Craftsman walk behind 917.370931

[StarTech]

Most sites are out of date the day they get updated. And even my distributor is using a screwy price files with none of the superseded part numbers. Even the parts that NLA are not showing up. I am complaining and demanding they get things back the way it was just a few years ago.

 

[swhite]

I have the same door and the right side broke. going to attempt a repair, going to see if I can insert a rod from side to side for support, then going to 3d print some supports for the rod and maybe a new right side piece and glue all pieces to the door, going to have to see what I can come up with,

How did yours break?

 

[swhite]

looks like I'll remake the side pin with an extra support piece off the side to glue to the door,
rough mockup attached, marked new support piece.

 

[Action]

UPDATE and success.
The Craftsman rear door is just not available. And I searched long and hard to find it.

The pictures above by swhite are exactly how mine broke. Both sides!
Now they were broken before I bought the machine.
I bought this machine from a local fb marketplace ad for $85. The seller did one pull start on that 190cc B&S engine and it fired right up. I was sold! It still fires up on 1 pull after have been shut down for days.
However, the rear door was tie wrapped at the pivot areas and had two bungie cords holding it down.
I asked how that worked and he said OK.
Well, it really sucked mowing a lawn because the dust and dirt would blow out the back of the door where it seals against the bag.
The time & effort needed to adjust the bungies to get a better seal, really sucked. And the seal was never perfect because the arrangement did not seat the door correctly and there was no spring tension to hold it closed against the bag.

So that was the problem. Here was my solution.

After a very long search using multiple part numbers. And no there are no numbers on the door. The correct Craftsman number 430653 is not available at all. However, I discovered this machine is made by Husqvarna. And Husqvarna has a different part number for the same door. 581747804 But just like Craftsman it is not available either.
My head was spinning because there are so many doors. And many look similar just a different part numbers. Why I wondered?
Then I found a 22" stamped into the old door.
I went on eBay and found a door that looked very similar and for a 22" Husqvarna walk behind.
The part number on that one is 593304501. So I paid $33.31 to have it delivered to my home.
I received it yesterday and installed today. SUCCESS!

It only came with one door spring and there was one door spring left over from the old one. And each was from the opposite side so I lucked out there. These doors of this generation have threaded pivot pins on each side that the door pivots on. (There is another design that has a rod as a pivot and the rod is about the width of the mower) The threaded pivot pin screws through the handle mounting bracket in the rear deck of the machine. When installed, the threaded pin just has the pin part pointing inward through the mount and engages the rear door. The threaded pin requires a 45 torx bit to remove. I used a 40 since I could not find my 45. The 40 was sloppy and did the job anyway.
Got the door mounted and works smoothly.
Fired up the machine and no dust/dirt blowing out of the door to bag seal. (into my face)
YEAH!!!! I was thrilled.

The only draw back. No Craftsman logo stamped into the new door. We all have to sacrifice a little.

I have pictures that I will load into a separate post.

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[Action]

In these pictures is a comparison of the new to me and old existing doors. Both are used. The old one I got with the purchase of the machine is really used up.
The old door has no pivot points. Those plastic pieces were broken off by some previous owner. Also, the old door has the Craftsman logo molded into the top of the door.
The new door has the springs mount to the pivot points.
One spring came with the new door.
The other and opposite side spring was left on the mower when I bought it. Still attached to the broken plastic pivot that was mounted to the plastic rear door.
In the pictures below, I moved the only spring from the existing door to the used replacement door.
No logo on the new door.

Besides the logo and the lift opening part of the door by the logo, these appeared to me to be identical.

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[Action]

In these pictures I am showing the pivots.
Left and right side.
I had to adjust the rear wheels up and out of the way to make access to the head of the pivot pins.
Both pivots have a slot in the head outboard of the handle mount, to hold a clip. This clip keeps the handle secured to the handle mount.

Last picture shows pivot removed with the incorrect 40 torx bit. Extension and ratchet. Really the only tool I used for the entire job.
Near the last pictures you can see the groove the clip sits in. Both removed and installed.

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[Action]

These two pictures show the new door mounted.
The pivot end is shown in the plastic of the rear door.
Because of the light, the bottom picture shows the right side pivot better.
In these pictures the springs are snapped into the correct position as well.

A finished job that took less than a 1/2 hour.

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[Action]

My $118.31 mower!

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[sgkent]

can't use the mower without Craftsman on the door. (am being sarcastic)

Excellent job and simple solution. Lots of places sell that part number. Thank you for coming back and sharing the simple solution.

 

[Action]

I hope this will help someone in the future.
There were many many places that would retail the rear door.
Only to find they were out of stock and/or no longer available.

I think there is a demand for a solution for a rear door on that machine. Given the design. This fix is a little off of the reservation of the design. And it will work so well that most people looking at it would never notice it was out of place.

Now in the off season in a few months, I might tackle the self-propelled feature. I will never use it. However, I bugs me when something doesn't work. One of my faults.

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