Finally got one.... Craftsman GT 5000 8 Speed Briggs V Twin

[Docwheelhorse 2,660]

Hello all,

a while back I worked for Sears Store number 5954 (it went out of business this past April). I was in charge of the rental department and spent all of my "floor hours" in the lawn and garden section... This was a P/T job I really enjoyed and eventually had to give up when my regular job took me from 2nd shift to first.

 

Anyways---back in 2003 a series of Garden Tractors was made by AYP for Sears and was named the GT 5000. These units where Gray in color, had a Briggs V-Twin and the real honest to god super heavy duty Hi/Lo Eight speed. They came with a 50" deck.... retail was ~$1900. They didn't sell well at all and they where discontinued / discounted in 2004.

 

Reasons they didn't sell---1) the Briggs V Twin didn't get any respect---even though the Kohlers of the time had more than there fair share of issues with piston rings and failures (I was swapping the short blocks out under warranty left and right...) the Kohlers would go about 40 hours and start gulping oil / outright blow up. 2) the 50" deck wouldn't support a bagger system and it wasn't available. 3) The eight speed.... everybody had already developed "Hydro Fever".

 

When discounted they where down to ~$1500 and after my discounts as an employee I could've bought one of the last ones for ~$1250 plus tax---but couldn't pull it off...

 

Mike (Sparky) knew I had regretted not getting one as I am a devoted Sears guy and Briggs guy and loved the REAL 8 speed trans-axle... not these supposedly heavy duty shuttle shift peerless jobs  . So every now and again he would see one for sale and tell me but it was always too much $$$ and too far away... UNTIL this past Thursday.... he found one 45 mins away and for $500. I had just spent nearly $4000 on "stuff" to fix my son's Dodge for Christmas, Get my Art Student daughter a Mac Book pro and so on... so I REALLY didn't want to spend the $500. But he convinced me and we went and looked... guy wouldn't back down $1... I bought it anyways as I had to have it. Its not perfect but its as clean as it gets and I will get it washed, waxed and serviced,

 

BTW---the Wheel Horse 8 Speed and the Sears 8 speed both died the same year.... rumor has it that a gentleman that was cutting the gears and parts for BOTH transmissions died and nobody picked up where he left off and that's why the Sears real 8 speed tractors along with the Wheel Horses went out of production... seems he had a small machine shop and had been cutting the gears / parts for along time.

 

Yah I'm a Wheel Horse guy and you all know it.... but this is a really cool Craftsman and truly the last of the gutsy MAN"s Craftsmans...

 

 

Thanks Mike !!!!

 

Tony

[Digger 66 3,481]

Thanks for the backstory too .

Always cool to see how trends go & why .

Sharp tractor , bet she's a powerhouse .

[Sparky-(Admin) 21,335]

Glad to see you bought it neighbor....I can stop searching now!

 I have a very similar machine and just this summer I lost a deck spindle. Bought the new part for around $50 and swapped it out in about 30 minutes.....not bad for a 16 year old Craftsman.

 

 

 

  Mike......

[slammer302 2,155]

What are the different types of GT5000. I'm looking at a 2003 but it looks to be hydro and Kohler powered. But still comes with sleeve hitch and snow plow & bagger.

[Docwheelhorse 2,660]

GT 5000 could've been what I purchased ---Gray / 8 Speed / Briggs or Red / Hydro / Kohler..... fundamentally they are the same as far as attachments and hitches and both are good units. The Gray GT5000 only came with a 50" deck which a bagger was never made for... the Red ones could have a 42", 46" or 54" and baggers are available for all three... the Red ones outsold the Grays by tons due to the Hydro and Bagger...

 

Tony