Is it a hydrostat or gear transmission ?

"Ignoramus19325" wrote in message
.. .
I recently bought (for $50, non working condition) and fixed up a
little a used 10 HP Sears Craftsman garden tractor.

It is relatively heavy. Maybe 300 lbs or so. With me on it, it would
be 475 lbs.

Sometimes I need to move heavy things. Can I use this tractor to help
them move along? Is the transmission/drive/engine designed for that?

As a related thought, do they take snow plowing attachments?

thanks

i

"Ignoramus19325" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 12 Aug 2005 22:01:13 -0500, Iowa883 wrote:
Is it a hydrostat or gear transmission ?

Honestly, I do not know, but my guess would be gear or belts. I just
got the engine running (the seller could not get it to run) and was
happy with that.


The easy way to tell is to see if it has a lever that has several steps for
the speed (gear type) of if it has a foot peddle that you mash on like a gas
peddle in a car that will give you a smooth control of the speed (hydrostat)
..

In general, you can pull with any tractor that has a place for a
pin in the back step. Breaking stuff isn't usually much of a
problem since the wheels will slip before it gets to that point
unless you're the kind like to jerk & pull.
Check how the transaxle is connected to the body. If it's
little U clamps, similar to muffler clamps, keep an eye on them!
If one loosens, it'll wear thru in a hurry and soon you'll have
one rear tire trying to be a front tire.
If things slip, or the wheels spin, you know the load's too
much for it.
Oh, brakes are about useless too if you need to stop a heavy
load. And of course keep an eye on the hitch pin hole wear.
They wear quickly if it's a thing gauge metal. That metal is
likely to bend before damage occurs, but take it as a serious
warning!
I used to use my little Cfartsman 8 hp 32" to pull everything
from cinder blocks to bags of cement on a little 6-wheel trailer
I built and never had a problem. Dragging things without wheels
was really a lost cause. Even my 25 hp tractor can't drag well
because the wheels will slip. It'll pull a trailer with about
any load, though, all the way up to 7th gear at mid-throttle.
Pushing is something else: The fronts of the frames just
aren't designed to push as a rule and if it is, it'll have
attachment places obvious for the equipment. I've never seen one
that small that could push and I can see how it would easily
screw up things like the tie rods, axle mount/connections for the
front wheels, etc. Also, sometimes those parts are cast iron, so
you only get one chance to mess them up g.

HTH

Pop

"Ignoramus19325" wrote in
message .. .
:I recently bought (for $50, non working condition) and fixed up
a
: little a used 10 HP Sears Craftsman garden tractor.
:
: It is relatively heavy. Maybe 300 lbs or so. With me on it, it
would
: be 475 lbs.
:
: Sometimes I need to move heavy things. Can I use this tractor
to help
: them move along? Is the transmission/drive/engine designed for
that?
:
: As a related thought, do they take snow plowing attachments?
:
: thanks
:
: i
:

Ignoramus19325 wrote:
I recently bought (for $50, non working condition) and fixed up a
little a used 10 HP Sears Craftsman garden tractor.

It is relatively heavy. Maybe 300 lbs or so. With me on it, it would
be 475 lbs.

Sometimes I need to move heavy things. Can I use this tractor to help
them move along? Is the transmission/drive/engine designed for that?

As a related thought, do they take snow plowing attachments?

thanks

i

I had a 10hp Bolens way back when. Used it for tilling, mowing,
towing, snow pushing. Of course Bolens was built with cast iron axles
and heavy steel frame, my guess is the Craftsman is probably built with
light steel stampings. In order to push snow with that light of a
tractor the question comes down to traction. In my case I had the rear
wheels liquid filled and had wheel weights also, could have used even
more weight but it was useful.

Harry K

x-no-archive: yes

"Ignoramus19325" wrote in message
.. .
I recently bought (for $50, non working condition) and fixed up a
little a used 10 HP Sears Craftsman garden tractor.

It is relatively heavy. Maybe 300 lbs or so. With me on it, it would
be 475 lbs.

Sometimes I need to move heavy things. Can I use this tractor to help
them move along? Is the transmission/drive/engine designed for that?

As a related thought, do they take snow plowing attachments?

thanks

i

Some take snow plowing attachments and some don't.

You will be able to push or pull just the smallest of items, similar to what
bulk and weight of what you can move by hand. Other than that, you might
find belts smoking or mechanisms bending or breaking. The little Sear
Craftsman tractors just don't hold up to heavy use. I have tried to do this,
only to find myself underneath the tractor removing pulley attachments to
straighten them in my vice.

For the money, vs a new Sears tractor and a used farm tractor, I would
choose a used farm tractor, similar to a Ford 8n or 9n. You can pick up a 8n
or 9n used often for about $1500.00 in good running condition. If you want
to do a lot of work, that would be the way to go. And for snow removal, they
are great with a drag blade on back.

In alt.home.repair on Sat, 13 Aug 2005 03:04:06 GMT Ignoramus19325
posted:

On Fri, 12 Aug 2005 22:01:13 -0500, Iowa883 wrote:
Is it a hydrostat or gear transmission ?

Honestly, I do not know, but my guess would be gear or belts. I just
got the engine running (the seller could not get it to run) and was
happy with that.

Congratulations.

I know just how you feel. I bought an airpump and lawnmower at a
junk yard for 20 dollars. Fixed the little airpump first - replaced
the 4-diode thingy -- and then tried to figure out what to do with it.
Not much, but I'm happy anyhow.

May have fixed the lawnmower, but I folded it for the winter and don't
want to dig it out since the other one works now. I've found 3 more
lawnmowers in the trash since Spring. Yesterday's looks brand new,
don't know what's wrong with it, and another loks one about a week old
-- needs an electronic magneto ($40 dollars) and caps for the oil and
gas (about $10 or 15) Well worth fixing, except I have two mowers that
work now.

i

Meirman
--
If emailing, please let me know whether
or not you are posting the same letter.
Change domain to erols.com, if necessary.

x-no-archive: no

.. wrote:

x-no-archive: yes

"Ignoramus19325" wrote in message
.. .
I recently bought (for $50, non working condition) and fixed up a
little a used 10 HP Sears Craftsman garden tractor.

It is relatively heavy. Maybe 300 lbs or so. With me on it, it would
be 475 lbs.

Sometimes I need to move heavy things. Can I use this tractor to help
them move along? Is the transmission/drive/engine designed for that?

As a related thought, do they take snow plowing attachments?

thanks

i

Some take snow plowing attachments and some don't.

You will be able to push or pull just the smallest of items, similar to
what bulk and weight of what you can move by hand. Other than that, you
might find belts smoking or mechanisms bending or breaking. The little
Sear Craftsman tractors just don't hold up to heavy use. I have tried to
do this, only to find myself underneath the tractor removing pulley
attachments to straighten them in my vice.

For the money, vs a new Sears tractor and a used farm tractor, I would
choose a used farm tractor, similar to a Ford 8n or 9n. You can pick up a
8n or 9n used often for about $1500.00 in good running condition. If you
want to do a lot of work, that would be the way to go. And for snow
removal, they are great with a drag blade on back.

Ignoramus19325 wrote:
I recently bought (for $50, non working condition) and fixed up a
little a used 10 HP Sears Craftsman garden tractor.

It is relatively heavy. Maybe 300 lbs or so. With me on it, it would
be 475 lbs.

Sometimes I need to move heavy things. Can I use this tractor to help
them move along? Is the transmission/drive/engine designed for that?

As a related thought, do they take snow plowing attachments?

thanks


I had a 5hp riding mower that I used to move my bass boat around the
yard when I needed to mow under it. Worked fine.

According to Ignoramus19325 :
I recently bought (for $50, non working condition) and fixed up a
little a used 10 HP Sears Craftsman garden tractor.

It is relatively heavy. Maybe 300 lbs or so. With me on it, it would
be 475 lbs.

Sometimes I need to move heavy things. Can I use this tractor to help
them move along? Is the transmission/drive/engine designed for that?

I have a 12HP hydrostatic Cub Cadet that's over 30 years old. We routinely
use it to pull around a 4x8 trailer (500 pounds _empty_) and whatever
we've put in it. We've probably pulled well over a ton total upon
occasion.

The trick is to be _careful_, particularly of engine loading and hills -
both the up and down, and watch your tongue (of the tractor that is! ;-)
loading!

While our tractor is considerably beefier than a 10HP Sears (weighs nearly
double I think), with caution, they can do quite a bit. But neither the
traction nor brakes are all that good, and with a heavy load, you won't
be able to go up hills, nor stop going down.

The only time I stall the tractor is when I try to take too big a bite
with the snow blower ;-)

As a related thought, do they take snow plowing attachments?

Yes.
--
Chris Lewis, Una confibula non set est
It's not just anyone who gets a Starship Cruiser class named after them.