Newbie w/questions

16 years ago

Hello everyone,

I am new here,and I have a few questions,and decisions to make. I have been in our home for 4 years now,and it has a very well landscaped yard that the previous owner kept in great shape. I have been doing my best,but I don't have the green thumb,nor time the previous owner had. I have two young kids,and a full time job,plus side work,and a part-time working wife.

My problem is with the 15 or so year old Craftsman lawn tractor that the previous owner left for me. It has worked pretty well for me over the last 3 seasons,but at the end of last fall it wouldn't start for me to do the last cutting before winter. The battery in the tractor is new,and I have even used a deep cycle battery from our camper,and jumper cables direct to the starter,but still the engine turns over extremely slowly to the point where it won't start. If I pull the spark plug out it turns over fine. I know the engine isn't siezed as I can turn in by hand,and the piston is moving in,and out, The valves are moving as well,but the engine is not turning fast enough to start.

I have a small budget to get a mower for this season,and I wanted to ask your opinions. Do I either buy my friends John Deere STX38 that is about 5-6 years old for $700(upper end of my budget if not over by a bit),buy a 2-3 year old Craftman Hydro drive 42" mower from a local JD dealer that was traded in for $400 through a relative that works at the dealer at cost,or a very similar Craftsman to the one I have now that I found on a local for sale site at $325. The JD my friend is selling is in superb shape,but the cost is high. The Craftsman 21.5 hp mower through the dealer/family member looks to be a nice machine,and comes with a plow I don't need. While driving it the other day at the dealer I found the engine surging,and that caused concern. My family member says they don't sevice non-JD stuff there,and the sale would be at his cost with no guarantee. He thinks it is just bad gas in the mower,but I don't know,and don't want to find out it needs lots of work,even though the price seems right. The third option is an unknown comodity as I have yet to look at it,but it seems to be very similar to the one I have,and maybe I could use mine as a parts donor if need be,and the price is the lowest of the bunch. Without seeing it in person yet though I ma not sure what to think about this option.

Any help on my mower problem,or advice on what to do about getting a new to me mower would be greatly appreciated. Sorry for being so long winded.

Chris in Massachusetts

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Comments (6)

metal
16 years ago
How big is your lawn, are there any slopes (if so what % or degree), what type of obstacles do you have to mow around, what else do you plan to do with the tractor besides mow?
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bill_kapaun
16 years ago
Which engine does it have. If it's a Briggs OHV, do a valve adjustment. Too much valve lash and the compression release doesn't work.
Also clean all the cable connections, including ALL grounds.
0
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mazdax605
Original Author
16 years ago
My lot is 1.5 acres with about only 3/4 of that or so being grass. The back yard has few obsticals in it,and I do use a push mower to do the edges,and around some of the obstacles. There are no hils,and all I plan to do with this tractor is mow the lawn. I have a dedicated walk behind snow thrower for snow removal,and I have no need to be towing anything beyond maybe my small utility trailer that has a dump bed.

The engine in my current mower is a Tecumseh 12hp. Sorry I didn't mention that before. The valve cover leaks pretty good for about the first couple of minutes,but then the gasket swelss enough to stop the leak. The mower has run low on oil in the past,but like I said it does spin free,and I don't think it is internally damaged,but I don't know for a fact. I removed the flywheel,and the key was not damaged. Do you guys think it is still a valve adjustment,and or the engine is building too much compression? I have cleaned up all the connections,and even going direct to the body of the starter with jumper cables from a deep cycle camper battery yields the same results.
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davidandkasie
16 years ago
sure soudns like valve lash to me. my Briggs did the exact same thing. i could turn it over by hand, but even with both a good battery and a battery charger on boost it would not turn over fast at all.
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swimjim
16 years ago
I suggested this to someone else and I will to you as well. Get a used Snapper RER. They cut grass fantastically and are easy and cheap to own.
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giventake
16 years ago
Humm why not a weak starter/connection?
0

Newbie w/questions

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metal

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metal

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