Buying Advice Done with hydrostatics

[TractorGuy]

If I had been aware that the machine would not last 301 hours I would never have bought it for so much a single dollar. So my initial reaction was to investigate older Ford mowers with manual transmissions but after having spent two days researching those I'm now more interested in a roughly 30-40hp diesel tractor with a 3-point/PTO to handle a finishing mower, a bush-hog, or a hay mower according to need. I might pick up a used little 44" or something to get thsi season done and buy time to set up for the real solution.

Yep, My old JD855 pulls a 72" finish mower with no problems. It's a hydro too.

 

[GirlWhoWantsTractor]

Two things I learned when researching lawn tractors/garden tractors: 1) the tranny is everything, so I sprang for the best, the K66. 2) never ever buy a piece of equipment like this from a big-box store; they literally have "special" (cheaper, disposable) models that they make specifically for sale at L and HD. Buy from an equipment dealer.

IDK but we beat the cr@ap out of both of ours and they are beasts. (Disclaimer: the newer Husqv although it is a beast for its size power-wise, has been, shall we say, a bit of lemon. Apparently the keyless ignition system causes a lot of electrical problems. The older Husqv (2009) we cannot kill, though we've tried.)

 

[bcp]

Long ago someone told me, if I wanted a good mower/garden tractor, to look for rear wheels that bolted on with lug nuts like a car. Light duty transaxles didn't do that.

Bruce

 

[Dftodd]

These same issues are common with the cheaper zero turn mowers where the transmission is non serviceable.

I had a cheaper cub cadet, which got sold a couple years ago. After the kids got done with it, it was pretty beat up. Had the cheap transmission and a stamped deck. Deck was more welds and patch work then deck. And the transmission was starting to slip.

Two things are must haves now on any mower I purchase. A serviceable transaxle, and a welded deck.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

The problem with the K46 transmission is there is no oil filtration and not even any feasible way to change the oil. No drain plug on this non serviceable transmission. So it just chews itself up from its own metal particles.

Even my "better" mower bought from a dealer has a K46. 10 yrs old, axle broke last week. New axle on order, will be repairing it this week.

 

[CalG]

These same issues are common with the cheaper zero turn mowers where the transmission is non serviceable.

I had a cheaper cub cadet, which got sold a couple years ago. After the kids got done with it, it was pretty beat up. Had the cheap transmission and a stamped deck. Deck was more welds and patch work then deck. And the transmission was starting to slip.

Two things are must haves now on any mower I purchase. A serviceable transaxle, and a welded deck.

The Bolens HT-23 I've had for better than twenty years has an Eaton hydro drive.
Looking at the serial number. it was built in the late 80s. Hmmm not a bad service life, and it's still going strong!

 

[man00]

I would change the oil in it after a few years, even if you have to pump it out. Keep it clean of any grass/dirt build up so it will run cooler.

 

[sd455dan]

The Bolens HT-23 I've had for better than twenty years has an Eaton hydro drive.
Looking at the serial number. it was built in the late 80s. Hmmm not a bad service life, and it's still going strong!

Same here

about a 1985 CO-OP but has a Tecumseh/ Peerless Hydro has pressure fed spin on filter filtration and is still as smooth as when it was new. I also have a Honda hydro that is sitting because of a jerky hydro unit. The Peerless is just Better imo

Have a mid 1970's Gilson to- with manual trans is still going strong - never even have changed the trans oil.

The mower decks have proven to be the biggest problems since some parts have gotten hard to find.

I will run them until they die

It is outrageous that a new $3000 mower transmission has a service life of under a 1000 hours jmo though

OP has every reason to be irritated- Do the stores selling these K46 trans riding mowers list the mean time to rebuild or replacement in their advertising?, They should

 

[daugen]

Fitterski, was your Cub Cadet one of the newer XT1 or XT2 models? I have an XT2 with a Kawasaki engine as one of my mowers and looking at its transaxle compared to my JD X750 is like looking at a toy.
I did not read the links yet but is there an easy way to tell which model hydro one has?

Cub Cadet is now making true commercial zero turns. Most of us know MTD is a price company, everything built for the most mower and the least amount of money. But you don't get any reliability with it, just a big mower with fancy features and no durability. I swear the mower deck spindles are designed to blow at 300 hours. I've read of them failing even earlier. And if you are lucky they are greaseable which most aren't.

There is a thread going on a new MF hydro tractor having awful problems, solved with replacing oem trans oil with full synthetic aftermarket oil, and the problems just went away. Yeah, the right oil is important...

It's really dumb to design a transmission without any form of filtration at all. Not even a little screen....And on my ancient CC 125, 1968 with hydro, there is a great big hydraulic oil filter, just like on my Gravely rider.

 

[Texasmark]

Thanks for all the input, I dished out $3200cdn + 15% tax for this 54" mower, not what I call low end in 2009. Got 300 hours out of it and now I can't even give it away. Dealer says price of HST is more than the mower's worth. I wrote to Hydro-Gear, will see the reply but I don't expect anything other than a canned blurb. Am looking for alternatives like a 1956 B-275 with a bush-hog ..._it_ has been running for only 60 years.

If their customer service doesn't suit you might contact Tough-Torque and see if they have one to fit your machine. Really nice folks. Wink

 

[KYErik]

If this would bolt in, it would be a relatively cheap fix ($270 + shipping): Hydro Gear Hydrostatic Transaxle | Hydrostatic Transaxles | Transaxles | Power Transmission | www.surpluscenter.com

 

[ishiboo]

$3200 CDN is definitely an entry-level mower. Your basic decent mower starts for probably 2 times that amount. Sad but true. They also last 20+ years and keep going, versus the

Start looking for a used decent-quality mower... it would have been a much better investment. John Deere GT, LX, 3x5, etc. would all give you a comfortable modern mowing platform with a lot of life left and a solid transaxle. Plan a little bit for replacement parts - new seat if its going to be in need, steering parts, fluid change on the serviceable hydrostat, etc.

 

[prof fate]

a way to cut costs no doubt.

I have a couple of toro zero turns, all are like that ( ****, my 2014 subaru with cvt is that way...) the one I bought new I coulda bought the next model up and gotten the changeable/serviceable/rebuildable trans units - at $1000 cost.

that's a hefty up charge on a $3000 item. I use it less than 50 hours a year...if it last 10-15 years it's what, 300 or maybe only $200 a year in cost. It's made it 3 years so far, this is the fourth year and i'm at 110 hours..so couldn't justify the upcharge cost.

The second toro I got used for $550...sold my old tractor for $450..so it's $100 machine at this point.

My old snapper had HST - no clue what trans model - went 13 years with zero maintenance and still worked when I sold it (to get the zero turn).

The problem with the K46 transmission is there is no oil filtration and not even any feasible way to change the oil. No drain plug on this non serviceable transmission. So it just chews itself up from its own metal particles.

 

[fitterski]

Boy, whaaaaaat a learning curve! I've been very busy and didn't have time to answer all the good advice so I'll just sum up the situation as of this moment. Thanks for the surplus-center link, MAN, THEM FOLKS HAVE BEEN VERY GOOD TO ME BEFORE TOO so I will certainly investigate.

The model SLTX1054 # is 13AK92AK010 ser# 1K199H36103, the axle model is 618-042708 & the ser# (unreadable) U314H30060. I should maybe check to see if the axle is the one the unit was delivered with! For now I'll wait for the response from Hydro-Gear, then I may need to repair the mess because as it is I can't even GIVE it away much less sell it ..but I need to cover this season cause setting up my long-term answer will take some time and would be impossible to implement within weeks (at a reasonable cost)

 

[fitterski]

a way to cut costs no doubt. I have a couple of toro zero turns, all are like that ( ****, my 2014 subaru with cvt is that way...) .....

We're renting out Subaru Outback, I guess just we'll keep renting )

 

[fitterski]

$3200 CDN is definitely an entry-level mower. Your basic decent mower starts for probably 2 times that amount. Sad but true. They also last 20+ years and keep going, versus the

Start looking for a used decent-quality mower... it would have been a much better investment. John Deere GT, LX, 3x5, etc. would all give you a comfortable modern mowing platform with a lot of life left and a solid transaxle. Plan a little bit for replacement parts - new seat if its going to be in need, steering parts, fluid change on the serviceable hydrostat, etc.

My father in-law had a Ford 100 or similar, all manual. It ran for something like 35 years and I wanted to buy it from him but he forgot and gave it away. I don't know what they cost originally but I was making around $600 a month then and I'd be surprised if the cost was more that 1/2 a month greenhorn pay.

Anyway, I'm not the least bit prepared to pay over 5 grand for a mower even if it lasts 40 years, much less for the 9 that I got outta this one. The manicured part of my land is some 300'x600' so once I start mowing it's 4 hours and I start by warming up the engine a bit, then lock to full throttle and just hang on to the steering for dear life but the gas don't come off ever! So I can see how planned-obsolescence WOULD overheat. The answer to that should have been more aluminum with lots of fins ($3.00/lb) and more cooling oil ($10/gl) .say $30 on the $3000 tag, WOW, that's like all of a complete %!

 

[Industrial Toys]

My Hydro Cushman cost the taxpayer somewhere in the 80s thousand range. Parts are similarly expensive. Cost me almost 20 grand USED maybe fifteen years ago.

It currently sits out of service in a big puddle of oil awaiting hydraulic spool cartridge valves, back-ordered for eighteen weeks!

 

[crazyal]

I bought my Deere x500 used. It was a year old and still had most of it's warranty left. I got it for about 2/3 of what they cost new. When I was looking around, and this is the problem, I found a guy selling one that was a couple years old with low hours. It came with the house he had just bought. He said his yard was less than 1/10 of an acre. It took him less time to mow it with a push mower because the stuff that had to be mowed around. These companies build mowers for guys like this. Flat yards and put 20 hours a year on their mower. They look nice and shiny but after 5 to 10 years the owner wants to upgrade to get the latest and will probably sell it for around $500 to $150 (depending on it's age). They will never wear out the low cost transaxle because of the low hours and never working it hard. That allows Hydro Gear and Tuff Torq to get away will making them.

 

[buickanddeere]

That was me

 

[buickanddeere]

The absolute lowest end Deere is the X370 with the K57 transaxle . The X380 and up has a even more robust K58 transaxle.
Anything below a X380 is just a daisy cutter for a retired Aunt Mildred to use for 100 hours on a flat city lawn .
TractorData.com John Deere X38 tractor transmission information