CEO of Husqvarna Calls it Quits on Lawn and Garden Tractors (Petrol), says U.S. is Too "Challenging".

[two_bit_score]

@two_bit_score If the craftsman model number starts with 917 then Husqvarna it is.

Thanks! I’ll look for the model number.

That old junker has been a good one!

 

[grsthegreat]

just went out and looked at the hour meter on mine. 515 hours

View attachment 706411View attachment 706412


when i ghet the new deck, im going to keep the old deck for use when she mowes the roads and trails. it only takes me about 10-15 minutes to swap decks. im not going to let her trash this one.

got the new deck. took about 45 min to swap them out, as i had to use a few of the older parts like the 2 wheels and the front roller. she mows like new again. very pleased.

 

[69 SS]

Bought a new Husqvarna 2046 20 hp 46 cut in 2009,put 480 hrs on it,sold it December 2018 to a coworker. Had to put PTO clutch in it 2016,did 2 idler pulleys a deck belt,3rd one,and the hydrostatic drive belt, 3 sets of gator mulch blades.. And I have a rough a$$ 2 acres that I cut. Also pulled a
48 in core aerator with 4 cinder blocks bungeed to it,and a trailer. The worst thing about it was in year 2 of ownership the front end spread the tires out and wore out 4 yes 4 front tires. Got my money's worth out of little orange mower. Replaced with Toro 2500 HD commercial zero turn. Can only hope that 6k $ Toro holds up like ,little Orange . Just had to put this out there.. Good luck to all on your projects.

 

[cdaigle430]

The Craftsman products were more related to the Poulan/Poulan Pro line than the Husqvarna branded products at least in the beginning. Craftsman has been made by Roper/Poulan/AYP/Husqvarna, MTD, Simplicity, Murray, Snapper pre Briggs purchase, Briggs, Dirty Hand tools for some of their tillers(which is no longer in business),

Not sure but I do know my Craftsmen Snowblower was a Husvarna with the Craftsmen name on it. My Husvarna tractor was build specifically for Sears specs. The deck for example can come in three different models for each depending on where sold.
If sold at a dealer that is authorized to repair them it comes with an orange welded deck. For stores like Lowes, Sears etc...you will either get the grey or black stamped deck, the black stamped deck is the cheapest, next up the grey which is what I have. Top of the line is the orange welded Husqvarna deck.

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

Not sure but I do know my Craftsmen Snowblower was a Husvarna with the Craftsmen name on it. My Husvarna tractor was build specifically for Sears specs. The deck for example can come in three different models for each depending on where sold.
If sold at a dealer that is authorized to repair them it comes with an orange welded deck. For stores like Lowes, Sears etc...you will either get the grey or black stamped deck, the black stamped deck is the cheapest, next up the grey which is what I have. Top of the line is the orange welded Husqvarna deck.

I sure hear this repeated with consistency, about the different stores having different decks, and having to go to a dealer to get the "good" deck.

I can assure you that it is absolutely incorrect.

I bought my Husqvarna with the orange "welded" deck at Lowe's here in Bismarck. It was not a "one off" or accident. They regularly stock them with the orange deck. I see them sitting there every summer. Both the black decks on the cheaper Husqvarna, and the orange decks on the "better" Husqvarnas.

 

[two_bit_score]

I sure hear this repeated with consistency, about the different stores having different decks, and having to go to a dealer to get the "good" deck.

I can assure you that it is absolutely incorrect.

I bought my Husqvarna with the orange "welded" deck at Lowe's here in Bismarck. It was not a "one off" or accident. They regularly stock them with the orange deck. I see them sitting there every summer. Both the black decks on the cheaper Husqvarna, and the orange decks on the "better" Husqvarnas.

Oh, so paying more gets you better? How interesting!

 

[69 SS]

Thought I should add comments to this latest bit of info regarding H decks,mine had the Grey deck,was bought from Lowes 4-10 -2009 for the whopping sum of 1767.10 brand new. I have an OCD about all my equipment and keep up with hours and expenses. So for total expense including purchase price and gas,tires,oil,replacement parts I have a total of
2887.35, - purchase price of 1767.1 = 1120.25 total operating expenses ÷ 488.2 hrs =
2.29 per operating hour. . I took pictures of the 1st and last pages of the Operations log as I gave it to the new owner. The very last entry in the log is " Going to new home, goodbye
Little Orange tractor, been Good 2 me and 4 me. Last trip in the yard.
Goodbye Old Friend.

 

[shooterdon]

Thought I should add comments to this latest bit of info regarding H decks,mine had the Grey deck,was bought from Lowes 4-10 -2009 for the whopping sum of 1767.10 brand new. I have an OCD about all my equipment and keep up with hours and expenses. So for total expense including purchase price and gas,tires,oil,replacement parts I have a total of
2887.35, - purchase price of 1767.1 = 1120.25 total operating expenses ÷ 488.2 hrs =
2.29 per operating hour. . I took pictures of the 1st and last pages of the Operations log as I gave it to the new owner. The very last entry in the log is " Going to new home, goodbye
Little Orange tractor, been Good 2 me and 4 me. Last trip in the yard.
Goodbye Old Friend.

Seeing as you likely used close to a gallon of fuel per hour that is pretty damn cheap!!! I am wondering if you ever left the key on when it was parked. Did that with mine and racked up a lot of hours one winter...LOL. Damn hour meter runs if if mower sits there.

 

[69 SS]

LMAO, my OCD isn't bad enough to where I calculated fuel/hrs ratio for Little Orange tractor, but my Kubota tractor,( Big Orange) gets .52 gals/hr @ 2500 rpm with 344.1 hrs to date. 15 Regen cycles averaging full regeneration cycle time of 22.94 hrs. Dammit man now I will have to do a cost/ hr thing,let's see bought new grapple ,post hole digger, pallet forks, transport chains, spare trailer tire and bracket,chain drag. STOP, change the channel. Fellow who bought Little Orange says it uses way more gas than what Operations Log Manual says,he outweighs me by150+ lbs ,so if we factor 73%weight overload divided by average cost /hr multiplied by average fuel cost 2.89/ gal multiple by average run time per month. Well, you know.
Good luck to all on your projects

 

[coaster]

Interesting stories here. So I've had my Husqvarna YTH20K46 for about 15 years now. Going into the 2nd year, the engine threw a rod and blasted a hole right through the engine block. I started searching online and found that this was a common problem for K-series engines back around that time. It was under warranty. Husqvarna decided the best they could do was a short block on the thing. They did that (replacing the aluminum rods in those things) and it's been running fine ever since. Batteries don't last very long in the thing, it's not very easy to get consistent even cuts with it as the cutting length adjustment on the deck is kind of dorky, etc., but it's working for over 15 years now. I bought a grass/leaf bagger attachment and that's been great for getting up leaves. But my father-in-law gave me a OLD Kubota TG1860G. That thing drives like a cadillac, has a liquid-cooled Kawasaki engine with hydrostatic trans and power steering. It's a tank, but I love it - I think this old model still sells for a few grand, even at this age. He was just tired of keeping it going and bought a new Z-turn. I love tinkering, so it's been great for me. From what I've learned, it tends to eat belts and has a few other small issues. From the bit of tinkering I've done with it, it's not the easiest to make repairs on. I had to about take the whole thing apart to do a simple fuel solenoid replacement - LOL.

Anyway, interesting to hear some of the complaints about Huskies overall.

Oh, if anyone knows where I can get a grass/leaf catcher for my Kubota, please pass that along. I have the local dealer looking into it.