Mule 600 4x2 pulling = Uh oh

[lizardman]

My lawnmower broke down this summer, and I used the Mule to pull it to my driveway to work on it(fire ants are too bad to work in the grass).

It was a heavy load at about 1300 lbs(JD810A). I locked the differential and weighted down the bed for better traction, but it would barely pull it. I got it the approx 100' trip to the concrete and the Mule was smelling something fierce like a burnt belt.

I have driven it many times since (with no load) and I still smell it. Plus, it doesnt seem to be as quick or powerful anymore as it seems to struggle getting up the trailer ramps.

Could I (or does it sound like) I have messed up the transmission?
Is there any real test to know? Other than eventually it will not go?
Is there something I can check or adjust? I dont have the book in front of me, but I dont remember reading about adjustments specific to this.

If it is toast, is this a pricey fix?
Is this an owner type repair, or will it pretty much need to take a trip to the dealer?

And yes, I realize that I was stupid to try or even keep going when it had a hard time puling it, but it was getting dark and I had limited alternatives since I had the tractor at my Dad's place.

Thanks,
Rod

 

[aczlan]

First thing I would do would be to check your belt. Is it burned up?
Second, did you unlock the hydros on your mower (assuming that you are talking about a Z108A ZTR) before towing? If not, you may have cooked them as well.

As for if you can fix it, you can probably change the belt fairly easily if that is the root cause (I suspect that is).
Here is my suspection: You burned enough of the belt to make it a little bit narrower OR glazed the angled sides enough to make the belt slippery and as such, it isn't engaging properly.
If it were our Toro Workman (which has a similar belt driven CVT system), I would pull the belt and take it into a dealer and ask them if that is the issue.
If you can watch the belt in operation, putting chalk marks on the top of the belt and on the pulleys should let you see if it is slipping.

Aaron Z