I've been nursing my 23 yr old Craftsman rider, for a few years.
Over the last 12 years, I've done the following, that I can recall.
Plastic welded the gas tank twice, before I bought a replacement.
Replaced the starter solenoid. I had to weld a tear in the mower deck.
Had to do a repair to the grass catch suport, Replaced a rear tire.
Realigned the front wheels, by straightening bent parts.
Tuesday I made one pass around the yard and it stopped any
forward motion. I'm used to the drive belt coming of and can usually
get it back on in less than 10 minutes. Not this time, it came of the other pulley
making it more of a repair. I decided as long as I was going to that trouble,
I would install a new belt. Good thing I did, the belt was worn out.
While doing the disassembly to replace the belt I noted a metal bracket
for the grass catcher was broken in half in two places. So welded that back together,
and installed the new belt. I also cleaned up, reversed ends and retaped the grass catcher tube.
I mowed the whole lawn without a single problem. But 5 hours, instead of one!
That's exciting, because I usually needed to reinstall one of the belts, retreive one of the two grass
containers that fell off, or some other thing before I finish. Been thinking about a new mower, but maybe I can get another year out of it. :-)
Update: I was almost done with the yard, I stopped to empty the grass catchers, now the starter won't engage the ring gear on the motor. Need to disassemble tomorrow.
Starter repair: It was easier than I expected, I removed two bolts from one side of the starter and when I moved to the other side it was missing a bolt and the other bolt was loose. This allowed the starter to move away from the ring so it wouldn't engage. I finished removing it, cleaned it up and reinstalled. Working fine.
So today I disassembled the steering gear mechanism, because it had so much play, I looked like a drunk moving the wheel back and forth in big arcs trying to keep a straight line. I found a broken bushing allowing the sterring wheel play. It's on order.
Lately every time I mow the lawn, "it's always something".