18542? I have the same mower, same age, with about the same use case. Zero issues to report.
It sounds like you may have an issue with your variatior or something causing excessive belt slip. Do you mow thick grass or brush?
Consumer Lawn tractors with durable hydrostatic drive.
- Thread starter DuckRyder
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It sounds like you may have an issue with your variatior or something causing excessive belt slip. Do you mow thick grass or brush?
The problem with the CVTs is the pulley seizes up, especially if the unit is stored outside.
Still think the Husqvarna is an excellent choice for the money. The Husqvarna made Craftsmans were much better than the MTD versions.If you can get a standard gearbox, that's the way to go. I got a 25 year old Craftsman with the original drive belt. Only drive belt I had to change was my oldest Roper made Craftsman. I never had a problem with the gearbox's of any of my Craftsman's going back to the early 80's and they were Roper made back then. Personally, I would never own a hydrostatic equiped tractor. There's too much to go wrong with a hydrostatic.
Only deck spindle assembly that I've ever had to replace was on a Husqvarna, and the unit was only a few years old. It was made of some lightweight cast rubbish, and was sealed with no way to lubricate it. Unit came from Lowe's, it was bought as their daughter worked there, and they got a "good deal" on it. I was mowing the owner's yard with his mower, due to him having shoulder surgery.
It never fails, you're using someone else's mower, and it breaks. I pulled the deck, replaced the spindle myself.... and then started trailering in one of *my* mowers Easier that way.
Something as simple as a grease zerk on each of the deck spindles would be one of my indicators as to the model that I'd be looking for in a $2000-$2500 mower. It is something that is easy for the Husq's and the MTD's of the world to cheap out on.
It never fails, you're using someone else's mower, and it breaks. I pulled the deck, replaced the spindle myself.... and then started trailering in one of *my* mowers Easier that way.
Something as simple as a grease zerk on each of the deck spindles would be one of my indicators as to the model that I'd be looking for in a $2000-$2500 mower. It is something that is easy for the Husq's and the MTD's of the world to cheap out on.
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I believe it's a YTA22V46 with a RT400 transmission. I'm not sure as far as the variator...it went to an authorized service center each time and they said it was the belt and the rest of the transmission was fine. They also said they had been seeing this problem frequently with these CVTs and they themselves refused to sell that model because of the transmission - they had the same model with a one letter difference in the model number that had a metal hydrostatic transmission (YTH22V46). I believe they later ditched this CVT and went back to meal Tuff Torque hydrostatic and only sell the YTH22V46 tractor now. Engine runs really well and so I'm just going to run it into the ground but I'll never buy a CVT again.
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Ah. Mine has the GT RS800. Less power and a smaller deck as well.
The only time I've ever had an issue was when I used the mower to help clear a field and jammed the whole case up with clippings.
I would recommend my grandma just hire someone to do the lawn and not worry about a new rider. If I wasn’t close enough to mow it for her that is.
A box store Deere would be my choice then. While not comparable to the $5000+ dealership models, in my mind they are still ahead of the Cub Cadet, and MTD stuff. The Deeres are much easier to get parts for, and any Deere dealer can service them. Most of the box stores actually recommend local dealers for any warranty work. The dealers will also pick up the machine if there are any issues with it (for a fee obviously) but that saves you from having to truck it around. The problem is at this entry level, most of the drivetrains are all the same among brands/models. The rest of the tractor on the Deere seems to hold up better, and the dealer network is the strongest.
I own a 2005 Deere G110. It was bought from home depot, and with the exception of a larger mower deck and a K66 transmission it is very much the same as the other models they sold. It has over 800 hours on it now, with abuse from mowing several yards, a powerflow bagger, and also a snowblower attachment that has cleared several different driveways every storm since it was new. I've replaced the steering arms once, but that is likely because the weight of the snowblower hanging off the front. Otherwise it has held up very well. I have a neighbor with the base model L110 that is a similar vintage and it has also held up well, used only for mowing though.
My Cub Cadet XT1 sure whines a lot now days. (5th season, 116 hours) Another reason I am regretting the purchase of an MTD Chinese Comrade Cadet.
For a box store machine, something by JD or the husqvarna group would be my choice over and MTD machine. Anything in that ~$3K and under group these days is going to have a light duty hydrogear or possibly tufftorq transaxle. The cheapest of them will have what looks like a gear drive, but it is not. It's a belt and variator pulley system derived from the old MTD transmatic system. You can generally tell these by if the machine has one lever for F-N-R and another one for 1-2-3-4-5 or it may have a foot pedal for ground speed control as to mimic a hydrostatic. Some people have luck with them. I have not and I've worked on many.
Like said above, a light duty hydrostatic drive will last for many years for relatively flat mowing and an average weight operator. The overall machine may have it's issues. The engine make/model/size is the least of my concerns with riding mowers, although I don't like the single cylinder kohler courage engines and suggest avoiding those.
Like said above, a light duty hydrostatic drive will last for many years for relatively flat mowing and an average weight operator. The overall machine may have it's issues. The engine make/model/size is the least of my concerns with riding mowers, although I don't like the single cylinder kohler courage engines and suggest avoiding those.
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My 54" Husky only has 260 hrs on it and after servicing the transaxle (removing it, whos the idiot engineer that designed that) its giving me trouble again. I just need to get another year out of it and I am going to buy a real mower instead of one of these Holly Hobbie mower impersonators.
We have 2 homes and the Husqvarna at our one home has been in service here for 15 years. It is a hydro stat with a fan. I have had no trouble other than 2 belt deck belts and one set of blades. It has a 20hp Briggs single. At our other home I have a Poulan with 19.5 Briggs single. It is stick shift because it is very hilly there. It has a Husqvarna sticker under the hood. They are both 42"inch cut and turn in a 16" circle. They both run great and cut smooth a quickly.
My Husqvarna was bought at a tractor store that I have bought my chain saws from and the Poulan was from Home Depot as an end of season special. People don't seem to buy the manual trans ones anymore. For hilly ground though that is best life.
That husqvarna group twin blade 42" is a good one. The design has been around forever and if offers great cut quality in a range of conditions. You can bolt on gauge wheels and a nose roller if it didn't come with them.
OK.
This thing is a: Craftsman 917.20390 T3000 Series.
I believe this is a Husky and it seems it has a General transmission CVT.
The inter webs claim these CVTS are easy to fix.
I'd say unless this one can be fixed (again) cheap it has pretty much removed any desire to be involved with a Husky lawn tractor.
I have a couple of PMs to reply to (I'm not ignoring y'all) but let me just say real quick that its not really a place where getting a lawn service is an easy thing to do.
Also the owner could do heavier work on it (don't want to sell them short they have disassembled the tractor following some folks advice, but its really not something that is desirable to be having to do.
This thing is a: Craftsman 917.20390 T3000 Series.
I believe this is a Husky and it seems it has a General transmission CVT.
The inter webs claim these CVTS are easy to fix.
I'd say unless this one can be fixed (again) cheap it has pretty much removed any desire to be involved with a Husky lawn tractor.
I have a couple of PMs to reply to (I'm not ignoring y'all) but let me just say real quick that its not really a place where getting a lawn service is an easy thing to do.
Also the owner could do heavier work on it (don't want to sell them short they have disassembled the tractor following some folks advice, but its really not something that is desirable to be having to do.
After my reply the other day I happened to go to Lowes and Home Depot today and thought I would check out what was available. 0, zilch, nada. Neither had a single lawn tractor, they both had the upper end Zero turn $5500+ models but nothing else which was also a shock because I dont remember them carrying $7000 Zero's before . Maybe they had sent all their inexpensive stock to busier stores but I was surprised by the lack of stock.
I ended up with a very used 16hp 42" craftsman that a dealer/repair shop was selling. From the late 90's I believe, the HST has a lot of variation in speed with load, but it keeps going every year and I have 120' elevation on my trails so its worked pretty hard. I'd look for something used the local repair guy has for sale.
Yes, stock is low - one of out home depots has a couple of Cub Cadets, they also have zero turns and a bunch of the electric ones which are 4500 and up...
The Gas Cubs were 2199.
Used mowers are nuts.
The Gas Cubs were 2199.
Used mowers are nuts.
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