I have a Craftsman GT 3000 and an LT 1000. They are great for the money spent IMO and have held up very well for me under some pretty rough conditions. Especially the GT 3000.
As far as the LT's go, they are not as good as the higher priced stuff from Cub or Deere (Cub 2K and Deere LT/LX), and of course dont compare at all to Simplicity or Kubota. But I think they compare very well against the low end Deere and Cubs at the box stores and beat most all the other low end MTD stuff they carry hands down.
Craftsmans are basically the same tractor as equivilent Husqvarna without some of the nice upgrade features found in their orange relatives. Their manuals have very good Illistrated parts break down and if you are at all handy, they are simple to fix. How good their service is I think depends on the area. Some places Sears service is very good, others I hear are lousy. I dont know first hand, since I've never had to call them out.
The things I dont like about the Craftsman LT design is the poor steering support and the thin drag link on their lower end LTs. Also, the draw bar could be thicker material on them too IMHO. I dont know how that part compares with other LTs but I want mine a little thicker /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif. They have bushings in the front wheels instead of bearings. There are very few grease zerks and not enough IMHO. The exposed steering sector gear gets dirty if greased over time and steers hard if it isnt. The lowest end models have stamped front axles, the better ones have cast iron.
Enough on my Craftsman experience /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Kurt