Will no longer buy Craftsman/Sears Products!!

[jgrinn]

Well had a friend who owns a tool and die shop, cut and mill down, and thread for a tie rod end. It was no small project since the rods are not straight and hard to fit in most tooling machines.

I am probably buying a Deere x500 series. A huge difference between tractors for only another $2600. By the way, I mow around 5 1/2 - 6 acres. Some of it not a perfect manicured lawn, but by far not a field.

 

[murphy1244]

How about the durability of the machine? Will it last for years or is it disposable like my YT3000?

Simplicity is now owned by Briggs and Stratton. My machine is a 2010 and has grease fittings and now have 210 hours and the cutting season just started. My Neighbor has a Simplicity that's 27 years old and looks and runs very good. I would say the durability on these are great if you buy the Conquest or up model.

 

[stevem5215]

Wow, 5.5 - 6 acres with a Craftsman ? I don't think I'd buy any Lawn Tractor for that even. Go for a B series Kubota. You need it. Anything else is too small and you'll burn it up too.

Steve

 

[Gary Fowler]

I have a Craftsman ZTS6000 (zero turn) and have used it for 3 years mowing about 5 acres and have had no problems. The belt is starting to slip a bit in high grass but I have a new one ($90) ready to install when this original finally gets too bad to use. I paid $2900 for it and so far had battery replaced under warranty and one micro-switch on the parking brake both of which went out the first year. My BIL has a GT5000 and mows about 2.5 acres of lawn and has had it for 5 years without ANY issues. I think they are as good as you can get without going into the $7 to 10 K or 20K like the Kubota. Dollar for hours use in most cases is pretty darned good. Lemons are available in every brand including John Deere and Kubota and should not be used for tossing the brand out as bad investment/never buy labeling.
By the way, I think MTD makes just about every brand of low cost mower made these days (see below listing from Wikipedia)

MTD's brands
Bolens
Columbia
Cub Cadet Cub Cadet Commercial
Cub Cadet Yanmar (joint with Yanmar)
Farm King
GardenWay
Gold Series
Gutbrod Gutbrod-Kehrer
Lawnflite
Mastercut
Mow Master Mow Master Mastercut
MTD MTD Black Edition
MTD Silver Edition
MTD Gold
MTD Mowmaster
MTD Platinum Pro
MTD Platinum SD
MTD Pro
MTD Super
MTD Taral
MTD Tradesman
MTD Turbomax
MTD 2000 Elite
Novotrac
Ranch King
Rasentrac
Remington
Ryobi (sold at Costco)
Troy-Bilt
Ventzki
Ventzki MTD
White Outdoor]
Yard Machines
Yard-Man Yard-Man Elite
Yard-Man Select
YardWorks

Private label brands produced

MTD builds or has built various other brands and store-brand lawn and garden tractors over the years, including:


Private Label Brands Produced [hide]





Ace
Agria
Agway
Bavaria Trac
Benassi
Blue Grass
Brill
Bullcraft
Celebration
Cenex (for Farmers Union Oil)
Central Park
Club
CMI
Coast to Coast (for Coast to Coast)
Craftsman
Dayton (for Grainger)
EagleStar (for National Yard Products Dist)
Eden Park
EDT
E-Flor
Estate
EuroTrac
Fair Way (for Verts Loisirs)
Fleurelle
FloraPro
FloraSelf
Florica
Floride
Forest City
Gardol
Golf
Grand Air
Granja
Hako
Hayter
Hechinger
Huskee (for Tractor Supply) Huskee LE
Huskee Supreme

HWI (for HWI Do It Best)
Iseki
JCPenney
Juwel
Kgro (for Kmart)
Landmark
Lawn Chief (for True Value)
Lawn General
Lowe's
Mark Master
Massey Ferguson
Mastercraft (for Canadian Tire)
Mastercut
Merex
Motec
MotoStandard
MPP
Mr. Bricolage
Oleo-Mac
Peugot
PowerPro (for Kmart)
PowrKraft (for Montgomery Ward)
Quality (for Quality Farm & Fleet) Quality Farm & Fleet

Raiffeisentrac
Ranch King (for Mid-States Buying Group) Ranch King Pro

Rasentraktor
Select Series
Sentar
ServiStar (for ServiStar)
Stiga
Signature 2000 (for Montgomery Ward)
Stadium
Statesman (for Southern States Cooperative)
Task Force
Texas
Topflite
Toro (including some lower-priced models sold at Home Depot and Ace Hardware, perhaps others, although not all Toro tractors are made by MTD)
Tromeca
Turbo Silent
Turf King
Turf-Power
Turf Pro
Turf-Trac
Unico (for Southern States stores)
Uniropa
Univert
Val Garden
Vario
Verts Loisirs
Victa
Viking
Wards
Wizard (for Western Auto)
Yard Works

 

[sam5570]

Gary mtd does make all these mower's but each company has a diferent set of standards for them to use to make there machine. the specs on some brands are designed very cheap and some are a lot better. I think MTD has been making craftsman for many years and I have owned 2 of them with no problem's at all.

 

[Midniteoyl]

I have a Craftsman ZTS6000 (zero turn) and have used it for 3 years mowing about 5 acres and have had no problems. The belt is starting to slip a bit in high grass but I have a new one ($90) ready to install when this original finally gets too bad to use. I paid $2900 for it and so far had battery replaced under warranty and one micro-switch on the parking brake both of which went out the first year. My BIL has a GT5000 and mows about 2.5 acres of lawn and has had it for 5 years without ANY issues. I think they are as good as you can get without going into the $7 to 10 K or 20K like the Kubota. Dollar for hours use in most cases is pretty darned good. Lemons are available in every brand including John Deere and Kubota and should not be used for tossing the brand out as bad investment/never buy labeling.
By the way, I think MTD makes just about every brand of low cost mower made these days (see below listing from Wikipedia)

MTD's brands
Bolens
Columbia
Cub Cadet Cub Cadet Commercial
Cub Cadet Yanmar (joint with Yanmar)
Farm King
GardenWay
Gold Series
Gutbrod Gutbrod-Kehrer
Lawnflite
Mastercut
Mow Master Mow Master Mastercut
MTD MTD Black Edition
MTD Silver Edition
MTD Gold
MTD Mowmaster
MTD Platinum Pro
MTD Platinum SD
MTD Pro
MTD Super
MTD Taral
MTD Tradesman
MTD Turbomax
MTD 2000 Elite
Novotrac
Ranch King
Rasentrac
Remington
Ryobi (sold at Costco)
Troy-Bilt
Ventzki
Ventzki MTD
White Outdoor]
Yard Machines
Yard-Man Yard-Man Elite
Yard-Man Select
YardWorks

Private label brands produced

MTD builds or has built various other brands and store-brand lawn and garden tractors over the years, including:


Private Label Brands Produced [hide]





Ace
Agria
Agway
Bavaria Trac
Benassi
Blue Grass
Brill
Bullcraft
Celebration
Cenex (for Farmers Union Oil)
Central Park
Club
CMI
Coast to Coast (for Coast to Coast)
Craftsman
Dayton (for Grainger)
EagleStar (for National Yard Products Dist)
Eden Park
EDT
E-Flor
Estate
EuroTrac
Fair Way (for Verts Loisirs)
Fleurelle
FloraPro
FloraSelf
Florica
Floride
Forest City
Gardol
Golf
Grand Air
Granja
Hako
Hayter
Hechinger
Huskee (for Tractor Supply) Huskee LE
Huskee Supreme

HWI (for HWI Do It Best)
Iseki
JCPenney
Juwel
Kgro (for Kmart)
Landmark
Lawn Chief (for True Value)
Lawn General
Lowe's
Mark Master
Massey Ferguson
Mastercraft (for Canadian Tire)
Mastercut
Merex
Motec
MotoStandard
MPP
Mr. Bricolage
Oleo-Mac
Peugot
PowerPro (for Kmart)
PowrKraft (for Montgomery Ward)
Quality (for Quality Farm & Fleet) Quality Farm & Fleet

Raiffeisentrac
Ranch King (for Mid-States Buying Group) Ranch King Pro

Rasentraktor
Select Series
Sentar
ServiStar (for ServiStar)
Stiga
Signature 2000 (for Montgomery Ward)
Stadium
Statesman (for Southern States Cooperative)
Task Force
Texas
Topflite
Toro (including some lower-priced models sold at Home Depot and Ace Hardware, perhaps others, although not all Toro tractors are made by MTD)
Tromeca
Turbo Silent
Turf King
Turf-Power
Turf Pro
Turf-Trac
Unico (for Southern States stores)
Uniropa
Univert
Val Garden
Vario
Verts Loisirs
Victa
Viking
Wards
Wizard (for Western Auto)
Yard Works

Dont forget John Deere...

 

[DT86]

Dont forget John Deere...

Wrong.

 

[Midniteoyl]

Wrong.

...

 

[DT86]

...

8) Yeah yeah.

 

[Gary Fowler]

The website didn't list any JD models but I would bet money that they are not made by JD, at least the box store variety for sure and perhaps some of the other low end models as well. If the CUT's are farmed out to 3rd world countries, you can bet the lawn mowers and garden tractors are also, but I don't want to start an argument with those who bleed green. Specifications prescribed to the sub-supplier goes only so far in getting a good product. Material quality and worker competency cant be made better than what is available in the country of origin.