I bought this lawn mower in 05’ (or I should say the 05’ equivalent - as mine is balck and green) and I have had nothing but problems with it. They advertise it as “Z Start (30% Easier Pull Of The Rope)”. :rolleyes: yeah for the Incredible Hulk. I’m not a small guy, I’ve got a fair amount of braun, but this is ridiculous! I’m a little peeved because usually the Craftsman tools I buy from them are fairly good. I don’t think I’ll ever get another gas powered anything from craftsman.
I love to tinker, I like giving engines overhauls (especially with my boat) but I nearly tore my shoulder off trying to start this f*cking mower last night!
Anyone else have problems with craftsman gas powered tools?
No, I’ve got a craftsman mower too, but it starts and pulls easy. I think I’ve got a craftsman motor on it. You’ve got a Briggs motor on yours, 'splains everything. I’ve got a generac generator with a Briggs motor and that think is a PIG to start. I think Briggs motors are tighter and harder to start than most others from my experience.
What you and I should have gotten were units with a Honda engine. Those are the bees knees.
I’ve had a Craftsman mower for six years, that has started on the first pull every single time, and it’s not a hard pull. It must be the difference in engines.
Strange. My generator has a 10 HP Briggs engine, and I just have to give it a lazy tug or two for it to fire up.
The secret sauce is in the maintenance.
But I will echo the sentiment of sticking to Craftsman hand tools. Their power tools and motorized stuff is pretty dodgy as they farm that out to whoever puts in the lowest bid.
I have that mower, with the Briggs motor sold under the Briggs name. I’ve had it for two years. Absolutely no problems starting. Now my Crapsman chainsaw is another matter. Little PoS won’t start unless the stars are properly aligned.
Where do you live? I’ trying to chaulk it up to anything BUT it being a lemon. I think when it’s cold the damn thing has trouble and when it warms in the sun for a while, it’s fine. Are you in a temperate zone somewhere?
I’m just south of Cincinnati. Little thing runs like a top. I just started last Tuesday evening right in the garage. That was the first time I started it since October. Pushed the primer 5 times. Two pulls it reved right up and off I went. I find that the recommended 3 pushes of the primer aren’t enough and usually go for 4 or 5. The amount of strength needed to pull the starter cord is relatively minimal. Much less than my last non-self propelled mower with a smaller motor.
My husband’s rule of thumb is handtools = Ok from Craftsman. Power tools = don’t bother. He recently exchanged out a handtool (like from the '50s) that was so old that they no longer carried it and had to give him a modern equivalent.
I got a Craftsman 5 hp model when we bought the house. The land was in terrible shape with hidden junk and all kinds of things in it. I broke it probably 6 times in two years but I can’t fault the mower itself for that. One day I broke it again and I was mad about everything so I brought it in to Sears and explained to the manager why that model wasn’t right for me. He gave me 100% credit towards a new model! I got a bigger one and I have broken it a few times as well but it performs acceptably. I abuse the crap out of it. I have a John Deer lawn tractor now for primary service but I still use the Craftsman for detail and finish work. It doesn’t usually start on the first try but that isn’t a primary criterion for me.
I work with my tools every day for a living. I think Craftsman hand tools are excellent.
The powers tools are another story. Even the stuff they grade as “Professional”—while better than the stuff they sell to accountants----doesn’t perform like a professional tool.
The best power tool out there right now—and that includes Makita, DeWalt, Milwaukee, and Porter Cable is Bosch. Talk about the bees knees…
Sears tools are not of the quality they used to be, and taking back one of the old ones gets you a less well made tool in it’s place. They always try to exchange it for a lesser model too. You bring in a 50 ft tape measure in a metal case and they want you to accept a 35 ft made of plastic as a replacement.
We just got an electric start mower. I love it. The best mower we ever had was a Wards with a spring starter. You cranked on a handle that wound the recoil spring, flipped the handle down, and pressed the release button. I worked for probaly 15 years.
Sears lost me as a customer when they decided they would re-define the horsepower. Claiming 4 HP from a vacuum cleaner or air compressor that runs on a 15A 120V circuit is nothing less than an insult to my intelligence. They are such a marketing force, that many companies have been forced to fall in line, but I know damn well where it started.
The only time I will set foot in thier store is to obtain warranty replacements for tools purchased 20+ years ago, and fortunatly dad bought a lot more S-K stuff than Craftsman.
There is a small, locally owned shop near me that sells and services lawnmowers and such. That is where I will go if I ever need one.
Can I hijack this thread to ask a very specific question about Sears torque wrenches? I got a Craftsman Microtork, micrometer type. I needed to do some work on my car immediately so I didn’t read all the instructions. I left it on a high setting for a few days, and then I undid it but I took it below the minimum setting momentarily. Both are contrary to the instructions; could this have damaged it?
In general how good are these things; do they go off over time even if you don’t use them much? They only have a 90-day warranty on going out of calibration. I saw this thing, it was $70 but I said to myself what the hell, it’s a Craftsman and it’ll probably be useful thing to have down the road.
I can’t answer your question, but a quick bit on calibration. The only way to know is to have and item calibrated against a standard before use and later. You assume it to be within speck between the two times. Some freek anomaly could have happened between but is very unlikely. The internet would have pages on the specific model you bought and you can send the manufacture a email or ask a calibration service. I doubt your actions messed it up , but you never know for sure and it wasn’t necessarily calibrated unless you have a certificate of calibration with it. The torque wrenchs I had to maintain calibrations for stayed in an exceptable tolerence until they failed misserably because of sombody torquing beyond it’s limits.
I think my problem is that I only run the thing twice or thrice a year. Just to test it out or run a power tool in the backyard. Plus it’s like a 13 horse motor which is pretty substantial.
The other thing about Briggs motors is they are friggin LOUD!. Kevbo, how does Craftsman define HP other than 746watts/hp?
Heh, in a 4 hp unit you’d need a circuit with the capacity of 25+ amps!
I generally agree. The hand tools are good (especially for the price) but not great. But you cant complain about the warrenty. I once bought a car with one locking lug not on it and didn't have the key. My buddy and I decided to buy a socket that would just not quite fit over the lug nut and hammer it on. When I bought the socket we asked about the warrenty. The guy said, "Oh you'll never break that!" We were back in the store ten minutes later with the socket split open on the side. The guy was surprised, but swapped it out for the next larger size no charge. That one worked.
As far as the power tools go, some are good, some are crap. It depends who makes the particular item. Two years ago I bought a biscuit jointer, which is made by Dewalt. The handle and trigger are different, but the fence and all the machanics are identical.
Well, for the money, you can get a pretty reliable, low-end power tool (ie cordless drill, recip saw, etc) from the Craftsman brand. It will serve well given non-professional demands. It does not compare to DeWalt, Bosch, Porter Cable, Ridgid, etc, but all of those start at twice the price of the Craftsman brand.
It is ages ahead of “ShopForce” and “Tradesman” discount brands you can find at places like Meijer and Target and the like. With Craftsman, you can find specs other than voltage\amperage, such as in-lbs of torque, or max RPM, etc, but you won’t find that info anywhere easily with “ShopForce” brand.