2305 losing a bit of power.

[newbomb_turk]

Just noticed today that my 2305 did not seem to have as much power mowing. It is ~3 yrs old, with 90 hours. Changed the hydraulic fluid at 50 hrs as suggested in the manual.

Note I was recently yanking some trees from the draw out back, but I had mowed since then and did not notice it. I worked it pretty hard that day. I would like to think I would have been aware of it after mowing the first time.

I also used the loader pretty heavily earlier today.

The reason I am a bit concerned is that it would not lift my 54" mowing deck all the way up at idle. Adding just a few RPM's lifts it right up though. I can't really tell if the hydraulic 'whine' is any different because I always wear earplugs.

Any reason I should be concerned? Outside of this it runs great.

Todd

 

[CurlyDave]

Sounds to me more like you have lost a little hydraulic flow at low RPM than you have lost any engine horsepower.

How many RPMs do you have to add to get it back?

Could the idle have drifted down just a little bit?

 

[newbomb_turk]

I didn't check the idle RPM's, but did go back out after about a 1/2 hour and the thing was working perfectly -- even at idle. Now that's confusing. Next time I'll check to make sure the idle RPM is the same.

I know the the HST fluid was hot when I finished mowing (worked the driveway before-hand). Normally, I'm not doing a number of other things that are really working the tractor hard before I mow.

Could hot HST fluid cause a bit of a loss of power/lift?

Todd

 

[avguy]

Check the fuel filter. I was having intermittent loss of power & that was my problem. Full of gunk. Changed it out & was good to go.

 

[davkir]

Make sure the cooling fan for the transmission isn't broken.
Did you use J.D. Hy-Gard or Low Visc. Hy-Gard when you changed hydraulic fluid?

 

[newbomb_turk]

Yes, I used the Low Viscosity hydraulic fluid straight from the dealer. Hydraulic cooling fan... I will check it as soon as I can find out where the heck it is located. Or are you referring to the radiator fan? It is fine.

May have time to pull the fuel filter later tonight.

Todd

 

[davkir]

I assume you cleaned the strainer and replaced the filter when you changed the fluid. Others here have more experience then me, but I would expect the low visc. Hy-Gard the thin out out high temperatures and lose some performance. My manual says its operating range is up to 104F air temp.

 

[newbomb_turk]

I assume you cleaned the strainer and replaced the filter when you changed the fluid.

Yeah, changed the filter. See other threads on what a PITA it is to get at that strainer. I did do it, but suffered a knuckle whack or two. The low visc fluid is what is recommended here from the dealer (Pacific Northwest). It was the hottest day of the year though. I think it got up to about 80 degrees

Todd

 

[newbomb_turk]

Cleaning up an old thread...

Turns out that changing the fuel filter did help a bit. The problem with the mowing deck was about 40 lbs. of caked on grass clippings :| I normally check it regularly, but apparently missed a couple checks. Now I am looking for a better cure for preventing this from happening. Any ideas?

 

[RoyJackson]

Cleaning up an old thread...

Turns out that changing the fuel filter did help a bit. The problem with the mowing deck was about 40 lbs. of caked on grass clippings :| I normally check it regularly, but apparently missed a couple checks. Now I am looking for a better cure for preventing this from happening. Any ideas?

I raise my mower after cutting (especially if the grass was taller then usual or wet) and wash off the built up grass with a hose...but this is reactive rather then pro-active.
There are some folks on TBN who apply wax to the deck to reduce the grass sticking to it. Since I don't do this, I've no idea how successful it is...but you might want to try it.