Craftsman LT 3000 Riding Lawn Mower

by David
(Mountain Home, Ar.)

This is the worst machine of any kind that I have ever bought.

First lawn mower
1)Intermittently would run, or would run very rough, or would not run at all. Serviced 4-5 times by Sears under warranty, 2 different service techs. Problem was never fixed. Sears replaced mower

2)Steering column became loose

Second lawn mower (items 1 & 2 are the same on both mowers). I have made all repairs on 2nd mower

1)After 1-2 months developed the same problem as the first lawn mower. Intermittently would run, or would run very rough, or would not run at all. I did not trust the current repair staff to fix the problem, so I trouble shot it myself to find that the carburetor choke return spring was missing or defective. Came to the repair shop to get another spring and the tech was very glad to also learn of what the problem was. I repaired.

2)Steering column became loose. In my opinion the problem was a design flaw. 2 small sheet metal screws were used to hold column in place, screws were stripped out and had fallen out. I repaired using 2 #10 machine screws and nuts and have had no further difficulty

3)Tires leak will not hold air - looked for leaks and they were not found on the tires, but in defective valve stems - currently leaking

4)Seat safety switch was defective - intermittently stopping the mower from running (this went on for months until I found the problem), replaced switch

5)Weld broke on the pulley that connected to the motor crankshaft - replaced

6)Extreme oil consumption - takes approximately 2 hours to mow yard and have to add around 1/2 quart of oil per use

7)Current issue - Mower will not start, replaced battery, motor turns over very slowly and bottom of starter gets very hot.