Who makes the new Plastic Transaxle in the Riding Mowers?

[RockyNY]

They're probably Element V (CVT) transmissions from General Transmission. You'll be seeing more and more of them on low end riding mowers. They do have a plastic case.

 

[bcp]

From:
Lawn Tractor Transmissions | General Transmissions

"The transmission itself is protected by its Vault housing, a glass fiber reinforced composite case that resists impact, heat, cold, heavy loads and torque."

Bruce

 

[truckdiagnostics]

They're probably Element V (CVT) transmissions from General Transmission. You'll be seeing more and more of them on low end riding mowers. They do have a plastic case.

Looked at there web site and that sure looks like it. I'm going to caulk it up as a sighting mystery solved.
Lawn Tractor Transmissions | General Transmissions
Steve

 

[JDL130]

Yeah, that's the same thing I saw. Interesting! Specs on it aren't bad, more torque in the RS 800 than a K46. CVT transaxles are nice, based if I recall correctly on a theoretical Da Vinci design. I had one in a Dodge Caliber. I put 60k miles on that car in a year with no transmission problems. It actually might not be a bad design compared to a similar K46 hydrostat equipped tractor.

 

[Loadstar]

Probably just their lower end stuff for box stores. Ariens/gravely products at a dealer look substantial.

 

[JDL130]

Now that I know it's a CVT and the more I think about it, that might really be a great thing, hydrostat-like pedal control with gear-drive like low maintenance and reliability.

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

. . . It actually might not be a bad design compared to a similar K46 hydrostat equipped tractor.

Nothing is a bad design compared to the K46 transmission.

 

[truckdiagnostics]

Nothing is a bad design compared to the K46 transmission.

Who makes the K46 transmission? I have a hydo-gear in our cub cadet lx1050 that and the kohler engine are the only two things that have not been worked on extensively.

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

TuffTorq makes the K46 along with the K58, K71 and other transmissions, all of which are better than the K46 and are serviceable and rebuildable unlike the K46.

 

[crazyal]

I personally feel everything sold at the big box stores for mowing lawns is pretty much throw away. I have a 9 year old Troy Built (anyone remember when that was a good brand) which is built by MTD. The variable speed transmission is similar to what bcp posted above but it uses a standard belt for the variable speed and the case is aluminum. It doesn't use bearings, just brass bushings. The brake setup is the standard one that has been used for years. But without a seal the betonite grease leaks all over the brake rotor pretty much killing any stopping power. The variable speed belts slips once you start to go down any sort of hill. I usually replace the belt every 3 years or so.

Since I have to do things like remove the transaxle to replace the belt you get a real good look at how things are built and to be honest they aren't built well. But there's a reason why they sell for a fraction of what a real tractor sells for. But it's not just MTD. The Kohler engine in it is junk. Mine has held up except for the automatic decompression for starting. A coworker hasn't been so lucky. The engine casing on his has split. The worst thing about it is the engine is designed and made in the US. You would think that it was made in China in a backstreet plant with no quality standards. Sooner or later I'll replace it with something that will last. I'm sure that's going to cost me $5k or so. The other option would be to replace the cheap parts with high quality ones and rebuild it from the ground up to last.