Craftsman Riding Mowers Reviews

The only hiccup has been the battery. I didn't really notice until it was dead this Spring. I shrugged and charged it. It was dead again a month later. It wasn't until I brought the replacement battery home that I noticed that they had cut a major corner at my expense. The included battery is a nonstandard size, about 1/4 the volume of a standard U1 battery. They have a plastic insert to make the smaller battery fit in the U1-sized hole. Take out the old battery and the insert, and the proper battery fits like a glove. I love this lawnmower, but that's pretty rotten and outrageous way to save pennies on a machine that costs over $2000. Deducting one star for that nonsense!

First, I bought the mower from Lowe's, who assembled and delivered it, so I don't know whether the problems were caused by them or if they are endemic to the Craftsman brand. It was delivered without an ignition key. When I called Lowe's, they MAILED me one. Meanwhile, I went to a hardware store and just bought one for a couple of bucks. That was the foreshadowing. The very first time I tried to mow, both seat bolts snapped off. Lowe's told me that is not an unusual problem, but then said they couldn't get it in to repair for several weeks. That was unacceptable. I took the seat assembly apart, noted that the seat bolts are actually self-tapping screws, and showed signs of overtightening. They also looked wimpy for seat mounts. I further disassembled the mower, likely voiding any warranty. Big deal. Warranty will put it back like it was. Like it was broke!

I drilled out the seat mount and put a couple of 1/2" bolts in from the bottom, put thin nuts on the top of the mount as lock nuts, then the top part of the seat bracket. It won't break now. As it was late in the year, I waited until now to service it. Another annoyance--- the oil drain plug. Why, in the 21st century, did B&S use a 1/2" SQUARE oil plug? And why is it impossible to change the oil without getting it all over the deck, the floor, and the user? Yeah, I know, you're supposed to buy the oil change kit. Let me say I'm reluctant to spend more money for something that should be included if it's needed to do the oil change. Instead, I got a 6" piece of steel plumbing pipe and a ball valve with a piece of hose. Now I can untuck the hose, put the drain pan to the side, and open the valve.

That was not the worst of it, though. The worst thing was getting the blade off to sharpen it. I don't know if it was the factory, or Lowe's, but somebody WAY overtightened the nut holding the blade onto the spindle. I tried to loosen it--- no go. I used penetrating oil. I used a propane torch. It would not loosen. I have an old style 24" torque wrench, the kind with a pointer. I had to have help pulling it. At 250 lbs torque, the nut rounded off. Vice Grips and a hammer wouldn't budge it. I tried a nut splitter--- it's a flanged nut, so the splitter wouldn't work. I ended up using a grinder to grind away one side of the nut, almost to the threads before the damned thing would turn. TWO DAYS of work just to get a nut off! You want to know why I'll pick almost ANYTHING before "American Made"? This is a perfect example. US products suck.

Having said that, as a mower, it works fine. It has adequate power, has been reliable, and I can't complain about it performance-wise. It only gets 1 star, though. I have friends in Tennessee that work for both Briggs & Stratton and MTD, and no corporation that pays its employees less than a living wage will ever get more from me. I'd rather feed a Chinese family than help Bezos or other corpo-criminals buy another yacht.

The second issue is with the 2 ply tires installed on the mower. The very first time I mowed, two tires went flat from goat heads. I had to order 4 ply rated tires after one use of the mower. The third issue is with the rear bagger. It is almost worthless. The flexible hose is too short by 3 or 4 inches, It keeps disconnecting from either end while mowing. Also it is far too wide to fit through my 48" side gate. My LT1000 with rear bagger fits nicely through the gate. The rear bagger also keeps plugging up the hose with grass. The bagger is very flimsy and hard to clean. I regret buying it and now rarely use it. Nice yard ornament. If I could mount the old bagger system on the T110, I would. That is not possible, due to the design differences. All in all, not one of my better decisions to buy it.

I contacted Craftsman AND Lowe's. Explained the problems, including the safety brake on the transmission not working, it rolls without releasing the transmission lock. So far as I can find, and after talking with a local repair shop on Craftsman's list, the repair won't be warranted. They tell me that MTD, the manufacturer, usually won't pay for the repairs that this mower likely needs, they've seen this before and MTD has always denied the claim. There is no way I can ever recommend a Craftsman or MTD product again.

I got it back 6/17/24. Repair order stated carb had been replaced, battery and starter working fine. Wrong! Again I had to charge battery, still smoked, got 1 cutting done. 2nd cutting charged battery, after 10 minutes started running rough engine cutting out, check oil, it was dirty, drained. Put fresh oil in. Checked spark plug. It was coated with oil, clean and reinstalled. Got 20 minutes of mowing and same thing. Very, very disappointed. I am 66 years old, have owned 3 Craftsman lawnmowers because my father and son believe in Craftsman (they are the best). Have always cleaned mine after mowing and keep them in garage. I've never had any trouble with them before so I purchased this one and it is definitely a lemon.