Has anyone had any idea what oil to use in a craftsman tractor with a hydro-gear transaxle? The manual says that it is sealed for life. There is a fill plug but no drain plug. I was thinking I could pump it out. I find it hard it hard to believe that the transaxle will last without changeing the oil.
Craftsman Hydro Queston
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JTK
$100 Site Donor 2025
Hydro-Gears do well on 15w-40. Or you can run a 20w-50 if your ambient temps are hot or the transaxle has lots of hours on it. You can remove the deck, battery, drain the engine oil, gas tank and tip the tractor right back on it's hitch plate to drain the transaxle. Other than that you can pump it out & refill.
G/luck
Joel
G/luck
Joel
Oh I could just see the look on my wife's face. When I have the tractor upside down.
I think my old MTD SAYS 20W-50,Is it regular motor oil they're talking about?
JTK
$100 Site Donor 2025
Yep, it's motor oil.
Joel
Joel
Based on my results with Pennzoil 10W30 in an old WheelHorse hydro, the stuff I drain out after 2 yrs (approx 100 hours) looks exactly like the new stuff going in.
Clean and fresh.
Clean and fresh.
JTK
$100 Site Donor 2025
I bet that WH has a big sump. My cub cadet 2544 holds ~6qts so it always looks good as well. The sealed lighter duty hydros only hold a qt or two at best & get smokin' hot.
Joel
Joel
Somewhere around my shop I have a service manual and it says to use synthetic 20w50 in the Hydrogear unit. It does say sealed for life but in the event that draining is necessary for repair to use the 20w50 syn.
Service guy just left my house and ordered a 2nd transaxle for my sears tractor. Bought it last year 2005 model. These things are JUNK! It's a LT2000 w/B&S engine. He said he called and they have a redisigned part to install this time. I think I am going to go to sears and try to purchase a five year warranty for this thing after this fiasco. I have a small lawn 1 acre a little hill and the thing heats up and will not go up the hills. Rant over! Sealed for life, great design. Tab for the first repair get this $638 covered by sears. We'll see what it costs them this time.
Not knowing how you use your lawn tractor I cannot say if you have enough tractor for the job or not. That said the hydro-gear unit is used by many different manufacturers and is a pretty decent unit for residential use. All that said I too had trouble with my Craftsman DYT4000 I bought a couple of years ago and when I complained about having to have it repaired repeatedly the store exchanged me up to a garden tractor. My lot is pretty hilly in the back and I have ag type tires to reduce slippage on the hills and kept burning the belts off my tractor. Sears was absolutely unbeatable about exchanging up from a mower I gave $1699 fo to a mower on the floor for $2399 and I paid only $200 in difference. I have ag tires on my garden tractor and use the heck out of it. It has a Hydro-gear unit as well and has never missed a beat. Complain to the customer service dept and ask for an exchange. They stand behind these things pretty well.
These small hydro's love Mobil 1 15W-50.
how would you go about pumping out the oil from the transaxle? i haven't looked at the fill plug on mine yet.i have a pump i use to fill up the crankcase on my boat engine when i get a chance i'll see if that will work,but please throw some ideas.thanks.
JTK
$100 Site Donor 2025
You need to locate a fill plug up top. Some are under the fan/input pulley, some you use the vent tube and the good ones have seperate drain and fill ports and replaceable filters. If you've got clearence to drop a suction tube in you are set. Service manuals will tell you to remove the entire transaxle from the tractor and invert it to drain the old oil out.
Joel
Birds eye view located here:
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/[email protected]/album?.dir=cb4are2
Pictures of the new uninstalled transaxle. The fill plug appears to be under the plastic tank on top.
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/[email protected]/album?.dir=cb4are2
Pictures of the new uninstalled transaxle. The fill plug appears to be under the plastic tank on top.
I can tell you if you will check out mytractorforums.com and go to the lawn tractor section and then Craftsman section from there they can probably tell you most anything you will need to know. Someone usually has the factory service manuals etc in pdf format they can send you. I have a service manual but I have the hyrogear 0510 series which is larger as it is a genuine garden tractor hydro unit. Anyway try them and see what those guys have to say. They are nearly as good as these guys.
Forgot to update the repair bill was
warranty) part $706.81 Labor (took 1/2 hour to install and test ride) $192.00 for a grand total of $898.81 What a rip off I'm glad this died under warranty. The mower cost $1199.00 brand new and $900 for a transaxle. I guess the rest of the mower must only be worth $300.00 oh well...
Total warranty repairs: $1538.81 (1 year 4 mo old)
$638 first time $898.81 second time(must really be a BETTER redesigned part for a hundred fifty more).
opinions or suggestions welcome.
warranty) part $706.81 Labor (took 1/2 hour to install and test ride) $192.00 for a grand total of $898.81 What a rip off I'm glad this died under warranty. The mower cost $1199.00 brand new and $900 for a transaxle. I guess the rest of the mower must only be worth $300.00 oh well...Total warranty repairs: $1538.81 (1 year 4 mo old)
$638 first time $898.81 second time(must really be a BETTER redesigned part for a hundred fifty more).
opinions or suggestions welcome.
just for the heck of i checked mtd's web site.approx $600 for a new transaxle for my 7 year old mower..i'm curious to see if anyone actually ever buys em'.
JTK
$100 Site Donor 2025
You'd be crazy to. I've seen new MTD 600 series machines with a hydro trans, 42" deck, etc.. for around $899 at wally world. If you are a heavier person (say 250+), need to pull any hills or attachments, the little light duty hydros are a nightmare.
Joel
judging by the way the mtd sets it's prices for replacement parts my mower should cost about $30,000.sure it's true of all the mfg.
JTK
$100 Site Donor 2025
You got that right gj. Replacement transaxles (gear or hydro) and replacement engines cost as much as automotive engine/trans replacements! It's the same with all of them. For a
Joel
Joel
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