Sears Craftsman 3 wheel riding mower

Was wondering if anyone had any information on this little riding mower. Number 131.88381 Engine number 143.43202. I need a cross-reference chart for the engine part numbers as my Tecumseh-Lauson manual is missing that section. Searched the internet for 3 weeks and have had very littl on this machine. thanks

Congratulations on owning a genuine antique! What you have is the most fundamental of riding mowers. In other words, if there were anything less, it would not function. The solid rear axle, no clutch, (that made it a lot of fun) direct drive blade. I think that it was rated at about three and a half horsepower. That particular mower was likely manufactured in the late fifties or very early sixties. If I remember correctly, the serial number on the engine is coded with the date of manufacture, but I can't locate my old service manual. Someone else may be able to enlighten you on this, if not e-mail me with the serial number off the engine and I will see what I can do. The little machine looks to be in very good shape. I would hang on to that one!

Hi Patrick, that's a nifty looking ridding lawn mower defiantly worth restoring. I can't help you with the numbers or model I looked at the cross's I had on file but they didn't go that far back. You might try My tractor forum they have a big Sears following.
GB in MN

I typed in Sears Parts, The typed in the model # of the rider ,brought it up . Then typed in the 143 eng # & it brouhgt up the breakdown of the engine. The Endine was made by Tecumshe, The parts are alittle hard to find . Best of luck.

I've been to the sears website already and was surprised that they did have diagrams and a couple of the part numbers were tecumseh numbers. The problem is that the carb needs rebuilt; it leaks fuel out of the air filter when sitting. Otherwise, it runs,drives, and even mows great! My 9 year old loves it!

The pn for eng are tecumseh pn's,the carb kit pn27578 has been changed to pn29155(you can check this by going to partstree & entering 27578 in search)goto link below & type 22-1409 in search,this is an aftermarket carb kit for carb(a little expensive)will also list series eng kit fits.
The eng is a lauson,looking at mower same probably from 50's-early 60's,in which case it's pre tecumseh,when tecumseh bought lauson in late 50's early 60's they kept the lauson mod/pn numbers system,all they did was put a tecumseh decal on eng & added a sn to eng mod#,the sn will give you the yr eng made BUT not the decade it's in & this cause's a lot of confusion when trying to figure out how old eng is.I have a tecumseh/craftsman cross ref that starts at 1962 & sears eng mod# doesn't show up.
As far as mower same is probably an early roper built unit,the 131 prefix in mod# indicates ayp as mfg,however ayp was not around at time mower built,when electrolux bought wci in mid-late 80's the roper brand was part of the wci product lineup,electrolux created the ayp brand & early on included the roper brand mowers,within a few yrs they dropped the roper line of mowers & started selling redesigned tractors,possibly a cheaper copy of husqvarna tractors as an independent brand & to sears with the 917 prefix in mod#.
carb

Thanks a ton for the information,and the part number. This has been the most confusing but interesting project I have encountered as of yet. This thing is a blast to ride; my 2 boys love it! Keep the information coming!!!

OK, I had to go over to the old house that we use for storage, and dug out a copy of Sears Basic Engine Handbook, source 143, issued December 1966.
It say, for instance, serial 6032,the 6 indicates the year of mfg. the 032 indicates the day of the year. Since the book was issued in 1966, this particular number would indicate 6-1966, 032- the 32nd day or February 02, 1966. As Joe C. stated, they started over every decade, so it is difficult to pin down sometimes. But in this instance, I would say late 1950's or early 1960's.
Believe it or not, they made a similar mower as late as 1970. But it had two front wheels and a foot operated clutch to make it easier to change gears. The amazing thing is that three and a half hp. would pull a grown person and still do a decent job cutting a twenty four inch swath of grass! Kinda makes you think that the engines built today are a little over rated don't it?

the serial number is 7755828 on the motor.

Patrick, that number does not seem to be correct. Not doubting your word, but according to the formula, the first seven could be fifty seven, sixty seven, etc. but since there are only three hundred sixty five days in a year the 755 could not be correct. Is that the only serial number on it? Sometimes those numbers were a little hard to read because of not being stamped well. It is definitely an older engine because of the large diameter starter hub, A few years later the made them smaller.

Also, another question... wanted to take off the blade to make it safer for the kids. Is it ok to just run without the blade and adjust the carb to compensate, or do i need to put something on the shaft of similar weight. Im just not familiar with these old Lauson motors.

Patrick, I commend you for wanting to keep it safe as possible. If it has an aluminum flywheel, and most engines such as that did, the weight of the blade is critical to how well the engine runs. Without the blade it will be hard to start and will run erratic. Or at least that has been my experience. You will likely need to replace the blade with something of similar weight, but remember, it must be pretty well balanced or you will get vibration.

Update!!!! Found this rider in a fall 1959 Sears catalog!! Not in spring catalog, and not in spring 1960. Price of $109.95