Make it about 100 yards and it stops any forward motion... I get off and check, belts in place, nothing seems loose... just won't go forward or reverse. So, I walk back to the house, get the golf cart and tow chain and take off to the stalled lawn mower... hook it up, tie off the wheel and tow it back to the house. Double check everything and can't find anything wrong. So that evening I ask my son about the Craftsman, and he tells me the transmission doesn't have a fill hole, drain hole, and has been leaking at an axle seal for quite a while. He figures it's been running dry for over a year!So after a week of waiting for the new carb, I get anxious about the lawn... and head off to the tractor house... Just to look at lawn tractors or maybe a 'zero turn'! Anyway, I come home and followed by a new zero turn with 26hp engine and 61" deck. Yep, new carb arrives while I'm out spending more money that my first 20 cars cost! Meanwhile I disassembled the Deere, and cleaned the fuel tank, inside & out (pressure washers are great), and have it all ready when it arrives. So... I spend the afternoon getting acquainted with "Zero Turn" lawn mower operaton, and sorta cut the grass. Stayed away from house and fences... and that thing is "twitchy"... It ain't like holding onto a wheel. There's NO one-handed steering this thing! Going in a straight line is really just a series of very small turns. Not conducive to mowing right up to the fenceline or the wall of the house! However, this thing is not going to cut all my grass, as I have my farm (tractor) implements set up on concrete blocks in the barn yard, but are spaced too close together to get the new zero-turn between them. Gotta get the Deere or the Craftsman fixed to do that small "cutting-in" work!
So, although the new carb had arrived, I had other chores to catch up on. Farm truck needed new tags, which meant State inspection, oil change & lube time. Get in and take off to Chevy house... and get rained on inside cab! The roof lites had needed replacing, which I'd done a week earlier. Apparently, the gasket round lite cluster wasn't quite up to snuff. So... while they did the state inspection I checked on a new gasket. Nope, not a service item. You have to buy the entire light cluster... I was afraid to ask how much! Figured RTV silicone will have to do! Another "round-to-it" job! (got it done yesterday). Anyway, new carb is on Deere, but it won't run... same symptom as previous carb! So I set aside this morning to look at it in detail and maybe figure it out! So, I take off air cleaner, and base... and look... there's two wires that go to the carb solenoid that are just lying loose... hmmm... wonder if they're important? Plug 'em in and reassemble, for maybe the 5th or 6th time since this saga began! Viola! It starts and runs! Finally, got the mowing around the house, fences and farm implements done! Only took 2-½ months and many thousands of dollars! I've actually mowed twice with the zero-turn now... and am getting more comfortable with it! Oh yea... I was the first on the street to mow this week!
