Do they still make RELIABLE garden tractors?

[aczlan]

I hate to sound like an idiot, but can anybody give me an idea what the solenoid looks like or how to find it? I don't have a clue.

It probably looks like this: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001ULPJKE, or this: Tractor Solenoid Kit- Craftsman-Lawn & Garden-Tractor Attachments-Misc. Tractor Attachments

Aaron Z

 

[joshuabardwell]

I hate to sound like an idiot, but can anybody give me an idea what the solenoid looks like or how to find it? I don't have a clue.

So, aczlan got you a picture of the solenoid. On my mower, it is behind a panel on the front of the dash, mounted on the frame of the mower. You can find the solenoid by tracing the hot wire off of the battery's positive terminal. The main battery wire will go to a block, or something, and at some point it will split. A smaller-gauge wire will go to the general tractor electrics, and then a VERY thick wire will go to one terminal of the solenoid, and then another, similarly-thick wire will go from the other terminal of the solenoid to the starter motor. If you follow the hot wire from the battery's positive terminal, you will very shortly find where the thick wire splits off to go to the solenoid, and can find it from there.

If you have a wiring diagram, you can also find the solenoid by tracing back from the ignition switch. If you know which color wire goes from the solenoid to the ignition, that is.

It may be easier to find the solenoid by tracing back from the starter motor. Trace the THICK wire from the starter motor back, and it will lead straight to the solenoid. On small engine starters, there is probably just one wire coming off of it, and that'll be the hot wire.

 

[Ruark]

I would not put Cub on the list either.

I'm paranoid about Cub. I'd never owned a Cub product, and a few months ago I decided to "experiment" and got a $225 Cub weed trimmer at Tractor Supply. It was the worst piece of junk I have ever bought. It started rough, ran rough. It leaked fuel all over the place and I never could figure out where it was coming from, gas was just all over the powerhead after running a couple of minutes. The bump feed constantly jammed. The power head and trimmer head didn't line up, so you had to sort of hold it crooked. On top of all that, it vibrated like there was no tomorrow. After struggling with it a few minutes, my hands were literally numb from the vibration. They hurt when the blood ran back into them. I've had every major brand of trimmer made, and this was the absolute worst. After a month, I just tossed it onto the junk pile. After that experience, it would be very difficult to get me to spend my hard earned money on another Cub product.

 

[stevem5215]

I have that exact tractor here. Other than a belt or two now and a replacement mower deck from a doner machine it's still running and does exactly the same things yours does. It's amazing the high grass it will cut. It's tough on the belt when you do that of course but it's really a good machine for cheap. Ours here is a 93' model so that makes it 20years old.

Sorry, don't have a wiring diagram for it but I'd check the safety switches first. One for the blade engage and the other is the seat switch.

Steve

I hate to sound like an idiot, but can anybody give me an idea what the solenoid looks like or how to find it? I don't have a clue.

My hunch is that it's the ignition switch. A few months ago, the key started getting sticky when I started it, like it was gunked up. You turn the key to "start" and when you release it, it just stays there, you have to deliberately turn it back to the "run" position. Later I will get some metal panels off the tractor and just follow the wiring from the key to the starter and see what I can find. There are areas back in little nooks where there's a 30-year buildup of goo.

Looks like I won't be getting another small tractor, at least. This thing just keeps running and working forever. I need to clean and tune it - it's been 15-20 years since I changed the air filter or plugs or oil - I've never adjusted the belts or anything else on it. I've cut everything from grass to 5-foot pasture ragweed with it, and towed a 50-gallon boom sprayer with it for days at a time. And it still runs and works like it did the day it was new. What can I say.

If it's of any interest, the tractor is a "Craftsman II" 13HP. 42 inch cutters. Model number starts with 917 - it was made by "American Yard Products," whoever the heck that is/was. It was made in 1985-86.

The motor is a B&S I/C Gold, model # 28M707.

The tractor looks exactly like this one, found on Google Images.
View attachment 274171

 

[MHarryE]

In the late 1980s when Deutz was planning to sell off the Independence, MO, plant (their only plant in North America), I started interviewing. One interesting job was Husqvarna (then Electrolux who I believe is still the parent) at their plant in Orangeburg, SC. They told me they were the worlds largest manufacturer of lawn tractors due primarily to their contract with Sears. The job would have involved primarily using Deere as a model and trying to achieve a design as close to Deere while still being able to meet the price targets of Sears and all the other names under which they supplied lawn tractors. I instead found a job with another major equipment manufacturer but when it came time to buy lawn and garden stuff, I now buy Deere. If it was the one the other guys tried to copy then, that's good enough for me.

 

[sphuddle]

Well, a moment might have come for me. I have a 30-year-old Sears Craftsman garden tractor, I think 13HP, that seems to have given up the ghost. It has served me well, but I can't get it started (it won't even turn over), and since we live in an isolated rural area 80 miles from the nearest Sears, heaven knows who could possibly fix it. I hate to see it, but this tractor has never, never, NEVER let me down. Never even had the belts changed, and it still works perfectly, but now I turn the key and it's just dead, even with a brand new battery.

I'm thinking of just retiring it and getting a new one. I use my big Mahindra tractor for most of our farm work here, but the little tractor is great for things like towing a 40-gallon boom sprayer, that sort of thing. I do NOT need a big, fancy, expensive one with a zillion horsepower. 15HP should be plenty, unless they're measuring HP differently these days.

Problem is, I'm sure they "don't make'em like they used to," and I'm afraid I'll end up with a piece of junk. Are there any common brands out there, or maybe specific models, that have this kind of old-school reliability?

Sorry to say that they do not make anything as good as they did back in the day. Today's engineers use a study in which they figure the time life of a product in relation to how much the product cost to make. I recently purchased a very expensive car, yet the limited warranty only covered 36,000 mile Yet the coil packs were implied to last 100,000 miles. Mine only lasted 39,000. Cost of finding the fault was $89.00., the cost of the part $120.00
The labor cost of replacing it was $380.00. I bought the part at Auto Zone and and replaced the part in less the 15 minutes. Total cost was $210.00. I saved $380.00 by doing the labor myself. It seems that anybody that owns equipment should take the time to learn how to work on it. You can buy test equipment the is really inexpensive and check the system yourself. 1. Jumper wire. 2. Voltage tester for checking voltage drops. 3. Amperage tester for testing the loads. You can go to youtube and watch just about anything in which to work on equipment. It really isn't that hard if you start from the basics. For a quick test I would check the ground wire on your battery to see if there is a voltage drop to the frame. If there isn't I would run the hot wire straight to the starter bypassing the silonoid. If it still doesn't turn the engine I would remove the starter to see if the engine will will spin by turning the flywheel. That would eliminate the starter. Take out the spark plug to see if you can turn the engine by hand. If you can go and check to see if the timing is correct. You will need to remove the fly wheel, to see if the key to flywheel is shaved or the flywheel slot is damaged. Hope this helps.

 

[MessickFarmEqu]

Now thats funny,why would you not touch a new john deere?Let me guess you sell kubota,simplicity and new holland?LOL,coobie

man, you guys are like a bunch of politicians taking stuff out of context! Did you not read in the same sentance that I'd grab a Deere 425 / 430? The new ones are just not built like those where. Several of our employees have them.

 

[Agent Blue]

There are many fine reliable garden tractors on the market. One just has to part with a little cash to complete the deal. Don't but the price beaters because they are intended for the person with a 20' x 20' lawn that gets cut ten times a year. There is a quality threshold in everything from toys to earth movers. I personally buy John deere and currently have a 4110 series tractor. Never have a problem, no need to discredit their engineering. Do I pay a little more for this service ....? Of course, and its not a big difference to complain about. So if a Yugo gets you there fine........ I will be driving the Corvette.

 

[Carl Bert]

There are many fine reliable garden tractors on the market. One just has to part with a little cash to complete the deal. Don't but the price beaters because they are intended for the person with a 20' x 20' lawn that gets cut ten times a year. There is a quality threshold in everything from toys to earth movers. I personally buy John deere and currently have a 4110 series tractor. Never have a problem, no need to discredit their engineering. Do I pay a little more for this service ....? Of course, and its not a big difference to complain about. So if a Yugo gets you there fine........ I will be driving the Corvette.

Nicely put. Just so you know Messicks, the new Deeres are one **** of a machine. I have both Deeres and Kubotas and I think they are both well worth the money, well at least in comparison to the competition they are. Just as you guys are always one step ahead of rest, as far as pricing.

 

[Turbys_1700]

In the mid 80's I bought a Wheel Horse...
I took advantage of a promotional interest rate from Wheel Horse and purchased their top garden tractor...
It had a 20 HP Onan engine, spin on oil filter, and hydro stat drive...
I sold it to my dad after 5 years of trouble free service...
Dad ran it 5 years until it was stolen...
I think that we replaced 1 tire in that amount of time and perhaps a set of blades...
I am thinking that at the time that unit listed for over $4500...
It was real expensive...
It was really good too...
I bet that the darn thing is still running...
$4500 in the mid 80's would be the equivalent of $10K or so now...
You get what you pay for...
Personally, I would opt for a sub compact unit over a garden tractor now...
Again, that is just personal preference...