# Mastercraft Tractor info?



## tominos (Jul 8, 2012)

Hi all, 

just got a mastercraft tractor recently, and was wondering if you guys could tell me more about it. where can i find an owners/service manual for this thing? It starts up and runs ok, though it doesn't seem to like anything other than full throttle and you can't turn the choke off completely otherwise it dies. thinking about rebuilding the carbs to get it to run better, but i've never worked on or had a riding mower before.

anyone know anything about these?

from what i read off it, its a mastercraft, made by mtd in the usa. model number 137-504-054/481-1808. 

nice forum!


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## TecumsehBriggs (Jun 17, 2011)

First of all, that's a rear engine rider (RER), NOT a tractor!

Someone else may have the exact info you need, just letting you know the correct name.


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## mowerfan741 (Jun 9, 2012)

i worked on one but the engine was swapped on it before i fixed it up briggs 8 horse ithink should be vary easy or check online for free manual downloads


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## dangeroustoys56 (Jul 26, 2010)

I felt the same way when i worked on my 'first' tractor project many years ago- never attempted anything like it before, but took my time, worked careful and resurrected the tractor.

First off - take good high quality pics and or drawings of the way the carb sits - this important for linkages to be set correctly.

I work on a large flat table , couple rags , air compressor, ect - i carefully remove the carb, and disassemble it in order on the one rag - make sure its laid out in the same order of removal .

Once its all apart, one piece at a time, clean the carb and transfer each piece over to the other rag in the same order when it was dirty.

Check the condition of the various internal pieces, detirmining if a carb kit or other pieces are needed.

Once it is cleaned, reassemble the carb, if it has adjustable air ( in the carb top) and fuel screws ( in bottom of carb) - set them at 1 1/4" turns out from lightly bottomed ( turned all the way in) to 'preset' the carb ( will need minor adjusting after its back on the tractor) - most newer motors dont have any adjustability- everything is preset.

If it does, once its back together, start the motor, and slowly turn the fuel screw out till motor stumbles, then turn back in till smooths out.

While its apart, it might not hurt to change the fuel line, filter and do a tune up if its never had one.


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## tominos (Jul 8, 2012)

seems like i've written this post three times, but it won't let me post since i wasn't logged in. argh. 

anyway, good tip on organizing the carb parts in the order that you take them off. didn't know that till just a few days ago.

i've rebuilt the carb with an oem carb kit, and seems to run fine, can run on no choke now. i was surprised how simple the carb was to rebuild. just slapped it back on the engine, and cranked and started right up.

fast forward a few days, have it on full choke, fast throttle. didn't want to start. cranking away, pretty soon starts to flood. or maybe it was flooding before i tried to start. could it be leaking at the float needle valve? there was a small green fat o ring that came with my carb kit, but one didn't come out of my carb so i didn't put it in, not even sure what its for. 

anyway, wouldn't start, pulled the plug, was wet with fuel, sparking nicely. so i drain the gas tank, and try to start it with just whats in the carb. starts right up. tank was full and no start, but with tank empty, started. what do you guys think? seems to flood the carb with a full tank of gas, or maybe i was just starting it incorrectly causing the engine to flood. full choke and fast throttle to start right? 

when i finally got it started with the empty tank, i had to set the choke to half and throttle to fast. 

i've also realized my yard is way too small for a riding mower, but its still fun to ride around.


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## dangeroustoys56 (Jul 26, 2010)

Sometimes the needle valve can leak by - a few of my old machines do that - i installed a fuel shut off valve to prevent that.

When i fill the gas tanks, i keep the valve closed, that way theres no extra pressure on the needle valve - i had a late 90's RER murray that had the tank way higher then the carb, it would flood the motor with gas - had to use a shut off valve.


Before you run the mower again check the oil for fuel contamination - if it sits in there while running, it can thin the oil and ruin the motor - if it is, definitly change the oil before running again.

I think alot of mowers today have carb issues due to the terrible gasoline availible, can cause corrosion in certain circumstances - used to be gas would last 6 months or more, now itll be lucky to last a few weeks - some sort of stabilizer should be used.

I realized that when i had issues with one of my mowers, i had cleaned the carb not that long ago( within a few months) , so i opened it up to find it all nasty inside once again. Im adding carb cleaning to my mower's maintenence list....


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