June 13 2025:
Oh Boy ! Here we go.. Tractors Again !
Justification !
Do I need a tractor to cut the lawn ? Well sort of.. My right leg isn’t working as good … so pushing my EGO mower I run out of steam quickly. Hills like we have are hard. I borrowed one just like this and way easier for me. I feel like I could cut everyone’s grass. So there. Also I got this one cheap.. And yes it needs some work, but we drove it onto the trailer.. It runs ! Yes it has a mower deck. I removed it because they get caught on the ramp of the trailer.
Just your typical 42 ” deck. Not rusty, not missing parts.. Only the plastic chute is held on with wire ! Oh and it came with a bagging system.. BONUS..
Not broken.. and the good hard bagging system too. This tractor was one of my favourite Craftsman mowers. ( my very favourite has foot peddle controls) But for my needs the leaver control works better. In the past I have had many of this exact tractor go through my shop. So I know all about them. Here’s a photo of one ..
Proof ! This photo was taken in May 2018.. And was taken after I worked a little magic on it and now ready to sell. Now fast forward to 2025.. and these are worth much more than the $500 I was asking.. More like $1200. One of the issues that most of these mid 2000’s YT , YS and even the D series had was and weak dash and the metal console that held the steering wheel and other controls. I did a video on the problem and my fix foe it. This new YS3500 also has this problem.
Old video from 2016..
So I have some work to do.. and no shop.. I’m working outside. It’s going to wait till later July after our camping time. However I’m picking away at some things. I’ve cleaned the deck so I can see what’s needed. Blades for sure and the belt that’s missing.. The spindles seem good just need some grease. I’ll need to make a way to mount the deflector back on.. Straighten out a few bent things.. and we are good.
Here’s a short video showing how bad the steering is. The plan is to take that whole dash and tower apart so I can weld some extra support. I’m also working on restoring the deck.. It’s getting a rust treatment with “Krudkutter” as seen in this photo.
Turns the rust white. And then a coat of paint. The arbours and blade mounts are in very good condition. So are the gauge wheels… Blades not so much.
New blades are on the way. Today I had some spare time so I got to taking the steering and the console / dash apart. A great opportunity to clean some grass and crap out from all the spaces.
Here’s the bottom of the console. Only one bolt still had the ear to hold it on. And someone used JB weld to “try” and fix it. I will weld new metal, and all six bolts will have something to hold onto.
Here’s where it mounts.. You can do better with wider metal. By the way with the console taken away there is only four more bolts and the fender / foot well comes off for a good cleaning. Which did happen…
There you have it.. I don’t take stuff apart unless I’m going to clean it. And ! The the naked tractor is very easy to clean…
I should have done a before & after photo.. Trust me it was very dirty. Good time to lubricate the moving parts now. Then put the body back on.. And that’s a good place for a new page…