Hydrostatic Transmission Faliure

[Spencer]

Here is a couple of pictures of my lawn tractors rear end. This happened 4 days out of the manufacturers two year warranty. Luckily it was only 4 days into the one year extended warranty I bought. Believe it or not that was the only time in my life I ever bought an extended warranty. The extended warranty company is making up their mind on whether to replace the transmission or "buy me out" (giving me the tractor purchase price money back). Have any of you ever had a hyrostatic transmission faliure on a small lawn tractor?

Spence

Pic 1 attached

 

[Spencer]

Pic 2 attached

I went inside to get a fresh bottle of water and came out to get back on the tractor when I noticed the black fluid all over the tire.

 

[rancar]

<font color="blue"> Have any of you ever had a hyrostatic transmission faliure on a small lawn tractor?
</font>

Hi Spence,

I have HST on my JD 425 lawn tractor with 810 hrs on it. I've never had any kind of failure or problem with the HST in this tractor.

...Bob

 

[Spencer]

Bob, as you probably guessed my tractor is not a JD. It is a WeedEater (a.k.a Poulan a.k.a. Electrolux). Sears sells the same exact tractor, their LT1000 series. I bought it from Sam's club two years ago. We had just moved to this house and my wife didn't think I needed a riding mower so I couldn't justify spending any more money on one to her. We probably have less than 15,000 sq. ft. of lawn on our six acres. If I remember right your acreage is in the 3 digits, isn't it?

 

[CTyler]

Did the HST fail or just start leaking?

 

[Spencer]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Did the HST fail or just start leaking? )</font>

I would say "both". The repair shop said that the only solution was to completely replace the transmission. He said that trying to repair it was not the proper way to solve the problem. There is some reason that it started to leak in the first place. Now that it has leaked, dirt has gotten in there.

 

[BradK]

Spencer, I had one hydro pump on my zero turn scag fail around 650 hours. Blew out in the garage made a huge mess and would not move to the trailer had to push it /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif. New pump was $600 not including install got it rebuilt for $300 have had no trouble since got close to 1100 on it now.

 

[rancar]

<font color="blue"> If I remember right your acreage is in the 3 digits, isn't it? </font>

Yep.....158 to be exact. I estimate I cut about 5-6 acres of lawn with the 425 each time I mow. This acreage has steadily risen over the years. I started with a smaller amount of acreage (of about 1 acre) when I had my JD 111. Larger cutting area though demanded I get a bigger lawn tractor. I feel like I'm at my limits to what I'm cutting with the 425 (takes me total of about 10 hours each cutting not including another hour or so trimming with the JX75 walk behind and the string trimmer). Anything larger than this and I'm tempted to upgrade to something like a Toro Groundmaster with a 72" cutting deck.

How much will it cost to replace this tranny on your lawn tractor? Will it be cost prohibitive to replace? Might it not be worth considering the purchase of a quality walk behind, self-propelled mower to cut your acreage (about 120'x120' plot) if cost of tranny replacement is prohibitive? FWIW -- I'm seeing many good sales now at places like Home Depot on quality self-propelled units (Honda, Toro, John Deere).

...Bob

 

[Molerj]

I had two occasions at my shop where the Hydrostatic transmission went south. One on a Husquavarna & the other a Craftsman. Neither of them leaked like yours, they just lacked power going up hill. Both are made by Hydrogear. Having never worked on one before, I did some research. Hydrogear tech said both are servicable & guesstimated about 150.00 or so just in parts. The fellow with the Husky decided to park it for now & maybe work on it in the winter as he has another tractor.
The Craftsman fellow wanted me to buy him a new transmission. He also wants to work on it in the winter. I am actually anxious to open one up & see what it's all about. My main trepidation was that I would not be able to recognize what parts were wore out, hence alot of work & parts & still no go. I have a tech manual & the tech. was very helpful so maybe we can figure it out together. This will be a freebie. I will treat it as a learning experience & let the customer make the decisions on what to replace. Usually in a shop the dealer will replace the transmission as the labor costs & parts would probably be about the same. BTW the husky hydro costs 350.00 & the Craftsman 599.00. Different MN's.

 

[hazmat]

Spencer,

We had a power king years ago that blew up & spewed oil not once, but twice /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif. It was a bear to push up ramps into the pickup for the trip to the fix-it man.

For that size lawn, you best bet is a 36" - 48" commercial walk behind mower - the kind the pro lawnmowers use. Cost about $2.5K new (same as a MMM for your New Holland). It will last the rest of your natural life. It will also cut the lawn about twice as fast as a lawn tractor. You can even get a caster wheel to ride on behind it. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Here is JD's version Deere GS30

 

[upgw]

That's interesting. A friend of mine has a mid-80's Cub Cadet, with 1200 hours on it. It nearly stops going up hill, and then overspeed going downhill. He thinks the engine is running badly, but I told him the HST is bad, either the pump, the motor, or both. Possibly just seals. Original oil in it, but it looks ok. I think this is a lot of hours for 'consumer grade' equipment, recommending he trade up to a heavier duty ZTR.
- Patrick

 

[theonlybull]

really, it looks like the bushings are worn, and that let the seals wear down, which then let the fluid out by.

i repaired the axle in the unit off of a craftsman ride on a month ago, and had to totally dissamble the unit to repair it.
honestly, i'd say that shouldn't be a hard fix, there's only one seal that keep the fluid in the rear end on each axle. and one at the outside end, to keep the dirt out.

btw, i run a machine shop/welding shop

 

[Spencer]

The extended warranty company decided to "buy me out". They are sending me a check for the full purchase price of the lawn tractor instead of fixing it. I had a feeling they were not going to repair it so I had been shopping around for a replacement tractor. My wife would not be happy if I spent much more money on the replacement than I spent on the first tractor so getting a JD or other high quality machine was out of the question. I only spent $799 on the WeedEater tractor so I really had to keep the new one under $1000 (without the bagger). I know most of you would recommend against buying another low end tractor but it is either that or use our existing 21" Lawn Boy push mower. Most of the stores here in Michigan selling the low end tractors are already sold out. The good news is that some of the tractors that are still available are marked down. I made a mental list of all the things I did not like about the WeedEater tractor and used that to compare the new tractors I had to choose from.

Things I did not like about my WeedEater

16.5 Tecumseh engine
.....Ran very rough at start-up
.....No full pressure lubrication
.....No oil filter
.....No fuel filter

Fender mounted hydrostatic control
.....Not as convenient as a foot control

No beverage holder

Tools needed to adjust the seat position
.....Frequently wanted to move the seat back so my daughter could sit on my lap

No fuel gauge
.....I had to open up the hood to check the fuel level

Star shaped holes for mower blades
.....Hard to find and expensive when you do find them


So I tried find a lawn tractor that was not much more money than the first one but that had better features. Here is what I came home with last night.

TurfMaster (by Murray)

18 HP Briggs and Stratton I/C over head valve (OHV) with full pressure lubrication, spin on oil filter, fuel filter
.....Goodbye Tecumseh engine

Hydrostatic drive with foot pedal control
.....Goodbye fender control lever

42" mowing deck with side discharge and mulch kit
.....I had to buy the mulch kit seperately for the WeedEater

20" rear tires
.....The WeedEater had 16" rear tires

Cup holder built into fender
.....I had to mount my own cup holder on the WeedEater

Nice elongated slot on the side of the tractor exposes fuel tank and acts as a fuel gauge

High back seat
.....Also has large knobs for tool free seat adjustment

Step-Through design
.....No big hump in the middle of the tractor

Rubber mats on foot well area for added traction and comfort

Tool free deck leveling
.....Time will tell if this is and advantage or disadvantage

Came bundled with a 10 cubic yard dump trailer and a small electric string trimmer

2-year limited warranty

Lawn tractor was normally priced at $1300 but it was on sale for $1049. The store I bought it from had a couple of promotions going on. If you applied for their credit card you got 10% off your first credit card purchase. You also get a $25 gift card for every $500 you charge on their credit card. So I ended up getting the lawn tractor for around $900 after the 10% discount and the $50 in gift cards they will be sending me in December.

 

[Spencer]

Here are a couple pics of the new lawn tractor. I'm sure most of you are thinking that I am foolish for not spending more money on a major brand but as I explained earlier it was either spend under 1K or get nothing at all. I used it a few days ago to cut my overgrown lawn. I went around once with the deck a little higher than normal and then went around again at the normal height. The tractor worked great and I love many of its features. First of all the difference between the Techumseh on my old tractor and this Briggs is amazing. The Briggs starts right up and runs extremely smooth. It may be my imagination but I believe the 18 h.p. Briggs is quieter than the 16.5 h.p. Tecumseh I had. Murray touts something called "Dual Independent Steering" which "controls each wheel to reduce steering effort". I thought it was just marketing so I didn't even list it in my post above. It is amazing how easy this thing steers. The biggest reason I wanted to get away from having the hydro lever on the fender was because it was hard to steer with one hand and change speeds or directions with the other hand at the same time on my old tractor. Now I have the foot controlled hydro and even though I have both hands free to steer I really only need one. It's not power steering but it sure seems close. I can actually steer using just the palm of my hand, like you might in your car.

Here is a pic of the tractor and the 10 cu. ft. dump trailer that came bundled with it.

I forgot to mention the high back seat is great also.

 

[Spencer]

Here is a side view of the tractor. You can see the foot pedal to control the hydrostatic transmission. This was the only tractor I found with the foot pedal that was not close to 2K.

As I stated earlier the WeedEater lawn tractor I had is identical to the Craftsman LT1000 series tractors. If any of you have a Craftsman tractor and you don't have a bagger for it or a mulch plate send me a PM. I have the twin bagger in excellent condition. Moderators: if this is inopropriate please feel free to edit.

Spence

 

[chrisjbell]

Hey, that's not a bad looking tractor for $1K or so. Not bad at all...and the most important thing to remember is pretty much any tractor is better than no tractor /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif.

 

[Spencer]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( As I stated earlier the WeedEater lawn tractor I had is identical to the Craftsman LT1000 series tractors. If any of you have a Craftsman tractor and you don't have a bagger for it or a mulch plate send me a PM. I have the twin bagger in excellent condition. )</font>

I'm happy to say that the bagger is now sold. I put an ad in the TBN classifieds and got a response. I shipped out the bagger this afternoon.

 

[thespian2007]

I just recently bought a used LT1000 Craftsman tractor, and is it in the 30's here. I decided to pull a small trailer, it was empty, and the tractor was warmed up before I started to work with it outside. As soon as I started up a small grade the tactor stopped moving in all gears except backwards.

So unless I just mow down hill what I have here is I just bought a used mower with a Junk Tranny. Any ideas?

 

[murphy1244]

I just recently bought a used LT1000 Craftsman tractor, and is it in the 30's here. I decided to pull a small trailer, it was empty, and the tractor was warmed up before I started to work with it outside. As soon as I started up a small grade the tactor stopped moving in all gears except backwards.

So unless I just mow down hill what I have here is I just bought a used mower with a Junk Tranny. Any ideas?

:welcome: to TBN need to get k66 trans.

 

[jerrybob]

:welcome: to TBN need to get k66 trans.

Murph is right.....however.....the k66 is pricey....$1500 thereabouts.....how much did you pay for the tractor?? How much are you willing to put into it??