Craftsman riding mover frame broken

Bleach

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The frame on my '96 Craftsman 50" riding mower had cracks develop in the frame several years ago. They are about midway between where the engine mounts on both frame rails. They started as small hairline cracks and grew slowly over time. I hadn't looked at them for over a year but I after noticing the mower was mowing lower than usual yesterday. No matter how much I tried to adjust the mowing height, it was still cutting low. I thought maybe something was broken in the raising mechanism so when I looked, much to my horror, I found the problem. The frame was completely broken on both sides. It looks like to the only thing keeping my front end attached is the engine. If I keep using it this way there's probably a good chance I'll bust the engine mounts of the engine. I don't have a welder that I could weld the frame back together so I am thinking to bolt some rectangular thick gauge flat stock steel on both side of the frame to reconnect the two parts. The problem is where can get some steel like that?
Has anyone else had an issue with their frames cracking on any riding tractor? It has a 25hp Kohler Command engine. Could just the weight of the engine caused it? I'm not a heavy man. I barely weigh 190 lbs.
 

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My old Craftsman did that too just not in the same place. Mine was the front stamped axle and the slot it runs in.
I completely dismantled the entire mower and took it in to work and mig welded it all back up.

You should be able to get a couple of pieces of steel locally to shore it up but I certainly would line everything back up first and weld it in place. Then you could either weld or bolt the extra steel onto the sides.
 

Romore

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It is a 23 year old machine, I am really not surprised. The frame may be rusted through in which case time to retire it, you have gotten your money's worth. Bolting some mild steel scabs on may buy you some time.
 

Bleach

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I managed to fix the frame. I got four pieces of 3"X7" pieces of 1/4" steel plates. I drilled 6 holes into each piece and did the same on each frame rail. I jacked the frame level to close up the cracks and bolted the plates sandwiching the frames. It's holding together really well. It cost me about $7 for all the steel and bolt hardware.
This should make the tractor last a few more years.
BTW, there is absolutely no rust on this machine.
 
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Glad you got it fixed but I still would have welded the cracks up before bolting the steel in place.
Then again, this fix might outlast the rest of the mower.
 

Bleach

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Glad you got it fixed but I still would have welded the cracks up before bolting the steel in place.
Then again, this fix might outlast the rest of the mower.

I thought about welding the frame the last time I had the engine out but my welder won't weld the thickness of the frame. It's for very light gauge steel.
As you said I have a feeling the repair will outlast the tractor.
 

bertsmobile1

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Old tractors are worth the effort to repair
Few newer ones are.
 

NorthBama

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I managed to fix the frame. I got four pieces of 3"X7" pieces of 1/4" steel plates. I drilled 6 holes into each piece and did the same on each frame rail. I jacked the frame level to close up the cracks and bolted the plates sandwiching the frames. It's holding together really well. It cost me about $7 for all the steel and bolt hardware.
This should make the tractor a few more years.
BTW, there is absolutely no rust on this machine.

Nice work glad you fixed it up
 

Bleach

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I'm only fixing it because new good ones are really expensive. I've broken a lot of things on this tractor over the nearly 21 years of owning it. The engine and transaxle are the only items that haven't broken anything. It's always started even when it only fired on one bank. I probably haven't spent more than $400 on parts on the entire machine and I did all the work myself.
It's had a rough life. My yard has a lot of bumpy, uneven and sloping areas. I doubt any similar tractors made today would last a year. I guess I really can't complain.
 

bertsmobile1

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No they won't.
Work out what the old tractor cost you in hours worked to pay for it.
Then equate that to what you get paid today .
Multiply that by 1.5 and that is what you will need to spend to get a good mower now days.
Down here the top of the line Honda S/P sells for a touch over $ 2000 and people are always asking me how good the $ 1599.99 ride ons are.
Some people never understand that that Santa Clause & the Tooth Fairy are not real.

Even a light welded should be able to do a fillet weld if the patch is over the break.
People forget that a weld is essentially a casting so needs to be at least 3 times as thick to get somewhere near the same tensile strength as plate.
 
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