You can tell the year on a Craftsman by the first six digits of the serial number. They are in groups of two. First two digits are the month, second two digits are the day and the third two digits are the year.
Apparently this dose not work for all Craftsman Mowers. My model #917.255520 Has a serial number of 1631S37112 meaning it was made on the 16th month and 31st day of the year 20S3... I think..??
Use the serial number to find the year of the mower. The first six digits will tell you the month/day/year.
The earliest year is 1954.
I do not know what year my model 917.270930 lawn mower was built
Your Craftsman GT3000 was manufactured in 2001.
1997
1998
2006
It was made in late 2001 for the 2002 model year
2004
1995
That would be a 1990 model,built for Sears by Murray/Noma
Railroad Model Craftsman was created in 1933.
One online source gives the year as 1940.