Free Craftsman lt1000

4getgto

4getgto

Bill from Northampton County, Pennsylvania
Senior Member
Member
Neighbor had this riding mower sitting in the weeds for the last 4-5 years. Remember when they had used it was always a sweet sounding motor. Twin cylinder Briggs. Anyway I ask them about it and they said take it as they had no plans to do anything with it. Honestly didn’t know what I was getting into. But as it turned out came to life and clean up well. Some before and after pictures below
 

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Wow Bill that’s a nice little tractor. When I get things like this I always ask people if I get it fixed are you wanting it back most all say no. That is a good engine, I have the same one in Hoopty. It always fires up quick, smooth running and real easy on gas. Congrats
 
Sawdust said:
Wow Bill that’s a nice little tractor. When I get things like this I always ask people if I get it fixed are you wanting it back most all say no. That is a good engine, I have the same one in Hoopty. It always fires up quick, smooth running and real easy on gas. Congrats
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It is a decent little tractor. Apparently lots of them sold over the years. Parts are even relatively available.
After I got this I thought I'd like a bagger/ grass collector for it. Looked around on FB and found a number of them for various prices from 2-3 hundred or more. Then found another lt1000 with a bagger on it for $150. Seller said it hadn't run for some time that "needed valve adjustment or new carburetor". Bought it home , clean the sticking fuel solenoid and fired right up. Now I have TWO of these tractors sitting here . One will be fixed up and sold come spring. But needed some deck repairs first.
 
MFDAC said:
Dang, Bill, the seat is even nice! You must be living right---oh wait you don't do anything right---LOL! Scoring the tractor with the bagger worked out perfectly too. You will be into a nice bagger tractor at a decent profit!

DAC
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Yea dam lefties.
One I'll be fixing up for sale in the spring. One of decks needs lots of repair. But I see you can buy deck kits for these that include 2 spindles,2 idler pulleys, 2 blades and a belt for $70-$80 bucks . Not bad for almost a complete overhaul. Probably end up going that route.
 
4getgto said:
Yea dam lefties.
One I'll be fixing up for sale in the spring. One of decks needs lots of repair. But I see you can buy deck kits for these that include 2 spindles,2 idler pulleys, 2 blades and a belt for $70-$80 bucks . Not bad for almost a complete overhaul. Probably end up going that route.
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Don't work that Briggs to hard. I had that engine and it's good for cutting a lawn each week the normal heights. Going into the thick tall stuff will destroy that motor. I know, had that Briggs V-twin. Got a replacement Kohler M18 that purred nicely, and it would take on the tall over the hood thick pasture grasses.

Nice work on polishing the LT1000 up. Not sure if you can remove the headlamp cover and remove the yellow glaze. If done, the mower would look nearly new. I'm impressed really since it sat outside for so long.

Yeah, those decks are super cheaply made. I had to strip everything off of mine, power-washer it all, wire brush via angle grinder all the rust, and fix the problems. Then undercoating it completely, primer the top side and repaint it all. Then I knew it would outlast the rest.
 
4getgto said:
Yea dam lefties.
One I'll be fixing up for sale in the spring. One of decks needs lots of repair. But I see you can buy deck kits for these that include 2 spindles,2 idler pulleys, 2 blades and a belt for $70-$80 bucks . Not bad for almost a complete overhaul. Probably end up going that route.
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Sounds like a good deal to have a nearly new deck, Bill. Your engine appears to be an opposed twin, not a v-twin?

DAC
 
4getgto said:
Neighbor had this riding mower sitting in the weeds for the last 4-5 years. Remember when they had used it was always a sweet sounding motor. Twin cylinder Briggs. Anyway I ask them about it and they said take it as they had no plans to do anything with it. Honestly didn’t know what I was getting into. But as it turned out came to life and clean up well. Some before and after pictures below
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Looks a lot nicer than the one I got at auction without a deck and the hood hinges broke off. I bought it just for the engine figuring I would use it for something eventually.
 

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cjet69 said:
Looks a lot nicer than the one I got at auction without a deck and the hood hinges broke off. I bought it just for the engine figuring I would use it for something eventually.
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Motor looks identical but I see they have one rated at 21hp. Mines 19.5hp. Makes you wonder what they did differently for an extra 1 1/2hp ? Under the seat the first 6 numbers in the serial number is the date it was built. The fifth and sixth number is the year.

They've used Briggs a lot in these and guessing other manufacturers too and many different horsepower ratings. The other one I picked up has a 14hp single cylinder on it.

Not sure but I think it was Kohler who got a lawsuit against them a number of years ago for inflating horsepower numbers.
 
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4getgto said:
Motor looks identical but I see they have one rated at 21hp. Mines 19.5hp. Makes you wonder what they did differently for an extra 1 1/2hp ? Under the seat the first 6 numbers in the serial number is the date it was built. The fifth and sixth number is the year.

They've used Briggs a lot in these and guessing other manufacturers too and many different horsepower ratings. The other one I picked up has a 14hp single cylinder on it.

Not sure but I think it was Kohler who got a lawsuit against them a number of years ago for inflating horsepower numbers.
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HP is irrelevant. LOL

For decades, Briggs would label engines 6HP when they were 6.5Hp and the other way around. They knew the performance and how to tweak the numbers. Then sell products on the Hp hype markup.

For example, different air filter sizes and baffle can raise or lower an engine by up to 1Hp. The same goes for the spark plug used.
Additional engine tweaking deals with the flywheel head and the magnetism to the coil. Lastly, it's the spring on the carburetor throttle, if the same carburetor is used.

Many of the tractor manufactures did/do the SAME THING. It go so bad, that the Nebraska NTTL stepped in decades ago to verify the hype or claims.

Nebraska Tractor Test Laboratory | Nebraska

tractortestlab.unl.edu tractortestlab.unl.edu

Larson started all of this.
Built in 1919, to satisfy the needs of the Nebraska Tractor Law, our original building was designated as an historic site by the American Society of Agricultural Engineers. It now houses the Larsen Tractor Test & Power Museum.

The Ag manufactures knew how to tweak fuel pumps with shims and change injectors on the engine, without needing to change the engine at all. LOL. Air filter throttling was another good method too. Choke the air intake, reduce the Hp. Biggest air filter and intake neck achieved the best Hp and performance curves.

With my Yanmar YM2610, I could change out the shims in the fuel pump, the injectors, taller fuel filter and larger air filter in the canister to match the YM4300 (JD1050) and boost to nearly 40Hp from 31Hp. People have done this and even added the IHI turbo, reaching 45Hp.

So yeah, you can mess with the marketing Hp numbers or mess with the engine air and fuel to get a higher Hp rating on the same engine.
 
4getgto said:
Motor looks identical but I see they have one rated at 21hp. Mines 19.5hp. Makes you wonder what they did differently for an extra 1 1/2hp ? Under the seat the first 6 numbers in the serial number is the date it was built. The fifth and sixth number is the year.

They've used Briggs a lot in these and guessing other manufacturers too and many different horsepower ratings. The other one I picked up has a 14hp single cylinder on it.

Not sure but I think it was Kohler who got a lawsuit against them a number of years ago for inflating horsepower numbers.
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Sometimes all they do is set the RPM's higher.
 
Back when Briggs made the vertical engine with the pulsejet carb, they made a 3 hp and a 3.5hp. I could never tell the difference between them.
I don't understand why they would spend extra money on making the same engine different hp. Just make the higher output and everyone will be happy
 
Lily'sDad said:
Back when Briggs made the vertical engine with the pulsejet carb, they made a 3 hp and a 3.5hp. I could never tell the difference between them.
I don't understand why they would spend extra money on making the same engine different hp. Just make the higher output and everyone will be happy
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The only extra money they probably spent was new stickers, LD!

DAC
 
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