Lance, there has been a lot of misinformation that has been written or you have been told.
First to Larry, if you have a manual tranny, it never came out of a Craftsman FF, all the FF tractors were hydro. There was the GT16 and GT18 that looked identical to the FF tractors (although smaller), that is probably what your transaxle came out of.
Next, Roper made most of the Sears garden tractors from 1966 to 1980 the compact/custom/ suburban lines. Roper bought out David Bradley in 64 and changed the design for the 66 model year.
Sears started using SS nameplate in the late 60's which just meant extras on the tractor i.e. wood grain dash, wider wheels, longer floor boards, etc.
In 1973, they added the ST badge which designated the tractors as a single cyl with a Tecumseh.
The SS badge was then use to designate tractor was a twin Onan.
1977 was a single year using the badges 16/6 (single with overhead 16Hp Tecumseh) , 16/6 Twin and 18/6 Twin using the Onans.
1978- 1980 the badging went to GT16/18/19.9.
The 16 was the first year for a new Briggs twin engine (I think it was in 78), 1 year only for the twin Briggs until the 80's. 18's were both single Tec and Twin Onan and the 19.9 was the Onan.
For the 1981 year, Electrolux/Roper built the tractors until 1989 when Roper was sold and ended up being the AYP brand.
The transaxle were made by AYP/Peerless company. They were always designated as a "peerless 633" model, not sure where your collector came up with 632. Hubs switched from keyed to splined somewhere in the mid 70's.
The 18 hp looks to be dated in 1979 from motor tag so most likely that is a 1979 GT 18.
The "big block" 19.9 Onans were only made for the 1978 year so you would have a 78 GT19.9. Also with the French writing, that was made specifically for Canada.
Sadly, several websites that had tons of history and info have disappeared so many are trying to keep it pieced together from what we remember.
First to Larry, if you have a manual tranny, it never came out of a Craftsman FF, all the FF tractors were hydro. There was the GT16 and GT18 that looked identical to the FF tractors (although smaller), that is probably what your transaxle came out of.
Next, Roper made most of the Sears garden tractors from 1966 to 1980 the compact/custom/ suburban lines. Roper bought out David Bradley in 64 and changed the design for the 66 model year.
Sears started using SS nameplate in the late 60's which just meant extras on the tractor i.e. wood grain dash, wider wheels, longer floor boards, etc.
In 1973, they added the ST badge which designated the tractors as a single cyl with a Tecumseh.
The SS badge was then use to designate tractor was a twin Onan.
1977 was a single year using the badges 16/6 (single with overhead 16Hp Tecumseh) , 16/6 Twin and 18/6 Twin using the Onans.
1978- 1980 the badging went to GT16/18/19.9.
The 16 was the first year for a new Briggs twin engine (I think it was in 78), 1 year only for the twin Briggs until the 80's. 18's were both single Tec and Twin Onan and the 19.9 was the Onan.
For the 1981 year, Electrolux/Roper built the tractors until 1989 when Roper was sold and ended up being the AYP brand.
The transaxle were made by AYP/Peerless company. They were always designated as a "peerless 633" model, not sure where your collector came up with 632. Hubs switched from keyed to splined somewhere in the mid 70's.
The 18 hp looks to be dated in 1979 from motor tag so most likely that is a 1979 GT 18.
The "big block" 19.9 Onans were only made for the 1978 year so you would have a 78 GT19.9. Also with the French writing, that was made specifically for Canada.
Sadly, several websites that had tons of history and info have disappeared so many are trying to keep it pieced together from what we remember.
