Longevity of Yard Machines lawn tractors?

[MT372HERE]

Yeh, I rammed mine into "something" and got it hung up so bad it threw the deck belt ... because the deck got jammed into the deck drive pully and mashed the 2 halves together so it squirted the belt out. Pully rusted onto shaft. Had to crawl under with channel locks and file to get the pully to look mostly normal.
I almost wish the dang thing would die ... there was a guy on here that's in a lawn tractor demo derby club ... sounds like a fitting retirement!

Heh, I had a Craftsman self propelled mower that I had to replace the belt on, and I had to replace the blade adapter, and I put the pullers on it, heated it til it glowed, beat on it, couldnt get it off to save my life..

I gave up and turned it back upright and heard a "tink" Flipped it back it fell off.

What is was was Iwas "pressing" against what I thought was the center of the crankshaft, when infact I was pressing the center of the adapter.,,Oh well, I learned.

I got a Craftsman L1000 Rider that they guy hit something hard enough to bend one of the blades about 6" DOWN...

 

[zuren1cs]

Thanks for the replies. I'll be doing the normal maintenance and it will be stored in either the garage or an outbuilding of some kind (not yet constructed) so it may be lasting me a while. I think it has been abused some (not sure if/when the oil was last changed, mower blades are dull/shot) so we'll see how long she goes.

Thanks!

 

[LBrown59]

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[LBrown59]

I just bought a new house and negotiated for the lawn tractor the owner still had in the garage. It is a Yard Machines (built by MTD for Home Depot) with 42" mower and 17.5 HP Briggs & Stratton engine. It's about a $1000 machine. It appears to be a couple years old, so I'm curious to know if these are cheaply made tractors that I can count on giving me problems sooner rather than later, or will it last me a while?

I'd like to upgrade to a sub-compact tractor, so if I can sell it or get a trade-in value on it while it's still worth something, I'd like to know!

Thanks!

these are cheaply made

 

[LBrown59]

Assuming it's the right size tractor for your property and the tasks you want it to perform with proper maintenance you should get 7 to 10 years out of it. I got 6 solid years out of a Craftsman GT before I sold it and could have gotten several more I think. I am a fanatic about greasing, changing oil and oil filters/air filters at least twice a season. And I don't beat the crap out of my equipment. Overkill I'm sure, but oil, grease and filters are relatively cheap.

If you are looking at sub-cuts, check out the Massey GC2300, Kubota BX2350, New Holland TZ series and the JD 2305. Skip the Cub Cadet 5000 series, I had 2 of them. Major problems with both.

Good luck.

Didn't help my *PowerKraft a bit.
*AKA MTD

 

[LBrown59]

I don't know yet. I bought a 15.5 hp IC OHV briggs / 42 inch Yard machine rider last spring. $850. Working good so far. I mow about 2.5 acres with it this summer.
I have 2 Yardman self propelled walk behind mowers. One was 9 yrs old when the wife hit a stump and bent the crank. good engine and rest, so I will straighten or replace the crank when I get time. Bought another one a couple of years ago, going good.
Ben

Bought A MTD PowerKrap .Ran ok that summer then never ran right again after that .
Constantly Battled the blasted thing for 11 long years tryin to keep it running.
Finally got fed up with it and bought a new CC 2554 garden tractor ; what I should have done 11 years ago instead of gitting The MTD _ P K.
There is just no comparrison between the box store tractors and a real garden tractor.

 

[LBrown59]

My Aunt bought one new 2 years ago...what a HEAP

I do all the service on it, and I have my own small engine shop, with full supplies.

I cut 1 acre with it.

1. The Blades dont last long at all, but when I upgraded to Gators, they lasted 2-3 times longer.
2- the 18hp engine runs too slow, and too lean- Raised speed to 3600, and run it 1/4 choked
3- The Reverse lockout is a PITA, and must be disabled, or else you have to lift the deck all the way to reverse.
4- The steering pinion gear is cheap, and strips easily, this one after only 1 season.

It starts and runs, and ir does cut grass..but it BARELY does its job. The Variable speed belts are expensive, and a pain to replace, and from what Ive seen, 2-3 years is tops for a set of belts, 2 years for deck belt.

Dont pull anything of any weight with it, as the trans is weak, and tends to break easily.

Still better than a Murray though.

Sounds like my monkey wards MTD

 

[LBrown59]

As far springs, and one rear tire that got mangled on a piece of pipe.
In the low buck category, all of the light LT's are pretty much the same regardless of brand. You usually get an entry level Briggs Intek or Kohler Courage engine, a light gauge stamped box section, "Frame," (not really a frame at all), a Peerless LT out there today.

-Fordlords-

The Majority brand being MTD regardless of the Label on the hood.

 

[LBrown59]

The typical $1000 tractor will last as long or as short as the maintenance it gets. Fix the small stuff before it becomes big stuff and do a regular check over for the small stuff, and it will last a long time. Beat it like a rented mule, and it will be scrap in no time at all. The other major factor is using the machine for tasks it was designed for and not trying to grossly exceed the capabilities of the tractor. Examples: Using it as a brush cutter in a 10 acre field, repeatedly slamming the snow plow into the 4 foot high wall of ice at the end of the driveway, towing your 4,000 pound truck out of a ditch, having a teenager pop wheelies every chance he gets, bashing into trees, buildings and other immoveable objects are all ways to quickly kill a small lawn tractor (doesn't do big ones much good either).

I never done any of this with my Wards M T D but it still didn't help that lemon at all.

 

[LBrown59]

Yeh, mine will probably fall apart now that I'm not busting rocks with it.

YER probably rite:
I kept my 18 hp 46' cut Power Kraft for touch up mowing in the places I couldn't get to with the BX23.
I'm not saying with the Small rear wheels it don't have much traction but the thing gets hung up on it's own shadow.

I Just recently replaced it with a new CC GT2554 garden tractor.
I got tired of trying to use a dead tractor for eleven years.