Purchased new 26 HP Craftsman DSG 6500 Garden Tractor

[SCDolphin]

I bought a GT 6500 last year with the 48 vs 52 inch deck. The HST tranny is rated to pull ground impliments not any of the JD even in the 3K range were rated even to pull a cart. The only problem I have had is when it was brand new one of the idler pulleys was not bolted so it came loose. It took a little time to fiqure out how the belt was routed since the diagram was wrong. Also every once in a while it will throw the belt if I engage the blades in it's highest setting. Once it is warmed up....no problems. It takes literally 20 seconds to put the belt back on. In 30 hours I have had it pop off twice. Now I put it in the #4 position when I engage the blades and no problems

I love the mower. The Kohler is very easy on gas and the 3 small blades in the deck are really stout. I had heard that 3 bladed decks don't pick up debris but this one is a vacum cleaner. It will cut any type of high grass and never slows down...........I love it almost as much as my Kubota

 

[Joe573]

i've been looking at the johnny bucket and this loader on e-bay:
John Deere custom made front loader attachment - eBay (item 260293494174 end time Oct-08-08 19:26:37 PDT)
it looks a lot more capable, runs 1500-2000 depending on attachments and it has a joy stick type control. has anybody used one of these?

 

[Stimw]

Another person who would never buy a Craftsman. I got a 6-8 year old GT that was put out to the curb up the street. I cleaned it up, replaced steering bushings, put tubes in the flat tires, ordered a new deck, installed new spindle bearings and put on new blades. I had $200. in it.
It cut like crap! if I mowed every four days it was OK but otherwise it left a lot of grass tops just bent over and you could see the center blade barely even cut. If you cut twice it got everything. And my right side got covered with grass and dirt. I even double checked to see that the blades were turning the right way. The problem was that the discharge chute area wasn't tall enough to discharge the grass. If I tied the chute up I could look down and see about 3" of the blade, that was no good either.
It was a $2500. tractor with a $5. deck. I sold it for $400. (the cat didn't go with it!) and bought a Cub Cadet 1550 which mows like a comercial unit and has a very good discharge chute.

 

[Ivan1547]

I have a 2006 GT6500 with the 26 Kohler engine and 52" deck and love it.

It worked well last year throughout all the seasons. I put on a 48" snowblade, rear weights, and tire chains for the winter and pushed snow with it, it never skipped a beat. The machine was too light for heavy plowing, so I bought a Massey 1547 for this year.

The only problems in the summer that I have had is:

Bolts came off on seat...real tough repair there.

Wife did not know how to drive with the hydrostatic drive and drove it through the fence (when it had only 3 hours on it of course)...the hood was a bit harder to straighten out.

Forgot to fully shut off the ignition switch one night, when I came back to the unit the hour meter racked up 120 addional hours on it...so now the hour meter reads 160 hours.

I put that little machine through heck...it cut down thistle in the fields before I got the Massey.

Still love it.

Ivan

 

[Fordlords]

For Stimw, reading your post, you double checked that the blades were spinning the right way, that is good. Did you double check to see if the deck was level to the tractor? When you state the right side was covered with grass and dirt, I'm fairly safe to say the deck was not level or improperly mounted to the tractor.

Your post is like saying, "I picked up a car at the junkyard, put some money in to it, and it still didn't work. Therefore, the car manufacturer makes junk." Just a bit absurd, don't you think?

-Fordlords-

 

[Stimw]

The deck WAS level, the problem as I stated was the deck design. It wasn't tall enough at the discharge point for the grass to flow and discharge. The reason that I got dirty and covered with grass is the chute didn't extend far enough out to throw the grass and get it away from the deck. The deck was a poor design.
Regardless of where I got the tractor, since the deck and ALL wear parts were new AND installed correctly I can safely say the design was crap.
I have gotten vehicles from junkyards and some were better that others. I will also state that I will never own another Ford vehicle. Ford builds them, sells them then lets the customer figure out what will fail and then MAYBE fix the faults. One example- twin idiot beam front axle, that was pure junk. Alignment cost 4 times as much as GM, strut bushings failed in less than 15K miles. And it took them 30 years to finally switch to A Frame which GM had in the 60's.
I repaired Semi's for 30 years, supervised three shops in two states for international companies and now have my own business selling and repairing construction equipment. I am also a Honda Small Engine Dealer so I think I can make an educated evaluation on a mower deck or vehicle design.

 

[Ivan1547]

Thought this might be a good forum to show my 6500.

 

[SCDolphin]

I am still happy with my GT6500. Now with about 50 hrs

 

[PBinWA]

Over a year since my last post and my GT5000 is still going strong. It got an oil change this year and even bought it a new air filter. It spends the whole winter outside parked under some fir trees and started up fine this spring.

 

[Paystar]

You know, I used to have a hate-on for sears too. But I kinda learned otherwise. I got my first tractor used (can't remember the model but it was grey with a red stripe, 16 h.p.) from a friend. Two acres of my yard is lawn (manicured weeds) and with all my maple trees and winds off the lake I am always running over branches. Well I got 8 years out of that tractor with no maintenence (maybe changed the oil when i remembered) and my friend who also had a yard as big as mine used it many years before that. My sore points with it were sears parts seemed very pricey (had to replace mower spindles and many belts). And due to it's design you practically had to disassemble the tractor to change a belt. Also found that while sears wanted $60.00 for a belt i could get a power rated belt from one of my industrial suppliers for $14.00. The snow blower also had Wooden! bushings to locate the auger ($80.00 to replace) and it frequently threw belts.
Now that I'm older and wiser I realize most of my problems were "my" problems.....ie...lack of maintenance and pure abuse on a machine that like you say....is designed for a small yard and driveway...not 2 acres of lawn and 300 plus feet of snowblowing.
I did retire that tractor due to it having too many wore and broken parts to make it worth spending the money on. I now have another used Craftsman inherited when my father passed. I did some tlc and maintenance and it works great. It's a 1998 with a Bercomac blower and collection system. What I learned now (as I am restoring an old MTD for my son) that Sears parts aren't really any more expensive than parts for an MTD or the stuff at tractor supply (other than the $280.00 they want for a seat.....not!) Heck I just ordered lift arms for the mower deck (my dad never did put the deck on, always had it set up for snowblowing only and they got lost) and even though they said they were out of stock, I had them in 2 days.
So what I guess I'm trying to say is they aren't all that bad, yes you can get a lemmon, but same with all the brands. I also have to laugh at all the posts suggesting you can't maintain 2 plus acres unless you have a $15,000.00 John Deere. Fifteen years, 2 acres of lawn 300 plus feet of snow blowing and my old junker "lawn" tractor still did the job.