Lawn Tractor - JD vs Craftsman

[fih25]

My advice, if the craftsman has a Briggs&Stratton motor, don't walk away, RUN. I have purchased 3 craftsman tractors with B&S motors, the first in 1987(11 hp) was/is great. I gave it to my wife's grandfather in 1996 and it's still running today. HOWEVER, I bought a 15 hp in 1995 and had to have the engine replaced in 1999(blowing smoke, lost compression), I sold it in 2000 and purchased a 16 hp that same year. It had the motor replaced in 2004(again blowing smoke, lost compression), and now it's starting to slowly use oil again, which means it may need replaced again (since that was the first indication of trouble on the other two motors), notice the trend, the motors only last 4 years. Briggs used to make a good motor but not anymore.

 

[Shaman]

I had a 1999 20hp Craftsman Auto. Engine, Frame and Deck held up fine.
Transmission went out due to my lawn slope (1acre front lawn and 1/2 acre back lawn) and hauling a roller and sweep. Not really the tractors fault, though at the time it was a higher end Craftsman. I was just sold on HP instead of Transmission.

If you have a hilly lawn, Transmission will be more important than HP.
Buy a used JD (or Kubota). I got my LX277 this year for <$2000 and it has the TT K62 transmission. The LX200 series are just now really coming into the used market since the introduction of the new X series catching on with AWD.

I paid the same amount, 8 years apart.
The craftsman was just traded for a 20year old working snow blower.
If the JD last another 8 years, I'll be happy.

My craftsman would barely make it up this hill with a full load. (click picture for video)
I'm loving the stronger transmission.

 

[fih25]

My last craftsman I bought looks exactly like the one you pictured, (except for the grass catcher, and the cute rider).
Anyway, I see that your's was a 20 hp, maybe the 20 hp was a better motor than the 16 hp that came with mine, I just know that the last 2 Craftsman's I bought with briggs motors ended up needing replaced. Also I used the first one I bought(the 11 hp in 1987) harder than the last two I bought in 95 and 2000, and it has WAY outlasted the motors on the ones purchased in 95 and 2000. I used the 87 for plowing with a snow blade as well as hauling stone in a cart. The 95 and 2000 have just been used for mowing around the house and using a snowthrower, which is not near as heavy as the plow on the 87 was.

Most of my snow removal I do now is done now with a Kubota , so the craftsman tractor only does a small amount of snow removal anymore.

In closing, again I would recommend to anyone to stay away from Briggs and Stratton motors no matter what brand of tractor they buy

 

[csr0831]

I'm not quite sure why a Craftsman is being compaired to a John Deer. I don't think anyone would argue against the fact that a Craftsman is not the same mower a JD is, it's not, nor was it ever intended to be. It was intended for residential use on an occational basis (i.e cutting grass once a week vs. 5 - 8 hrs a day 5 days a week). For what it is, it's a pretty good value for the money. IF you want something that is at least twice the machine, go buy a JD/Kabota/Walker/etc. at twice to four tiems the money.

Chris

 

[LBrown59]

I'm not quite sure why a Craftsman is being compaired to a John Deer. I don't think anyone would argue against the fact that a Craftsman is not the same mower a JD is, it's not, nor was it ever intended to be. It was intended for residential use on an occational basis (i.e cutting grass once a week vs. 5 - 8 hrs a day 5 days a week). For what it is, it's a pretty good value for the money. IF you want something that is at least twice the machine, go buy a JD/Kabota/Walker/etc. at twice to four tiems the money.

Chris

Or a Cub Cadet 2500 or 3000 series at half the cost of a JD or Kubota.

 

[Shaman]

I'm not quite sure why a Craftsman is being compared to a John Deer.

Chris

Because JD now has machines in the Craftsman Price Point.
And I would dare say a new $3000 craftsman will out perform a new $1500 John Deere.

What I and some others are saying is that it might be a better choice to buy a use higher end JD that will outperform and outlast that $3k new Craftsman.

 

[war_eagle]

There appear to be two lines of thinking here. First are those who say that all entry level LTs are the same. Those include all the box store brands, most Craftsman and Husqvarna, and include the JD 100 series. These folks say they are all equally GOOD, given reasonable care and maintenance, and should provide years of reliable service if used on even terrain, not too hilly, and not for heavy pulling or ground engaging activity. The second line of thinking also says these LTs are the same, only equally JUNK and that the only thing to do is step in grade to the line not sold in box stores. These include the JD 300 series, the CC 2500 series, the Kubota line, etc. For the second group, I have a question. In order to buy new, it appears you are saying that I have to spend at least $2000, probably $2500 just to mow my lawn?? Can you see anything wrong with this way of thinking? If this is actually true modern lawn mowers are awfully junky. Otherwise some of you have way too much money.

 

[Shaman]

In order to buy new, it appears you are saying that I have to spend at least $2000, probably $2500 just to mow my lawn?? Can you see anything wrong with this way of thinking?

'Just mowing the lawn' to a lot of people means hauling a bagger, maybe a roller, and perhaps a sweep, often of an acre or more and sometimes with slopes. Once you start adding weight and drag to the 'mow' and perhaps a slope, that extra money will equal longevity. A $2500 tractor that last 15 years is less expensive than two $1500 mowers that need to be replaced every 7-8 years.

And until I win powerball, I have to ask myself.
"why buy new?".
For the same price as new you can get twice the tractor at the same price point, sometimes in as few as two or three years depreciation. I got a $5,000 LX277 for $1800 and it is less than 5 years old. The box store level $2000+ tractor will see even more depreciation than the JD I picked up (I did cross shop).

 

[LBrown59]

There appear to be two lines of thinking here. First are those who say that all entry level LTs are the same. Those include all the box store brands, most Craftsman and Husqvarna, and include the JD 100 series. These folks say they are all equally GOOD, given reasonable care and maintenance, and should provide years of reliable service if used on even terrain, not too hilly, and not for heavy pulling or ground engaging activity.
The second line of thinking also says these LTs are the same, only equally 1*JUNK and that the only thing to do is step up in grade to the line not sold in box stores. These include the JD 300 series, the CC 2500 series, the Kubota line, etc.
For the second group, I have a question. In order to buy new,
2*it appears you are saying that I have to spend at least $2000, probably $2500 just to mow my lawn??
Can you see anything wrong with this way of thinking?
3*If this is actually true modern lawn mowers are awfully junky.
4*Otherwise some of you have way too much money.
************~~~~~~`````````=======.

*********~~~~~~`````````=======
1*I had a box store Tractor.
It was the only junk one out of the 7 tractors I've owned.
I replaced it with a CC GT2554.
No comparison world of difference between them.
2*It's cheaper than buying several of the throwaways over the years.
3*well they haint nuthin to write home about.
4* I've never experienced that-unfortunately.
********~~~~~~`````````=======

 

[Gatorboy]

For the second group, I have a question. In order to buy new, it appears you are saying that I have to spend at least $2000, probably $2500 just to mow my lawn??

Depends on how big your lawn is. If you have more than 2 acres, then the entry-level tractors are going to wear out much faster than a typical homeowner owning the same mower. So, bite the bullet and buy a good quality machine that will last for many, many worry-free years.