Buying Advice Done with hydrostatics

[ruffdog]

My dad is known to tear up cheap lawn mowers....but, he abuses them too. I found him a low hour X749 so I'm hoping he takes care of it and lets it last as long as my 1983 Cub Cadet 982 has lasted.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

We had a hydro tractor we mowed with, (and kept serviced) a bolt fell out of place in the hydro and went out the bottom of the case!! That pretty much made junk out of that tractor! lol

Then on the other hand, look at my gear drive lawn tractor,

You wouldn't believe the loads I have pulled with that one! The tranny still works perfectly, hasn't leaked, or ever let out one whimper.

Talk about long lasting and tough!!!

SR

 

[fitterski]

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

There has been a lot of suggestions about buying mowers with 'quality' trans-axles like the JD x750. I looked at those just out of curiosity, very nice like everything that JD makes, and the price here starts at $15,000cdn ...which is about 5 times what I'm prepared to pay for a LAWN MOWER (that lasts 40 years). That's the price of some CARS, I think the entire market is being ripped off. I will pay about the weight of steel plus 25% for low-tech goods like plows or mudpumps, or lawn mowers, no more. As it is right now I'm steps form a b275 rig that cost $4,000 with a pto mower and will last another 60.

 

[4570Man]

We had a hydro tractor we mowed with, (and kept serviced) a bolt fell out of place in the hydro and went out the bottom of the case!! That pretty much made junk out of that tractor! lol

Then on the other hand, look at my gear drive lawn tractor,

You wouldn't believe the loads I have pulled with that one! The tranny still works perfectly, hasn't leaked, or ever let out one whimper.

Talk about long lasting and tough!!!

SR

So the hydro didn’t actually suffer a failure from the hydraulics? Try throwing a loose bolt in a geared transmission and see what happens.

 

[4570Man]

There has been a lot of suggestions about buying mowers with 'quality' trans-axles like the JD x750. I looked at those just out of curiosity, very nice like everything that JD makes, and the price here starts at $15,000cdn ...which is about 5 times what I'm prepared to pay for a LAWN MOWER (that lasts 40 years). That's the price of some CARS, I think the entire market is being ripped off. I will pay about the weight of steel plus 25% for low-tech goods like plows or mudpumps, or lawn mowers, no more. As it is right now I'm steps form a b275 rig that cost $4,000 with a pto mower and will last another 60.

You don’t like the price of quality. You don’t like the quality of cheap stuff. I feel so bad for you. Or you can buy a quality ZTR for about half that. Or buy a used machine.

 

[ruffdog]

You don’t like the price of quality. You don’t like the quality of cheap stuff. I feel so bad for you. Or you can buy a quality ZTR for about half that. Or buy a used machine.

I could care less if the OP desires a manual transmission in his tractor for what ever reason. The continued discussion about the cost of modern equipment makes me think there is a hint of jealousy or envy to justify the reasoning. :2cents:

 

[searcyfarms]

i would wager a lot on my GT75 it was the best mower i have ever owned, overbuilt from the ground up in my opinion - only thing i ever did to it was deck bearings/belt and after 20 yrs axle seals started dripping over the winter so i replaced them - if i knew yours was going to break i would have saved it and sold it to you...........it only had a weeeee bit over 550 hours on it.

 

[4570Man]

I’ve got a 1960s ford garden tractor HST that my grandpa built for me when I was little. It’s stretched about 3 feet and has a hydraulic dump bed on it.

 

[searcyfarms]

oh man i bet its a jewel!!!! my neighbor took all his old fords and made pullers out of them, stretched the frames, put cut tires on them and souped up the engines, they are a hoot for sure.........i think he put cub gear units in them

 

[fitterski]

I just purchased a 98 Toro Groundsmaster with a 72" deck with original hydros. The hour meter is not working. I would guess 2000 to 3000 hours and runs like a top. You can buy those for the price of a throw away zero turn. My works at the local golf course. They have 2 with north of 4500 hours on the original hydros and engine.

I saw a New-Holland for 2 grand but got scared that it would be throwing good money after bad. Something like this remains an option. I'd like to buy a geared ford-120 or similar but there are very few still around. Another option, and I'll have to commit to something soon, is an axle up-grade to a somewhat more durable hydro-gear or other tranny that would be a reasonably doable swap. This would be costly too(?), not sure about the wisdom of the move.

 

[Tennsawdust]

This is why my winter project is the resurrection of a JD 214.

 

[fitterski]

This is why my winter project is the resurrection of a JD 214.

I see the 240 also had a gear tranny, in the fords it goes up to the 120's or so. Some of these 20-25 year old gear mowers jobs still cost what they did new, I don't see that happening with the HST's. Says it all.

 

[Tennsawdust]

I see the 240 also had a gear tranny, in the fords it goes up to the 120's or so. Some of these 20-25 year old gear mowers jobs still cost what they did new, I don't see that happening with the HST's. Says it all.

I've seen these 200 series JD's sell for north of $1,000, which is amazing considering the newest of them is 30 years old. Even the older, heavily built Craftsman mowers seem to be going for a premium these days. That is perhaps not so surprising considering what it would cost to buy something similar, but not as well built today.

This one was picked up for a parts mower price. It doesn't appear to have suffered from the doom of being left outside. Has spark, but no gas is getting to the fuel pump (the strainer in the tank is likely clogged). The steering and rear hubs are tight on it. It isn't a pristine example, but appears to have been reasonably well cared for. There were a couple of little pieces missing, but those were easy enough to find. I figure once I get it to cough back to life I will pull it apart, replace all the belts and do the full service routine on it. All the parts should be in within a couple of weeks and then I can roll it into the shop and go at it.

 

[buickanddeere]

No surprise that the hydrostatic transaxle failed at low hours if it is a K-46 or similar. Well duh...........If you purchase low end junk it will break.
For JD lawn tractors a model X380 or higher has to be purchased to obtain a medium duty transaxle.

 

[radios1]

There has been a lot of suggestions about buying mowers with 'quality' trans-axles like the JD x750. I looked at those just out of curiosity, very nice like everything that JD makes, and the price here starts at $15,000cdn ...which is about 5 times what I'm prepared to pay for a LAWN MOWER (that lasts 40 years). That's the price of some CARS, I think the entire market is being ripped off. I will pay about the weight of steel plus 25% for low-tech goods like plows or mudpumps, or lawn mowers, no more. As it is right now I'm steps form a b275 rig that cost $4,000 with a pto mower and will last another 60.

the JD GT series all used high quality garden tractor transmissions. the IH cub cadet were also very high quality. neither of these tractors have been made for many years, though, because people want cheap tractors that they can easily replace when they wear out or break!..

 

[buickanddeere]

Most lawn tractors are retired because the driver has smashed the hood, grill, engine, covers, deck and fenders from running into stuff. Plus the seat is rotten from being left sitting out in the rain. Or the engine has been run out of oil.

 

[Tennsawdust]

the JD GT series all used high quality garden tractor transmissions. the IH cub cadet were also very high quality. neither of these tractors have been made for many years, though, because people want cheap tractors that they can easily replace when they wear out or break!..

In the Cub Cadet line you have to get up into the GT series to get the K58. Those start around $3,000 USD. In the XT2 line you can get into the K62. The XT3 still uses the direct shaft drive that Cubs of old used, but you are looking at $4,500 to $5,500. Among those are options for heavy, fabricated and even stainless decks - if you are willing to pay for them. So you can still get a well built machine, but you can't get it for $1,800...

There are several companies offering garden tractor looking machines that actually use the K46. You have to do some digging to even find out what is in some of them. It definitely pays to do your research before buying!

 

[ruffdog]

the JD GT series all used high quality garden tractor transmissions. the IH cub cadet were also very high quality. neither of these tractors have been made for many years, though, because people want cheap tractors that they can easily replace when they wear out or break!..

Yeah, my 1983 IH (red) Cub Cadet 982 hydro is still going..............:thumbsup:

 

[Tennsawdust]

Most lawn tractors are retired because the driver has smashed the hood, grill, engine, covers, deck and fenders from running into stuff. Plus the seat is rotten from being left sitting out in the rain. Or the engine has been run out of oil.

I used to live next door to a fellow who was a diesel mechanic by trade. He liked to buy a several derelict riders every year to rehab and resell. I only know of a couple that he bought that were supposed to have a "bad transaxle" that actually had a bad transaxle. Most were issues where the drive belt had dislodged and jammed up the works or they had been left out in the rain and the brakes had rusted and locked up. The mechanically clueless owners made no attempt to have them repaired and basically sold them for junk and bought a new one. He could usually have them mowing in an hour or two with little or no money invested. It paid for his boat and supported his fishing and hunting habit.

 

[radios1]

In the Cub Cadet line you have to get up into the GT series to get the K58. Those start around $3,000 USD. In the XT2 line you can get into the K62. The XT3 still uses the direct shaft drive that Cubs of old used, but you are looking at $4,500 to $5,500. Among those are options for heavy, fabricated and even stainless decks - if you are willing to pay for them. So you can still get a well built machine, but you can't get it for $1,800...

There are several companies offering garden tractor looking machines that actually use the K46. You have to do some digging to even find out what is in some of them. It definitely pays to do your research before buying!

you are confusing the IH cub cadet with the new cub cadet, HUGE difference.. The IH cub cadet was basically a scaled down version of a full size tractor, and could used all the attachments of the full size in a scaled down version.. look at the model 107, which I had the privilege of working on, it was truly amazing.. IH cub cadets used heavy cast iron transmissions, nothing like today, not a K anything.. ih cub cadet transmission - Google Search