll never buy another craftsman anything!!
 
I just made a John Sears for a customer. JD 345 came in with a seized Kawasaki water cooled twin. Longblock not available, I got lucky and found a good used same model engine off of a Craftsman. Only difference was the 4 mounting capscrews were SAE thread on the Sears versus metric on the JD. The wiring plug even matched. The used motor runs beautifully and the customer has his tractor back on the cheap.
20231204_164629.jpg
 
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