Craftsman LT 1000 basics?

I recently recieved a hand me down craftsman LT 1000 mower.
Great shape...

Im wondering what the standard upgrades are?

I want as much HP and tourque as I can get, also anything to help make it more robust/durable.
I need it to haul a trailer up and down hils loaded with dirt and wood.

Atm... The two issues I see are the rear wheels spin on our soft damp lawn.
I was thinking I could:

Get chains, any reccomended ones?

Get heavy lug rear tires.

Replace all the wheels with ATV wheels?


Im wondering about things I can do to tighten up or improve handling, steering, suspension, toeing and cutting.

The deck on is things seems... Very loose compared to other ride ons ive had. But it seems to be by design... Is there a way to tighten that up a bit?

And is there an inexpensive "side bad" option for grass collection?

Manuals etc I can find myself online.

Thanks!

Most anything is better than turfs when you need more traction.  If fronts are OK, I would only focus on the rear.  Going up and down hill with loads, not sure how steep you are but it would be safest to have a locked rear end.  Should you go up or down with a heavy load, one tire breaks traction, you could find yourself in a heap of hurt.  Only drawback is your turning radius gets thrown out the door.

There are a few ways this can be accomplished depending on your transaxle.  Feel free to search around and get Ideas.  I'm sure someone else will be in soon to add.

Welcome to ATLTF!

MightyRaze wrote:

Most anything is better than turfs when you need more traction.  If fronts are OK, I would only focus on the rear.  Going up and down hill with loads, not sure how steep you are but it would be safest to have a locked rear end.  Should you go up or down with a heavy load, one tire breaks traction, you could find yourself in a heap of hurt.  Only drawback is your turning radius gets thrown out the door.

There are a few ways this can be accomplished depending on your transaxle.  Feel free to search around and get Ideas.  I'm sure someone else will be in soon to add.

Welcome to ATLTF!

Thank you! I did not know that about the rear under a load.
Yah I probably would have dumped it... I want to use it more as a lawn tractor that also mows.

If all you're doing is hauling, then locking the transaxle, adding some weights, and getting some atv tires or chains would be your best option imo. You can even get tractor style V tread tires to fit your rims.

Thanks RRO!
I think thats probably the way ill go.
Is there such a thing as a changeable diff locker for these, one I can lock or unlock?

I used it a few times last fall then packed it away.
Just did some work on it today and fired up for the first time this season... OMG I LOVE this machine!

Im told the engine is brand new, new filters, plugs, and belts.

The body is in nearly perfect shape other than a little dirt.

Whoever worked on it last put a bunch of stuff back together backwards
So I did an inspection of the machine and put things back the way they should be and its so mich tighter now!


The BIGGEST complaint is those rear tires still! Those are also new, treads good, but they spin ANY chance they get.
Im not sure what they were going for with that tread but it doesnt seem good for a whole lot.


What kind of chains should I look at for the rear tires? Theyre stock I believe.


Today I put a ball hitch on and used it to pull a small trailer while I moved sme dirt around.
Theres a small hiil that I cant climb... I noticed if its in low gear it wont climb, if I go into high gear and crank the throttle for some momentum it will climb a bit then just rolls backwards.

Is that normal? I thought the lower gear should have more tourque to just power through?

I dont want so much speed as much as a bit more low end grunt.

Thinking I may pick up another just for fun and turn it into a heavy puller.

There's very few lawn and garden tractor transaxles with a locker you can unlock/lock from the outside.

What type of transaxle do you have? The higher speed having more torque thing would make sense for a hydrostatic.

If I were you, I'd get another tractor to mod up a little bit for pulling, like a Craftsman GT6000, Wheel Horse, Sears, or a John Deere. There's others too, but pretty generally you'll want something with 5 lug rear wheels.

The whole idea with turf tires is so they'll slip rather than tear up the lawn. With ATV tires and a locked differential, you'll be a whole lot more likely to tear up your lawn.

As for tire chains, you can always run a chain that's too big for your tire, it's harder to do so with a chain that's too small for it. I've ran some chains that would fit car tires on mower tires, I just put some bolts through them and it works just fine. Keep an eye out for them at flea markets and garage sales, I think they're too expensive new, but that's for you to decide.

RichieRichOverdrive wrote:

There's very few lawn and garden tractor transaxles with a locker you can unlock/lock from the outside.

What type of transaxle do you have? The higher speed having more torque thing would make sense for a hydrostatic.

If I were you, I'd get another tractor to mod up a little bit for pulling, like a Craftsman GT6000, Wheel Horse, Sears, or a John Deere. There's others too, but pretty generally you'll want something with 5 lug rear wheels.

The whole idea with turf tires is so they'll slip rather than tear up the lawn. With ATV tires and a locked differential, you'll be a whole lot more likely to tear up your lawn.

As for tire chains, you can always run a chain that's too big for your tire, it's harder to do so with a chain that's too small for it. I've ran some chains that would fit car tires on mower tires, I just put some bolts through them and it works just fine. Keep an eye out for them at flea markets and garage sales, I think they're too expensive new, but that's for you to decide.

Oh cool! Learn somethng new... The slipping tire makes sense now!
Not sure the transaxle ill have a look.

I may just go the chains route and look for another to turn into a real heavy puller.
What kind of low end tourque are these machines capeable of?

If I did a dedicated puller I would like it to pull all day without putzing out on me.

Geared as low as they are, you'll rarely get them to run out of power before the wheels break loose. My main tractor is geared to do about 25mph in 5th gear, but will crawl right along in 1st gear. Pulls most anything you put behind it. It's easier on your tractor to pull in lower gears anyway.