13 replies to this topic

[Wormwood]

I'm really at a cross road here & just don't know what to do. Last year I bought a GT6000 online during one of those midnight madness sales. I got a heck of a deal & of course bought ALL the accessories (triple bags, sleeve hitch, boxblade, lug tires, tiller, & so on) which did great for me at the time.
Last fall, the transaxle failed, the gerotor somehow began to dug into the aluminum cover plate & I began losing any priming action that it provides to the pump. So I parked it in the garage & began to rethink everything. In the end I wound up purchasing a kubota BX25 which suits my needs, especially since we live on a hillside. Between the 2 tractors, I've become very adept at maintaining the lowest CG possible, this is where the Craftsman shines & it had only had a diff lock, my story may have been very different.
So currently, I have my Kubota, which I'm using almost daily & curious what to do with this Craftsman... I've asked my local small engine shops, who must be asked this same question everyday. One of them offered me $500 for it, which tends to be the same sentiment around here. Either we're too stupid around here or no one cares, but most of them don't know you can put an attachment on the back. This says nothing about Johnny products, they thought I was starting to tell a "little Johnny..." joke when I said the name.
So this is what I'm wondering, what to should I do with the GT? Part it out or sell it as a whole? Is there some great clearinghouse I can take it to regionally? Overall, looking at the various forums, I don't see too much activity regarding the 2011 model GT's. So I tend to ask myself whether it would be a waste of time trying to find a buyers for parts... Another possibility is to just hold on to the GT & use it to make a go-kart for the grandson/granddaughter, I'll stop there but there's no way I'd ever convert it to a racing tractor... It's bad enough that the tractor goes in the garage & the cars stay outside.
I simply don't quite know where to go or who to talk to so I thought this might be the best method, asking everyone all at once. Thanks guys for all the insight, even though I've done nothing but "troll" around in these forums, I can say without a doubt the level of knowledge & expertise displayed here on the GT forums is above & beyond ALL the Kubota forums combined.

Regards,
Steve
Wormwood

[JDBrian]

Was the tractor under warranty? If so get it repaired through Sears. If not, get an estimate on the repair and see if you'd be better off trying to repair the tractor and then selling it with all the attachments as a package.

[MH81]

I would think that the repair (while probably pricey) would justify itself in the resale. $500 for the package you listed above should be considered very lowball i would think. If it's a running, viable unit with attachments, one year old, i would think you should get substantially more.

[timtractor]

I would think that you would be able to get the $500 for just the implements alone. Not including the tractor. I think that the price was set too low. That I think someone was trying to get a big steal from you.

I would try fixing the tranny in the GT and use it for any of your other attachment work.

Use the GT for the rough work and keep your Kabota for other uses.

[HDWildBill]

As stated above I think someone is low balling you. I also think I would try and fix it up. Look around and you might find someone with a doner GT that you can get the tranny out of it for a lot less $$$ and it might give you some experience working on a GT. Then like Tim said you could use the Craftsman for jobs you don't want to use the Kabota for.

[JDBrian]

Shouldn't a 2011 tractor still be under warranty. What kind of warranty is Sears offering these days?

[KennyP]

I would hope so! I think there is a 2 year warranty on factory defects, at least that is what my buddy got for his push mower.

[Wormwood]

I hadn't giving it much thought but using the GT for crap I wouldn't want to take the Kubota sounds better than what I was thinking.
Yeah, $500 is a low ball & I figure they get asked this 10x's a day in the spring & summer & that price was for the GT, sleeve hitch, & mowing deck. Sears warranty, umm, maybe this is a good time to explain my modifications I put a oil cooler into the fan shroud, it adds about a 1/2 quart to the oil capacity & a 25 amp stator since I have all those actuators for the Johnny products & sleeve hitch. Then I changed the steering to a rack & pinion off a dune buggy, it helped but it's still not power steering. This goes on & on so I wouldn't think a warranty would be in effect still.

So what's the better place to get Hydro-gear parts? Hydro-gear directly or through sears. It's a fence post decision on what to do because by the time I buy all the seals, orings, that gerotor cover, a gallon of oil & a filter i'm halfway $$$ to a new transaxle or around $300.

Anyway, I'll call hydro-gear tomorrow & see what they have to say.

Thanks,
Steve
Wormwood

[Toolpartzman]

Sounds like you're going have to spend some $$ and my guess is that Sears will be higher. Another option is a swap. You will have to do some digging but I know that other late model GTs shared the same transaxle with Cub Cadet for example. I've tried to find model-to-model for you but I just had my computer cleaned and I can't find doodly. A friend used a GT 5000 as a "train engine" to pull kids/and 3 passenger cars. The Hydro was close to eating itself (hasn't yet) and I found the exact unit was used in a Cub. Sorry I can't be more specific, but the replacement new was around $700.

[MH81]

It all depends on who you get involved in the repair. If you get a jerk who says "He turned a screw, warraty's void" then you're out of luck. If you can find the guy who says "his mods didn't cause this..." you'd be OK.

I've called HG once myself, funnily enough, I found the call takers polite and responsive.

Either way, best of luck.

[JDBrian]

Didn't realie you had modded the tractor so much. If you added an oil cooler that could give them the excuse they need to void the warranty. It still sounds like it's worth investing 300$ in to me.

[HDWildBill]

If you have all these mod's on the tractor then i would think you would want to repair it. There just seems to be a lot invested in the tractor not to repair it. Craftsman is built by AYP(Craftsman, Husquavarna, etc) so you should be able to find a replacement tranny. If you did the mod's your self then you shouldn't have any problem replacing the tranny.

[olcowhand]

What model is the Hydrogear unit? Here's a place for parts:
http://www.outdoordi...ogear_Main.html

[speedyg]

What if you dropped the tranny and took "it"down to sears with your warrenty information. They have no need for the whole tractor do they?