Craftsman Still a Favorite !
- Thread starter Boobala
- Start date
Are you talking about the Husqvarna parts from china or the MTD parts from china, since they make the craftsman.
7394
Lawn Addict
- Joined
- Sep 5, 2014
- Threads
- 86
- Messages
- 4,954
All of the above..
tigercat
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2012
- Threads
- 19
- Messages
- 280
I'm happy you are satisfied with the brand.
For nearly 40 years Sears / Craftsman tractors were always front line machines here on the property. My father and his sons were satisfied with the brand. My last Craftsman tractor of 13 years broke an axle so I sold the machine for parts and bought another bigger, more powerful Craftsman tractor 4 years ago to keep the tradition here alive.
The new tractor (with less than 100 hours run time) drops drive belts all the time, blew the engine and that lever in front of the steering wheel broke 3 times causing the lawn mower deck not to run. I since made parts to repair the deck and body issues and repaired the engine. This will be my last Craftsman. A complete POS.
For nearly 40 years Sears / Craftsman tractors were always front line machines here on the property. My father and his sons were satisfied with the brand. My last Craftsman tractor of 13 years broke an axle so I sold the machine for parts and bought another bigger, more powerful Craftsman tractor 4 years ago to keep the tradition here alive.
The new tractor (with less than 100 hours run time) drops drive belts all the time, blew the engine and that lever in front of the steering wheel broke 3 times causing the lawn mower deck not to run. I since made parts to repair the deck and body issues and repaired the engine. This will be my last Craftsman. A complete POS.
My experience and opinion about Craftsman riding mowers.
I have owned 5 craftsman riding mowers and 2 Murrays over the last 27 years. I only purchased 1, the others I inherited. looking back I guess we all thought they were great. But since so many others over the last 15 years have built real dependable machines that actually work. You have to ask yourself why do we still buy these things ? Its like we accept that's is OK a craftsman to be the same trouble and quality it was in the 1970's. Think about it not a whole lot has really changed? To be fair its not just craftsman its every brand under $ 2,500.00 mark.
Anyway my experience with Craftsman riding mowers, push mowers and put string trimmers etc is this.
If I won a drawing and I had a choice between A new Craftsman Mower, a stick, or a weeks supply of pudding.
I would be torn between the stick and the pudding, I would pick the pudding if it was chocolate unless it was a really good straight stick.
I certainly don't mean to offed anyone, this is just my opinion and experience. I hope that none of you have the trouble and aggravation I have had. I also would like to mention as many of you probably feel the same way, "What genius designed approved or thought up the side mount plastic pipe rear bag grass catcher" ? Its the same useless catcher they have made for 30 years. It only works if the grass is short, completely dry , low gear only, full throttle, and stomp the deck often.
Its just my opinion
1AAR
I have owned 5 craftsman riding mowers and 2 Murrays over the last 27 years. I only purchased 1, the others I inherited. looking back I guess we all thought they were great. But since so many others over the last 15 years have built real dependable machines that actually work. You have to ask yourself why do we still buy these things ? Its like we accept that's is OK a craftsman to be the same trouble and quality it was in the 1970's. Think about it not a whole lot has really changed? To be fair its not just craftsman its every brand under $ 2,500.00 mark.
Anyway my experience with Craftsman riding mowers, push mowers and put string trimmers etc is this.
If I won a drawing and I had a choice between A new Craftsman Mower, a stick, or a weeks supply of pudding.
I would be torn between the stick and the pudding, I would pick the pudding if it was chocolate unless it was a really good straight stick.
I certainly don't mean to offed anyone, this is just my opinion and experience. I hope that none of you have the trouble and aggravation I have had. I also would like to mention as many of you probably feel the same way, "What genius designed approved or thought up the side mount plastic pipe rear bag grass catcher" ? Its the same useless catcher they have made for 30 years. It only works if the grass is short, completely dry , low gear only, full throttle, and stomp the deck often.
Its just my opinion
1AAR
bertsmobile1
Lawn Royalty
- Joined
- Nov 29, 2014
- Threads
- 65
- Messages
- 24,815
Trouble is we remember price as a numerical value and not as the historical the purchasing power.
Or to put it this way.
My sister still has the mower my father bought in 1956 it is still in perfect working order but as it does not have a catcher she only mows the street with it.
In 1956 a petrol powered mower was a luxury good and it cost him better than 6 months wages which he paid off over 3 years.
There was a healthy profit margin so even the cheap & nasty brands were made well and were expected to be durable.
Sixty ( almost ) years latter a petrol powered walk behind mower costs less than 1 weeks wages.
There is almost no profit for the manufacturer so they are made as cheap as possible not as good as possible.
Do we have any rights to demand a product that costs 1/25 th of what it used to to be as durable as the old one ?
The public as a market are greedy selfish & uninformed.
They want everything and seem to think they can pay nothing for it.
So the reasaon why so many of the old "quality" names now make trash is because that is all the market will pay for.
Proof of that ?
There were two Henrys in the pioneering days of automobiles.
One made cheap & nasty cars that he tested and continually downgraded so they only just outlived their warrantee.
The other made cars as good as the technology of the day coud produce, he also continually tested his cars but he upgraded all the parts so his cars would last for a very long time and guaranteed his cars indefinitely for the original owner.
The first man was Mr Ford and he built up an empire became one of the wealthiest men and set his family up among the rich & powerfull for many years to come.
The second mans name was Mr Royce and he died in poverty his company having gone bankrupt several times.
So if you really want a ride on of the same quality of your craftsman of 27 years ago, look at some that cost between 6 months and 1 years wages,
Or to put it this way.
My sister still has the mower my father bought in 1956 it is still in perfect working order but as it does not have a catcher she only mows the street with it.
In 1956 a petrol powered mower was a luxury good and it cost him better than 6 months wages which he paid off over 3 years.
There was a healthy profit margin so even the cheap & nasty brands were made well and were expected to be durable.
Sixty ( almost ) years latter a petrol powered walk behind mower costs less than 1 weeks wages.
There is almost no profit for the manufacturer so they are made as cheap as possible not as good as possible.
Do we have any rights to demand a product that costs 1/25 th of what it used to to be as durable as the old one ?
The public as a market are greedy selfish & uninformed.
They want everything and seem to think they can pay nothing for it.
So the reasaon why so many of the old "quality" names now make trash is because that is all the market will pay for.
Proof of that ?
There were two Henrys in the pioneering days of automobiles.
One made cheap & nasty cars that he tested and continually downgraded so they only just outlived their warrantee.
The other made cars as good as the technology of the day coud produce, he also continually tested his cars but he upgraded all the parts so his cars would last for a very long time and guaranteed his cars indefinitely for the original owner.
The first man was Mr Ford and he built up an empire became one of the wealthiest men and set his family up among the rich & powerfull for many years to come.
The second mans name was Mr Royce and he died in poverty his company having gone bankrupt several times.
So if you really want a ride on of the same quality of your craftsman of 27 years ago, look at some that cost between 6 months and 1 years wages,
tigercat
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2012
- Threads
- 19
- Messages
- 280
bertsmobile1, have you ever been inside a Sears store? If you never have you missed out on a great adventure. They would put the outdoor equipment (lawn mowers, tillers, trimmers, carts etc) and automotive tools (tool boxes, air compressors testing equipment, paint guns etc) in the same side of the store. Isles and isles of manly goodies that seemed to stretch forever! Then when you finally reach the end you entered into the barbeque and gardening section. Just an awesome huge store that at one time had anything you needed, good stuff at a fair price.
Today they were bought out by the Kmart brand and yikes everything is of lower quality. You even see more and more "craftsman" lifetime tools made in China. The fit and finish on these are not of the same quality of years ago.
When I was a kid I would visit them once a week and buy a few needed hand tools for my automotive tool box. My first purchase was a 1000 pc set that came with a large chest and box. That set was awesome but so much was missing when you started wrenching on cars. I needed more items.... I still have every peice today that I bought years ago. That's how good the stuff was back then!
Heck 2 months ago I went and picked up a few items for my milling machine. The store is still nice, but not as big as years ago....:smile:
Today they were bought out by the Kmart brand and yikes everything is of lower quality. You even see more and more "craftsman" lifetime tools made in China. The fit and finish on these are not of the same quality of years ago.
When I was a kid I would visit them once a week and buy a few needed hand tools for my automotive tool box. My first purchase was a 1000 pc set that came with a large chest and box. That set was awesome but so much was missing when you started wrenching on cars. I needed more items.... I still have every peice today that I bought years ago. That's how good the stuff was back then!
Heck 2 months ago I went and picked up a few items for my milling machine. The store is still nice, but not as big as years ago....:smile: