Murraymountain's Lawn Tractor Repairs

Yeah, from now on I know what to expect from LT1000 hydros. The Murray hydro's are pretty tough though... I have no issues with those. But man, I'll never buy another LT1000 with a hydro. Not unless someone gives it to me or I have a spare.

Murraymountain wrote:

Yeah, from now on I know what to expect from LT1000 hydros. The Murray hydro's are pretty tough though... I have no issues with those. But man, I'll never buy another LT1000 with a hydro. Not unless someone gives it to me or I have a spare.

Yeah I have had a bunch in each config, but just have to be easy on the hydro....

My simplicity GTH and cub tractors have excellent hydros, I love using them.

Funny thing, I haven't broke one, but I've gotten 2 broken ones LOL.

In the mean time, I have it parked on the side of a steep drop, and the fog always sets behind it, so managed to get this awesome shot of it when I went to work on the MM this morning...

UPDATE....

Yard Machines: Mine is still for sale and is parked for the year since I don't expect to sell it now that mowing season's gone. My brother's is waiting on an Oppy to turn it into a mini bush hog.

Brother's MTD: Still for sale. Parked for the year. He drives it whenever his other one's outta gas. It is flawless and when mowing season comes next year, he won't take less than $350.

Craftsman LT1000: Parked it down out of the way because I don't feel like messing with it (I'm really waiting for the build-off to end so I'll have the space and time). It needs a carb rebuild/cleaning, hopefully a Smart Spark delete depending on if the MM's new engine has Smart Spark, front wheels, deck belt, and fix the hydro leak. I'll get to it in December.

Brother's Craftsman: Still going. I've been told he rolled it twice this past mowing season LOL. It's still mowing.

Exmark: Nothing. Still going.

John Deere: She needs some love. It's still mowing but just barely. The hood is slowly falling apart, the steering gears are pretty well worn, the PTO is starting to complain, rust is still eating the deck, it needs new spindle bearings, it keeps bending blades, the engine is really starting to act up, and it needs new wheel bearings. So that's what we have to fix this winter on it.

Husqvarna: Husqvarna got parked a long time ago. It needed too much to mow this year so we gave up on it. Gonna get it finished the same time we fix up the JD. It needs a new PTO, head and OHV gaskets, new tie rods, a new deck spindle, a new spindle, a new top deck belt, and some more wiring.

And on top of that, we just acquired an Ariens, and my grandpas old JD L110, and he knows someone with an old Poulan he's trying to get too. Only problem, they're all in Florida. So next trip to Florida, we have to bring a flatbed specifically to bring mowers back on.


So yeah, I have one heckuva busy winter this year.

Well, my Yard Machine had some problems... Flat tires, bad surging, the blades engaged VERRRRRYYYY hard, and the Vari-Drive was slipping. Anyway, just using it a lot fixed the hard engaging and surging, and the rear drive belt was SHOT. Had to drop the trans down a little and remove an idler to change it. It's a 2 people job at the least.... Pain in the butt is what it was, but it's pulling good in every gear now. Flat tires seem better now too. It's definitely worth the $500 I'm getting for it. No I'm not a fan of it, but it's still worth the price tag.

Come tomorrow, it gets put up for the year.

Well, I pulled the Craftsman up a couple days ago to get it ready for next year. It's becoming a real pain. The hydro is super down on power (and still leaking), the carb is pretty iffy, and no matter what I try the kill isn't working. Completely deleted the Smart Spark system out of it (good riddance), but it still ain't working. Disconnected the closest connector and it had spark, so the coil side of the wiring harness isn't grounding out... Haven't tried the second one. If that one's good too than I have no clue what to try next. Any advice?

Murraymountain wrote:

Well, I pulled the Craftsman up a couple days ago to get it ready for next year. It's becoming a real pain. The hydro is super down on power (and still leaking), the carb is pretty iffy, and no matter what I try the kill isn't working. Completely deleted the Smart Spark system out of it (good riddance), but it still ain't working. Disconnected the closest connector and it had spark, so the coil side of the wiring harness isn't grounding out... Haven't tried the second one. If that one's good too than I have no clue what to try next. Any advice?

On most the M labeled plug on the back of the ignition is for the magneto kill. You could check the wire (usually black) coming from it and see if it is messed up somewhere.

Or just go simple and put a kill switch on it, since you said the coil works.

Throw away the hydro. If it was mine I would part it out and sell the motor, unless you can find a hydro around.

Yep, it has the M label. It has 2 wires actually. I've traced them back to a certain degree, but I haven't finished. I replaced the ignition switch but it didn't help. The only thing I can think of is that it's cut open somewhere and grounding out on something... Although, 1 relay isn't working, think it could be that?

Yeah I was already thinking about that. If I can't fix this then I am.

Well, I paid for this one, so I'm at least gonna try and save it. I think it's just really low on oil since it leaked a crap load of it on the floor. If not than I have all the parts from the other hydro with the busted axle.

Murraymountain wrote:

Yep, it has the M label. It has 2 wires actually. I've traced them back to a certain degree, but I haven't finished. I replaced the ignition switch but it didn't help. The only thing I can think of is that it's cut open somewhere and grounding out on something... Although, 1 relay isn't working, think it could be that?

Yeah I was already thinking about that. If I can't fix this then I am.

Well, I paid for this one, so I'm at least gonna try and save it. I think it's just really low on oil since it leaked a crap load of it on the floor. If not than I have all the parts from the other hydro with the busted axle.

I would guess safety switch or clutch/brake switch.

The clutch/brake switch and deck engagement switch are pressed. The seat is not. I was always able to start the Craps-man without the seat safety pressed, I assumed it was the same on this one. I'll try that.

Murraymountain wrote:

The clutch/brake switch and deck engagement switch are pressed. The seat is not. I was always able to start the Craps-man without the seat safety pressed, I assumed it was the same on this one. I'll try that.

some of the ones I had, you had to push the clutch in further than the parking brake will hold if after they get worn out.... I would fiddle with it and the seat & then start getting annoyed.

Welp, not the seat safety or the second wiring harness. I'm guessing it's either the relay or the wire is crushed in the main harness somewhere.

Guess what, I'm reliving the last tractor. The kill is working after messing with the relays quite a bit, but, whenever a safety is released, the amp meter, carb float, and headlights go dead... Figures. I guess a wire is crushed somewhere. All 3 relays are working fine, so it's grounding out somewhere. Guess I'll look into it more when I have time. At least the engine is pretty much done.

On the other hand, there's not much to do for the deck besides clean it, sharpen the blades, install the rest of the lift assembly and get a belt. The hydro is still leaking and very low on oil, so I'm gonna try whatever's possible to seal it up and add oil without taking it apart. Hopefully it's worth the $120 I have in it.

Okay, made some progress yesterday. Got the electricals fixed! Turns out BOTH wires going to the seat safety always have power when it's running and blows up the switch, so I just tied the 2 wires together. I raised the gas tank... It helped a lot but not good enough. Thinking about converting it to a fuel pump. I believe the carb has come back to life, so I'm calling it good.

The lift assembly has been installed, and the deck has been cleaned. Turns out I'm gonna have to get a spot welded on the deck... It's cracked too bad.

The hydro is, um.... I dunno. 60% of it is covered in oil and I don't know where it's coming from, so I'm gonna have to drop it. I believe that it's coming out underneath the left mounting bracket. Kinda strange but I think that's the problem. If it's not a seal issue, then at least I have 90% of the parts from the other trans.

Weeeeeeeeell..... Huh, these hydros are finding new ways to break all the time... Got the trans dropped out. (If these pics upload sideways, can someone put them straight please... The computer I normally use is acting like it's about to crash and nothing's backed up on it yet.)



After seeing this, I knew it was more than a seal...



Ya see that clean silver part right smack in the middle of the picture there... Yeah, that's the axle shaft showing. That's what confirmed the tear down.



Anyway, I decided to start the tear down. First bolt, "clank", yep, broke. Second bolt, you can figure it out. Long story short, the big pile are bolts that snapped, the small pile are the good ones, and the one in the middle was cut off. No biggie, the case was getting scrapped anyway and I have a whole set of new bolts for it.



All opened up.



The brakes are in good condition, but the last pad was pretty nasty, so I threw it away and got a nicer one from the parts trans.



Here's the leak from the inside view... That's two times in one week I've seen a hole in a trans case.



The old cases... The bottom half is good. I took everything I could out of the top case to get it ready for scrap. Only thing left is the input shaft, and the "shifter" lever mount thingy'er.... Whatever, it's getting scrapped.



The old guts and the new cases.... The new cases have been cleaned. This pic shows where everything is right now. Next thing to do is install all the old guts into the new cases. Gotta get some high quality gasket maker and some hydraulic fluid to put it together (BTW, anyone know what type fluid this tranny supposed to use??).



And the all too familiar LT1000 void...



Anyway, most things have gone smoothly tonight (except for dropping a ball bearing-ish thing in a bucket that had hydraulic fluid, and the diarrhea looking muck that came out of the stamped frame's 930. Duct Taped a disposable glove to my hand and went in there and got it out, but removing the tape removed a portion of hair too.......................). I know RedneckComputerGeek tried taking a hydro apart and couldn't get it back together so we'll see if I can or not...

Okay, no real update yet since I'm using a phone, but the hydro is currently assembled and sitting underneath the tractor waiting to be installed. Only thing before the test run is what type of fluid to run... Anyone know what type fluid these Hydro Gears use? That's the one thing I have to know.

Murraymountain wrote:

Okay, no real update yet since I'm using a phone, but the hydro is currently assembled and sitting underneath the tractor waiting to be installed. Only thing before the test run is what type of fluid to run... Anyone know what type fluid these Hydro Gears use? That's the one thing I have to know.

Those are not advertised to be serviceable so I dont believe they publish what to put in them, but I think you can use the hyran, hydro tranny fluid from TS.

Yeah Hytran would probably be alright. A lot of old garden tractor hydros could run ATF, but I'm not sure if that would work in this trans.

Okay thanks... I'll get some Hytran tonight.

Anyway, last night. Ready for assembly...




Ready to be installed...



Installed.




Everything is hooked up and working besides driving it... Gotta fill and purge it first. Is there a certain way to purge this style trans or do you do it like any other one?

Probably just the forward reverse over and over like most say.

http://husqvarna.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/193/~/maintenance---how-do-i-purge-the-transmission-on-my-hydrostatic-lawn-tractor%3F

Awesome! Thank you! Hopefully I'll have it all done tonight!

mrshaft696 wrote:

Murraymountain wrote:

Okay, no real update yet since I'm using a phone, but the hydro is currently assembled and sitting underneath the tractor waiting to be installed. Only thing before the test run is what type of fluid to run... Anyone know what type fluid these Hydro Gears use? That's the one thing I have to know.

Those are not advertised to be serviceable so I dont believe they publish what to put in them, but I think you can use the hyran, hydro tranny fluid from TS.

When you say "TS", you mean Tractor Supply? They don't carry it. Not in store or online. Hytran isn't that easy to find from what I'm seeing on the internet. Any other brands that should work?

Hytran is an IH thing so you'd probably have to go to a Case dealer to get it, which would be expensive I'm sure.

You could probably just go for anything that's supposed to be an equivalent to Hytran, maybe even some heavy weight engine oil. I've seen some LT's transaxles that are supposed to use 10W30.

Okay. Yeah I'm not spending $30 on something that I don't even know is gonna work.

Found this link after doing some research... Sound about right?

Murraymountain wrote:

mrshaft696 wrote:

Murraymountain wrote:

Okay, no real update yet since I'm using a phone, but the hydro is currently assembled and sitting underneath the tractor waiting to be installed. Only thing before the test run is what type of fluid to run... Anyone know what type fluid these Hydro Gears use? That's the one thing I have to know.

Those are not advertised to be serviceable so I dont believe they publish what to put in them, but I think you can use the hyran, hydro tranny fluid from TS.

When you say "TS", you mean Tractor Supply? They don't carry it. Not in store or online. Hytran isn't that easy to find from what I'm seeing on the internet. Any other brands that should work?

Yes tractor supply sells their equivalent under the "Traveler" label.

Aha! Yeah I saw that there. I'll probably go for the 20W-50 syn. oil from Walmart though.