Hello This a 15 year old Sears Craftsman LT1000 lawn tractor. Besides changing the oil, oil filter, gas filter and general cleaning, This year I changed the carb Craftsman LT-1000 Tractor not starting up quick and putrid gas smell! And the mower blades plus cleaned and lubed the mower deck. I used the wire wheel to get the crud & rust off and some “Dry Moly” spray to keep the grass from sticking. Also a little light weight Anderol 465 Synthetic bearing oil. The old blades are just dirty so maybe I can take the time to clean & sharpen them to swap them out for next year? What kind do you have? What did u do & what do you use?
I'll do nothing as I'm religious about doing it before putting it away. I think that my Aerens is going to hit 25 years old this year. Carb has never been off. Letting the oil have all winter to settle out and bond to the bottom along with acids etching the journals is something I always avoid. Blades get ground and balanced, filters replaced and every possible lube point is hit.
Can you translate that into English for those of us who don’t speak small engine repair? So do you change oil in the fall? Just drain it? Put in an additive? I’m trying to get better at preventive maintenance. Still learning..
I put a blower on it and use it all winter so it is easiest for me to clean up the mower deck before I install it in the Spring. Also I have more time. So I am doing the maintenance now that the snow is gone and before the grass starts growing. I am changing the oil and the air filter. It is a 4 cycle engine so 10w30 is good.
I go through my Kubota ZG-20 in the Fall. It gets completely cleaned, oil changed and greased. Blades get sharpened and balanced the best I can. Any other service required or repairs are done. I remove the battery and keep it in the heated garage. I treat the gas with Sea Foam. In the Spring I put in the battery and go! It always seems like mowing season hits fast.
I do everything in the fall. First thing I do is pressure wash and dry with compressed air. Change the oil, no additives. Even though I'm using E free fuel I drain and run it out. I lubricate every moving part. Filters get changed. Battery is removed and is put on a maintainer. Now this is for my mowers that sit till spring the tractors are used all year long.
I park mine in the barn in fall, head back out to the barn in spring and hope on or two of them start!!
Hello The tractor was starting but.... I just changed the spark plug in my tractor even though it did not tell me it was dirty and may not start next time! LOL Now it will not catch me off guard.
I change oil in the fall. Don't sharpen blades until I've mowed 3 or 4 times and found all the sticks and rocks that made their way into the yard over the winter
just bought 2 quarts of 30w oil, will do the oil change soon. Don't have a back up set of blades so I'm probably going to buy new ones so I can have the older ones sharpened. I lube the spindles twice a year, once when season starts and sometime in the middle of summer. Lube the front end and about every other year the column. I might buy a new cheap carb for mine since mine doesn't like to idle and never really did when I bought it some years ago. It never mattered to me, It's either full go or off anyway. It starts up easily enough and stays running, it's all that matters.. I'm using a 1973 cub cadet 129. I'd buy another one if I ever needed too. well a 149 would be nice to have.. She sips a little bit of oil use to be worst when I first picked it up. Seems to be a lot less now. Could be the MMO, could be I went from wolfs head to valvoline, this year I'm trying the kohler oil for more zddp. costs about the same as valvoline so what the hay..
Good Idea on the carb, had to get mine off the web so it took a few days. My oil was all black so it was good to change it! Just got a new upgraded tractor seat installed yesterday for my birthday today too! See Craftsman LT1000 Lawn Tractor Seat Upgrade Anyone?
This year I just changed the entire engine. LOL. Most years I fire it up on fresh gas, change oil, and sharpen the blades after I've covered most of my ground at least once.
Definitely seems to. I need to dig out my tach and make sure it’s at proper speed when the throttle is wide open. David
I'm a bit of a novice myself with my 2 year old Cub Cadet lawn tractor XT2 Enduro series. Changed the oil once (will prob do again before first mow this season), sharpen blades, lube whatever I can get to though I'm probably missing stuff. Got lazy last year and didn't pull the battery because I kinda figured it was on it's way out anyway. Fired up just fine after sitting all winter...go figure. Air filter should probably be replaced this year too since my yard gets super dusty in the summer. What else am I missing?
Remove the deck belt and inspect each idler pulley for bearing wear. Replace if it’s going - at least on mine when a pulley lets go it shreds the deck belt which is not cheap. Also grease the spindles and other lube points. Check tire pressure - I’ve been known to not notice when a tractor or mower tire is low until it pops off the bead. David
My mower is a POS. I've been willing it to die since I bought the house and it came with it. That said, it failed on my mid fall last year, and I just parked it. Of course a new mower wasnt in the budget with a boat on order! I just dragged it into the shop. Luckily, the valve issue was a rocker bolt backed way off, so that was an easy fix. Adjusted the valves and put a new plug in it. Runs like a top now! Brought it out for a degreasing, then back inside for an oil change, new tires, and belts. Probably going to need new blades too. I already had the tires, so no biggie there.
