# 1998 Craftsman Tractor LT 1000 - almost no power



## jschroeder (2 mo ago)

My tractor is model #917.272761 & serial #042403C004313; I just recently got it started up ahead of winter plowing and I noticed that the power is severely lacking. It doesnt seem to accelerate to any meaningful degree when I max out to full speed. The drive belt had a bunch of give to it, so I thought that may be the issue, but when I removed it, it wasnt easy to get off and the belt didnt appear to be stretched to any degree.

Has a Briggs & Stratton 18HP engine.

Any advice would be very much appreciated!


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## sixbales (May 18, 2011)

QUOTE: "The drive belt had a bunch of give to it, so I thought that may be the issue, but when I removed it, it wasn't easy to get off and the belt didn't appear to be stretched to any degree."

Your tractor has a "hydro gear" transaxle.... 24 years old. I didn't know a Hydro Gear could last that long!! Is the shaft turning completely with the drive pulley, or is there slippage?? Might have a sheared pin between pulley and shaft? Did you check the fluid level in the transaxle?


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## Rolex (11 mo ago)

Start with a look at the air filter.


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## Bob Driver (Nov 1, 2017)

Don't take this wrong, but the LT1000 wasn't ever designed for snow plowing. Obviously you've done it, but think of how many times that poor little engine as been under a full torque load plowing snow, as compared to when you're mowing grass..... That's like using a Shetland pony as a draft horse. It's earned the right to be tired. Run a compression, leak down, or vacuum test on it and you'll probably find out it needs to be on hospice care.

If you let it sit for more than 60 days with ethanol fuel in the carburetor bowl, you may be lucky and the main jet/mixing tower is gummed up. Good cleaning may fix it, but for the price now days, you can probably get a new after market carburetor for less than $20

After 24 years, it may be time to put that poor little machine out to pasture, before somebody calls the SPCLM (*S*ociety for* P*revention of *C*ruelty to *L*awn *M*owers) on you


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## Donnyg (2 mo ago)

Does the engine throttle up? If not it's probably an engine problem. If the engine runs ok it's a drive problem. I agree that it's probably old and tired and those hydro transmissions were not designed to last more than 500 hrs of use. The belt may still be the issue though. They dont stretch so much but wear out and get a little thinner so they set deeper into the pully and can slip.. Might be worth replacing the belt to see if things improve. If not park it on the front lawn and put christmas lights on it.


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## ck3510hb (Sep 12, 2016)

not sure of your drive system, I had a Craftsman with a "vari-drive" which one of the pullys spread apart or closed on demand (whose demand ?). Finally got a replacement pully from scrap yard. But it never worked well in snow.


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