Poulan AYP Craftsman Working Tractor

After looking very long time, I finally found a AYP Mower for sale!

And YES, I have 5 other mowers, and YES, I don't have any more storage space! But it was for german mower prices a good deal.

It was a small pile of machinery, a Gas Powered Broom, a Gas Powered Rototiller, and the AYP of course!

The Seller delivered them all to my house today, and unfortunately it was dark then outside, so I do'nt have any Pics yet, but I will take some pics tomorrow!

Once the Machines were at my home, I tried if they do work. The Power Broom works! Great! The Rototiller works, just a linkage needs to be adjusted. Nice! Sadly the AYP is in pretty bad shape, it didn't ran since 2 years, and thanks to missing Maintenance the Oil is Black like Truckbed Liner! The Air Filter is in pretty bad shape too! The Fuel system had old gas in it and the Carb is clogged up so I couldnt try out much! At least the Engine runs on starting Fluid! The Deck is seized and really rusty from the underside, so it needs a full rebuilt!!

Now to the better things! For DOM 2005 it's in pretty mint shape! Cast Iron Front Axle! Wiring Harness is fully working! Seat, Paint,Tires are in really good shape too! The Deck is 48" Side Discharge 3 blades! Has a Hydro which should be neat for the applications I want to use AYP for! And the Best: BRIGGS & STRATTON INTEK PRESSURE LUBED 27HP OHV V-TWIN ENGINE!!!!! Electric PTO!

I really like it, and begun today to pull the carb off the Briggs and threw it in the Ultrasonic Cleaner! Got the AAS working again, it was seized and didn't let any fuel reach the float area.





My Plans for this rig are to replace Mowing Murray with this one, since it's better. And it will see some mods too!!!

Sounds cool, would like to see some pics of the mower. That is one monster of a V twin

MatthewD wrote:

Sounds cool, would like to see some pics of the mower. That is one monster of a V twin

Sry, I had to go to a course from my work, so I was in NO INTERNET LAND
I took Pics and will upload them NOW!
Yep, I'm excited to see that thing running!!

so, HERE ARE THE PICS!!!!

The Gas Powered Broom:





It needs an Oil Change, and fresh gas, then it should be a good reliable machine that will work hard for me!

The Rototiller:





It needs an Oil Change, Fresh Gas, and a Tire is leaking air, and the forward drive doesn't really work, but I guess the clutch just doesn't engages, cuz something is slightly messed up.

BUT NOW IT'S TIME FOR THE AYP!!!

















Now, after I showed you the pics, what's your Opinion about that Rig?

And I do have a few Questions: Is that a good Hydro and how do I have to maintain it?

And now a little Bonus to you guys! I scored me today a nice Briggs Engine!







It came with the Muffler, electric starter, wiring harness and electric PTO clutch! It has good compression, so I guess it will run soon!

What should I build with this Engine???

Surprised the entire label on the poulan is in English. Is there any German anywhere on it?

Looks like it’s in decent shape, my grandmas craftsman yt3000 has a hydro gear. I’m not super impressed with it. It really hates towing the leaf rake to pick up grass. Granted, a full load is really heavy but the tractor is only about 4 years old and I feel like it’s only got a couple years left.

As long as you only plan on mowing with it and maybe pulling a little yard cart around you oughta be ok. But I wouldn’t push snow (do you even have snow there?) or pull a leaf rake with it or anything like that

CraftsmanQuad19 wrote:

Surprised the entire label on the poulan is in English. Is there any German anywhere on it?

Looks like it’s in decent shape, my grandmas craftsman yt3000 has a hydro gear. I’m not super impressed with it. It really hates towing the leaf rake to pick up grass. Granted, a full load is really heavy but the tractor is only about 4 years old and I feel like it’s only got a couple years left.

As long as you only plan on mowing with it and maybe pulling a little yard cart around you oughta be ok. But I wouldn’t push snow (do you even have snow there?) or pull a leaf rake with it or anything like that

I think on the fender in the middle U have the safety instructions stuff, and it's in several languages. I guess german is there too.

Ohohoh sounds bad..... this 1 is 13 years old!

We have snow! And I wanted to mod our 42" Murray Snowblower to fit the Poulan. And I wanted to use it for all the work in the garden like hauling crap or whatever else has to be done.

So should I replace it sooner or later with a MST or 930?

BTW, the pre owner abused it the most time for plowing, that's why the deck is rusty and seized.

I found some Information about my Hydro!

HYDRO Rear-End

Maybe I can get a little more life and power outta it with some maintenance!

Put a Peerless 600 in it, or another GT trans.  That's all that will hold up to that kind of work consistently.

Double W Cross Ranch wrote:

Put a Peerless 600 in it, or another GT trans.  That's all that will hold up to that kind of work consistently.

600 is way too much work to fit in! AYPs have good stock transaxle mounts, so when Hydro will blew up I will swap in a 930! The H shift and only 3 gears sucks too in this build! I prefer lots of different speeds and fender shift on a working tractor! It will stay at stock speeds too!

A 930 is not going to put up with that kind of abuse.

If you can find an 801 or 820, that’s the way to go

Double W Cross Ranch wrote:

A 930 is not going to put up with that kind of abuse.

There's only 1 way to find that out! LOL

CraftsmanQuad19 wrote:

If you can find an 801 or 820, that’s the way to go

I had the chance to get a 801 with cracked axle mounts 1/2 year ago but decided not to buy it since I cant weld aluminium

820s are sadly Impossible to find here!

Polished the carb with the dremel, and removed the aluminium oxide and brass oxide from the carb parts. Just need to blow through all the channels with compressed Air and reassemble it!

reassembled the Carb





Gonna throw it on the Briggs V2 after Christmas!

Small Update
Did put the Carb back on, and tried to run it. It only starts when U pour gas in the intake, and stalls if U release the Choke. Also it's running lean even on full choke and surges. on no choke it stalls after 2secs of runtime. Also wo'nt run longer than 1minute on choke, then it stalls.

Asked the Briggs Forums on FB and they recommend setting the valves to 1,3mm and getting a chinese clone carb for it. Prolly doin that next time when I can get my ass into the shop.

1 good thing: The Hydro works and seems not to slow down uphill.

Will pull the Deck next time.



here are the MODEL TYPE CODE dates!

Another small Update

I had to store the AYP somewhere else in the shop cuz dads Car needed to get parked inside again, so I needed to pull the deck to be able to move it into a tight spot.

Deck actually looks solid so with some truck bed liner on the underside it should be good for years! Spindles are seized, blades extremely rusty, gonna look for spare spindles and stuff later.

Man!  I didn't realize you had so many projects!  Don't burn out man!

MightyRaze wrote:

Man!  I didn't realize you had so many projects!  Don't burn out man!

yes, it's pretty hard, U enter the shop kinda pissed, all the work depresses U, and U get mad after a half hour of working. That's why I plan on going slower with the mower stuff, cuz if I won't I think I will get sick of mower modding and will never finish the nice projects what would be a shame!

Moved the AYP outta the Shop today, to show it my Backyard!

(real story: had to clean the shop and it was in the way, so I decided to push it few more metres to get some nice pics off it!)

Just for Fun compared my MTDs 32" Deck with the 48" AYP Deck!



its current state in the Shop:



shots from Outdoors:





The Blades of the Deck R in good shape, just need some paint and resharpening!
The Spindles turn but IDK the shape of the Bearings
Downside of the Deck is pretty rusty! Upside is in mint shape

Will fully Rebuild the Deck soon!

Engine spins over but needs maintenance
New Oil Filter
Oil Change
new Fuel Pump
new pressure line from valve cover to pump
new cheap carb (runs lean with the current 1 and the solenoid is broken)
adjusting the valves

hydro is in the push mode somehow pretty hard to push the mower! Need to check that!
might needs an oil change as well since it whines a bit

Need to build a new Exahaust since the stock muffler sounds horrible and my neighborhood needs to hear when I mow my Lawn!!
Might use the Glasspack off MTD and some pipes and have a slightly muffled Mower with the sound of a straight Pipe!

Still need to look for a Way how to mount my 42" snowblower to it!

Will use the Rims off my POS Mower that gets reused in parts to throw AGs on so I have a pair of turfs and a pair of aggressive Tires!

Trailer hitch for the back

front bumper

LED head & taillights

thats as much I can get outta my work out brain RN, so lets see what happens next!

OK, I got me some nice Stuff for the AYP!

2 Steel Pipes outta the Scrap Metal Bin @ Work!



Mockup for the AYP (I will weld the Glasspack off MTD on top of it to quieten it down a tiny little bit )



And once I entered the Shop to bring the Pipes in there I found a Surprise!!!

Dad bought a cheap Tuff Torq Hydro as a spare for AYP in cause that the Hydro Gear will crap out...

















Will test it someday, but the fluid level is pretty low, so it needs some hydro Oil & IDK in what shape the AYPs Hydro is atm....

Some Goodies for AYP arrived!



I will add a 12V & USB Socket to it, to be able to charge my Phone while Mowing or th eb able to power something Off the 12V socket.

The Relais there is for the Wibedody, but might get another 1 if needed, since I want to cut the power off the whole electrical system with the ignition lock but that thing cant handle the 12V Socket, USB, LED Lights,....

Time will tell if I wire 1 into it or not!

UGG!!! Seems like typing in bed in fuly darkness and being tired doesnt mix too well as U can see on my misspelled Texts!

Got some LED Backlights for it!





yes they're 4, 2 of them R goin in my Widebody, the other 2 R going in this 1!

Thought about Backlights, since I missed them on the MTD really bad when driving in the  darkness, cuz nobody could see U in the darkness & that could be deadly with AYP since I want to use it alot in the winter to blow snow!

Tore the AYP down to the frame & pressure washed it & cleaned the gas tank out





Took a look to the Hydro & it looks really crappy to me, but I will look for the Oil what it needs & then change the Oil & send it with hard work LOL