Buying Advice Done with hydrostatics

[fitterski]

As others have said . WOT for cooling . WOT with the forward travel pedal half way down is less stressful to the transaxle vs 1/2 rpms and forward pedal all the way down.

and as I have said what I i have been doing all this time is lock throttle to full AND push with travel pedal full down AS WELL until either the job gets done

 

[daugen]

As others have said . WOT for cooling . WOT with the forward travel pedal half way down is less stressful to the transaxle vs 1/2 rpms and forward pedal all the way down.

this is the WHY....can you explain this. What could stress the transaxle more than torque or shock loads, and if the rpm is down, power is down, so ???
Cooling is easy to understand unless part throttle and heavy load is causing excessive heat to trans.

 

[fitterski]

I knew I was getting junk when I purchased it. The problem was I could not afford the step above junk at the time. My plan is to abuse the junk for the span of the 3 year wanranty and hopefully get a new tranny near the end of it. When it goes out while not covered by waranty, my plan is to replace it with a better one, like a K66 or a K72 or a complete machine a step or two better.

My previous mower was a prehistoric small Toro that I got for free, I ran it into the ground but that took me another 4 years after the previous owner decided to dispose and get a new one after 8. Last week my son came over to do my lawn in 6 hours with another beat-up El-Cheapo 38" Simplicity with something like 1400 hours on it. My hunch is that the issue is a *not precisely controllable* planned obsolescence one filtered at the QC level. You could get lucky and end up with a low-end product that far outlasts the Ltd's.

 

[fitterski]

I've read all the responses but am still in the dark about the exact problem. I've spent my life in technology at various levels and am not one of those who merrily abuse everything they start up. In addition my farm on the northeast coast NEVER sees temperatures above 25c, the field is mostly level and the grass seldom above a few inches, the transaxle is clean, always full of clean specificatiion oil, the machine was 'professionally' (?) serviced every spring.

When I parked it last fall it may have been below spec performance but I certainly didn't notice anything. I never noticed any slowness in all these years. The dealer asked me if there was any oil where it had been parked, the was none. All I saw was on the left axle in the form of definitely LIGHT oil sweat. The axle, as always is full of clean spec oil. The dealer also had me go through some hoops to 'recharge' the pump, all to no avail. Hydro-Gear asked him to open the unit and report to them, he said he'd be happy to do so at $80/hr, his going rate. They said they'd get back to him and that was almost a week ago.

So my first question was and remains: how can the performance go from acceptable to useless in 6 months of doing NOTHING? I can barely resist the urge to take it apart myself (meticulously under the loop) but my lawyer advises to have that done and documented by unrelated pros for possible future use. I know lawyers hardly ever advise against moving but he agrees with me that 300 hour life, entirely REGARDLESS of any rationale or figure-skating bravado, is acceptable only from biodegradable garbage bags. An overlord legal warranty here (civil code) says that a product must satisfy 'reasonable expectations' so all would hang on what a judge deems a reasonable service life.

That's where it's at at this point in time.

 

[GirlWhoWantsTractor]

My previous mower was a prehistoric small Toro that I got for free, I ran it into the ground but that took me another 4 years after the previous owner decided to dispose and get a new one after 8. Last week my son came over to do my lawn in 6 hours with another beat-up El-Cheapo 38" Simplicity with something like 1400 hours on it. My hunch is that the issue is a *not precisely controllable* planned obsolescence one filtered at the QC level. You could get lucky and end up with a low-end product that far outlasts the Ltd's.

My old Husqv came with the property 5 yrs ago, beat up and high hours, so I decided to use it for all the rough stuff and run it 'til it dies. It refuses to die.

The NEW Husqv on the other hand......not so much.

 

[GirlWhoWantsTractor]

So my first question was and remains: how can the performance go from acceptable to useless in 6 months of doing NOTHING? I can barely resist the urge to take it apart myself (meticulously under the loop) but my lawyer advises to have that done and documented by unrelated pros for possible future use. I know lawyers hardly ever advise against moving but he agrees with me that 300 hour life, entirely REGARDLESS of any rationale or figure-skating bravado, is acceptable only from biodegradable garbage bags. An overlord legal warranty here (civil code) says that a product must satisfy 'reasonable expectations' so all would hang on what a judge deems a reasonable service life.

That's where it's at at this point in time.

After my suite of brand new higher-end kitchen appliances (all different brands) each failed shortly after their crappy 1 or 2 year warranties expired due to known issues, I have to suspect we're looking at a new business model that includes planned early failure/obsolescence. They disguise this with frequent changes in brands/models and justify it by the constant introduction of mostly useless new features, gimmicks, and styles. Did you know "stainless steel appliances are now OUT"?

Good luck with your suit. Stick it to them. We probably can't force them to make better stuff, but how about a little more honesty about expected service life? Although a lawyer for the other side could argue they ARE being honest, by offering such short, cruddy warranties.

 

[LD1]

So my first question was and remains: how can the performance go from acceptable to useless in 6 months of doing NOTHING? I can barely resist the urge to take it apart myself (meticulously under the loop) but my lawyer advises to have that done and documented by unrelated pros for possible future use. I know lawyers hardly ever advise against moving but he agrees with me that 300 hour life, entirely REGARDLESS of any rationale or figure-skating bravado, is acceptable only from biodegradable garbage bags. An overlord legal warranty here (civil code) says that a product must satisfy 'reasonable expectations' so all would hang on what a judge deems a reasonable service life.

That's where it's at at this point in time.

The issue you are going to have is NOT the 300hr life.....

Its the 9 YEAR life. And IMO, most judges/jurys would find that to be perfectly acceptable for a lower end model.

I mean, what about things like kitchen blenders or a microwave? Get 10 years out of one and thats pretty good. But it probably dont amount to more than a hundred hours?

Or flip that around what about someone that drives a thousand miles a day? Completely wears out a vehicle in a year or two. is that unacceptable?

 

[Rock Crawler]

Go look at used garden tractors with the Tuff Torq K66 or the Hydro Gear G730. You'll be replacing engines before rear axles unless you are exceptionally hard on them or you are exceptionally unlucky.

 

[daugen]

I agree. In the 9th year, there is no liability for the manufacturer. We are NOT talking Tanaka air bags here...

Today I read a number of engines tout 1000 hour life expectancy. As if that's a huge deal...Well yeah, it might be for a B&S 500E that weighs about as much as a dinner roast, and lasts only slightly longer. Actually I have to admit the cheapo lightweight ditch mower I have is equipped with that engine, and amazingly it starts every time, thanks to liberal dosing of Sea Foam. But what are my reasonable expectations? This is a 300 hour machine. Max. The engine will lose power and the wheels/wheel bearings(assuming there was any...) will be shot. Yup, that's what I get for 179 bucks. Purely disposable machinery.

But if I spent two grand on a riding mower, maybe the real issue is what are reasonable expectations? It's a big issue for all of us.
Tractors thankfully are generally super reliable but lawn mowers normally aren't built to those standards. Want an 800 dollar push mower? well there's one out there and it's heavy to push but it will likely last forever with a Kawasaki engine on it.
But I'm not spending 800 bucks on a push mower any more than OP wants to spend ten grand on a John Deere or Kubota.

Cub Cadet says I have a K46 in my LT2, fab deck, Kawasaki engine, best of a price point breed. Bought the mower to give to a close elderly friend to use. I wouldn't own it, honestly I'm spoiled by better equipment, power steering, etc. But for 2 grand, which is a lot of money for families raising kids, should one expect ten years of reliable service? I'm not sure.
What do you all think?

I spent decades paying claims for insurance companies, have an interesting perspective on what folks think is reasonable.
Insurance is driven by contract law, lawn mowers? Caveat Emptor and Consumer Products safety, that's about all.

 

[fitterski]

The issue you are going to have is NOT the 300hr life.....

Its the 9 YEAR life. And IMO, most judges/jurys would find that to be perfectly acceptable for a lower end model.

I mean, what about things like kitchen blenders or a microwave? Get 10 years out of one and thats pretty good. But it probably dont amount to more than a hundred hours?

Or flip that around what about someone that drives a thousand miles a day? Completely wears out a vehicle in a year or two. is that unacceptable?

I can't comment on the legal aspect, that's for legal techies who WILL become involved if necessary, but I definitely do not consider 9 seasons (equivalent to 4.5 years in Florida for example), to be a reasonably acceptable life for a $3000+ mower. 40 years would be, as brought up I believe in connection with older Ford riders.

Other than that, I just talked to my dealer and my handle on the situation was a bit mistaken in that he had NOT opened the unit to evaluate the oil appearance; it was full and 'at the refill plug level' he saw no contamination. He had however seen condensation inside the transaxle contaminate the oil on other machines in the past, specifically while parked over the winter. THIS, he says, will be immediately obvious on opening but he will do nothing on his own or on my account. The climate here is in fact quite humid and cool as a rule, so with inappropriately designed venting this could well be at the root of the entire problem. I have no idea if just a purge and oil/filter change would fix it though, he seems to think not.