Craftsman YT4500
The Craftsman YT4500 garden tractor lawn mower is another mid sized tractor lawn mower from the team at Craftsman. Similar models to this one include the Craftsman Professional 28hp 54″ Garden Tractor Lawn Mower and the Craftsman 54 Inch 26 hp Lawn Tractor lawn mowers. The engine that powers the YT 4500 is a Kohler Pro Courage. This twin cylinder engine uses a full pressure lubrication system to keep all the parts of the engine working smoothly. The engine comes with a full 2 year warranty. The total displacement of this gasoline engine comes to 0.725 liters. The cylinders are both iron lined. The Kohler Pro Courage engine is air cooled and uses a paper air filter to purify the air intake. The total power output from the YT4500’s engine is 26 hp.
The engine transfers power to the wheels of the lawnmower through a hydrostatic transmission. This transmission gives the Craftsman YT4500 infinite speeds traveling forwards and infinite speed when it’s reversing also. The speed of the garden tractor is controlled using a foot pedal accelerator. Thankfully the turning radius on the YT 4500 is fairly small at just 16 inches. There is also cruise control as standard with this tractor mower. Knowing when to next bring the tractor mower for a servicing is very easy thanks to a digital hourmeter in the dashboard. Turning the tractor is done using a sector and pinion steering wheel set up.
The front of the tractor is capable of taking either a snow blade or snowblower which is very handy if you live in a colder area. The mower deck on the Craftsman YT4500 has a cutting width of 54 inches. This mower deck has 3 blades and can be adjusted through 6 different cutting heights in half inch increments. The YT 4500 is also compatible with a 3 bin bagger.
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This mower has been a problem from day 1. I have had to run the mower at the highest cutting because the deck would not go up and down. It gets stuck in all kinds of places on my field and I have to tow it out. I too thought this would be the last mower I’d ever have to buy, but my first Craftsman with a lot less horse power worked better than this one. Will not buy another Craftsman mower
Bought the mower 3 years ago. I only run it 3 hours every Saturday for 3 to 3-1/2 months.
The first 2 months, it ran fine. Then I got a strange vibration from the mower deck. One of the support brackets on the deck had snapped off.
I rewelded it on and ran it for another month. I winterized it at the end of the season.
The next season it ran for a month before the main crankcase gasket failed. I replaced it and the new gasket lasted a whole 10 hours of operation. I replaced it again and ran it for another 10 hours before the steering gear failed. Then the fuel pump failed.
I replaced that and it ran for 1 day. Then the carb failed. I rebuilt the carb and it worked for the rest of the season..
Next (and last) year, I had the rods fall off, so the OHV’s didn’t work. Great. Replaced the bent rods and ran for 1 whole hour before the crankcase gasket failed again. When hot oil blew out all over my shoes, the piston rods shattered.
I’m not spending another millisecond on rebuilding this lousy thing. I’d rather rent a mower once or twice a month than run this thing.
I winterized it every year, changed the oil religiously, kept it covered, did all of the required maintenance. My last Craftman lasted 18 years, this one didn’t last 3. What a piece of garbage. Never again.
Total catastrophic failure after less than 100 hours.
Absolute junk
No bad actually. Haven’t lost any sleep over it
It’s not worth the money and is worthless not sure after this experience if I will ever buy another craftsman
Favorable until I noticed the front tires wearing away…
A little light
very unsatisfied –will not buy craftsman mowers again
has comfy seat
I am not happy with this mower and spend a great deal of time trying to keep it maintained. I would have thought based on Sears’ recommendation that it could handle the 4 acre mowing task. Based on my past experience with Craftsman products this is a real let-down. My last mover was a LT2000 and lasted for seven years. This YT4500 is less than three years and it is ready for the scrap heap.
A few ball bearing sets would have helped greatly rather than relying on grease packs. The seat adjustor lock really needs help. Levelers are not suitable for uneven surfaces or yards that are not level. Weight distribution should be better to improve traction on the drive wheels. Larger front wheels would help with the minor yard depressions.
It just hasn’t been a good experience and doesn’t meet the task.
2. Engine is easy to get at when needed.
2. Torque is a problem. Constantly getting stuck on an uphill track and cannot pull itself out of a 3″ deep depression on a surface.
3. Deck suspension is poor and leads to poor cuts on a gentle slope. The sway bars are not effective.
4. Many Zerks are impossible to reach without disassembly of the deck and removing the wheels.
5. Deck mounting clips are not the best.
6. No grass guard to keep grass and debris out of the blade drive pulleys and idlers.
7. In thick high grass the grass ejection port cannot handle the load and bogs down the engine despite the 26 hp engine. Better be prepared to clear the chute.
8. Several fastener failures have occurred resulting in a wheel coming off during a mowing session.
9. Engine cover is flimsy.
10. Cruise Control is a joke, it holds when wants.