Sears Craftsman GT6500 Follow Up

[SCDolphin]

I have a Craftsman GT6500 that I bought in the spring 07. I ordered it with the smaller 48" deck instead of the usual 54" deck. I like the stout short 3 blade system that came with the smaller 48" deck.

So far I only have about 20 hours. I love the mower. It has tons of power, it has an automatic transmission rated to pull a disc or plow.....couldn't find that with green tractors of same price.

What used to take almost 3 hours, I can now do in 45 minutes.

My only problems or beefs are that the lever to raise or lower the deck is located on the left and sometimes makes it tight to get off and on and when I first got it it spit off the belt times 2 but very easy to put back on without tools.

I would highly recomend the GT6500

 

[cjlink]

Thanks for the update! It seems that the only time that you hear about Craftsman on TBN is when someone is complaining about them or comparing them to machine $1~2K more in price. For the price (sale price), a GT6500 is hard to beat. I have been looking at that model for over a year now, but the better half....

I am waiting for my 1993 Murray B&S 12.5hp (all original) to die, but it keeps running like a charm. Maybe I should run it low on oil one day.

So which motor did you decide to go with?

 

[SCDolphin]

Mine has the Kohler but not there top of the line. What supprised me when I started looking Consumer Report gave a high rating to JD 100 model so I looked at several model up like 150 or 160 but amazingly their auto trans was not even rated to pull a trailer much less a plow or small disc. I think I paid 2,300 and except for tossing the belt x2 which is a 30 sec fix it has been awesome. Lastly I think it is 26 horsepower but is is really stingy on fuel.