Craftsman lawnmower opinions?

[Jake H.]

Lord knows I share your concerns. No one likes the fact that China and Mexico have taken over virtually all of our manufacturing. How nice it would be to buy something "Made in USA" again... or to get someone in customer support on the phone who is not sitting in Bombay, India. It's practically impossible now. And having the old Sears back would be a great start at reform... but we both know that it isn't going to happen. Welcome to the new reality.

I'm afraid that the extent of holdings in my 401(k)... which is now more like a 101(z)... isn't going to impress anyone. If my calculations are right, I will be able to buy exactly four (4) McDonald's cheeseburgers on the day I retire before my 401(k) is completely exhausted.

So much for 40 years of hard work making other people rich.

Jake

[Jake H.]

Correct. They merged.

Jake

[Jake H.]

My vibrating lawn mower problems aside, I still find their mechanics tools to be the best around... at least within my limited budget. Not perfect... but still quite serviceable. I always buy Craftsman... never Companion. I refuse to buy any imported mechanics tools at any price. I am too old and grumpy to be using tools that don't fit right or break.

Jake

[Mel M Kelly]

Everything I have tried from Sears in the say last 5 years has been below standard. Even a wrench set was junk. 6" angle grinder went up in smoke. Fridge pops and cracks all the time. Water softener only lasted 5 years. I am a slow learner.

From Mel & Donnie in Bluebird Valley

[John Crichton]

My Honda is the smoothest running mower I have ever owned. Mine is a Honda mower (with a Honda Engine of course) and it is very quiet and has less vibration than any other mower I've ever used. It is very possible that the motor is not the source of the vibration. An unbalanced blade will vibrate like hell. Take your blades off and sharpen and balance them or take them to a mower service place that can do it for you.

[Jake H.]

The first time I took it back to Sears for the excessive vibration problem, they supposedly replaced the blade. That made it even worse.

It's unclear to me if they really did anything the second time I took it back. The repair order says that they *balanced* the blade. The vibration remained unchanged.

Most folks are speculating that the real problem is a bent or otherwise defective crankshaft, or possibly a bearing problem, but I suppose it is possible that their blade balancing efforts were faulty.

I am planning to take it back to a different Sears store this weekend.

Jake

[tightwad]

It does sound like it could be a bent crank. It doesn't take much. I bought my Mother a 5 horse mower ( don't remember the brand) and operated it at just a medium speed. I hit a small something that didn't damage the blade at all but it was sufficient to bend the crank.

[restrorob]

I second a bent crank, All you need to do is remove the spark plug an have somebody put the handle on the ground and pull the rope while yo watch the blade bolt for any wobble

-- restrorob

[Jake H.]

Yeah, good point. I should try that approach before taking it back again. I tried judging by the blade height itself (i.e., distance up to the housing) over all 360 degrees turned manually, but I couldn't really tell. It wasn't much different than my other (LawnBoy) lawn mower, which doesn't vibrate at all.

Jake