Just a quick follow up and couple more questions.. After my initial post several weeks ago about all the troubles my tractor has had, I did take most all the advice and attempted numerous fixes/improvements. Among these were an inline gas shut off--cleaning the carb and having it inspected((all looked well))--new oil filter-new gas filter--dry gas in the tank-new oil--new fuel pump(diaphragm was shredded). etc.
After all this--good money over bad, the tractor is still spilling gas from under the cylinder. I'm told the block could be cracked. Also the head gasket might need replaced--again. Question-is there an easy way to determine if the block is cracked? What about the head gasket? Do you need to actually pull the head off to visually inspect the gasket and what exactly should it look like if it is bad--big rips or tears or something more subtle? I also have a theory. I'm wondering if over time, the fuel started to slowly leak into the sump which thinned the oil and ultimately resulted in the overheating which damaged the head gasket. If that was the case, then it makes sense that the head gasket replaced just last fall went bad again since I just now replaced the fuel pump. I'm hoping this might be the answer at last.
Thanks alot for all the advice so far----------------------DON