Out with old ...In with the new!!

cwcad

cwcad

New Normal
You know in my neck of the woods when someone gets a classic....and by classic I mean all the things that make a vehicle a classic.....Like aluminum heads, solid state circuitry, solid yet light weight frame, rack and pinion steering, bucket seat, disc brakes. great paint job and power to spare...We take the time to do the classic buddy bonding thing, the touchy feely moment that many of today's youngsters feel uncomfortable with and the the oldsters, like me, that just let it blow right over there head. Missing it completely. The celebrated OOOO's and AHHHHHH's of someone's first classic anything. From sewing machines to televisions or from dvd's to children's clothes anyone that feels that they have achieved a good deal deserves to have the traditional ritual bestowed upon them It is written in the yet unwritten book of manly things that I intend to write when the time is right to write. But I digress.

I was looking over some classic beauties on the internet. I just could not hold back from purchasing. The incentives were just to lucrative. Zero percent interest, long term investment, and cash discounts make a deal with this little beauty a cinch. Just what I had been looking for. My old new one was a mini and the new one is a class step up with better seating, larger tires, and half again as much power without sacrificing much on economy. I usually prefer black or as in my case now red but this one is a sleeper. It is silver. The black of the seating mixes boldly with any mission my new silver fox will carry me off to I am sure. The gear driven transmission is very old school. Something that I am very comfortable with. My new rig seems to be a good fit. An old lug for an old lug, eh? It should be here in a week or two. I think I have a way to rid me of the old an introduce the new without to much fanfare. After all it is just for me. It is not like anyone else is going to want to use what I have in my stable. After all I am an old man.

Here is the old one.

craftsmanmower.jpg


Here is the new one.

07128601000craftsmanmower.jpg


I can't wait to detail it!!
 
Congrats! I have a similar one, albeit in red. I even dressed the tires at one point :).
BTW, it's single stage paint. For some reason, I know that :).
 
congrats on the new ride :hotrod:..so are we going to see some Tim Allen mods? I think it needs some flames to start:D
 
No mods ala Tim Allen but I am considering some Stainless Steele paint for the wheels. I saw the SS paint on an episode of Stacy David's "Gearz" tv show on Speed. I would like to get the wheel spikes for the rear wheels so I can aereate the lawn.
 
Oh man!! Sears jsut canceled my order for the new lawnmower. Said to high demand for the product and they were no longer able to fill my order and the it would be canceled. :mad:

It is another case of it too good to be true.:wall

On the good side I did find another model by Ariens that I was not aware of. Nice size at 34 inches with adequate power of 16 horse. With zero turning radius capabilities this is a new up and comer/ Alas, it is three times the cost as well. :eek:
 
cwcad said:
It is another case of it too good to be true.:wall
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More like another bad example of pitiful customer service from Sears. I read about stuff like this all the time over at SlickDeals.net.

No wonder places like K-Mart, Sears and Circuit City can't make money. They won't even sell you something when you want to buy it.
 
cwcad said:
Oh man!! Sears jsut canceled my order for the new lawnmower. Said to high demand for the product and they were no longer able to fill my order and the it would be canceled. :mad:

It is another case of it too good to be true.:wall

On the good side I did find another model by Ariens that I was not aware of. Nice size at 34 inches with adequate power of 16 horse. With zero turning radius capabilities this is a new up and comer/ Alas, it is three times the cost as well. :eek:
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I was not going to say anything as it seemed like you were very happy with your Craftsman purchase. That said, now that you've gotten past that you won't be sorry. I know, I know someone or someone's uncle has had the best luck with a Craftsman and I'll catch it for saying this. Craftsman mowers are manufactured by MTD. They are not and I'll argue the point with anyone, near the quality of Ariens, Commercial Snapper, Dixon, John Deere Commercial or Commercial Toro lawn tractors. There are a few other very good machines out there and you will notice that I used the term commercial in my list. Not all mowers within a line are created equal or even by the manufactures whose name is on the machine. Craftsman however are exclusively produced by MTD and they are at best an entry level machine, alot of bells and whistles but still an entry level machine. I'm glad you weren't able to get it. I say this having helped my father with his small engine sales and repair business for the past 30 years. I've seen them all and worked on most at one time or another. Some people have good luck with Craftsman machines but I can point to almost every area on their machine that will go bad well before other brands I mentioned. They Craftsman's are priced right but when you factor in the 20 years of use you get out of a higher quality mower the up front cost isn't much. You did well waiting for the next machine.
 
I have a 2001 Scotts (made by John Deere). The motor has been fine,..burns no oil, but I have broken a weld on the mower deck. It was a cheap 42-in model. My biggest gripe is cuts unevenly due to mower deck design.
 
GearHead_1 said:
I was not going to say anything as it seemed like you were very happy with your Craftsman purchase. That said, now that you've gotten past that you won't be sorry. I know, I know someone or someone's uncle has had the best luck with a Craftsman and I'll catch it for saying this. Craftsman mowers are manufactured by MTD. They are not and I'll argue the point with anyone, near the quality of Ariens, Commercial Snapper, Dixon, John Deere Commercial or Commercial Toro lawn tractors. There are a few other very good machines out there and you will notice that I used the term commercial in my list. Not all mowers within a line are created equal or even by the manufactures whose name is on the machine. Craftsman however are exclusively produced by MTD and they are at best an entry level machine, alot of bells and whistles but still an entry level machine. I'm glad you weren't able to get it. I say this having helped my father with his small engine sales and repair business for the past 30 years. I've seen them all and worked on most at one time or another. Some people have good luck with Craftsman machines but I can point to almost every area on their machine that will go bad well before other brands I mentioned. They Craftsman's are priced right but when you factor in the 20 years of use you get out of a higher quality mower the up front cost isn't much. You did well waiting for the next machine.
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I could not agree with you more. I was fully aware of its limitations. I actually have had good luck with my Craftsman products but I must admit that I have never kept them for twenty years either. What is a big deal is that it was a thirty-eight inch model that would allow me to get thru my privacy gate. I privately hate my privacy fence.
 
I owned many craftsman push mowers over the years...they never lasted more than 5 or 6 years before the mower deck rusted out and start drinking oil. The last couple were had issues with the plastic drive wheels wearing out but it saw some rough duty moving rock. I tended to get one of the less expensive mowers. Then several years I got a Toro and loved it. It was much lighter, The deck is thinner steel but seems to be a better grade and has rear drive (much better than front but then Craftsman makes those too). It still has a Tecumseh engine. The toro blades also seem to be holding up a lot better...the steel used seemed to not be as soft...does not dull quickly. Net, I think the lower end Craftsman mowers tend to be less expensive for a reason. They just do not tell you think when they offer 20 different models. Around here, the Husqvarna mowers (push and riding) sold at Sears look identical to the Craftsman there. Are these made by MTD?

I choose the Toro because I liked the way the self-propelled feature worked (push bar controls speed instread of one speed).
 
Bunky said:
I owned many craftsman push mowers over the years...they never lasted more than 5 or 6 years before the mower deck rusted out and start drinking oil. The last couple were had issues with the plastic drive wheels wearing out but it saw some rough duty moving rock. I tended to get one of the less expensive mowers. Then several years I got a Toro and loved it. It was much lighter, The deck is thinner steel but seems to be a better grade and has rear drive (much better than front but then Craftsman makes those too). It still has a Tecumseh engine. The toro blades also seem to be holding up a lot better...the steel used seemed to not be as soft...does not dull quickly. Net, I think the lower end Craftsman mowers tend to be less expensive for a reason. They just do not tell you think when they offer 20 different models. Around here, the Husqvarna mowers (push and riding) sold at Sears look identical to the Craftsman there. Are these made by MTD?

I choose the Toro because I liked the way the self-propelled feature worked (push bar controls speed instread of one speed).
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Actually many lines lower end products are made by MTD. They are huge and product products that do what they were intended to do at the price point the retailer wanted. As long as you know what you are getting when you go in to it there is no problem. Craftsman isn't what it once was, literally across the board. Get in to their string trimmers and it's even worse. There was a time when I could recommend most Snapper or Toro mowers and you got a top notch product. Both of thes premium lines now have intro level products that are made by MTD. All of Toro's Personal Pace mowers are manufactured by MTD. None of their cast deck products are. These are a superior product to most others. Snapper has very nice mowers identified by the deck being rolled under rather than out. These mowers have almost unequaled suction. They cut wet grass fairly well when others won't. Their decks that roll out on the bottom are designed for mulching and are fine for that purpose but aren't what the company is known for. The John Deere products that you pick up at Home Depot aren't what John Deere is famous for either. About the only way you can be sure you are getting one of the premium products is to purchase from a specialty lawn and garden outlet and yes, you usually have to pay for it.

I know this is way more information than most want to see in this thread but a little tidbit of info here. Most commercial products have engines that are designed to run in the neighborhood of 1200 hours, most home owner products are designed to run in the 150 hour range. This translates to about 3 years average homeowner use. There is a huge difference in the way the engines and the decks etc. are made. Steel sleeves in the cylinders, some have circulating oiling systems, overhead valves etc. When it comes to decks, bearings instead of bushings, steel wheels, multi-speed transmissions (hydro transmissions in lawn tractors) etc. Truly a case of getting what you pay for.
 
I fully understand the ODM type environment since I deal with a similar situation in the IT world. The key is the customer often chooses their cost point and can often have more value add than other using the contract manufacturer. The problem is that you often do not khow what corners each is take since you cannot just compare by end user selling price.
 
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