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Hi. Can anyone help me find the name to this part. I need to order one to get my mower back mowing. It is on the front end of a craftsman yts 3000 riding lawn mower. It is part of the steering and the round piece (I guess it can be called a sleeve?) that wraps around shaft broke and no longer connects the shaft to the steering bracket. Sorry for my bad terminology here.
After looking through the parts diagram all night I can not figure out what the part is called or what part number it is.
I really appreciate any help with this issue as I don't have a back up to use for my clients.
Thanks guys

Since Craftsman have been made by more than one company we will need the model number from under the seat to find the part number. The rubber sleeve is just a protector for the ball joint, but the ball joint is the failed component and will require the replacement of the rod may be called a steering link, drag link or something similar

As a shade tree mechanic, I have came across this problem a lot. I have found a more permanent fix. I Take the ball joint out, Drill hole through arm, and use grade 8 bolt, spacer washer and locking nut.

StarTech said:

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Dang!!!
A tad rough, aren't we?



Here is the part you need, called a drag link or steering arm.
You need the mower's model number off of the tag under/behind the seat to look up the correct one.

I save my money for booze and strippers personally.

Fish said:

I save my money for booze and strippers personally.

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I did put among other things. <LOL>

Fish said:

Dang!!!
A tad rough, aren't we?

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Well that what most around are doing except one down the street that send all his spare money to the Donald. He buy tin for his roof but not the nails or screws to hold it on, just uses rocks and old tires.

A bit coarse but I would stand behind Star 100 %
Replacing a ball joint with a bolt is a nasty cheap bodge at the best of times and should be a vary last resort emergency repair .
IT is the sort of thing that when people find it on a used mower that gives used mowers the bad name that they seem to have universally.
In a very short time it will need to be replaced again because the shaft is not hardened like it is on the cheap & nasty mowers that use a bolt where a ball joint used to be fitted to drop the price of the new mowers.
This is a repair forum where correct repair proceedures should be posted not nasty bodges.
However it is 305's mower so he can do as he sees fit.
For me the very worst bodge would be to weld a female tie rod end onto the drag link, but I warrant my repairs for 12 months so no bodges leave my workshop unless it is a temporary repair while I wait for the proper parts to arrive .

Fish said:

I save my money for booze and strippers personally.

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I spent my fortune on booze and strippers, the rest I simply wasted.

Thank you guys. I wish I would have posted this sooner instead of driving myself crazy until 2:30am.
The model number is:
917.289140
I will be buying the correct parts to fix it. The bolt trick is a great tip if I'm in the middle of a job and it breaks again.
Thanks again. You guys are awesome.

looks like you have two 194740 for left and 194741 for right side

from what i see, appears that part isn't available by itself, just the entire draglink.
either
Edit: Sheesh, didn't see the other 2 replies.

It's a tie rod end, but in many cases it is sold as part of the drag link all as one part. John Deere for instance makes you buy a complete new drag link with new tie rod ends wheather they're all broken, loose or not

Removing the ball joint and drilling a hole in the rod is more difficult than buying a replacement ball joint and doing it right. I found a ball joint at Home Depot, an MTD stock number 723-0448 that may fit your tractor. Home Depot SKU #1001134538. 2 in the package $19.98/pkg. Lawson Products also lists about 5 sizes of these but, they are only sold in packages of 5.

Fish said:

Dang!!!
A tad rough, aren't we?


View attachment 55585
Here is the part you need, called a drag link or steering arm.
You need the mower's model number off of the tag under/behind the seat to look up the correct one.

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If this design has one on each side, I have two cautions. 1) replace both. 2) wheel toe in toe out may be fighting due to front axle mounting slop allowing the axle to tilt for and aft causing toe in toe out to change beyond normal in forward and reverse but in opposite widths of toe in. The strain on driving, steering, and wear will only get worse. I have not found a way to fix this at reasonable shop repair costs and have condemned no further cost effective repairs on two units.

Now that you have P/N's I would shop around for the links. For instance, Amazon lists a kit with both links for $47 with free shipping. That is pretty much what you pay for 1 side after shipping from Sears.

One of the beauties of a Craftsman product is that you can go on the NET to SearsPartsDirect.com, enter your model number, and look at parts lists/diagrams for your machine, and normally (if not obsolete) the parts are available for purchase from the website.

GDHS said:

One of the beauties of a Craftsman product is that you can go on the NET to SearsPartsDirect.com, enter your model number, and look at parts lists/diagrams for your machine, and normally (if not obsolete) the parts are available for purchase from the website.

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I actually looked at searspartsdirect but could not figure out what part it was. I must have been way off because I saw no mention of a drag link.
One more question for you guys.
Should I buy from searspartsdirect and ger the oem parts or should I go on amazon and buy a knock off?
I worry about the knock off quality because some are excellent and some are horrible. Never having ordered any mower parts I don't know what to expect.

VRR.DYNDNS>BIZ said:

If this design has one on each side, I have two cautions. 1) replace both. 2) wheel toe in toe out may be fighting due to front axle mounting slop allowing the axle to tilt for and aft causing toe in toe out to change beyond normal in forward and reverse but in opposite widths of toe in. The strain on driving, steering, and wear will only get worse. I have not found a way to fix this at reasonable shop repair costs and have condemned no further cost effective repairs on two units.

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Great advice. I will replace both sides. I figure no matter if only one side went bad the other may be soon to follow. Now I need to find a write up on aligning them.
Thank you

305 said:

I actually looked at searspartsdirect but could not figure out what part it was. I must have been way off because I saw no mention of a drag link.
One more question for you guys.
Should I buy from searspartsdirect and ger the oem parts or should I go on amazon and buy a knock off?
I worry about the knock off quality because some are excellent and some are horrible. Never having ordered any mower parts I don't know what to expect.

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The question is how strapped for cash are you ?
In this modern greedy age there seems to be an unbelievable selfish drive to get everything at the lowest possible price .
This has consequences because for instance , Sears spends quite a bit of money to keep that web page you just used up & running.
They go broke and the page goes with them so next time you need it what do you do ?
I get really dissapointed by all of the "absolute cheapest item" index sites on the web as if it is now some sort of a crime for any person to make a reasonable living, except you .
Particularly the way they are advertised making people feel guilty of neglecting their family or future if they don't use them .
Remember Joni Mitchel's "Big Yellow Taxi" , here was a lot of wisedome in those lyrics

Amazon are regularly in the courts for mistreating their slaves , sorry employees , they just think they are slaves .
I am not anti efficiency but it has limits.
As more things are automated reducing the amount of work available and populations keep on increasing ask "Where will my great grand kids work " and no they can not all be CEO of Tesla .

305 said:

Great advice. I will replace both sides. I figure no matter if only one side went bad the other may be soon to follow. Now I need to find a write up on aligning them.
Thank you

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The fan gear should have a hole in it that aligns with a hole in the chassis when the steering is in the strait forward position.
Before you put in your order , check the hole in the middle of the fan gear , the teeth on the fan gear, the teeth on the steering gear and the bush the steering shaft runs through.
These are all wear items and usually get changed as a fairly well complete set

bertsmobile1 said:

The fan gear should have a hole in it that aligns with a hole in the chassis when the steering is in the strait forward position.
Before you put in your order , check the hole in the middle of the fan gear , the teeth on the fan gear, the teeth on the steering gear and the bush the steering shaft runs through.
These are all wear items and usually get changed as a fairly well complete set

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I'm glad you mentioned what else to look for. The bushing is bad beyond belief. Everything else looks pretty good. I ended up ordering all my parts from searsdirect. They were not too much more in price than what I found on amazon. I figure it is worth the extra cash to ensure the parts well made. I've found amazon can be hit or miss.
Thanks again for all the great information. It has helped more than I can express.

you have to watch the searspartsdirect prices sometimes. I have seen them price parts at $48.95 when the same part through a dealer was $7.95

Something to keep in mind when sourcing parts is that many times the "knock-offs" were made by the same suppliers as the ones that made them for Sears/Craftsman - well, actually AYP. And I can tell you this - I've ordered deck mandrels - among other items - from both Sears Parts Direct and then from Amazon or E-Bay - at about 1/2 the price - and they both came in a HUSQVARNA box. American Yard Products - AYP - assembled 4-5 brands of "box store" yard products, many times the only difference was the color and name on the tins - and the majority of those parts were sourced from the lowest bidder.

One fix is to purchase a ball joint end if yours is removable. They come in male or female ends and various sizes. I have seen them on the floor in bins at a local AG hardware store. They can be found at online hardware stores like McMasterCarr. The following link will guide you to their page

rdedrick said:

One fix is to purchase a ball joint end if yours is removable. They come in male or female ends and various sizes. I have seen them on the floor in bins at a local AG hardware store. They can be found at online hardware stores like McMasterCarr. The following link will guide you to their page

McMaster-Carr

McMaster-Carr is the complete source for your plant with over 595,000 products. 98% of products ordered ship from stock and deliver same or next day.

www.mcmaster.com

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The drag link I'm replacing is pretty bad so I ordered the entire assembly. The box they came in was about 3 feet long 2 feet wide and tall. I thought they shipped the wrong part. When I opened it there was 1 piece of packing paper and the 2 drag links. The parts look great but with shipping like that I can see why sears went out of business lol.
I'm going to install them tomorrow. Hopefully it will be an easy process. I'll report back and let you guys know how it went. Keep in mind Im a landscaper and not a repair tech. What would take you guys an hour will probably take me all day.
Is there anything I should look out for or any tips you have to help installing these drag links?

Oh. I almost forgot to ask if there are any torque specs I should be following?
Thanks for all the help.

rdedrick said:

One fix is to purchase a ball joint end if yours is removable. They come in male or female ends and various sizes. I have seen them on the floor in bins at a local AG hardware store. They can be found at online hardware stores like McMasterCarr. The following link will guide you to their page

McMaster-Carr

McMaster-Carr is the complete source for your plant with over 595,000 products. 98% of products ordered ship from stock and deliver same or next day.

www.mcmaster.com

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I used to buy both male and female ends in bags of 10 on Ebay for about $30 including shipping. To be honest I never changed the whole links, only the ends. Changing the threaded ones are pretty much a no brainer. For the "non-replaceable" ends I cut the bad end off, welded an all-thread nut onto the shaft and screwed a male end into it. It is a little more work to repair them, but I could easily fix them in about an hour and get the mower back to the owner the same day instead of waiting for parts, and usually cheaper than buying the whole links.

Ok. So I got my drag links. They are the same as the one's Im replacing. I made sure to install them on the correct sides with the long part of the link attaching to the steering gear. Now the wheels are completely out of alignment yet they were not out of alignment before.
Any clue as to what I did wrong? I mean they are not just a little out of alignment but inches out of alignment. I do not get it.
Thanks again for any help on this.

Are they on the correct side? Backwards?

Fish said:

Are they on the correct side? Backwards?

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I made sure to do one at a time and match them up. I did try to swap them from side to side and they would rub on the mowing belt holder.

post some pictures of the wheels