Yep, a few days after I purchased mine, I saw the same mower at Lowes, except this one had a manual shift tranny and I think it had a hi/lo selector. It was right in front of a big poster that said "For heavy duty ground engaging work" it showed it pulling a tiller. I wondered about that one thinking uh-oh, I probably should have bought the gear drive.

The postings are encouraging especially the note about putting 500+ hours on the craftsman. I have towed some heavy stuff with this little tractor, but neither me or the dealer changed the oil. That may have been the problem. In fact, they told me not to. My gut instinct was that I definitely should have.

I asked them about it and they highly discouraged opening any of the plugs.

I am beginning to think the dealer is yanking me around as I have yet to receive a status call from them(even though they promissed to keep me in the loop. I keep having to call them and it's the same story. The transmission was ordered over a week ago but has not came in. They told me today that they are trying to track it down. I have been very polite and professional with these people, but my patience is wearing thin. I seriously doubt I will buy anything from them again.

Though both Sears and Husqvarna claim these are sealed maintenance free units Hydro Gear says otherwise. If you are interested Hydro Gear has produced a training video (part number BLN-51368) that covers trouble shooting, disassembly and reassembly of the 3000 series. I bought my copy on ebay several years ago but some internet small engine parts dealers offer them too.

I actually have three of these machines, a DGT 6000 kept at our cabin and a second 5000 bought cheap at auction (it was run without engine oil and broke both rods). The Kohler was a piece of cake to rebuild BTW. Despite some of the expert opinions expressed on this site about cheap GT real world use has shown me these EHP made machines are well built and very capable GT.

MoneyPit,

When you say "It's hard to believe that nobody still makes a rugged dependable "Garden Tractor" that can pull 700+ LBS and last 20 years", you have to qualify that with "moderately priced". There is quite a few hydro garden tractors that can pull 700+ lbs all day long for 20+ years. They just aren't moderately priced.

Good luck with your tranny, I hope you have it back soon!
-gh

My problem with Sears tractors is not the Hydro but the many other under-designed parts as well as some cheap engineering. I am thinking about the very cheap steering mechanism, tin can contraption mower decks with mechanical springs everywhere and a crazy blade brake set up, the light duty mower deck spindles that I never paid attention to until they went bad, the cheap seat plunger switch (replaced twice), idler pulleys with plastic inner sections ( One burned up on me ), and on and on.
I looked at some commercial equipment at a Kubota dealer and at a Hustler dealer and it spoiled me. My next lawn tractor will probably be a used Hustler ZTR, if I can find a deal on one over the winter. There has to be a landscape contractor who needs Christmas money bad enough to let an old one go for a decent price.

I'm sorry to hear of your troubles money pit. Try not to feel bad. I bet you just had a bad tranny. No matter what you bought, if it's a mechanical device, it can go wrong. As far as all this Machiavellian plotting on life span of parts, I don't think they do that to the extent we may think if for no other reason than I don't believe they're that smart!

I have the same trani in my 04 GT5000, which is almost the same tractor as yours except for paint color. Despite the manual instructions to "never touch your trani", I decided to check the fluid level in mine and found that water had gotten into the trani. The fluid looked like runny butterscotch pudding and what's supposed to be in there is 20w-50 motor oil.

I wasn't able to find a drain plug as such, but there is an externally mounted gerotor pump on the bottom of the trani. Removing the pump allows all the fluid to drain out. I refilled with cheap oil and cycled the trani to flush out all the bad fluid. I refilled with Amsoil synthetic oil and it's been working great. 120 hours on the tractor now.

BTW, I suspect the water got in through the vent tube from careless pressure washing by a hired hand. So be carefull when washing your tractor.

Kachinee, I looked at the Hustler ZTRs. The thickness of the metal parts all over that thing tells you a little something about it. It is a heavy duty machine indeed. I'm used to the old tractors that were made thick and heavy, and that's what the Hustler reminded me of.

Yep, you are probably right Mowerharald. I washed the mower once or twice last year after cleaning up all the leaves, but I thought I was being careful not to spray the transmission, especially around the shaft bearings.

Since that time I always use my leaf blower to clean the machine off after doing really dusty work. Somehow I would be willing to bet it was probably just a fluid problem.

Today, Lanier Outdoor Equipment called me and said it was fixed. They made good on the transmission and replaced it with a brand new one. I go pick it up tomorrow and not a minute too soon; The homeowners ACC committee were making their rounds yesterday and stopped out front to make notes about our lawn.

Hopefully there won't be any more problems. I will keep the forum posted.

Well, I picked up my mower Saturday. They were a little apologetic about the length of time it took them to get it fixed, but the plus is that Husqvarna replaced the transmission free of charge. I brought it home and mowed the yard. It seems to work fine except for the adjustment on the motion lever. Reverse is very slow. It seems that the neutral position is not really neutral, but actually slightly moving forward. I will adjust the lever this weekend as described in the manual.

Well after adjusting the transmission lever, it seems to work better now.

By the way Kachinee I wish you hadn't gone and told me about them plastic inserts. I've been looking over it closer and starting to realize what I bought even more than before. Since you mentioned it, I notice the steering seems to have about 20% play in it.

Anyone know if there is an easy way to tighten the steering?

Anyone know if there is an easy way to tighten the steering?
by money_pit
****************

Hi again,

I am a little reluctant to even post this, because I so often expect the worst in people. I'm just the opposite from my wife who always looks at the positive and she constantly reminds me to "lighten up". I know most of the time she's right and I feel guilty for being so negative.

That being said, my mower seems to have a new issue. Last weekend, my sons and I worked in the yard and the mower seemed to be working good. It was good to have it back from the repair shop.

However, on this past Saturday, we were using it to pull my little garden trailer to spread mulch. After the mower warmed up, we started noticing blue-white smoke coming out of the exhaust. It really seemed to blow a lot out whenever we throttled it up or down. Within an hour, it had used about half a quart of oil so I parked it.

This prompted me to search on Issues relating to this and much to my horrible expectation, I found the discussion about the problems with the Kohler Command 25 blowing head gaskets. At this point, I have a pit in my stomach. This tractor now has 79 running hours on it and it has already been in the shop longer than that. I have pampered this thing.

Today, I called the dealer and all they could offer was an unreassuring "Hmmmmmmmm, bring it in and we'll take a look". I mentioned the information I had read on the web and the service tech told me that they haven't seen that problem in about 8 years (sounds similar to the rare transmission problem). I think I am beginning to see a pattern.

I loaded up my mower and took it back to the dealer yesterday around lunchtime. I printed several pages of information off the internet about the head-gasket issue and oil usage problem in preparation of doing battle if they played dumb. Much to my surprise when the mechanic looked at it, he immediately admitted that it is a known issue.

Incredibly, today at noon, he called me and told me that my mower was ready. As it turned out, it was a blown head gasket on the right hand side. He went ahead and replaced both with the new head gasket kit.

As aggravating as this has been, it looks like Lanier Outdoor Equipment is trying their best to keep customers happy.

I looked at Cub Cadet tractors at Lanier Outdoor Equipment. They were friendly and seemed liked they had a thorough shop. I ended up with a Simplicity as it turns out. Must have been nice to get it back so quickly and nice to see a positive in this thread.

moneypit,
I'm so glad to hear it worked out for you. I'd be tempted to run the c_ _ _ out of it before the warranty goes to make sure there are no more surprises. Oh wait, I quess I run my tractor that way anyway!
lkbum,
nice to hear from you. I posted some pictures of my tractor and lake cabin under the staircase thred.

Wow, I looked at those Simplicity machines. They seem to be well made and offer a little more bang for the buck than John Deere does in the same price bracket. I will be anxious to know how it works out.

Saturday morning, I went over and picked up my mower again. The guys at Lanier didn't charge me a dime (God Bless Them). I brought it home and it seems to be running really good. I didn't realize how much power must have been being robbed by the blown head gasket and now I wonder how long it may have been leaking.

Anyway, the real excitement is about to begin. About 3 weeks ago, I placed an order for a Johnny Bucket. It arrived Friday with toothbar and bucket doubler. I spent Saturday installing it and I am just now learning how to operate it. THIS THING IS REALLY COOL and just the right size for my small yard chores. So far, I've managed to tear up the grass in the side yard, move some mulch, and make my neighbor with the $4500 zero turn mower wonder if Lanier takes trade-ins.

Hey Lakeguy43, I meant to add those are interesting pics you have there. It's funny, I ended up routing the wires for my Johnny Bucket just like yours. BTW - What the heck were you lifting that caused them teeth to break off the toothbar or did that happen when you were testing out that airplane fuselage? Hmmmmmm is that a Citabria?

MP, you should seriously consider changing the hydro tranny oil to a good synthetic.

Okay guys, you've convinced me that I need to be proactive and change the oil in the transmission regularly. Thanks to JeffGT5000 for sharing the part number of the Service Training Video; I was able to order one from M&D Mower on their internet site.

In the meantime, maybe you can share your experiences on the best ways to get the oil out and refill it.

One thing I've noticed is that unlike the previous transmission, this one has a rubber hose (looks like standard rubber fuel line with nylon braiding in it) that sticks up from the vent hole in the top of the transmission. It actually hits the bottom of the fuel tank. And the end of it appears to have a plug or valve inserted.

When I asked the mechanic at Lanier, he said that's the way Hydro Gear is shipping them now and that it vents out the hot gasses as the transmission heats up.

I'm a little concerned that it just seems to be pushed on and has no hose clamp on it (suceptable to dirt dust). This may be a place where I can refill the transmisson.

As for draining it, one of the previous posts mentions removing the "gerotor pump" in the bottom. Other discussions mention using a brake bleeder hand pump. I sure don't want to tear a gasket, but if removing the pump in the bottom is the only way, I can probably try it.

Thoughts?

There's no pressure on the breather vent cap so it's not likely come off in use. It's probably just a barb fitting on one side that presses into the breather tube. You could add a clamp to it if you wanted but it's not really needed.

I'm not sure how large the vent tube is but it seems like it would take forever to refill the transmission that way.

I can't imagine being able to get all the fluid out with a suction device. I'd pull the pump before I'd do it that way.

This transmission has a plug in the side a inch or two from the top that they labeled "fluid level check" plug in one of the AYP Service documents. If I recall the post, the person that used the hand pump was able to insert a suction tube to draw out the fluid. Personally, I'd rather not have to buy another tool. I just want to be sure that I don't risk damaging a gasket on the botton and then have to go back to the dealer and tell them I decided to ignore the manual and opened the transmission anyway.

As for the vent hose they placed on top, it appears to be 1/4" or 5/16" inside diameter fuel line tubing (maybe 3/8 but I doubt it). The plug in the top end of it has a plastic insert that spins around loosely. I am guessing it's a check valve or something.

Hopefully this helps.

Any one use a real live ATV with attachments to do lawn work. Something like a Polaris. You can get them with turf friendly tires and turf friendly differentals. And they are extreamly well made as compared to a lawn or garden tractor, of course the price is ALOT more, but you get to ride and have fun with it too, go camping, Ice fishing etc.

The hydro gear 176056 (331-3000) and 176057 (311-3500)
tranny use 122oz of 20w50 oil (synthetic preferably). Jack
up the front of the tractor so the tranny bottom plate is
level. Drain the tranny oil by unscrewing the 2 hex head
screws holding the oil pump to the bottom of the tranny
plate. Be careful to note the orientation of the oil pump
to later reinstall it the same way. Also either don't
remove the two pump gears or note which way they are
installed in the pump housing. Reach over the back plate of
the tractor frame and pull the 1/2 inch breather hose off
the top of the tranny and temporarily install a 2 foot
length of clear 1/2 ID tubing in the breather tubes place.
Run the other end of the clear tubing out the right side of
the frame and up thru the shift lever slot. Push a small
plastic funnel onto the end of the clear tubing. With a 1/4
inch hex head (allen) wrench, remove the oil gage plug bolt
from the rear top right side of the tranny. By now the oil
should have all drained out. Reinstall the oil pump and
start pouring oil into the plastic funnel. It should take
slightly over 3 quarts of 20w50 syn oil before it starts
coming out the oil gage plug hole. Remove the temp clear
tubing, reinstall the breather tube (cut a little off the
bottom of the breather hose if it's worn and a sloppy fit),
then reinstall the oil gage plug bolt. Then purge the
tranny according to the owners manual. I do this annually
on both of my GTs.

Moneypit,
Sorry I didn't see your post until now. I hit or rather tried to rip a concrete block out of the ground (thought it was a root) so that's how the teeth broke. ):^( Already welded back. The airplane is a Challenger II. Used to be classified as an ultralight trainer but is now a light sport aircraft. You can find pictures at Quad City Ultralights. Is a two seater. Has enclosed cabin (or take the doors off). Has ability to fly on wheels, pontoons, or amphibious/pontoon gear. Pusher prop. Powered by a Rotax 503 which is a cousin of bombardier's snowmobile engine. In fact, every year the Canadians have a fly-in at a chateau in Quebec during the winter (land on the lake on skis). Couple years ago the weather was minus 30's C during the fly-in. I didn't go but I talked to a couple guys who did. I guess the turn out was better than expected. Cars didn't start but people who flew in had no trouble starting their snowmobile based engines! They do have heaters.

Moneypit,
Forgot to say, Yeah! The JBJr is a real great toy isn't it?
Juan Tumani,
Good job! Very thorough post!

Juan,

THANK YOU for the excellent detail on how to change the oil in the tranny. I will be doing this soon hopefully. I will post a followup on how it goes.

Lakeguy,

I'll check out the site. Not meaning to get off the subject of this thread, but my tag on the front of the truck is "RC-AV8R", the closest I ever came to realizing my earlier dream of being a pilot. I used to be an airplane nut and have built numerous large scale radio control models. I've taken the pedals and yoke a time or two in my friends' airplanes, but probably don't have vison or stomach for it as I did when I was in my 20's. I know I don't have the wallet for it.

Anywho... The Johnny Bucket is very cool and it cuts off hours of moving dirt with the shovel. On our hilly yard, I do get a lot of wheel spin, especially when backing up, so I am thinking about getting some AG tires.

The best deal I've found is from www.cedarrapidstire.com for a set of Carlisle super lug 4 ply. I've got chains, but they chew up the yard much worse than AG tires and they are a pain to put on and take off. My thinking is I can leave these on all the time. I noticed you have some similar looking tires. Thoughts?

Money pit,
I've got the lug tires and the wheel weights and it really makes a difference. I have an extra set of rims with the turf tires but I haven't used them much 'cause the lugs don't really tear up the lawn unless it's wet. Here in the Pacific Northwest we are in Les Schwabe country so that is where I buy my tires. They have well paid employees, the best alignment guys, a good retirement plan, they support the community and if you ever have a flat, or need your tires rotated they do it for free. As long as the price is within reason I don't even bother to shop around much 'cause of the service they provide. Do you have wheel weights? I slipped before I hade them.

juan_tumani

Thanks for taking the time to explain.

BTW, is a new pump gasket required?

Steve-

Good Question Steve. I forgot to ask.

Lakeguy, I think I have the same tire weights as you. I just slip them on the pre-installed studs and then screw in the two clamping bolts to hold them in place. When I use them, I notice a big differece in steering sometimes as the rear differential takes a few seconds in a turn to allow the differential gears to spin. Until it does, the tractor continues to go straight for a few feet even with both wheels turned. Sometimes it gets a little exciting when I'm on a hill between trees.

shrice51,

The oil pump doesn't have a gasket per se. It
does have an o-ring that seldom needs replacing.
It kind of goes without saying: make sure the bottom
plate and the pump surfaces are clean before reinstalling
the pump.

There's a 4 inch paper type oil filter (p/n HG-70538)
inside the tranny right above the oil pump. The filter
should come with 2 rubber gaskets attached.

It's worth changing that filter every few years
(or sooner with heavy duty or hilly use) but I
wouldn't recommend changing it without first viewing
the training video (part number BLN-51368). You should
know what you're doing before dropping the bottom plate,
it's not rocket science, but better trained than sorry.
Dropping the bottom plate probably voids any warranty
you might have. But if you had a warranty you shouldn't
be reading this thread!

The video is around $25 delivered (M&D) and the filter is
around $19.00 plus S&H (mowtownusa). All in all some
minor investments in PM could save you $700-900 in
tranny replacement costs and associated frustrations.

JT

PS: I'm not associated with www.m-and-d.com,
www.mowtownusa.com or www.opeengines.com other
than a grateful customer - I just use them to
keep my miniature rolling stock rolling. :-)

www.m-and-d.com ripped me big time and treated me really badly. Their customer service sucks, they don't answer email promptly and hide behind an answering machine and don't return phone calls.

If there's an alternative to www.m-and-d.com I highly recommend you take it.

Hi Mr Lurker,

That's unfortunate you've had a bad experience with M&D.
I've only ordered from them once and had no problems.
I have ordered dozens of times from mowtownusa and
opeengines and have had nothing but quick, professional
service from the latter two.

Mowtownusa also lists the video for ~$17.00 +S&H, so
if you're buying the filter from them, adding the
video to the same order saves S&H costs.

JT

Yea JT, M&D were real jerks and it was a $500+ order. I'll definately give Mowtownusa a try next time I need parts.

I just received my service video on Tuesday from M&D. I had to drink a couple of cups a coffee to make it through the section on the 331-3000 series transmissions. Man, I have never seen a family clear out of the living room so fast as when I put that video in the VCR (actually using it for something constructive).

Anyway, I learned there are several parts that are not re-usable if you remove them. Most of these are lip seals around the holes where shafts potrude. It also highly recommends replacing the O'ring on the gerotor pump if you remove it from the bottom.

On another note, today I ordered a pair of Carlisle Tru-Power Ag type tires for the mower. I can't wait to give them a try as the Johnny Bucket is truly living up to its promise. Friday we had to have our main water supply line replaced from the street to the house (292 feet). During the process, the plumber unearthed a huge chunk of concrete (probably burried by the developer). I could not budge this puppy, although I know I can deadlift over 250 LBS. However, I was easily able to scoop it up and lift it with the Johnny Bucket, but I know it was really pushing the ability of my mower. As I tried to move forward, the tractor kept spinning its wheels and it was virtually impossible to back up because the turf tires just couldn't get a grip. I finally inched my way down into the woods where we had some erosion problems with runnoff, but before I dumped it I wanted to see precisely where it needed to go. As I got off the seat and stepped on the ground, The whole rear end of the mower came off the ground. I was amazed. Obviously John gave it a very conservative rating on the capicity. Another impressive thing is how rigid the tractor frame remained. I think it's a testement to the brackets he engineered to support the bucket, otherwise it may have bent the frame.

I suggest that you add either rear suitcase or wheel weights to your tractor. Your story confirms that you need more weight in back when moving heavy stuff with your bucket. Ags alone will not help much if the rear end of your tractor is too light.

-Deerslayer

Good point Deerslayer. Last year I did buy the wheel weights. Here's my reasoning why I prefer them (I'm not an engineer mind you):

Wheel weights load only the tire and rim with the exception of some minor additional torque loading on the transmission when starting and stopping.

On the other hand, any weight added to the frame, chassis, or hitch also loads the axles, axle housing, frame, etc.

I'm a pretty big ole boy. I figure that my 300lbs plus half the weight of the tractor (roughly 320 lbs on level ground) is already sitting on the axles. It comes pretty close to the (maximum weight on axles) rating that Hydrogear published.

Therefore, I am a little leary of using the latter type of weight especially with a Transmission housing that is cast out of aluminum.

Let me know if my reasoning make sense. Of course, if the transmission breaks again, I probably wouldn't be able to afford to eat so many sausage biscuits and gravy.

You make some good points. I think the core problem is that you are overworking your bucket/tractor combination. A 320 lb tractor is not designed to lift a bucket containing 250+ lbs of material.

I agree that you've maxed out ballast using your body weight (BTW, I'm not thin either). I think you're putting too much stress on your front spindles and axle. When you load your bucket, your front axle acts like the fulcrum on a see-saw. The weight of your bucket load, plus the weight of your tractor, plus a portion of your weight are on your front axle. My guess is that with a 250+ lb bucket load, you're outside the specs of your front axle/spindles.

-Deerslayer

Correction, I should have written 640 lb tractor. My conclusions remain the same.

-Deerslayer

Yep, I'm sure it exceeds the limit. I don't think there will be too many occassions that I will be moving anymore 300 Lb chunks of cement. On another note, Johnny Products claims the front end of the tractor was designed for a maximum of 300 lbs. The bucket with the mount, actuators and tooth bar weighs about 92 lbs. So really, I should keep it underr208 lbs of lifting.

I know I was easily exceeding that when the back tires lifted up.

When you lifted the cement, the entire weight of your tractor plus the bucket and it contents plus some portion of your weight were on the front axle. Doing the math: 92 + 300 + 640 + some portion of your weight = 1,000+ lbs.

Think of it this way, if the weight in the bucket was perfectly balanced with the weight of your tractor, both the bucket and your rear wheels would be off the ground (this is similar to a see-saw when it's horizontal). If both the bucket and rear wheels are off the ground, the entire weight of the bucket and it's contents plus the weight of your tractor are on your front axle and spindles.

You also may want to check your front tire load rating.

-Deerslayer

Money Pit,

Sounds like you [as I] get your own turkey at Thanksgiving! Us heavy weights load the tractor seat and the rear fender assembly [maybe] too much. Here's what I observed on my Craftsman GT3000 and GT5000: the seat is mounted to the rear fender assembly which is bolted to the two foot rests and a rear stand to the frame right above the tranny. Sandwiched in between the frame and the rear fender piece is the $37 plastic gas tank. The top of the gas tank tends to get cluttered with debris (clippings, chips, small rocks/pebbles, East Tenn red clay, etc.). When I sit my FA down on the seat the fender gives a little and pinches the debris down against the gas tank. Once the clutter builds up and after some bumping around, the plastic gas tank cracks. So as part of my annual PM, I remove the seat and the fender assembly and clean that area out. I also added two bolts thru the fender assembly into the frame where I noticed AYP/Craftsman drilled the holes but for some reason didn't install bolts. Not sure if the Husky 2548 is built the same WRT the rear fender assembly, but you might want to check this out as well next time you're in the PM mode.

JT

I want to second Juan's advice of paying attention to the seat mount on the Husqvarna 2548. I weigh 200lbs and do a lot of mowing old up & down pasture sitting on the side of the seat so that I don't roll a mower the third time (Jeff Foxworthy reference)
I thought my seat bolts had worked loose & needed to be tightened. It felt like it was shifting around.
I lifted up the seat to find that the bolts were tight, but the sheet metal had gotten hairline cracks near the bolts. A few more passes on the pasture hills & the seat with me in it would have fallen off.
So if your seat feels sloppy, check it out!
I pulled off the seat & took the fender to the weld shop to have it reinforced with some extra steel strips & 1" angle stock.
This is not the first time this mower has had to be welded, but I leave that for another time.
Jake

Money pit,

After reading your comment about "It also highly recommends replacing the O'ring on the gerotor pump if you remove it from the bottom", I re-watched the service video for the tranny and they only state that you should inspect the gerotor o-ring and replace if necessary. They DO recommend replacing any seals that are in contact with a moving piece of metal (axles, control rods, etc.).

They also suggest that to drain the oil, you should remove the tranny, turn it upside down and drain the oil out the breather tube hole. I don't recommend that unless the tranny is brand new (like the one shown in the video). The reason I don't recommend turning the unit upside down is that will allow any dirt or metal crap laying around in the bottom to then get lodged throughout the tranny. If the tranny is used and when you drain the oil via the gerotor pump holes the oil is not looking brand new and/or takes more than 2 minutes to drain, you probably have crud in the unit and you should take measures to ensure that crud doesn't get lodged around the unit unless you plan on thoroughly disassembling and cleaning it. Just my 2 cents.

JT

Hey JT and Valsound,

Thanks for the great pointers. On another note, Friday, I got my ag tires mounted and I installed them on the mower. I was astounded at how much more traction it got. Just to test it out, I decided to try to do more leveling of our side yard and I was really pleased at how it was performing. For about 15 minutes, I was able to do a pretty neat job of back dragging loose top soil to fill some bumps and pockets. As time wore on though, I began to notice that the transmission just seemed to poop out. Eventually it got where it wouldn't pull backwards if the Johnny bucket had any down-force on it. I got frustrated and decided to go do something else. Then yesterday, I fired it up again to check it out and wouldn't you know it, that thing would drag the bucket all over the place with the front tires off the ground (for about 15 minutes). This was really strange because the transmission is new and there is no dirt on top, the fan is clean and runs fine, and the belt isn't slipping. The forward motion also seems to be affected, but to a somewhat lesser extent. So I reached the conclusion that the oil the factory puts in it must undergo some kind of radical change as it gets hot. It's like it becomes much easier to compress, or either the viscosity becomes thinner and some of it blows by the pump motor pistons. Anyway, I decided to do something drastic - I probably should have checked with you JT, on how you accomplished opening the fluid level check plug. After having a real stinker of a time and a couple of busted knuckles, I drilled a half inch hole in the side of the chasis so that I could get a Allen wrench straight into the socket head of the plug. It worked like a champ, and hopefully since it's below the bolts holding the transaxle mounting plate, it won't weaken the chasis to much. I was able to easily remove the plug and then then look through the hole (with wheel removed). I used a clean toothpick to check the level of oil. I was surprised to see that the fluid was slightly below the level of the hole about a quarter inch, especially with it being a brand new transmission. So now, I am wondering if I should buy some conventional 20W-50 to top it off, or just bite the bullet and change the oil with full synthetic. Recommendation?

MP,

Regarding removing the oil plug, I use a long allen wrench with a nut driver slid over it for the extra leverage. But I also own a plasma torch and have 'ventilated' frames and plates numerous times. I created a 2" ventilation hole in the rear plate to get to the brake lever. I also use that hole to see what I am doing with the allen wrench. It's a tight fit and you get exactly 1/6th turn between hitting the tranny at one end and hitting the rear plate at the other end of the wrench swing. So as soon as the plug is loose, get your fingers up there and spin it out.

Regarding adding oil, I would drain it and add a known oil to it v/s guessing what the factory did. If the oil that drains out looks similar to new oil, just fill it back up without dropping the plate and changing the filter. If the oil appears like a weak green pea soup mixed with new oil, or is otherwise indicative of contamination, then drop the plate and change the filter. Let it drip dry overnight so you can reseal the bottom plate to a clean tranny lip v/s fighting constant oil drippage. I prefer to remove the tranny v/s working upside down under the tractor. This makes keeping the bottom lip oil free during re-sealing a lot easier.

To remove the tranny from the Sears tractor, I just remove the cotter pin and nut attaching the brake linkage to the tranny. Likewise the shift linkage. Then there are 4 horizontal bolts (2 left and 2 right) on the outside of the frame in front of the rear wheels but under the fender. Then there are 4 small long vertical bolts (2 left and 2 right) in between the wheels and the frame. Somewhere along the line take the belt off the plastic fan pulley. Then lift the frame up off the tranny and wheels. Then spin the tranny 180 degrees so you are staring down into it. Clean it up (especially the 3/4 inch magnet on the black fork like gadget that slides up (or 'down' if the unit is upside down) against the large bearing race). Then re-assemble the filter housing, bottom plate and gerotor pump. Flip it back over and slide it back under the tractor and re-install. When you reinstall the brake linkage you should have a new cotter key handy as it is a real pain to re-use the old one and they don't recommend re-using the original.

JT

Hey JT,

I may have much bigger problems. When I uncovered the mower to mow the yard this weekend, I noticed a substantial amount of engine oil on the frame and mower deck. I checked the level and it was about a eighth of a quart below the full mark.

My first thought was that it was coming out around the oil filter, but after cleaning off the engine mounting plate, I really couldn't tell. I checked the oil filter and made sure the oil plug next to it was snug.

After adding a little oil to bring it up to the full mark, I mowed the yard. It seemed to run fine with plenty of power. I checked afterward and noticed more oil on the frame. It looks like it's coming out of a seam in the engine block about 2 inches up from the bottom, on the end closest to where the steering shaft goes down through the chasis. Above the seam line, the engine is clean, below it, it's caked with oil and dirt.

At this point, I am truly frustrated. I am wondering if the engine block cracked due to posible flexing of the frame, or if there is a seam with a gasket that seperates the top and bottom of the engine that could be leaking.

I'm going to remove my Johnny Bucket and take it back to Lanier to see if once again, they can remmedy the latest issue.

At this point, I am thinking that I no longer have the time to mess with this thing. It's a shame because the tractor looks almost new, and when it works, it does a pretty good job.

Depending on the outcome, I may try to sell it.

Thanks to everyone who has offered input on this. I will update the post when I find out what the problem is.

MP,

Sorry to hear about your polutomatic. The Kohler engine has a one-piece oil pan that is about 2" high. It's been a while since I've had one apart but I can't remember anything other than the gasket (RTV on some smaller models and a real gasket on larger models) around the top of the oil pan or the shaft oil seal on the bottom. There's about 10 screws that hold the engine top to the oil pan. Maybe one loosened up?

Clean it up and sell it to someone who enjoys getting greasy the Kohler way or someone without Internet access :-)

www.sears.com has the GTS6500 on sale for $2499 until Oct 27th ($600 off). It has a Kohler SV735-0016 26 HP engine and a tuff torq k66 awfulmagic tranny. I have no experience with the tuff torqs. If you want to check it out (parts wise) go to www3.sears.com and enter 917.28748000 in the model number box and then click GO. Then drill down into the ground drive and engine diagrams.

In any event, good luck and don't give up! It's all plastic and metal and can be fixed.

JT

Hey JT, I think I'm embarassed. Although I was sure I checked thoroughly, I believe it was the oil filter afterall. The strange thing was that it seemed to be intermittent.

The last time I changed the oil (back before having the head gasket replaced), I put on a new filter and hand tightened it until the rubber gasket made contact with the base. Then I turned it about an additional 3/4 to 1 turn. I thought it was very snug. As you know, after first noticing the oil on the frame a few weeks ago, I was debating whether I should take it back or just sell it. I procrastinated out of being sick of it. In the meantime, I decided to move more woodchips to my flower beds. I ended up using it for 2 hours Saturday evening until it ran out of gas. That's when I noticed more oil all over the cuff of my pants. This time when I refilled the gas and started it back up, I was able to see a fine mist of oil spraying out between the oil filter and engine. The blower on the motor was causing it to go everywhere and maybe that explains why I couldn't pinpoint the exact location. I used my oil filter wrench and tightened it another 2/3 turn and that seemed to remedy the problem.

Moneypit. I read most of this thread. Its Sept '08 did you keep it running or sell it or what.

I'm just reading this thread too.

I have the same machine, and it too blew a gasket at about the same age (90-something hours). At 200 hours, it threw a rod. (Discussed in the thread "Fair Repair?")

--Jonathan