Craftsman  22HP Kohler 46” Fender Hydro LT2500 Non CA

Generally a good buy. Just bothered by some easily avoidable limitations. The oil dipstick is a flimsy plastic part that use O-rings to seal (like those are going to last!). The manuals (both engine and mower) lack specificity on whether the model has of has not an air prefilter. Diagrams are weak/terrible. The drive belt requires professional service to repair (so don't expect to slap-on a spare to get going again). The mower belt requires tools to replace. The oil drain plug is plastic and requires an extender tube (why not make the thing 2" longer, and metal, and simply allow draining into a pan without the ridiculous need for a plastic extender tube?). The transmission "bypass rod" spring clip assembly is laughable and a dumb design.... need to monkey with that thing anytime you need to roll the tractor, like everytime you roll it in/out of a storage shed. Headlights stay 'on' ALL THE TIME engine is running.... so they are on 99% of time when they are not needed. ....more

Just bought this mower and it is fantastic. Would like to purchase some accessories but it seems Craftsman doesn't sell any. Wow a company that doesn't upsell? Crazy.

Have only mowed twice, but I'm very impressed with this mower. Coming from a 2001 LT1000 hydrostatic 42'', it's a huge upgrade. You can cut at full speed (though top speed isn't that fast), all the controls are smooth, engine always fires right up and runs smooth and is not too loud. Not being able to mow in reverse is as simple as pulling the yellow wire underneath the speed control lever. I'm not a huge fan of the speed control lever being on the left side, but that just may take some getting used too. Also, my other gripe is that the deck needs more/better height options. You would never need to cut lower than level 3, any lower and you'd be burning the grass severly. I use level 4 for my yard. So levels 1 and 2 are totally worthless, I wish it had higher levels so the deck would raise up higher and have more clearance when not in use. I took away 1 star for these issues, meaning the tractor is still a good deal for the money. It's the cheapest hydrostatic tractor I found.

I used this mower once so far on my 1 acre lawn.. This really made the lawn look great, no rows of grass looking like a hay field like my 21 year old mower did.. Just a beautiful flat green yard.. If this mower holds up well, I will be a very satisfied customer with this purchase.. I really love the way it cuts the grass, lots of power from the Kohler 22HP engine, etc..

This mower is a great value. The motor has pleny of power to cut grass cleanly with one pass even at high speeds. It doesn't have some of the features other mowers offer but that's the tradeoff for this much power and a deck this wide at this price point. The hydrostatic transmission took a little getting used to but works really well once you're used to it, and the turning radius is better than I expected. Clearly the biggest drawback to this mower is the automatic shutoff feature when you try to put the mower in reverse with the blades running. I back up a lot when I mow in some of the tighter areas of my yard so this would have been a huge issue for me, but it only takes about 5 seconds to disable this feature. If you look under the seat you'll see a little wire that comes up from the fender and clips to the seat. Slide the wire out of the clip, and you've eliminated this mower's only significant flaw. Would definitely buy again.

really like the mower it is easy to drive and seems to get around my yard better than my old mower. My wife cant drive it she is too short to depress the brake all the way. One of the head lights was out from the store and the deck height adjustment is a little hard to operate so it will be difficult for my wife is she needs to run.

In trying to buy as much mower as I could for the money, I picked this little unit. It's a well put together mower, and mowing speed is good...clean cuts....with not trails in the grass. A few minor drawbacks are: Mower does not cut in reverse...this is clear in the documentation, but it's worth noting that the mower will nearly kill the engine if you try to force it in reverse. This is a bit annoying....so consider that...or plan your cut paths so you NEVER have to back up while mowing....as the mower disengage is on the opposite side as the drive lever, making backing up a nuisance. This mower deck is a good deck. That said, its' a little 'flexy'...so if you run over rough terrain (ditchlines) with teh deck running, you'll hear a very faint chatter of blade tips nicking the inner side of the deck, I presume due to the deck flexing and the close gap being closed by the flexing deck. Overall, this is a good mower thusfar (I probably have 6 hours on it).

Fantastic Mower, Powerful Kohler Engine, Awesome Cutting Deck and Smooth Ride! My old mower had a 42" wide deck but it was slow and even after replacing the blades I would have to mow the grass twice to make a clean cut. This new 22hp Kohler 46" Deck lets me cut it once and about 2 MPH faster! Best investment yet!!!!

I bought this mower late February 2013 as it had everything on my want list. I am overall extremely pleased with my decision to buy this new model. The seat is very comfortable and the 46" cutting deck makes quick work of my less than acre property. Top speed lacks a little to be desired compared to other models I have used with less hp. The feature I dislike the most is the inability to mow in reverse. If your deck is engaged and you try and go into reverse your mower will simply turn off. One interesting thing about this mower is that your fender control acts as your gas and brake pedal. Your foot brake is strictly an emergency brake and is not to be used to slow or stop the mower. This took some getting used to, but I really like this feature now.

So I was torn between this new model and the tight turn 3000. I researched the reviews and realized both machines are great. The ***** Troy Built is very similar to this and has a ton of reviews that are very good. The engine is very strong and doesnt bog down in wet grass or hills. The reverse does not allow mowing but that can be dealt with easily. Great seat, great hydro tranny and steering wheel. Comfortable machine. For this price you get an outstanding full oil pressure engine a Hydro fender shift transmission, cast iron front axle with grease serts and easy deck controls on fender! The YT3000 at this price was a 42" manual tran. with PTO blade lever above the steering wheel which I dont like due to seat safety switch. I purchased a 3500 in 2008 which belongs to my Dad now and it has been a great mower. The PTO lever above steering was not a like. The bad on this LT2500 is the puny weak lever in back of hydro tran. for disengagement to allow freewheeling pushing.