Craftsman YS4500 LE

[Fordlords]

Most of the smaller supposedly, "sealed," hydostatic transaxles have a procedure for purging the old fluid and replacing it with clean fluid. It is a little more involved than simple draining and refilling that is done with the larger hydros that are considered, "serviceable." This will greatly extend the life of the hydro.

Once you know what make of hydro your tractor has (most often Peerless or Hydro-Gear) and its model number, you can contact the manufacturer by e-mail for the procedure.

Peerless: http://www.tecumsehuk.co.uk/trans.htm
Hydro-Gear: www.hydrogear.com

I just looked and my little cheapo Craftsman has the Hydro-Gear so they are probably the most common in the AYP tractors.


-Fordlords-

 

[ChevyBlazerBoy]

Then why am I hearing from people that when they got their new tractor they purged the hydro before using it?

 

[Fordlords]

I'm not sure. The purge procedure basically consists of placing the tractor's rear wheels up on jackstands and plugs are removed from the hydro to remove all the fluid with the pump's pressure. The procedure varies between hydros, so I can't state anything more specific.

Perhaps owners or dealers are doing this on new machines for fear of metal comtaminants from manufacturing in the new oil?? It's something that should be done every 3 or 4 years, but on many of the sealed hydros it never gets done at all as the procedure is considered to be too involved to be routine maintenance. They figure when the hydro dies after 8-10 years of old fluid in it the rest of the tractor is probably nearing death also.

-Fordlords-

 

[ChevyBlazerBoy]

I found this on another forum. I assume it is something like this.

To purge, you put the tranny into "freewheel" mode, start the engine and move the trans lever into forward then reverse, slowly, about 5 or 6 times. Then take it out of freewheel mode and do the same thing. (With the rear wheels off the ground.) Check the fluid level again. Repeat as necessary.

 

[Fordlords]

I just realized we are referring to two different things, fluid purge and air purge. The air purge is what they are doing with the new tractors to remove air in the tranny from shipping. I found the procedure from Hydro-Gear:

1. Place tractor safely on level surface with engine off and parking brake set.
2. Disengage transmission by placing freewheel control into frewheel position.
3. Sitting on tractor, start the engine. Move throttle control to slow position. With motion control lever in neutral, slowly disengage the parking brake.
4. Move motion contol lever to full forward position and hold for 5 seconds. Move lever to full reverse position for for 5 seconds. Repeat this procedure 3 times.
5. During procedure there will be no movement of the drive wheels. The air is being removed from the hydraulic drive system.
6. Move motion control lever to neutral. Shut off engine and set parking brake.
7. Engage transmission by placing frewheel control into driving position.
8. Sitting on tractor, start the engine. Move throttle to half speed. With motion control lever in neutral, slowly disengage the parking brake pedal.
9. Slowly move motion control lever forward, after tractor moves approximately 5 feet, return motion lever to neutral, and repeat procedure in reverse. Repeat in both directions 3 times.
10. Transaxle is now purged and ready for use.

-Fordlords-

 

[ChevyBlazerBoy]

Thanks, That is exactly what i was looking for!

 

[ChevyBlazerBoy]

Well I got my new YS4500 LE. today and I went through everything, tire air pressue, deck was level, purged hydro, checked connections and engine. Took the hood off and installed the craftsman bumper I bought. When i fired it up I was blown away by how quiet it was. When you kick on the mower deck you can feel the power but it is still not that loud. I have never owned a newer tractor like this will all the features and it suprised me because I have always drove old back breaker used tractors.

I drove it around the yard and hydro worked great up and down my little hills and also it turns on a dime. Will test it out later this week when I do a full mow but right now I am impressed with it.

 

[AndyM]

The new tractor looks nice, but did it come out of that small box in the background?

How wide is the mower deck?

 

[ChevyBlazerBoy]

The new tractor looks nice, but did it come out of that small box in the background?

How wide is the mower deck?

Ya lol, just like a computer. The smaller they get the more powerful they are. Actually, that was the box for the bumper.

It is a 42 inch deck. I didn't want to go any bigger having less than 1 acre would probably start scalping my lawn.

 

[Fordlords]

Looks good! I just looked up the records and my little Craftsman 16/42 is in its 9th season this year without any major problems, only difference is it has a Kohler rather than Briggs engine, and is used to mow the approx 1/2 acre smooth section of our yard, I mow all the rough garbage out back with the bigger Cub. I pulled the deck 2 years ago to clean it out real good and paint the underneath, and short of a few springs I bought for the blade brake mechanism the only other parts have been oil filters for regular maintenance and the only repair that of one flat tire. Even though the deck spindle bearings are the non-lube type, they still show no signs of wear yet. Like I've said in other threads, it is MHO that the Craftsman lawn tractors are fine if used for their intent and if maintained right seem to hold up every bit as well as any name in the entry level field as far as my experiences with them. Happy mowing!

-Fordlords-