Newbie from BC, Canada

I think it’s down by the steering box on the pedal shaft that runs across the frame, but it’s been so long since I’ve taken mine apart

I don't think it is directly under the solenoid, but I know it's in that area.

Also, if you need to replace the switch, it's very generic. This is what you're looking for. They can be found in any LT AYP chassis.

Thanks - I'll have a look there. They sure don't make 'em easy to find - I can understand them not wanting people to delete safeties, but if you need to repair one, like I do, it shouldn't be a secret!

I thought it was time to post a few pics of my beater tractor. I'm gonna wash it down, I swear! Once it's running well, at least!

I finished installing my foot throttle today, and it works pretty well. It needs paint etc., but it's going to work, I think.

The engine's running a bit rough, and I'm getting some black smoke in the exhaust (even after cleaning & gapping the plugs, which were pretty sooty - running rich, I think). I've ordered a full carb rebuild kit, and I'm hoping that will help.

Funny, after finalizing all the throttle connections I fired it up, and it only ran about 3 seconds & quit. Wouldn't re-start for anything. I was trying to figure out what I must have done wrong when I happened to glance at the fuel filter & it was empty. Duh!! I ran out of gas....

Once refilled, it was still running rough & ragged, so the carb kit will hopefully help. I can't get full throttle out of the engine at the moment as it stumbles too much - it may have swallowed some crud from the bottom of the fuel tank, as I never removed & cleaned it out. Small stuff, though...I can fix it.

Here's a few pix:



My new throttle -



Nice bright lights -



Gotta have taillights, too, right?



Rear end....



The engine...

Today I pulled out the front axle to address the wobbly front end.  I had over 1/4" play back and forth at each end, and that added, unintentional steering made it scary at 30 mph.

The plastic bushing was worn to paper thin, and even worn completely through in one area.  I had originally planned on using PTFE (Delrin) to machine a bushing, but I didn't have any big enough to make one.  

**I looked in my manual, found the part number for the original plastic bearing, and searched it on Amazon. The pictures of it look like it has about 1/4" wall thickness. However, on my Craftsman, the steel sleeve is 7/8" outside diameter, and the axle pivot hole is 1" inside diameter. That means that the bearing itself must have only a 1/16" wall thickness. For anyone who's done this repair, does that seem right??**

What I did have was some T-6061-T6 aluminum, so I made the bushing out of that.  I have absolutely no idea how it will stand up, but I figured I'd give it a shot.  I cleaned up all the surfaces, greased it up, and put it back together.  

Turns out, there was still significant play.  There's a steel sleeve inside the bearing, and its length means there's quite a bit of wobble room between the mounting plates and the axle.  It was just too long.  So, I chucked it in my lathe & machined the ends so they're flat, and removed several thousandths from its length.  I couldn't take off too much, or the axle would grate against the mounting plates.

Of course, the steel sleeve is a "casual" fit around the securing bolt, too.

After greasing it all up & reassembling it, I got rid of all but about 1/8" total play (1/16" fore and aft at each end).  Thanks to my new (CHEAP!  $39!!) corded impact wrench putting it all back together was pretty easy.

I took it for a spin, and the steering (while still spooky) was quite improved.

Next, rebuild the carb.

Onward & upward!

Here's a question for you smart folks out there: the ends of my steering drag link arm are badly worn, adding more looseness into the steering.

Unfortunately, Craftsman really cheaped out here - the ends (cheesy "ball joints") aren't replaceable, and a new drag link ranges from $100-$120. The link arm itself is 5/8" diameter. If it was somewhat straight, I'd try turning it down on the lathe & threading the ends for replacement ball joints, but that's not possible.

Anybody have a cheap, reliable fix for that?

I was thinking about this awhile ago, White Lightning needed some steering bushings awhile ago and I was considering replacing the ball joints for peace of mind (decided not to, still in good shape) but it seems that the rods are already turned down at the ends. Not sure if yours has ball joints that thread onto the end, but if you do just get some aftermarket joints from Stens/Rotary/Oregon etc. if you don’t have some, maybe you could cut off the ends, weld on some 1/2 or 3/8 bolts and mount some adjustable ball joints. 3/8 ball joints are around $5 usd each on Amazon in sets of 2 or 4 and the 1/2 jobs are around 10 usd. Hope that helps.

Thanks, my friend, I think that's just what I'll do. The link is 5/8" OD (most of the thread-on links I've seen are 7/16" ID), and hard to turn down, so cutting the ends off, welding on threaded shanks (cut off bolts of the right thread) & screwing on replacement ball joints seems like the perfect answer1

Thanks!! See, I KNEW I could count on you guys!!!

I'm tired so I don't know if I know exactly what I'm talking about, but if this makes any sense, maybe you could use some heim joints on the end of your drag link? I'm too tired to put the thought into how they would do with the articulation of the front axle, but maybe that would work.

Either option seems good. Can't think of any problems with using heim joints at the moment but I'm sure someone else will. If heim joints are a bad idea someone please correct me. It's too late tonight for me to trust my own advice about mowers.

I was thinking about heim joints, and I think they would work, but they're pretty expensive. I did find drag link ball joints for only $23 a pair on Amazon, which is much cheaper than heims (at around $21 each), and slightly more heavy duty. The heims I can get locally only go up to 3/8" , but doing some digging on Amazon revealed this pair of 7/16" drag link ball joints. Personally, I think heims would last longer, but....

Rustbucket's idea of cutting off the ends of the drag link & welding on bolts of appropriate thread to attach the ball joints (or heims, for that matter) is a great one, I think. Once that's done, the drag link becomes repairable/rebuildable, rather than a throw-away. They're crazy expensive (like $200+), and getting difficult to find in Canada, so making it repairable makes sense.

You guys are great, and so is this forum!!

I followed Rustbucket's advice on modifying the drag link, and it worked perfectly!  

I found a couple of old 7/16" NF bolts, cut the ends off the drag link, turned the heads of the bolts to round (with a taper to make them sort of conical) and welded them on the ends of the drag link.  It all went together in moments, and definitely took more play out of the steering.  It's ALMOST driveable now without sweating bullets .

While I was messing with it, I got the brake working again (a couple of adjustments were all it needed), along with a few other items.  

I did give it a good soap & water scrub, but the paint is too far gone to save I'm afraid.  There's some surface rust in some places, so I suspect I'll have to sand it to bare metal to get it flat & paintable again.

Next is a carb rebuild.  It runs not too bad at speed, but really rough at idle.  It still smokes some, too, although the Seafoam in the oil seems to be helping (I suspect the oil control rings are stuck in their grooves a bit).

This thing REALLY burns a lot of gas, though!!  Man, about 6 runs up & down the driveway (250' each way) burned through 1/3 of a tank of gas, maybe 1/2 gallon or so.  Maybe some of the exhaust smoke I'm seeing is actually fuel....?  Anyway, a carb rebuild ought to fix that.  I hope!

Oppys have a tendency to burn through a lot of gas. Shouldn't be burning through a 1/3 tank though unless the tank is extremely small. What color is the smoke you are seeing? White means it's oil, black means it's fuel, and I believe blue is a mixture.


Also, I would recommend putting that rear cover back on when you have a chance (the one that has the wagon hook up on it). Without that plate there, the only thing keeping the two frame rails from twisting closer or away from each other is the transmission itself which puts a lot of stress on it.

The smoke is definitely blue. It sounds like it's running really rich at idle, blubbering and popping. It didn't do that until I accidentally ran it completely dry of gas, so that's why I suspect there's a carb issue. I got the complete B&S carb & pump rebuild kit for it, so that's next on the agenda.

Good call on that rear plate - I hadn't thought of that!! I'll get that put back on, especially now that I seem to have the rear belt pulley/keeper sorted out & don't have to put the belt back on every 30 seconds!