New Craftyy
- Thread starter CauZey
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lawn mower fanatic
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Until someone answers, this user has a YT-4000. Even though it is not your exact mower, you can see how he likes it. Here is a picture of his mower:
View Profile: cuda - Lawn Mower Forum
View Profile: cuda - Lawn Mower ForumHi Cauzey, I purchased my mower last summer and so far I am pleased with it. It has a minor problem whereas the drive belt slaps the parking brake linkage and makes some racket. The Sears tech tried to fix it but could find no solution. I may just remove the the parking brake linkage since I don't use it anyway. As you can see I have added a few personnel touches, got to make your own. Before I made my purchase I contacted a local mower repair man and asked him what he would buy if in the market and he said a Craftsman. I took his advice. Craftsman's always made good tools and such even thou the mower is made by Husqvarna to sears specs. Good features at a good price.
Hope this helps,
Cuda
Hope this helps,
Cuda
Carscw
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I do not have this mower but it is a very good mower for the money. In my opinion craftsman is one of the better riding mowers.
Like has already been said go to a couple repair shops ( not a dealer ) and ask them what they think. A dealer will just tell you to buy what they sell.
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To tell you the truth I don't know why, it really didn't matter, I was looking for cutting width and features like auto transmission, cut in reverse and small turning radius. I believe this mower was on sale at the time and I liked the price and free delivery. Not to mention the 5 year warrenty. And oh yes the color, reds where it's at, green :thumbdown:
Cuda
djdicetn
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CauZey,
My only advice would be that if that 21hp Briggs and Stratton is an "INTEK" V-Twin, instead of a "VANGUARD" V-Twin I cannot, from my experience, recommend the engine. To give you some background to why I say that; I was convinced from several sources(this forum, next-door-neighbor & other friends) when I was shopping for a new ZTR to replace my Craftsman Lawn Tractor that the most reliable high-quality mower engines were currently the Kawasaki's and the purchase of my new Gravley Pro-Turn 152XDZ included me stongly considering the Kawa FX691V 22hp engine that came on it. Historically, I had always been a Briggs & Stratton "fan" and for many years felt they dominated the market. My first lawn tractor I purchased in 1993 was a Lawn Chief sold by True Value hardware. It was a 46" cut and had a B & S Vanguard 16hp engine and this had to be the best lawn mower engine I have ever seen!!! My son "just retired" that mower(yes, 19 years old) and that engine still ran like new, never used a drop of oil and had never seen anything except premium grade gasoline. I gave that Lawn Chief to him in 2006 when I purchased a larger 54" Craftsman(made by Husqvarna) with a 24hp B & S Intek engine which I gave to my son just recently when I purchased my Gravely. Like I said, the Lawn Chief still "ran", but the deck was beginning to rust out and the deck lift system had gone to pieces and the deck simply "rolled on the gound" so it was time to retire it. The Craftsman B & S engine(24 hp Intek) was a far cry from that 16hp Vanguard. It would not "accept" premium grade gasoline(ran like the choke was always on, sputtering and backfiring) so I had to run regular grade in it and unlike the Lawn Chief the Craftsman would "bog down" when I let the grass get a little tall and actually kill the engine even though the engine had 8 more hp that the Lawn Chief Vanguard. When the 2006 Craftsman was 3-yrs-old(just out of the engine warranty) the choke came apart inside the carburetor. A local shop wanted $200 to repair the caburetor so I just opted to remove the air filter and spray starter fluid in it each time I mowed which was a lot cheaper(very disappointed in the engine "breaking" so soon)!!! Fortunately, my-father-in-law who had some experience with small engine repair took the Craftsman and repaired the choke before we gave it to my son(he said the tiny screws that held the choke in place had vibrated out, were "gone".....so most likely went into the cylinder and out the exhaust into the muffler.....and "fortunately" didn't RUIN the engine). I consider the lack of proper "torquing" of those screws when the engine was built as a major manufacturer fault and another reason why I believe B & S is no longer the "dominant" mower engine!!! That's my story and I'm sticking to it!!
P.S.
My ZTR weighs 1,051 lbs and I doubt that 2006 Craftsman weighed half that. But the 22hp Kawa FX691V doesn't give the least indication it is "bogging down" in tall grass versus the 24hp B & S engine "dying" on occaision. I know there has been a topsy-turvy(and I think even class-action lawsuits) hoopla over the last few years about small engine "horsepower ratings", but I still can't recommend that 24hp B & S Intek to anyone!!!
P.S.S.
My other next-door-neighbor has a 15-yr-old Ariens residential 42" ZTR that has the exact same B & S engine(16hp Vanguard) that my old Lawn Chief had. His mower also still runs like the day he bought it. I think B & S has lost sight of how they built engines 15-20 years ago!!! Bottom line...more hp does not always equal better performance.