TransReleaseLever, ReverseMow, Air Compress, Bulb

[BlueStar57]

GT2550-Just call me hop along LOL. I was told due to the weight the mower wouldn’t get stuck in my sand. Well it did and I twisted my knee cap (weird location but if it’s possible it will happen to me) trying to push it out. Luckily my neighbors where home and they came over and pushed me out of the sand. Transmission Release Lever confusion. At the dealers this came up and if I recall right it was pulled out and left in (not on outside catch slot) to push the mower. Then after pushing it was pulled out and rested on the outside catch slot. Now the manual says to push it you must engage this. To disengage the release lever, pull back on the lever, lift out of the slot and release. My leg hurts so I can’t play with it right now, but I do need to know which way it should be for normal operation, lifted out & on the outside catch slot (guess what the manual calls engaged and way it was delivered to me) or disengaged (not resting on the outside slot).

I have set it up to do reverse mowing and it did work. But a few times when I had this set up (had used it mowing in reverse) after I hit the brake and then tried to mow in reverse the light went out and it wouldn’t mow in reverse. It happens intermittently as far as I remember but only after I used the brake pedal before mowing in reverse. Is this normal?

Air Compressor. My knowledge is 0 on these. I definitely need one to blow the dust off the engine and top of the deck. What tank size and specks should I go for? I just glanced at them at Wally World, but will also be going to a Lowes to price an oil filter & oil, air filter & pre-filter, etc. since 5 hours is coming up soon. Definitely will be out to buy one Monday before I use this thing again.

Also noticed the light bulbs don’t put out a lot of light. Other posts mention this and getting brighter bulbs. Anyone have specs on this as to what to get that won’t violate any warranty?

 

[JTKub]

Blue, the trans release/bypass lever has to remain pulled out for the unit to free-wheel. Pull out and move it down so the collar on the rod is on the outside of the hitch back plate. The only thing I can figure with your REV-TEC issue is you are tripping the seat switch for a split second when reaching for the brake pedal. This will disable REV-TEC. As far as air compressors go, the mini twin tank harbor freight tools cheapy I have works great (pepboys carries them too), but a leaf blower is quicker and easier. The headlamp bulbs are just ordinary automotive style taillight bulbs, so I'm sure there's options out there.
G/luck
Joel

 

[Rhoderman]

Hey Hop-a-long! How's it goin'? Sucks gettin' old, don't it? /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
Sugar sand is fun stuff ain't it?

IN is Run (normal), OUT is disengaged, at least on my 2042. If you can push the tractor, it's disengaged. I also don't think it will move when pushing the pedal if it's disengaged.

Reverse mowing: On mine, it will go back to normal mode if you set the brake *and* get out of the seat. I'm not sure what just setting the brake does and can't imagine why you would do this anyway. Maybe you're lifting your arse when you set the brake? I think it will even go back to normal mode if you lean far enough to lift a cheek and it disengages.

Air compressor: Depends on how much time you have to spend waiting for it to catch up. Avoid WalMart. I have a really old Wards 20 gallon, 2HP compressor and it does everything I ask of it. If it died tomorrow, I'd have a new Puma by the next weekend I'm so hooked on it. My suggestion would be to check the classified ads and craigslist for a while. There's always someone selling one. If you have 220VAC in your garage/shop, get a 220 compressor. Also avoid the oilless compressors unless you're already deaf...

Lights? Wouldn't know on that one. I pulled my bulbs at 0.2 hours and haven't missed them yet. If you need more light, wire up some yourself, pointed to where you need to see most. You can even put them on the back. Years ago when I was farming, a 4440 JD had a lot of lights pointing fore and aft so working in the dark wasn't a problem, assuming you could stay awake... If you get brighter bulbs, be careful you don't melt the housing or sockets. Brighter = Hotter usually.

Hope this helps.
- Rhoderman

 

[BlueStar57]

Thanks for all the help. So if the trans release/bypass lever is in the wrong position the mower won’t move when you press on the gas pedal. Yep getting old sure is hard on this body hehe. If the mower could laugh it had a good one with 120 lbs (or less and mostly water weight) trying to push it out of the sand. And of course there was no shade and I definitely worked up a sweat before getting hurt. One good thing came out of it though, my neighbors need the mobile home tie downs that have been left sticking up near where it got stuck with so this week they are coming back to get them out and I won’t have to worry about the mule getting hurt by them. They will also use their tractor to mow that location for me. They would do the rest but due to all the small cactus plants, I’d rather finish it up so I’ll know about where they all are and can start digging them up. I planned on moving things around to park it in the barn, but it might get stuck on the sandy floor there too.

Reverse mowing think you both may have come up with what was happening. I recall sometimes leaning to the side to pick up a small branch would cause the it to shut off and nearly kill the engine. The times I notice it had stopped the mow in reverse though this wasn’t the case. But I may be hitting small bumps or something which may be causing it or not be close enough to the brake pedal thus tripping the seat. I’ll check this out some more though I don’t have much left to mow this time until I get the cactus plants I was able to miss dug out.

Air Compressor: Joel no pepboys in the area, but slap my cheeks I did buy a leaf blower I’ve used once and it never crossed my mine it would work great for doing that. Rhoderman thanks for the tips on not getting an oil less compressor, I detest really loud equipment. No shop or garage, but planning on adding on a garage after electricity & chain link fence re-routed and door added to replace sliding door so dogs can go out into fenced yard.

Lights, well guess I’ll leave them as is. If I need more I’ll find something that can work with the 12V power outlet. Most I’ll be doing after dark is trying to park it probably.

 

[Mickey_Fx]

Looks like you got the rev lever thing covered already.

Gett'n old may suck but it's a sure lot better than the alternative. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

As for the air compressor issue. I have a decent size compressor but I also have an electric blower and I can tell you I never use the compressor. The vol of air and it's velocity coming from the blower is so much more than a compressor can provide the two are not in the same league.