JDLA115 transmission (tuff torque 46?) lifespan?

[leonz]

I have almost 200 hours on the LA115 , is there anything I can do to prolong its lifespan or am I playing the waiting game knowing that some time in the future its going to crap out and the tractor will stop.

I had the transmission drive belt changed 2 years ago. I understand the transmission cannot be checked for fluid level etc.

 

[Smoothas]

Pull the tranny, tip it over and drain oil, replace with Synthetic. Tons of video’s on YouTube on how to do it. Takes about 4 to 6 hours

Part 1 - K46 hydrostatic drive Removal - YouTube

 

[buickanddeere]

Trade it quick.. no trans filter. Any spec of dirt will trash the pump and motor.

 

[drizler]

Pull the tranny, tip it over and drain oil, replace with Synthetic. Tons of video痴 on YouTube on how to do it. Takes about 4 to 6 hours

Part 1 - K46 hydrostatic drive Removal - YouTube

Somewhere out there is the complete with pics tutorial on how to remove and clean up your tranny. It's quite simple and essentaly means dumping and replacing the fluid. There is no drain you just dump it out the pop off style air vent / filler. Fill it to the top when refilling. Then after you run a but just check for it still being full. Also be sure to use synthetic oil because the cheap $&@@. Don't even use synthetic at the factory OEM . Thanks for nothing!
I just went through a friends last summer when I welded a busted frame. It had 600 hours but had shown no issues. The secret is doing this before it burns up. This tranny had no chunks and bits in it and the oil wasn't burned ect. Consider doing this as maintenance and it will likely double the life of tour tranny. There's really not much in there to go bad. Start googling around about rebuild tufftorque and related you'll find that rebuild / cleanout tutorial. It's really all you need and with only 200 hours unless you find chunks just dump and refill.

 

[crazyal]

The first thing I would do is make sure there is no grass or dirt that would prevent the transmission from getting air needed to cool it. At 200 hours I would do just what Smoothas said. Remove it, drain it, then fill it with 5w50 synthetic oil. There isn't a drain but I doubt that would matter as the fill port is towards the front of the transmission and I don't think you could fill it while it's in place. I would bite the bullet and do it now. I would also make sure the fan is in perfect shape. It's too bad someone doesn't make an oversized fan to help cool things down.

If you are going to keep the mower for any length of time I might think about adding a automotive transmission temp gauge. With the rebuild guides on the web it wouldn't be too hard to split the casing and find a safe place to drill and tap a hole for the sensor. Then you would know how hot it's getting. Anything about 90ºC is too hot. Normal use shouldn't get there but if you do something harder than you realize you would know not to keep doing it.

 

[buckbros]

I have almost 200 hours on the LA115 , is there anything I can do to prolong its lifespan or am I playing the waiting game knowing that some time in the future its going to crap out and the tractor will stop.

I had the transmission drive belt changed 2 years ago. I understand the transmission cannot be checked for fluid level etc.

I have a LT180 with a little over 500 hours mowing some pretty rough & hilly mountain ground. I never used this tractor for towing. I changed the tranny oil with about 300 hours with the then recommended 10w-30 syn. oil. Another 200 hours later & the tranny gave up. I removed the tranny & reworked the "valve body" & the two "valves" by using emery cloth & a surface plate to keep them flat & polishing the surfaces. It took some time to remove the wear. Installed a new filter, new pulley & the now recommended 5W-50 oil. Right now it is working as good as new. Don't know how long it will last but time will tell.

 

[Richard001]

Buck,

Good for you. it's good to see someone who has the energy, time and skill to fix what most would just throw away.

Richard

 

[buckbros]

Buck,

Good for you. it's good to see someone who has the energy, time and skill to fix what most would just throw away.

Richard

The rebuild kit for these tranny's are around $400. I've got about $60 in it. It wasn't working so I thought I had
a lot less than that to lose. I am not a mechanic but not afraid to try things. Time will tell how long my repair will last.

 

[leonz]

It would be more tolerable it it was worth more on a trade but apparently $100.00 for the mule, 42 inch mower, 44 inch snow blower, chains and the snow plow I used once is all its worth to them if that as I have talked trade with them before

My two sets of V bar snow chains from the wheel horse 244 are worth more than that as one set is brand new and has never used.

I will just creep along with it and hope I can swing buying a yamaha snowblower soon, at least I have two Toro snow pups that have never ever let me down.

 

[buckbros]

It would be more tolerable it it was worth more on a trade but apparently $100.00 for the mule, 42 inch mower, 44 inch snow blower, chains and the snow plow I used once is all its worth to them if that as I have talked trade with them before

My two sets of V bar snow chains from the wheel horse 244 are worth more than that as one set is brand new and has never used.

I will just creep along with it and hope I can swing buying a yamaha snowblower soon, at least I have two Toro snow pups that have never ever let me down.

If you are talking about a K46 you can redo the tranny. It is not that complicated. I did it so it sure as heck is not that hard.