Craftsman YS4500 LE

[ChevyBlazerBoy]

Well I originally had purchased a Craftsman LT3000 with hydro and it was damaged in shipping. So sears ordered me a second one and that too was damaged!! I got fed up and told them I wanted a refund. The manager then upgraded me to a YS4500 LE for free so I took the offer. Basically i got a YS4500 LE for 1199.00 but it won't be delivered until next tuesday. Not sure what the difference is from a LT3000 but I know the YS4500 has 22HP B&S V-Twin which is nice and it sits higher. It also has hydro trans, hour meter, gas gauge, and a few other features I don't know about. Does anybody else know what this tractor offers?

 

[MrJimi]

Sounds like a nice mower but you want to read the reviews first?

http://shopping.yahoo.com/p:Craftsm...nYm1hBF9TAzk2NjMyOTA3BHNlYwNmZWVkBHNsawNiZ3Qy

Jim

 

[GaryS]

Well I originally had purchased a Craftsman LT3000 with hydro and it was damaged in shipping. So sears ordered me a second one and that too was damaged!! I got fed up and told them I wanted a refund. The manager then upgraded me to a YS4500 LE for free so I took the offer.

I can find two different machines with the same "YS4500" model number on the Sears site. I'm going on Thursday to order this one:

Sears YS4500

I sure hope I don't have the same issues you had!

 

[Fordlords]

Note the review thing at that link on Yahoo is a merchant review and not a review on the machine itself.

-Fordlords-

 

[MrJimi]

Note the review thing at that link on Yahoo is a merchant review and not a review on the machine itself.

-Fordlords-

And the way I read that review, sears will not take care of you as usual. They sell a descent product with no service? What good is that if there is no service after the sale.
Jim

 

[AndyM]

Does anybody else know what this tractor offers?

If it meets your needs with your lot size, etc then I say go for it!

Did you run it past Gatorboy first?

 

[Gatorboy]

Well I originally had purchased a Craftsman LT3000 with hydro and it was damaged in shipping. So sears ordered me a second one and that too was damaged!!

If that is not a red flag, I don't know what is. I find it hard to believe you are going for a third -- hoping for 3 times a charm?

 

[keltonkrew]

If it meets your needs with your lot size, etc then I say go for it!

Did you run it past Gatorboy first?

yup.....I guess he did!

 

[ChevyBlazerBoy]

If that is not a red flag, I don't know what is. I find it hard to believe you are going for a third -- hoping for 3 times a charm?

Hey I don't care at this point. I have given up all hope in budget lawn equipment and decided to take the risk. If it works out I end up with a tractor worth a lot more than i paid for and if it doesn't, well i will just return it like i did the other two and go somewhere else. . If I do get the tractor and it dies I will just set my **** lawn on fire. Burn every last blade of grass down to cracked dry soil, sit back on my deck and drink a beer.

 

[ChevyBlazerBoy]

What does it mean to "Purge the hydro" and what does that entail?

 

[Fordlords]

Most of the smaller supposedly, "sealed," hydostatic transaxles have a procedure for purging the old fluid and replacing it with clean fluid. It is a little more involved than simple draining and refilling that is done with the larger hydros that are considered, "serviceable." This will greatly extend the life of the hydro.

Once you know what make of hydro your tractor has (most often Peerless or Hydro-Gear) and its model number, you can contact the manufacturer by e-mail for the procedure.

Peerless: http://www.tecumsehuk.co.uk/trans.htm
Hydro-Gear: www.hydrogear.com

I just looked and my little cheapo Craftsman has the Hydro-Gear so they are probably the most common in the AYP tractors.


-Fordlords-

 

[ChevyBlazerBoy]

Then why am I hearing from people that when they got their new tractor they purged the hydro before using it?

 

[Fordlords]

I'm not sure. The purge procedure basically consists of placing the tractor's rear wheels up on jackstands and plugs are removed from the hydro to remove all the fluid with the pump's pressure. The procedure varies between hydros, so I can't state anything more specific.

Perhaps owners or dealers are doing this on new machines for fear of metal comtaminants from manufacturing in the new oil?? It's something that should be done every 3 or 4 years, but on many of the sealed hydros it never gets done at all as the procedure is considered to be too involved to be routine maintenance. They figure when the hydro dies after 8-10 years of old fluid in it the rest of the tractor is probably nearing death also.

-Fordlords-

 

[ChevyBlazerBoy]

I found this on another forum. I assume it is something like this.

To purge, you put the tranny into "freewheel" mode, start the engine and move the trans lever into forward then reverse, slowly, about 5 or 6 times. Then take it out of freewheel mode and do the same thing. (With the rear wheels off the ground.) Check the fluid level again. Repeat as necessary.

 

[Fordlords]

I just realized we are referring to two different things, fluid purge and air purge. The air purge is what they are doing with the new tractors to remove air in the tranny from shipping. I found the procedure from Hydro-Gear:

1. Place tractor safely on level surface with engine off and parking brake set.
2. Disengage transmission by placing freewheel control into frewheel position.
3. Sitting on tractor, start the engine. Move throttle control to slow position. With motion control lever in neutral, slowly disengage the parking brake.
4. Move motion contol lever to full forward position and hold for 5 seconds. Move lever to full reverse position for for 5 seconds. Repeat this procedure 3 times.
5. During procedure there will be no movement of the drive wheels. The air is being removed from the hydraulic drive system.
6. Move motion control lever to neutral. Shut off engine and set parking brake.
7. Engage transmission by placing frewheel control into driving position.
8. Sitting on tractor, start the engine. Move throttle to half speed. With motion control lever in neutral, slowly disengage the parking brake pedal.
9. Slowly move motion control lever forward, after tractor moves approximately 5 feet, return motion lever to neutral, and repeat procedure in reverse. Repeat in both directions 3 times.
10. Transaxle is now purged and ready for use.

-Fordlords-

 

[ChevyBlazerBoy]

Thanks, That is exactly what i was looking for!

 

[ChevyBlazerBoy]

Well I got my new YS4500 LE. today and I went through everything, tire air pressue, deck was level, purged hydro, checked connections and engine. Took the hood off and installed the craftsman bumper I bought. When i fired it up I was blown away by how quiet it was. When you kick on the mower deck you can feel the power but it is still not that loud. I have never owned a newer tractor like this will all the features and it suprised me because I have always drove old back breaker used tractors.

I drove it around the yard and hydro worked great up and down my little hills and also it turns on a dime. Will test it out later this week when I do a full mow but right now I am impressed with it.

 

[AndyM]

The new tractor looks nice, but did it come out of that small box in the background?

How wide is the mower deck?

 

[ChevyBlazerBoy]

The new tractor looks nice, but did it come out of that small box in the background?

How wide is the mower deck?

Ya lol, just like a computer. The smaller they get the more powerful they are. Actually, that was the box for the bumper.

It is a 42 inch deck. I didn't want to go any bigger having less than 1 acre would probably start scalping my lawn.

 

[Fordlords]

Looks good! I just looked up the records and my little Craftsman 16/42 is in its 9th season this year without any major problems, only difference is it has a Kohler rather than Briggs engine, and is used to mow the approx 1/2 acre smooth section of our yard, I mow all the rough garbage out back with the bigger Cub. I pulled the deck 2 years ago to clean it out real good and paint the underneath, and short of a few springs I bought for the blade brake mechanism the only other parts have been oil filters for regular maintenance and the only repair that of one flat tire. Even though the deck spindle bearings are the non-lube type, they still show no signs of wear yet. Like I've said in other threads, it is MHO that the Craftsman lawn tractors are fine if used for their intent and if maintained right seem to hold up every bit as well as any name in the entry level field as far as my experiences with them. Happy mowing!

-Fordlords-