It's difficult to identify the year of a Sears tractor. The date of manufacture is not listed on the tractor itself. With the Tecumseh and Briggs engines, the date code can be obtained from the engine to give the year the engine was manufactured. If the engine has been replaced you will have a problem. If the tractor hasn't been repainted, the original color is also useful in determining the year. I hope to someday get all the information regarding model numbers and year of manufacture.
With the identification problem in mind, I set out on a journey to collect as much material regarding the Sears tractors as I could get my hands on. This mainly consists of old Sears Farm and Garden Catalogs. When working with this information, I noticed that Sears apparently used a base model number, then changed the last digit of the model number as minor changes (perhaps in parts sources) were made. Here is an example: The 1968 SS 12 is listed as model 917.25310. I own two 1968 SS 12's, one with a low serial number, the other with a high serial number. Both are model number 917.25311. I try to verify all the model numbers I find by checking them on the Sears Part Direct Site.
I'm always looking for more information. If anyone has something they feel would be useful here, please let me know. |
