Towing lawn cart with a mower

[SHOZ]

I use an old snow blower frame to use as a rear wheel set up for hauling telephone poles. Rather easy really and can back them into place with enough room. I haul logs too with a chain and that takes all the F510 can deliver on some of them dragging on the ground.

 

[thastinger]

Pretty much any riding mower can pull that much weight, if you wanted to use caution you could just reduce the load by half and make more trips, doesn't sound like you are going far with it.

 

[wag123]

How capable are smaller riding mowers of towing a roughly 400 lbs load in a lawn cart across flat ground? I move firewood across my yard in a cart which I move by hand. It's quite a workout and I wouldn't mind some motorized assistance. I only have 1/3 acre to cut for grass so I'm not in the market for a big garden tractor. My parents have a 30" rear engine rider they only mow with. Could something that size do the job? I see that most of the small riders are hydrostatic transmission, while Snapper is disc drive. Are either of these capable enough for my use?

It will work fine. Just use a lower gear for pulling.

 

[supton]

It's do-able. I've done it with a 20-year-old MTD with the belt drive VSP transmission:

View attachment 225443

Not really recommended as something you'd want to do every day, as it stresses the Peerless transaxle and the drive belts. Best way to keep that transaxle alive, is to keep the speeds low and the loads light.

I did similar, 4x8 trailer, gave up as the ground was too rough. ATV works better for moving the trailer around--although that means I often get it stuck farther off the beaten path, thus proving the old adage about how 4WD just let you get stuck that much farther away.

 

[James Garfield]

It's do-able. I've done it with a 20-year-old MTD with the belt drive VSP transmission:

View attachment 225443

Not really recommended as something you'd want to do every day, as it stresses the Peerless transaxle and the drive belts. Best way to keep that transaxle alive, is to keep the speeds low and the loads light.

That's a folding utility trailer in the image, rated for 1,000 pounds max. You can tell by the wheels, it's a highway trailer, normally used to haul the mower to a job site. Once there, I could offload the mower, then if desired, unhook the trailer from the Jeep, hook it onto the mower, and carry on. Always thought that was kinda cool.

In that pic, I was using the trailer as the world's biggest grass catcher ;-) , sorta like gnan2304's Cyclone Vac, back when I was collecting clippings to make compost.

 

[zzyzzx]

I use to pull a 200lb water filled lawn roller on a vintage Snapper ride on with a 8hp motor with belt driven tranny. It did the job but perhaps you can always consider multiple trips if your rider is laboring and slipping with the weight.

How often did you have to replace that transmission belt?

 

[IndyIan]

Just watch tongue weight, especially if you have any slopes. Make sure you have enough, but don't put 300lbs on the hitch and go fast, then hit a hole.

 

[James Garfield]

Hauling Heavier Loads with a Riding Mower
Consider "coefficient of friction."
Mechanical and Hydraulic wear
Transmission Ground Drive design
Engines Horsepower/ Torque curve power intersection point.

Hydrostatic transaxles, after a certain point of internal wear, will have the surface area at the base of the Hydro pump assembly show wear between the steel pump barrel base and the aluminum mating surface. When the transaxle is cool the oil is thicker the transaxle will exhibit a stronger pulling force. As the transaxle oil heats and thins the transaxle oil will seep past these two mating surfaces and will no longer produce the needed flow and consequent "pressure" needed to drive the "motor" at an adequate speed. Also, as the pumped oil leaks past these mating surfaces produces a "phase change" that then generates more heat. (more heat, thinner oil, more leakage, even more heat etc.). Any liquid and or hydraulic fluid that is released (leaked) under higher than ambient temperatures will generate a temperature increase which further thins the oil, thus further lowering the pumping efficiency. In an air conditioning/ heat pump system it is this liquid "phase change" that either heats or chills the heat exchanger producing either warm or cold air (depending on the unit setting for cold or heated air). In a hydrostatic drive system, If the pump base mating surface is worn an oil change will not "fix" the problem. A thicker oil may help but the pump base wear will not be restored so that its original efficiency is attainable. I have in the past disassembled the transaxle pumps. fashioned a piece of wet/dry sandpaper that I glued to the pump base and then taking the pump drive shaft (installed in my drill press chuck) slowly resurface the mating surfaces to improve the pump base leaking problem. The pump base can be "restored or at least improved by taking a 1/2' chuck drill and driving the base against wet/dry sandpaper on a flat surface like a table saw surface that is very flat.
When installed in the transaxle the "pump" barrel is spring loaded against the pump top to keep the pump base in constant contact with the base housing. Patience is needed to resurface both the pump base and housing mating surfaces. The fastest approach is to replace the pump and motor, but the parts prices can be a little high. On a Zero turn there are two separate transaxles. If one is sluggish, it may be caused by belt and pulley wear or a weak belt idler spring. Don't blame the transaxle until you carefully examine these first. Standard mower v belts are cloth wrapped to allow some slippage when at higher stress and engaging levels. They can either become glazed or polished and/or stretched and slip, which in turn generates more heat. Also, the two transaxle pulleys are usually situated where one pulley has more v belt contact (wrap) than the other. Less pulley wrap contact along with polished or worn pulleys will generate more heat. V belts must NOT sink fully into the bottom of the v belt pulley. They MUST sit higher in the pulley to produce the necessary traction.
Other notes: Mowing patterns affect the life of the pumps. If the mower operator generally mows by taking right turns the left transaxle will show more wear. It will have covered more territory than the right transaxle. Polyester drive belts stretch more than Kevlar (r) belts. Make sure to get the recommended belt designed for your transaxle. Belt tension is critical on these systems. Do not substitute another idler pulley spring unless you know that it will fully tension but not over tension the pump drive belt assembly. Idler pulleys also wear and there will usually be a pivot point on the idler arm assembly. If not properly lubed can bind and cause belt slippage. Disassemble all parts, clean and lube or replace if defective.
To check pump heat signatures, take a laser thermometer and check both transaxles after the units are fully heated. Any significant temperature differences will indicate either differences in internal pump wear or belt/pulley slippage. You must run the transaxles at full speed to generate the maximum temperatures before testing their heat. Reason: at full engine throttle in neutral the pumps are spinning but are not producing flow and are under very little heat producing stress.
Transaxle oils are usually automotive oils with a low Zinc and Phosphorous (ZDDP) additive package (to minimize catalytic converter fouling in cars). When changing transaxle oil check the manufacturers recommendation. Valvoline 20w50 full synthetic racing oil has higher ZDDP anti-wear loads. ZDDP is what I have read to be a sacrificial wear additive. It is said to lose its peak effectiveness after a point and pump wear can increase. Do not use any hi ZDDP racing oil in your catalytic converter equipped vehicles. It can cause premature cc failure and void your emissions warrantee.
Transaxle slipping: Replace belt only and test for any improvement. Any improvement indicates slippage from the old belt.
If improved, then service the idler arm assembly and spring tension. If more improvement examine the transaxle pulleys for glazing or a polished appearance. If they appear to have a "dip" or low spot from wear replace them/it. Anything beyond these repairs requires transaxle disassembly for pump and motor replacement or a new transaxle/s.

MTD family Variator Drive transaxle systems use a torque converter system that would pull a trailer if operated at maximum or near maximum throttle setting BUT ONLY AT VERY LOW SPEEDS. Increasing loads at high speed can be deadly if the load forces you downhill or into an immovable object or if a bystander causes a PANIC STOP! YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO STOP SUDDENLY SAFETLY! You need to understand weight and load balances before trying to trailer a load. If your mower does not specify other attachments that can be purchased for that model it was never intended to be safely used for anything other than mowing. Always check with the manufacturer before attempting any alternate use.

Manual Gear Transaxles made by some manufacturers have several gear settings that are selected with a shift lever. They will tend to have accessories available for alternate attachments. Always check the operator's manual and check with the manufacturer as to recommended maximum load levels recommended. Safety Always!!!!! When pulling any load over the rated load specs you will be taking a risk. When using the recommended load ratings, you will find that you will need to use lower ground speeds and that the transmission will be difficult to shift on the go due to gear loading pressures. Attempting to start moving in higher gear setting will cause a lot of belt slippage, gear loading and possible transaxle failure. If it is a mower use it as a mower. If it is designed to pull a seeder or fertilizer attachment that is all that you should use it with. SAFETY ALWAYS!!

If you want to convert it to a racing mower, make sure you have life and health insurance. Thats another question entirely!
I hope this helps.

Jackoat777,

Wow, what a fantastic post about transaxles! With your knowledge, I'll bet you could teach a college course on this. Seriously!

The transaxle in my MTD is the famous Peerless, Model 618-0077, known far and wide for its ruggedness and bulletproof reliability (/sarc).

This lawn tractor is rated to handle light implements, such as fertilizer spreaders, spike aeratorsrs, and small utility carts.

If you overload it trying to pull something too heavy, the belts will just slip, and laugh at you.

If you run it too fast or with too much weight, eventually this transaxle will break down in some interesting ways.

Too fast, can cause the Reverse Intermediate gear to seize on the Intermediate Shaft. This is because the Reverse Gear spins twice as fast as the Forward Gear, in the opposite dire tion, when the tractor in forward motion.

Too much weight load long term, can cause the steel axle shafts to chew through the brass (?) axle bushings, making the rear wheels camber up like an old VW dune buggy. Next time I have my transaxle apart, I'm gonna replace those axle bushings with roller bearings. Those bushings always always seem to have trouble getting lubrication, due to their location way out at the ends of the transaxle housing.

The Intermediate Shaft and Reverse Gear are not difficult to replace. If the axle shafts haven't chewed.through the bushings and into the upper transaxle housing they're not hard to replace either.

Hopefully this pic might help illustrate all this:

Pay attention. Quiz on Friday . .

 

[benjy]

interesting reading as i have a CC30H rider with the bag kit, my first rider at 67 YO. bought it having knee issues last year. my honda hydro walk behind prolly 30 YO still great! the cub cadet is just over 2 thou with todays price gouging these days!! many brands are the SAME but few are hydro that costs more + IMO is worth it, use no cart on it yet but goes up my hilly yard without issue.

 

[nate379]

Huge excavators all use hydrostatic motors to drive the tracks, its a well proven system. The only problem with these garden tractor transmissions, is the over use of aluminum. 400 lbs is not much especially on flat ground. The small JD tractor weighs about 500 lbs, then if the operator weighs
another 400 it would be pulling that weight. Go figure.

Excavators are hydraulic. Similar but different.

 

[z71bill]

I have one of these - I can pull 400 pounds across the grass without any tractor.

The 16" tires really pull easier than the more common 10"

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/groundwork-1-400-lb-capacity-heavy-duty-steel-utility-cart

I have one of these too - I pull 4-5 bags of mulch no problem - I will guess 200 pounds.

You could always make more trips - don't overload it.

 

[ccs368]

How often did you have to replace that transmission belt?

I personally have never replaced the transmission belt due to wear and tear on those Snapper ride-on mowers. Pretty robust.

 

[Rmay635703]

You could look for an old wheel horse or something. Not too big and stout enough to pull a small trailer around.

Just not the 1998 era ones because they constantly destroy belts

 

[c502cid]

I have one of these - I can pull 400 pounds across the grass without any tractor.

The 16" tires really pull easier than the more common 10"

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/groundwork-1-400-lb-capacity-heavy-duty-steel-utility-cart

View attachment 225544


I have one of these too - I pull 4-5 bags of mulch no problem - I will guess 200 pounds.

View attachment 225545

You could always make more trips - don't overload it.

So much this. By the time I hook up my trailer to my ATV I've made two trips from the wood pile to the garage with my cart.

 

[walterjay]

Years ago I had a box store mower. I hauled a lot of stuff with it. After a few years I noticed the tranny wasn't doing so well. I now have a JD X series that is stout.

 

[bunnspecial]

Back years ago-turn of the century when I was still in middle school-my dad sent me on a task to get a bunch of pea gravel a neighbor wanted rid of and my dad wanted.

We had an 18HP Montgomery Ward branded lawn tractor. It had been bought used from another neighbor, but I think it was probably from the mid-90s. We also had a Rubbermaid trailer(I think? it was all plastic other than the wheels, axle, and a few parts of the drawbar, and had sides that slipped in and out configure it as a cart or flatbed or anything in-between) from Lowes. I never paid a lot of mind to how much I was loading as long as the tractor would move. My parents neighborhood is relatively flat, but that's also a relative term in Central Kentucky and there were definitely some hills.

I got the gravel moved, but a few weeks later I was mowing and it just stopped. Our mower repair guy-someone we went to church with-came and got it. The next day he shows up at the house with a 70s model lawn tractor-for some reason I want to say it was Sears branded but he also claimed it was a rebranded Wheel Horse?(Does that sound right-I don't really know the history of these). He said he thought our transmission was bad, and that if we wanted to pull this was what we needed. Pull it did, and yes it had an honest to goodness 4 speed dual range transmission. I never quite mastered it, especially as the clutch and brake were combined, and I never could get it moving without hopping it pretty badly especially at higher speeds and I'd get a splash of gas in my face every time that happened(I'd like another chance at it now...over 20 years later...with some actual manual road driving behind me). That stayed at our house for a week before my dad was at Lowes buying a new Troy-Bilt, which our lawnmower guy advised against for a bunch of reasons but it was still going a few years ago, albeit without pulling anything other than an occasional cart full of limbs, until my dad decided he just wasn't able to mow anymore and of course I wasn't anywhere near by to do it...

So that's my story. I suspect the blown tranmsission(and it was a hydrostatic) was related to me pulling a few hundred pounds of gravel several times with it...

 

[SHOZ]

I routinely hauled heaped up loads of gravel or dirt in 10 cu ft cart until I checked out the weight and that seems to be in excess of 1000 lbs. I wondered why the tires wouldn't last. Finally went to some no flats.

 

[Cherrybomb]

We used to pull the Packard out of the garage (which had a sloped floor) with the Cub Cadet 105. Hydrostatic. Never whined or protested, but with 10hp, we weren’t going very fast.

But I suspect that a 1968 Cub Cadet transmission was a whole different beast than a modern one. The transmission was very beefy. Cast iron housing with built in axle tubes.

TractorData.com Cub Cadet 105 tractor information

www.tractordata.com

The 1968 Cub Cadet had massive gears in the rear end,solid shaft from engine to transmission. Way overkill, but the same rear end went in the larger Cub Lo Boys.IH built their small tractors as solid as their large farm tractors. Oh how I wish for the good old days.We now live in the throw away days,you abuse or overload me,I'll show you and expensive lesson