All you 273 owners, check the drive shaft between the engine and HST. If you do not have universal joints I strongly recommend getting to your dealer and getting the the new design installed BEFORE the shaft lets go. Notice I said BEFORE. As mentioned in a previous thread the original design of this linkage was based upon three ball bearings used in a sleeve as contact points to transfer the torque of the engine into the HST. Holding the sleeve in place is a sheet metal collar. Not the most robust design. As you might guess mine failed a month ago and I just got my machine back (no fault to my dealer who was great). It took a little time to get the new parts. The new design has fully sealed universal joints. My mechanic says the tranny will go before these do (comforting). The first thing I noticed is the tell tale ringing/rattle I always heard was gone, not sure if they are related.
My machine only had 300 hrs on it and I don't really abuse it. The toughest thing on the drive train is pushing snow with the bucket loader. Well thankfully TYM honored the warranty since I was only in my 4th year. The repair was done for the bubble, but had my hydraulic filter and fluid changed since the dealer had been so helpful. Hope you all can get this resolved before it bites you in the back side. Now if I could get the hydraulic fluid from leaking from the reservoir breather tube when using the backhoe I would be the happiest customer. Right now I catch the fluid in an old water bottle. It works but is a cheesy solution. My buddy who has a green machine gets a chuckle out of the arrangement.
My machine only had 300 hrs on it and I don't really abuse it. The toughest thing on the drive train is pushing snow with the bucket loader. Well thankfully TYM honored the warranty since I was only in my 4th year. The repair was done for the bubble, but had my hydraulic filter and fluid changed since the dealer had been so helpful. Hope you all can get this resolved before it bites you in the back side. Now if I could get the hydraulic fluid from leaking from the reservoir breather tube when using the backhoe I would be the happiest customer. Right now I catch the fluid in an old water bottle. It works but is a cheesy solution. My buddy who has a green machine gets a chuckle out of the arrangement.