10 year old Lawn tractor still going strong.

hbaird · Jun 29, 2013

DLT 3000 with 20? horse V twin 42 inch deck. Replaced a spindle on the deck, Caught a wire in the yard that wound up between deck and blade breaking an ear off the spindle.
Replaced the bearings and shaft on the other spindle. Got all the parts from Amazon.com. Perfect match and way cheaper than Sears. I have Tubes in three of the tires. The last tire
weathered enough to split and the replacement will be here Monday. Also from Amazon.com. I am still using the original Battery. How long will it last. I think the mower will last at least
another 10 years. I was a regular here a while back but drifted away. Back then a war raged between JD users and craftsman users. JD was way too expensive and Craftsman was junk.

buickanddeere · Jun 29, 2013

JD LX188 which is 18 years old. Regular lawn cutter for 1-1/2 acres. So far have invested in three spindles, mower idler bushing, several sets of blades, oil,fuel and air filters. New antifreeze. On it's 2rd replacement battery. will need a new seat in a year or two. Put ATV tires on the back and weight on the front to climb ditch banks. Would bring more an auction sale than a DLT3000 . Quiet liquid cooled engine and comfortable to operate.
Don't intend to rain on your parade but what is your point?

hbaird · Jul 2, 2013

None really. In years past Craftsman mowers were beatup on by a few in the forum. I wanted to see if any were left. I cut about the same area. Most of what I cut is rough not lawn just ground cover. I am hard on blades and have replaced a lot. I had an old well stem I hit many times before I found it and cut a couple of inches off. I paid $1130 for it new. I have no idea what it would sell for. I will keep using it forever and drive the cost of ownership down to near nothing. I got a new tire and could not get it on the rim. It is now at a local JD dealer getting mounted. $25 for the tire $22 for the JD mounting.

Gale Hawkins · Jul 2, 2013

Care after purchase can cover for a lot of weaknesses in any machine. I see high end equipment turned into junk within five years.

jerry56 · Jul 9, 2013

I love these craftsman LT and GT series...they have such a bad reputation they sell for pennies on the dollar on craigs list...granted some have some problem prone briggs on them...mostly the single lung 18-20 horse motors...I have a 15 horse singe and a 20 horse twin both closs to 15 years old...the PO abused the crap out of the 20, I bought it for $50..cleaned it up serviced it...and have been using it for the last 3 years.....parts are relitively cheap and easy to come by....I love these mowers....

BigBoyinMS · Jul 9, 2013

I bought my MTD made "Yard Machine" in the spring of 2000 for $1200. It has the Briggs 20hp I/C twin engine. Other than oil and gas I've tubed all 4 tires this summer and replaced belts and rebuilt the steering 3 years ago. And all this time it's carried the weight of two normal people. LoL
I have no complaints with it.