Picked up these two Sears today....
- Thread starter Lance Skene
- Start date
well they sure made it 'interesting' to search for info some 40 years later. Lol
lets see....
-the same trans was used in several models of tractors over 20+ years... but nobody knows who built them?
- a GT18 can have a 19.9 HP engine??
- Roper built tractors should have a 917.25xxxx model #.... BUT mine are both 917.60xxxx???
-several people have told me these are both Suburban models while others, including myself, think they are 'GT-xx' models????
I used to think MTD had a crazy stupid numbering system to sort thru.... but man they are simple compared this mess.
it is interesting to learn about differant models tho, and a little fun, I have to chuckle at some of the replies Ive gotten on forums I dont normally visit, these people have no idea who I am or how many tractors Ive owned/sold... they prob think Im some old geezer that cant find his own email on a computer... and never turned a wrench or owned a tractor before..... so I have my little chuckle and keep scrolling.
lets see....
-the same trans was used in several models of tractors over 20+ years... but nobody knows who built them?
- a GT18 can have a 19.9 HP engine??
- Roper built tractors should have a 917.25xxxx model #.... BUT mine are both 917.60xxxx???
-several people have told me these are both Suburban models while others, including myself, think they are 'GT-xx' models????
I used to think MTD had a crazy stupid numbering system to sort thru.... but man they are simple compared this mess.
it is interesting to learn about differant models tho, and a little fun, I have to chuckle at some of the replies Ive gotten on forums I dont normally visit, these people have no idea who I am or how many tractors Ive owned/sold... they prob think Im some old geezer that cant find his own email on a computer... and never turned a wrench or owned a tractor before..... so I have my little chuckle and keep scrolling.
was lookin back thru my pics to find the last old Sears I had... this was ST10 I believe???? with a Tecumseh. I sold it without turning a wrench so this was the only pic I could find... and another pic one day when I had 3 Sears/Craftsman machines at the same time... the oddball was a Murray
edit... another little Sears... the G-kids luv'd this one
edit... another little Sears... the G-kids luv'd this one
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I found this in an old Roper brochure from the early 70's. They're saying "Roper built" but I'd honestly doubt they built transaxles. I always thought Peerless too.
And this isn't specific just to the RT13 they're talking but ALL Ropers in their brochure..
And this isn't specific just to the RT13 they're talking but ALL Ropers in their brochure..
well that explains why some people claim it was built by Roper.. but.. Im starting think Peerless may have built these trans exclusively for Roper under contract... that or another possibility might be that Peerless manufactured many of the parts but they were then assembled in a Roper factory... in either case they could be advertised as 'Roper Built'.
The collector guy I talked to on the phone yesterday did say the trans was built by Peerless and known as an 8 speed in the early years, then there was a change in hub design where they switch from keyed axles/hubs to splined axles/hubs and then they were called 6+2 speed... this guy lives about 4 hours from me and we met a couple years ago when he came down and bought an Allis B10 from me.... seems like he knows what he is talking about and he calls them a "peerless 632".... and since he owns 15 of these older Sears tractors I would think he has spent alot of time researching them. I think when he called he was hoping for a couple cheap parts tractors but I told him these are not parts tractors... I said I would consider a reasonable offer if/when I see cash in hand but I didnt put a price on them and he didnt make an offer.... although he did offer to help me out if I needed to find parts or more info in the future... we had a nice chat... it always nice to talk to other addicts. Lol
edit: Sears/Craftsman do have a history of plastering their name on things they didnt actually manufacture....
The collector guy I talked to on the phone yesterday did say the trans was built by Peerless and known as an 8 speed in the early years, then there was a change in hub design where they switch from keyed axles/hubs to splined axles/hubs and then they were called 6+2 speed... this guy lives about 4 hours from me and we met a couple years ago when he came down and bought an Allis B10 from me.... seems like he knows what he is talking about and he calls them a "peerless 632".... and since he owns 15 of these older Sears tractors I would think he has spent alot of time researching them. I think when he called he was hoping for a couple cheap parts tractors but I told him these are not parts tractors... I said I would consider a reasonable offer if/when I see cash in hand but I didnt put a price on them and he didnt make an offer.... although he did offer to help me out if I needed to find parts or more info in the future... we had a nice chat... it always nice to talk to other addicts. Lol
edit: Sears/Craftsman do have a history of plastering their name on things they didnt actually manufacture....
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Ive always assumed that MOST of us know that these companies outsourced the majority of parts when they built any GT...... but some of these guys on dedicated Sears/Roper sites do NOT like to hear that....LOLOL
Well I had the GT18 running today on a squirt bottle... and it sounds very good, alot quieter than I expected considering the condition of the mufflers. Since this is the rougher of the two tractors Im hoping for good things from the GT19.9 also.
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Made a little progress on the gt18 today... it now runs without the squirt bottle... and that is a big deal with an Onan because the fuel pump is part of the carb... and carb kits are $400+. All the gears hi/lo seem good and the snowblower spins. The biggest issue is that it wont stay running without a battery so the charging system isnt working... HOPEFULLY... thats just a bad wire or connection somewhere. Tailight came on but the headlights didnt.... so an old tractor with electrical issues???... Nah... that never happens...LOL
Lance, I chased that very issue of not wanting to stay running without a battery on an Onan engine. Found the connector between the engine and the tractor harness was bad and worse yet intermittent. Changed the connector and problem was solved. Just another place to look.
thx... that exactly the kind of issues Im going to start troubleshooting. I want to figure out what it needs then Im gonna switch over to the gt19.9 and see what it needs.... I think I can only plan on working on one of them over the winter so Im hoping to get the 19 with the mower ready to sell in the spring... then try to have this 18 with blower ready to sell next fall... but that is assuming, and hoping, that I dont need to use one of them as a parts machine. The last owner didnt have a yard full of junkers like some of us do... everything in the yard was nice newer equipment except for these two Sears... hard to say what plan he had in mind... I could drag the 19 in the shop next week and find that either the motor or trans is toast. For now Im just happy to hear one of them running, I now know that I have at least one tractor I can sell next year.
I had a 16 hp Onan in and out of a tractor 3 times before I found the issue. Was in a Bolens QT so wasn't bad going in and out. Good luck on both of them. I just gave 3 of my junkiers away. Two ran but smoked heavy, the third ran but had a bad rear end, think a tooth or two off a gear. Got tired of having them sit around knowing I would not get to any of them.
Im trying hard NOT to collect tractors like I had at the old place... I scraped over 30 tractors before I moved.... but these things just seem to find me, right now I just have these two Sears and a Duetz Allis front mower that I hope to fix and sell... plus a Canadian Tire junker that was left behind by the previous tenant, I wont bother fixing it, it runs but has two flat tires a dead battery and no deck.
I have enough things going on now that I dont need to sell alot of tractors. I was at the old place 9 years and sold 221 tractors... I needed a break.LOL
I have enough things going on now that I dont need to sell alot of tractors. I was at the old place 9 years and sold 221 tractors... I needed a break.LOL
Well then there is that... haha.
I bought the SS12 in my avatar just for parts…it had hub caps and wheel weights and it runs…$65 My other half asked why I kept it as I only use my MIGHTY SS16. I told her the rear axle on SS12 worth its weight in gold,,she noted that in case I keel over some day..
Wouldnt get much for just an axle here... complete tractors are still fairly common and cheap enough... often with engine issues.