Tractors, Mowers, Chippers, Trailers, Chainsaws, Generators, Driveway Erosion Control, ETC.

The South American River company says that the box w/ the deck rebuild parts should arrive tomorrow. What a Royal PIA it was to find the correct model of my garden tractor. Apparently, the tag on the rear of the chassis that says " model number" and "serial number" doesn't actually mean anything. The model number kept coming back as a leaf catcher attachment.

It took about an hour to find a mower that matched the description of mine on the all tractor data site, then once I visually verified that the tractor described was the one that I own, I could look at the PDF of the owners manual and get some P/N's for the spindles and belt, ect then match that to one of the many listings for the deck rebuild kits.

917 27320 is what the tag says on the chassis as the model number, the 917 27308 is what actually got me some useful information. It would seem that my tractor is from 2000. It's only a year newer than my 4runner ( and not as rusty).

 

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Its a jungle out there. shopping is the same.

 

When you see a 917. starting a Sears part number it indicates the unit was made by AYP (American Yard Products)/Roper/David Bradley which is owned by Electrolux who also owns Husqvarna.

I believe this should be your tractor:
https://www.searspartsdirect.com/mo...man-917273220-front-engine-lawn-tractor-parts

 

We got home from Jacksonville Mayo Clinic at 1AM on Thur morning, I got in bed by 2AM after unpacking all the medical infusion boxes on our porch and getting the TPN in the fridge. Started the wife's first 14hr long TPN/lipid infusion at 10AM or so. While the TPN was warming up I built an IV pole out of an extendable paint roller handle and the roller with 2 wood blocks screwed to a rolling stool base lol. Tupperware container screwed to the blocks and zip tied to the pole to hold the $2500 IV pump.



Started the next one today at 5PM so I can help her unhook and flush tomorrow morning before I go to work. My weekend to work, UGH!

My grass was overgrown and I finish mowed the top 2 acres Thur night and started brushhogging the bottom 4 with the Yanmar and Swisher.




Got about 3 acres in and:

All of a sudden I heard such a clatter
I jumped off the seat
I thought it was my bladder

It wasn't. I turned and had smoke boiling out from under the hog, sparks flying and rumbling like it was mowing rocks. Superman stretched over the back of the seat and shut off the blades. When I got up top I straddled my garage ramp with it to get a view. The spindle had blown up.



I found a complete one on Amazon for $150 shipped and went ahead and got it coming. I bought the Swisher well used and have used it for 6 years so I feel this was inevitable with non-greasable bearings. I will remove the inner bearing seals and install a zerk in the new spindle housing. At least I got the top hogged, it's what is visible from the front of the house down to ~ 300yards.



When smoke was boiling out from under the hog and sparks were flying out I had the realization that if it caught fire I had no way to put it out. Could be a disaster in a dry field. I was 400yds from the house. I will mount an extinguisher on the tractor before mowing again.

 

Damn that sucks. We’re thinking about you and your wife and you can gather some strength from us. Seat time is very good therapy and hope you get it up and running soon. Thoughts for the wife you guys got this

 

Thanks for all of the information and the link, but that isn't my garden tractor. Mine is much older.

 

Thanks. This is just the start though. After 4 weeks of infusions we see if the surgeons feel like she is healthy enough for surgery to remove a section of kinked bowel.

 

The offer still stands. You’re a good man. My wife saved me from either being in prison or dead in a ditch. I can only hope I have the strength to prevail what your going through right now if the challenge presents itself. Anyways. Keep sharing we got you

 

Prayers for wife & you too.

 

With Sears often the picture at the top of the page is not the same model as the actual diagrams.
If you look closely at the diagrams I believe it is your model.




Definitely an AYP built tractor, the heavier models used the same angled rear hitch plate clear back into the 70's.

 

Hope everything goes well.

 

Sorry for your loss, it's never easy losing a BFF. I think the headstone is a great idea!

 

Thank you. My sister is flying out in a couple days and will help me with a stencil I can spray paint on there for a guide. I’m kinda interested in starting the project.

 

So not basically in the categories of the thread but I got a stainless sink seperatimg from the quartz countertop.
It’s held up by 2 hangers on either side but they’re towards the back and the front lip is settled down 3/8” or so.
I dunno why there’s only 2 hangers and think I need to snug up the front and add a couple more hangers. Prolly had some silicon holding it up till now. What say the think tank on using Permatex or the like to seal it?

 

Prob some you tube videos on it but id clean it up put new 100% silicone on it

 

They are glued on using 100% silicone, the clamps are there to hold them until the silicone cures.
The trick is that the sink is put on & cured upside down, this might be tougher than expected.

 

I bought one yesterday. I got a 15% off "haven't seen you lately" coupon about a month ago. They used to sent me 25%, but someone on the HF thread mentioned that the 25% coupons were "history". Anyway I decided to wait and see. Then they sent me a 20% coupon on Friday, so I decided to bite. Now I just gotta wait for my friend to come get it out of the back of my truck for me... still in recovery mode from my hernia surgery. . . .

 

Jack it up from underneath!

 

Yea I’m thinking of some small blocks of wood to put under the lip and press it up there with the silicon applied. The blocks will be screwed into the side panels of the cabinet to secure it so it doesn’t go anywhere. Afterwards if someone wants to remove it or whatever they just unscrew the blocks. I will look into the kitchen silicon and get it going. I’ll just use a 2x4 under the sink to press it up or my bottle jack. The biggest challenge will be to lower the sink enough to apply the sealant thoroughly. It’s a pretty big sink and has a huge volume so no one wants all that to come crashing down. It’ll scare the hell outta the wife lol

 

Good evening.

I still don't think it's my tractor. The exploded diagram is showing the gas cap as being on the left fender ( item 138 if I'm seeing it right) My gas cap is in the center of the rear deck right behind the seat back. The model that you're showing me is definately very similar. I used Sears 917-27308 from the descriptions on all tractor data and when I downloaded the owners manual pdf, it looked exactly like my old rig.

I got the deck rebuild kit yesterday so when I got home this morning I went right to work. The pulleys in the kit were wrong ( too big in diameter) but at least I could reuse the old ones, they were still in decent shape. The kit came with a new drive belt for the blades but not the belt that goes to the crank pulley, so after decoding the sears p/n into something useable with a size, I boogied down to Tractor Supply and got a generic belt for $20, it seemed to fit fine. After I got everything buttoned I went for a pass through the back yard and decided that I should just cut the whole lawn.

The new blades made a massive difference and the deck was pretty quiet/vibration free. This mower now cuts pretty well, I'll have to keep it around for a while.



You can see that the new pulleys were about an inch larger in diameter than the old ones.