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I picked up this clean 1992 Craftsman 36" Model 917.256820 with 12 HP Tecumseh motor yesterday for $200. This is my first riding mower, but probably not my last - I have heard that riding mowers tend to spoil homeowners from never wanting to go back to using a regular mower as their primary tool. I thought that this mower would be a great entry, albeit the age, for $200 I couldn't pass it up. I am finding riding mowers that are 14-15 years old are still selling for $500-$600 around here on the used market!

Today I spend the day cleaning it up, although it was very clean as it was. I wanted to clean the deck out just to make sure that there was no contamination with weed seeds from the previous owner's lawn, as I saw he had quite a bit of some creeping weed in his lawn.

I also went ahead and ordered two new Oregon Gator blades for this mower as well.

I was curious if anyone had any insight on where I could obtain an online user manual for this mower. And if anyone knew if this mower ever came with a mulch plug instead of the side discharge?

I am also not seeing a drain plug on the Spicer transaxle. From my research it seems as if this axle probably just has grease inside that cannot be serviced without complete disassembly of the case halves.

Also, I am curious about proper deck leveling, which I definitely want to accomplish. I was messing around with the brackets and they seem a bit wonky, not lining up quite right on both sides and the brackets not hanging perfectly. Not sure what's going on, or what it is supposed to look like, or how it was mounted from the factory.

Other than that, everything does work. The motor leaks a little bit of oil, looks to be from the oil pan gasket, but runs very smoothly otherwise! The owner was very up front and honest. Told me sometimes he had difficulty getting it in to gear, although I was not able to replicate that issue any time yesterday or today. The Transaxle feels great and all of the gears are smooth! 4 forward, 1 reverse.

This is some info..

https://www.searspartsdirect.com/mo...odelSearch&q=917.256820&searchTerm=917.256820

MowLife said:

This is some info..

https://www.searspartsdirect.com/mo...odelSearch&q=917.256820&searchTerm=917.256820

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Yes - I have looked there before, no information relating to a manual, transaxle grease/oil, or a mulch plug for the side discharge.

917 codes out as an AYP made mower.
You might find an owners or pars manual herehttps://mymowerparts.com/about_us.php in the Husqvarna section.
In the Tecumseh section you will find the engine manual.
The Tranny will be covered by a Spicer manual which might still be up on the spicer or dana web sites but AFAIK they tossed all the mower stuff off a long while back when they got out of mower trannies .
Got to parts sites like Jacks or partstree and type in your tranny number or spicer & number ( off tag ) some sites will still have the parts breakdown for them.
And yes a grease filled manual tranny will not have a drain plug but 20 years on the greae will have hardened so should be replaced if you are intending keeping & using the mower.

bertsmobile1 said:

917 codes out as an AYP made mower.
You might find an owners or pars manual herehttps://mymowerparts.com/about_us.php in the Husqvarna section.
In the Tecumseh section you will find the engine manual.
The Tranny will be covered by a Spicer manual which might still be up on the spicer or dana web sites but AFAIK they tossed all the mower stuff off a long while back when they got out of mower trannies .
Got to parts sites like Jacks or partstree and type in your tranny number or spicer & number ( off tag ) some sites will still have the parts breakdown for them.
And yes a grease filled manual tranny will not have a drain plug but 20 years on the greae will have hardened so should be replaced if you are intending keeping & using the mower.

Click to expand...

There are hundreds of .pdf documents listed for Husqvarna...

Tried to find your manuals, NO success ..... but I did find your transaxle parts list, go to the site in the link and scroll down to your #4360-15 transaxle .... it's in there, sorry I could not help more, Best of luck, it's a good looking machine

https://www.m-and-d.com/dana_foote_parts.html

Also this site for your Tecumseh Eng. might be helpful...

http://www.barrettsmallengine.com/tecumseh/manuals.html

Boobala said:

Tried to find your manuals, NO success ..... but I did find your transaxle parts list, go to the site in the link and scroll down to your #4360-15 transaxle .... it's in there, sorry I could not help more, Best of luck, it's a good looking machine

https://www.m-and-d.com/dana_foote_parts.html

Also this site for your Tecumseh Eng. might be helpful...

http://www.barrettsmallengine.com/tecumseh/manuals.html

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Thank you. I believe the engine is "similar" to the 9 hp Tecumseh on my 2007 Ariens 926LE snow thrower.

Is there anyone on this forum that owns an older Craftsman machine like this one?

Blaine B. said:

I picked up this clean 1992 Craftsman 36" Model 917.256820 with 12 HP Tecumseh motor yesterday for $200. This is my first riding mower, but probably not my last - I have heard that riding mowers tend to spoil homeowners from never wanting to go back to using a regular mower as their primary tool. I thought that this mower would be a great entry, albeit the age, for $200 I couldn't pass it up. I am finding riding mowers that are 14-15 years old are still selling for $500-$600 around here on the used market!

Today I spend the day cleaning it up, although it was very clean as it was. I wanted to clean the deck out just to make sure that there was no contamination with weed seeds from the previous owner's lawn, as I saw he had quite a bit of some creeping weed in his lawn.

I also went ahead and ordered two new Oregon Gator blades for this mower as well.

I was curious if anyone had any insight on where I could obtain an online user manual for this mower. And if anyone knew if this mower ever came with a mulch plug instead of the side discharge?

No it never did.

I am also not seeing a drain plug on the Spicer transaxle. From my research it seems as if this axle probably just has grease inside that cannot be serviced without complete disassembly of the case halves.

Yes you have to open it up to change the grease.

Also, I am curious about proper deck leveling, which I definitely want to accomplish. I was messing around with the brackets and they seem a bit wonky, not lining up quite right on both sides and the brackets not hanging perfectly. Not sure what's going on, or what it is supposed to look like, or how it was mounted from the factory.

You measure to the blade tips. Front to back then side to side. You do not level the deck you level the blades. The deck is not flat on the bottom. It must be leveled by the blades.

Other than that, everything does work. The motor leaks a little bit of oil, looks to be from the oil pan gasket, but runs very smoothly otherwise! The owner was very up front and honest. Told me sometimes he had difficulty getting it in to gear, although I was not able to replicate that issue any time yesterday or today. The Transaxle feels great and all of the gears are smooth! 4 forward, 1 reverse.

Your mower should require to be at a complete stop to change gears. If you were doing that then that is why you had no problem changing gears.

View attachment 41228View attachment 41229View attachment 41230View attachment 41231View attachment 41232View attachment 41233View attachment 41234View attachment 41235

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Answers above in your quote.

Do you own a similar mower, and if so, can you take a picture of the brackets that attach the deck to the height adjustment system? Also, does this deck look like it would have been original to the mower?

The reason I ask is that there is misalignment between the brackets on the deck and the brackets on the height adjustment system. The adjustable links between the two cannot both be situated on the inside, or the outside, of the brackets. One must be one way, and the other must be the other way. Even so, there is still misalignment, and I do not feel as if the deck is centered on the frame. Something is a bit wonky, but the brackets are not bent, either.

Thank you for your insight on some of my other questions. Now if I could only find the owner's manual...

Blaine B. said:

Do you own a similar mower, and if so, can you take a picture of the brackets that attach the deck to the height adjustment system? Also, does this deck look like it would have been original to the mower?

The reason I ask is that there is misalignment between the brackets on the deck and the brackets on the height adjustment system. The adjustable links between the two cannot both be situated on the inside, or the outside, of the brackets. One must be one way, and the other must be the other way. Even so, there is still misalignment, and I do not feel as if the deck is centered on the frame. Something is a bit wonky, but the brackets are not bent, either.

Thank you for your insight on some of my other questions. Now if I could only find the owner's manual...

Click to expand...

Might help if you posted some pics of these brackets on the deck ......

I'll see if I can get to it sometime this week. Thanks!

In the meantime...... dug these up which may, or may NOT, be of help.. you have to download some of this ... Boobala

https://www.searspartsdirect.com/mo...=modelSearch&q=917256820&searchTerm=917256820

https://www.searspartsdirect.com/partsdirect/user-manuals/917254850-craftsman-parts-manual

https://www.searspartsdirect.com/partsdirect/user-manuals/917257462-craftsman-parts-manual

https://www.searspartsdirect.com/partsdirect/user-manuals/917254274-craftsman-parts-manual

even though the model numbers are different, the decks may be very similar in adjustments..??

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8q3_WgysWQk&t=1339s

I recorded a video yesterday. You're more than welcome to watch the entire thing, but if you want to skip to 22:00 minutes, I show the deck brackets and describe what's going on.

Is the deck supposed to be at an angle? The left side of the deck is definitely a lot more forward than the right side. It has a rearward, diagonal slant from the left to the right. Thanks again.

Did you look through these manuals ..???

SEE pages 22 & 23 in this manual it may be close to yours ...

https://www.searspartsdirect.com/pa...l?sid=aff:shareasale&ref=sas&sscid=a1k2_t7a18

you have to download it to see it ........ see the little RED pdf symbol ..

Boobala said:

Did you look through these manuals ..???

SEE pages 22 & 23 in this manual it may be close to yours ...

https://www.searspartsdirect.com/pa...l?sid=aff:shareasale&ref=sas&sscid=a1k2_t7a18

you have to download it to see it ........ see the little RED pdf symbol ..

Click to expand...

Yes, that particular deck seems to be slightly different, yet similar at the same time.

I'm not sure, perhaps this deck isn't original either.

From the drawings it appears that the deck should be straight across from left to right rather than diagonal. Is this assumption based on the manual's drawings correct?

I don't know what to say about that, the decks on my Murrays sit a bit diagonal, my 46 in. more so than my 42 incher, I guess it's just the design for the mounting brackets, I doubt your deck was changed, but its possible it may have been a larger deck, check all your brackets for being bent, my brackets were bent to hell from previous owner hitting the ground, and other things on the lawn, straightened a few and replaced a few, I would cut a section of lawn and then check the heights starting at full up, working on dropping down a little at a time ... and check through ALL those manuals I sent, you may find more info...

Boobala said:

I don't know what to say about that, the decks on my Murrays sit a bit diagonal, my 46 in. more so than my 42 incher, I guess it's just the design for the mounting brackets, I doubt your deck was changed, but its possible it may have been a larger deck, check all your brackets for being bent, my brackets were bent to hell from previous owner hitting the ground, and other things on the lawn, straightened a few and replaced a few, I would cut a section of lawn and then check the heights starting at full up, working on dropping down a little at a time ... and check through ALL those manuals I sent, you may find more info...

Click to expand...

When my new blades come in, I'll drop the deck entirely and have a look at everything under there. Did you see my video?

Sears sales a manual for $9.00
https://www.searspartsdirect.com/pa...ategoryName=Lawn, Tractor&brandName=CRAFTSMAN

Blaine B. said:

When my new blades come in, I'll drop the deck entirely and have a look at everything under there. Did you see my video?

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I did see it, but it's hard to see much of value probably better pics of the deck and the "hangers" on the mower frame when you drop the deck ..BE SURE TO TAKE MANY, MANY, PICS of your disassembly .. they will be valuable later as you reassemble !!

It's normal for these 2 blade decks to be hung a little diagonally. It's a little trick to let the blades have a little bit of overlap while driving straight.

HughDaHand said:

It's normal for these 2 blade decks to be hung a little diagonally. It's a little trick to let the blades have a little bit of overlap while driving straight.

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That's what I was thinking, perhaps, since the blades rotate independently and do not overlap themselves under the deck, as shown in my photo after putting the tractor on its side. By the way, the battery was removed beforehand.......no acid leak!

Boobala said:

I did see it, but it's hard to see much of value probably better pics of the deck and the "hangers" on the mower frame when you drop the deck ..BE SURE TO TAKE MANY, MANY, PICS of your disassembly .. they will be valuable later as you reassemble !!

Click to expand...

I'm thinking that perhaps, the bracket that is bolted to the deck on the right side may be backwards. That would explain some of the misalignment with the hanger brackets.

I have 80's sears riders. It looks like it i very similar to mine. Looking at the diagram, either i'm reading it wrong or else i dont see the diagram of the parts that connect\lift the deck. Can u post pics of the "arms" that hold the deck up so i can see if it is like mine and if same\similar i can tell u how to align it.

SEE P/Ns 12 & 15 ..........

....... click to enlarge, ..... these should be the deck brackets...

and this should be the deck hangers ... see #s 22,23, 26, 27 (and related )

ARE these pics similar to yours, .. check the bracket locations

...

According to the diagrams, the brackets that are bolted to the deck are oriented correctly. However it seems as if I reversed the right rear deck bracket so that it was biased more towards the left that the hangers would be aligned much better.

These are some sub-par photos today, but that's what I have for now. Also, my new Gator blades came in. Good stuff as I am accustomed to. I can't say for certain that they cut better but it would seem as if they would create a better turbulent swirl with the aggressive fins.

Blaine B. said:

According to the diagrams, the brackets that are bolted to the deck are oriented correctly. However it seems as if I reversed the right rear deck bracket so that it was biased more towards the left that the hangers would be aligned much better.

These are some sub-par photos today, but that's what I have for now. Also, my new Gator blades came in. Good stuff as I am accustomed to. I can't say for certain that they cut better but it would seem as if they would create a better turbulent swirl with the aggressive fins.

Click to expand...

I would reverse the RIGHT side hanger adjuster so the cotter pin hole faces outboard, even if a little amount of bending of the bracket is necessary, I think you're gonna have to experiment with it ....... Boo

Boobala said:

I would reverse the RIGHT side hanger adjuster so the cotter pin hole faces outboard, even if a little amount of bending of the bracket is necessary, I think you're gonna have to experiment with it ....... Boo

Click to expand...

Tried that and the alignment was even more terrible, to the point of almost not fitting at all and binding.

If I swap the bracket that's bolted to the deck it might be more likely to be possible.

If you notice in the front mount on the frame, both of the cotter pins face towards the left, however.

Blaine B. said:

Tried that and the alignment was even more terrible, to the point of almost not fitting at all and binding.

If I swap the bracket that's bolted to the deck it might be more likely to be possible.

If you notice in the front mount on the frame, both of the cotter pins face towards the left, however.

Click to expand...

I studied your latest pics a bit more, It seems I was wrong about the RIGHT side hanger, I would think, the adjustment nuts would be facing outboard on BOTH sides to make adjustments easier (nuts outside of the brackets) PATIENCE ... and thought will prevail, your efforts will pay pay-off in the end. It would be nice if you had a same type mower or a detailed service manual to guide you but just do what you think works best for you.

Boobala said:

I studied your latest pics a bit more, It seems I was wrong about the RIGHT side hanger, I would think, the adjustment nuts would be facing outboard on BOTH sides to make adjustments easier (nuts outside of the brackets) PATIENCE ... and thought will prevail, your efforts will pay pay-off in the end. It would be nice if you had a same type mower or a detailed service manual to guide you but just do what you think works best for you.

Click to expand...

That's what I would think, for ease of adjustment, having the adjustment nuts on the outside of both of the deck's brackets.

I tried that too......having both brackets on the inside, and both brackets on the outside, and the alignment was too cockeyed to make proper connection possible. Also, as you can see, there is nothing obvious that is bent, either. The height adjustment linkage looks straight and so does everything else.

there must be some kind of front support that may be the problem, it doesn't take much to upset the apple cart......

I'll let you know what I find when I dig further

Today, I ended up removing the deck entirely. I didn't find any bent bracketry anywhere, not on the tractor and not on the deck, either. I'm not sure why the hanger brackets seem to be slightly skewed, but I think it makes sense that all of the retainer clips are facing the LEFT side of the deck. This applies to both of the front hangers under the front axle, the front height adjustment, the spring for blade engagement, and both of the rear hanger/height adjustment brackets as well. All clips face towards the left. Probably so you can unclip the deck without having to move around to the other side.

Installed my new Oregon Gator blades, and then I proceeded to level the deck. I actually adjusted all 3 of the height adjustment brackets to their highest potential.

I mowed my lawn, and I feel as if the mower is still cutting too low for how I would normally cut in the hot summer months here in Chicagoland. The lawn also got scalped in two spots, but I'm not really concerned about this because one of those was a mistake where I dropped off of the kerb in to the street, and the other is an area where a tree used to be, and without anti-scalping wheels on this deck, this would probably be a problem with any bigger mower, besides with the normal Toro Personal Pace mowers I have been using for decades.

Does anyone have any suggestions about how to raise the deck even higher? I have all 4 tires aired up to the maximum PSI listed on the sidewall. I could add additional air, but I don't feel as if over-inflating the tires is a solution. Bigger tires, maybe?

The deck is set to the HIGHEST level, or transport mode. This just seems odd for the highest, maximum cutting level to not actually be all that high, and having a Toro Personal Pace from 2004 with "bald" tires actually beats this riding mower for height adjustment.

Secondly, I HATE side discharge. It makes such a mess, definitely not what I am accustomed to. The hole in the deck for the side discharge is a wonky shape but I'm feeling as if I am going to have to device SOME sort of blocker plate to stop this madness.

If anyone else has experienced some of the same issues that I have, I would be interested to hear if you ever worked out a solution for them!

PS, I also got the parking brake to be functional. Had to tighten up the jamb nuts against the spring on the brake arm. The brakes worked but the parking brake doesn't hold at the same force that a rider's foot will. Now it's like butter. I can leave the transmission in 4th gear (highest) and just ease on and off of the clutch to get it moving nicely as well.

If you notice, the front mounting hole in the deck bracket for the hanger is SLOTTED which means that normally the hanger will ride towards the top of the slot. I drilled a new hole in the deck bracket just beside but at the equal distance to where the hanger would sit in the slot furthest downwards, which brings the deck up approximately 1".

In combination with putting 20 PSI in all 4 tires (which is above the maximum pressures by about 6 PSI) I am able to achieve 4.25" blade height from concrete to blade tip while in the highest transport mode. This is also with all 3 hangers adjusted to the highest possible position. I also had to remove the left side belt guard from on top of the mandrel/spindle as it contacted the bottom of the tractor body and would not allow the deck to come all of the way up. For some reason, the guard on the left side is taller than the guard on the right side of the deck.

This 4.25" is just about equal in maximum height with my Toro Personal Pace 22" lawn mower. So this is what I will be cutting with, as it is as good as it is going to get. I can't physically raise the deck any higher without the pullys contacting the bottom of the tractor body. The next and only alternative would be larger diameter tires.

I also ordered new belts for the ground drive and blade drive as I noticed a large crack in the blade drive belt.

My last order of business will be fabricating some sort of plate to cover the side discharge.

Other than that the mower is really useful and fun! Mowed on Friday night and then again on Saturday afternoon.

To be honest I wish it cut a little higher. What's the maximum blade height on YOUR tractors? Just curious......are there models out there that have a higher height than others? I tried searching for information relating to this but found virtually nothing besides people complaining about uneven cuts. Surely I can't be the only individual in the lawn tractor market that thought my tractor cut too low?

Most residential mowers get to 3.5 inches max.

Now for your lawn. Very few grasses if any should be cut above 4". They can not create a root structure to maintain that height. You will slowly kill your grass if you cut it too high and quickly kill your grass if you cut it too short. Find out what grass you have and its optimal height and cut it at that height.

I am assuming that most of it is some sort of kentucky bluegrass. I have seeded two large areas that used to have river rocks and the local landscaping places told me that kentucky bluegrass was a great seed to blend in. And they were right.

I don't water my lawn here in the summer. Yes it still goes dormant during the hottest times of the year, but I normally cut around 4" I would say. If the top notch on my Toro mower is 4.25", I normally cut two notches below that, so that would be approximately 3.75" I guess. Toro claims that the 9 height adjustment notches from 1.25" to 4.25", so that would put each not at about .33" or so. However, since I have been letting my grass grow longer I believe it has improved. Less weeds, less dry-out in the summer. I remember when I was young, thinking that cutting the grass very short had a positive impact, but it really doesn't. It's going to grow at the same rate no matter what, of course, when it's dried out and dormant in the summer.

It just seemed that the lawn tractor cut lower than that before I made my adjustments. Maybe because it is heavier and sinks down further in to the lawn? That was my assessment and it was visual, too. I can tell, not not necessarily explain why or how.

Mow to a height of 1 1/2 -2 inches for a high-quality lawn. Allow clippings from frequent mowing to remain on the lawn. Never remove more than 1/3 of the shoot growth at one mowing. Kentucky Bluegrass may develop some thatch at higher nitrogen levels. Dethatch in early fall.

While I haven't bagged my grass in years, I know that if I was to revert to cutting it that short that my lawn quality would suffer. Ever since I have started rising my mower's cutting height has my yard really started to look exceptional. It stays hydrated longer during the summer and there are less weeds.

I also do fertilize with the 4 season mixtures from either Scotts or Ace Hardware.