Great deal on a Craftsman Riding Mower

[djg james]

Not meaning to beat a dead horse.
I remeasured all three blades in case I was measuring a damaged one and all three are 20-1/2" long. Actually 1/16" shy (wear?). They are 2-1/2" wide and 1/4" thick. The hole AND the spindle measure 0.982" with a micrometer.

I'm considering buying a 0.204" thick blade in that length with a 15/16" (0.938") hole. I could open up the hole on each blade by running a conical stone in a drill from each side of the blade until it fits the arbor.

Is blade thickness that important? Should I stick with 1/4"?

 

[GenXer]

A thicker blade will take more abuse without deflection, but that should be fine for a residential lawn.

 

[djg james]

I'm desperate to find replacements, so I'm asking on other forums too. One guy pointed out mine are not flat, but drop down about an inch from the center (drop blade design). I butch my grass so I'd loose an inch. Another can of worms. I'll keep looking.

 

[JRM]

Can you include a picture of the entire blade?

 

[djg james]

Can you include a picture of the entire blade?

Here you go.

 

[JRM]

Yeah, that definitely changes things! I didn't notice that in the other pics.

You may try Agri Supply. Here is a link to something I found that may be close....the center would need opened up and the offset may not match.
If you scroll down, they offer a 1-800 number to call and chat with someone. I know they do have quite an assortment of blades.

https://www.agrisupply.com/gravely-mower-blade/p/44911/

 

[Okie]

Did you notice the chewed metal on the spindle shaft where the fits? Blade has spun on the spindle shaft. That design is only a tight friction fit unless someone has throwed away a blade adapter and installed wrong blades.
Point being the that blade only stays secure by friction fit. Sometimes that type of friction fit if rotating the opposite direction that the nut tightens will just spin loose when operating.

Genxer says just find the one inch hole blades and go.

I do such quite often (not using OEM blades) and sometimes have to use my chop saw to cut blades to length then check their balance.
It's not a space ship, but we do want the blades to be/stay secured good and not come flying off and damage the heat sink tiles on the out side of the space ship or whack some ones foot when a blade flies off.

A guy brought me a new to him used mower not long ago that blades would not stay secure. Some Bubba had done some mods to the blade mountings and the space ship would not orbit properly.

That is a unusual propeller blade due to the bends.

 

[Chucksta]

Blade almost looks like it's supposed to be a hybrid cross between a high lift, and a mulching blade. Mulching blades usually have what looks like a few combs along the back edge of the cutting portion of the blade. Lawnboy blades ( mulching), have a second (smaller) blade, at 90 degrees to the main blade to facilitate a proper vortex of air flow under the deck.
To me, that blade looks beat to a pulp, and then someone tried to salvage it. Like they ground the "ding", out of one side, then matched it up on the other side, to try and keep balance.
I've never seen a blade that didn't have a straight cutting edge. I also have never seen a blade where the cutting edge was cut so far into the center of the blade. Usually, it's only beveled for cutting for 3 inches from the tip ( roughly). At proper blade speed rotation, and a reasonable forward speed, the grass should have been cut well before coming into the inner part of the blade.

 

[user 122190]

Looks like I got me a Craftsman LT1000. Can't sell it. The market is 180 degrees different then last year. Deck belt and blades were moving without the PTO being engaged, til finally the belt broke. New belt, perhaps routed properly and now works like a champ. Spark plug boot terminal was broken, R&R, now works like a champ. Needed valve adjustment, and fixed engine oil leak. Clean and working perfectly, but nobody has any interest in it. $450 plus a few incidentals and the 20003 mower will last another 10+ years. Last year was fun and profitable, and I got a cheap good running mower at the end of my fix and flip mower enterprise.

 

[djg james]

Blade almost looks like it's supposed to be a hybrid cross between a high lift, and a mulching blade. Mulching blades usually have what looks like a few combs along the back edge of the cutting portion of the blade. Lawnboy blades ( mulching), have a second (smaller) blade, at 90 degrees to the main blade to facilitate a proper vortex of air flow under the deck.
To me, that blade looks beat to a pulp, and then someone tried to salvage it. Like they ground the "ding", out of one side, then matched it up on the other side, to try and keep balance.
I've never seen a blade that didn't have a straight cutting edge. I also have never seen a blade where the cutting edge was cut so far into the center of the blade. Usually, it's only beveled for cutting for 3 inches from the tip ( roughly). At proper blade speed rotation, and a reasonable forward speed, the grass should have been cut well before coming into the inner part of the blade.

The previous owner did all the grinding on the blades. I hit metal and tore them up. I found replacements with the right offset and lift. They were a little long so I ground off 1/16" each end and balanced them.

 

[user 122190]

The Saga has ended. The LT1000 has been sold. Done! Gone! Bye, Bye!

After all of this I now felt fully justified and funded to buy a new, a brand new mower. I had had my sights set on a new John Deere S170, but the recent reviews showed that the things are catching on fire. As if that is not enough reason to look at other models, they are again not even available. SO the Cub Cadet. My neighbor picked up a shiny new XT1 Enduro LT46 a few months ago, and yesterday I asked him how he is liking the machine. Says it is like driving a Cadillac. Just a bit of hyperbole, but he genuinely likes the mower.

Home Depot accepted my military veteran status, and gave me 10% off, plus free shipping, and the optional front bumper I included and now I wait for curbside delivery Whoooohoooooooo.

 

[user 122190]

Cub Cadet showed up today. Took about 15 minutes to uncrate the rider, fully set it up, and it started immediately without any choke (90 degree temps). Sweet!

 

[djg james]

Cub Cadet showed up today. Took about 15 minutes to uncrate the rider, fully set it up, and it started immediately without any choke (90 degree temps). Sweet!

View attachment 1108555

View attachment 1108556

I don't remember your latest acquisitions but weren't any of them good enough to keep? Can't believe you bought new for yourself lol.

 

[Sidecarflip]

Looks like a MTD/Cub Cadet to me. MTD = More Tools Desired.

 

[user 122190]

I don't remember your latest acquisitions but weren't any of them good enough to keep? Can't believe you bought new for yourself lol.

Several were good enough to keep. And in hind sight, I should have. Still there is nothing quite like a brand new machine. It is a luxury purchase for me. I learned so much last year in all my fixits, that it was a good educational year, as well as profitable. It is a shame that its over. Except for some outliers that pop-up from time to time.

A week ago, I found a Cub Cadet XT1 ST54, on craigslist for $2100 with 20 hours. That is a $3500 machine. I offered $1400 and a CZ 97B 45acp in like new condition. Unfortunately I found it to late as someone else scooped it up. That would have been a good way to sell a firearm I'm ready to part with and make maybe a grand. I'm vigilante, just not always first.

 

[user 122190]

Looks like a MTD/Cub Cadet to me. MTD = More Tools Desired.

Its a big Craftsman Upgrade. Maybe a John Deere equal, with good maintenance.

 

[Sidecarflip]

Its a big Craftsman Upgrade. Maybe a John Deere equal, with good maintenance.

Maybe, but maybe not. Tractor Supply sells them as well. Back before I retired I used to deliver steel to MTD. They bought anything so long as it was cheap. One thing I would do immediately is, pull the blades off and remove the spindles and take them apart and pry the inner shields off the upper and lower bearings and put it back together, packing the spindles with grease (if there are no grease fittings on them, if they have grease fittings, pump them full of grease until you see it coming out of the spindles on the bottom or the top. For some reason they install shielded bearings on every spindle and without adequate grease in the bearings, they fail pretty quickly. I have 2 of them, wife uses one and never had a spindle issue since I modified them. I never sharpen blades either. I just go to the Agri-Supply website and order new blades every other year.

I was at TSC the other day getting some rope and I noticed that our local store has very little in the way of Husky saws or accessories. Wonder if that has anything to do with the layoffs in Virginia Beach?

 

[user 122190]

I wrote this to a friend the other day.

They are good machines. All the riders I bought last year, none were Cadets. People sell their problems, and I was buying, but I guess everybody hangs onto the Cadets. They are sold at HomeDepot so there are a lot of them out there, so I believe. It the CrapsMan mowers that are constantly for sale on Craigslist. Taken care of they last a good long time. Some people know how to change out a battery and maybe a spark plug. Anything else, time to sell and buy a new machine, but only after it is really barely running or not at all.

 

[Sidecarflip]

Several were good enough to keep. And in hind sight, I should have. Still there is nothing quite like a brand new machine. It is a luxury purchase for me. I learned so much last year in all my fixits, that it was a good educational year, as well as profitable. It is a shame that its over. Except for some outliers that pop-up from time to time.

The only reason for that is the deteriorating economy. Liquid income is vanishing faster than flushing a turd down the commode. People are having to make hard choices today, eat or pay the rent/mortgage or spend it on lugsyourass items. Feeding your face and keeping a roof over it are usually priority's.

 

[user 122190]

The only reason for that is the deteriorating economy. Liquid income is vanishing faster than flushing a turd down the commode. People are having to make hard choices today, eat or pay the rent/mortgage or spend it on lugsyourass items. Feeding your face and keeping a roof over it are usually priority's.

I don't know any of those people (starving, homeless, generally impoverished, etc.). Nor do any of the people that I know, know any of those people. Still it must be widespread with pockets of exceptions. Which is very interesting as my area and county is not thriving -- pretty much never has in the more then the dozen years I've been here.