lawn tractor transaxel oil change

[Ralph Mowery]

What is it with the lawn and garden tractors that need the transaxel
fluid changed so often ?

I bought a JD x590 and they recommend the fluid be changed at 50 hours
and again every 200 hours and the filter changed.

A car transmission change is much longer. I have never changed the
fluid in one and put 200,000 miles on one car without any problem.

The transaxel is closed off from the engine so should not be
contaminated by anything external. I might see it being changed after
50 hours similar to the reason for changing the engine oil after 5 to 10
hours on many small engines. Many of them do not have filters and some
do to catch things. The reason for changing after so few hours is to
get rid of any small pieces of metal that flake off or wear off during
the first hours of use such as the rings seating and bearings wearing
in.

[hub...@ccanoemail.ca]

Are you sure that it's not the hydrostatic transmission fluid that
your maintenance schedule refers to ?
A manual transmission < gears in the transaxle > shouldn't
need frequent lube changes. I think on the smaller cheaper
old tractors - 11 - 12 HP they are often sealed with no drain
or fill access ..
John T.

[hub...@ccanoemail.ca]

On Sat, 15 May 2021 11:01:05 -0400, Ralph Mowery
<rmow...@charter.net> wrote:

>

Car automatic transmissions have transmission fluid cooling -
but <my> lawn tractor hydrostatic transmission is cooled by a
little plastic fan blade blowing on the cast iron housing ...
.. if the fan blade isn't all clogged with grass ..
200 hours is about 4 or 5 years for many homeowners.
mowing 6 months 1 1/2 to 2 hours per week.
John T.

[Ralph Mowery]

In article <v5qv9gllsan9p1tcd...@4ax.com>,
hub...@ccanoemail.ca says...

>
> Are you sure that it's not the hydrostatic transmission fluid that
> your maintenance schedule refers to ?
> A manual transmission < gears in the transaxle > shouldn't
> need frequent lube changes. I think on the smaller cheaper
> old tractors - 11 - 12 HP they are often sealed with no drain
> or fill access ..
> John T.
>
>
>

I may not be using the term correctly,but the JD manual calls it a
transaxle. The lawn tractor I have is a John Deere x590, one of the
larger lawn/garden tractors with about a 25 hp motor. The fluid is for
the hydrostatic type transmission and in this one it works the power
stering. There are no manual gears to change.

I did have a low end JD I bought about 15 years ago and about 300 hours
the transaxel (hydrostatic transmision) started slipping or what ever
and would not pull a small hill. It was a sealed unit with no change
possiable of fluid by drain plug.

This new one does have an easy way to change the fluid and a filter.

[Ralph Mowery]

In article <1dpv9gt18uopoh3rh...@4ax.com>,
Ca...@Leave.Me.Alone.Org says...
>
> Gawd! I was reading the goofy news before coming in here and I swear
> for a moment I misread Mowery's post. I thought for a moment he was
> claiming he owned a transexual tractor.
>
>
>

The way the country is going it would not surprise me that I did get a
LBGT or what ever tractor.

[hub...@ccanoemail.ca]

The older smaller Deere might even have had a CVT transmission ?

eg :
http://www.tractordata.com/lawn-tractors/003/2/3/3231-john-deere-e100.html

This article describes the different transmissions :

https://www.powerequipmentdirect.com/stories/1676-Best-Mower-Transmissions-for-Traction.html

John T.

[Ralph Mowery]

In article <mt00agtr1hmbkuno6...@4ax.com>,
hub...@ccanoemail.ca says...

>
>
> The older smaller Deere might even have had a CVT transmission ?
>
> eg :
> http://www.tractordata.com/lawn-tractors/003/2/3/3231-john-deere-e100.html
>
>
>

No, it was a hydrostatic type. The L120 series.

https://www.tractordata.com/lawn-tractors/000/0/6/69-john-deere-l120-
transmission.html

No easy way to service this one unless you pull the transmission from
the tractor. Then not easy.

[hub...@ccanoemail.ca]

Too bad to only get 300 hours out of it. Hilly yard ?
My WheelHorse has about 1100 and I expect a lot more
before it bites the dust. I only change the tranny oil & filter
about every 5 years / 250 hours - fairly flat yard and no
winter use.
John T.

[Ralph Mowery]

In article <ai80ag1ha1k52a644...@4ax.com>,
hub...@ccanoemail.ca says...

>
> Too bad to only get 300 hours out of it. Hilly yard ?
> My WheelHorse has about 1100 and I expect a lot more
> before it bites the dust. I only change the tranny oil & filter
> about every 5 years / 250 hours - fairly flat yard and no
> winter use.
>

The yard does have some hill to it in the back. I did use a plugging
aireator once a year on the flat front yard that may have helped wear
out the transmission. However there are lots on the Internet that say
they are only getting around 300 hours out of that transmission.

Had I known then what I know now I would have bought a higher quality
one. At the time the 48 inch cut on the mower seemed to be adiaquit for
about 1 1/2 acres.


The transmission is made by another company that produces several
qualities of them. The higher end ones have a good reputation, but they
are made for a relative easy fluid change.

[trader_4]

IDK what's going on, but I agree with your issue. Seems like a short change
interval to me too, given that auto trannys are mostly filled for life now and
sure get used a lot more hours and harder use than a lawn tractor. I wonder
about the filled for life concept too, where you can't even check the fluid level.
You would think some of them would develop a leak and if you don't realize it,
something very bad would happen. I wonder if they have a level sensor or
similar to warn of impending disaster?

[Ralph Mowery]

In article <a4bb5cec-357f-48c5...@googlegroups.com>,
tra...@optonline.net says...

>
> IDK what's going on, but I agree with your issue. Seems like a short change
> interval to me too, given that auto trannys are mostly filled for life now and
> sure get used a lot more hours and harder use than a lawn tractor. I wonder
> about the filled for life concept too, where you can't even check the fluid level.
> You would think some of them would develop a leak and if you don't realize it,
> something very bad would happen. I wonder if they have a level sensor or
> similar to warn of impending disaster?
>
>
>

On two different brands I owned the transaxels are sealed and no way to
tell if there is any fluid in them or not. No level sensor either.
The new one I just bought has a plastic tank that you can see the level
of fluid and has marks as to full and add on it. But again this one has
a relative easy way to change the fluid and filter and to add fluid if
needed.

[hub...@ccanoemail.ca]

>
>IDK what's going on, but I agree with your issue. Seems like a short change
>interval to me too, given that auto trannys are mostly filled for life now and
>sure get used a lot more hours and harder use than a lawn tractor. I wonder
>about the filled for life concept too, where you can't even check the fluid level.
>You would think some of them would develop a leak and if you don't realize it,
>something very bad would happen. I wonder if they have a level sensor or
>similar to warn of impending disaster?

"filled for life" in modern car automatic transmissions ?
.. are you sure ? < not CVT transmissions of course >
Got a link ?
John T.

[trader_4]

BMW, Mercedes have been doing it for twenty years now. Other manufacturers, IDK.
No way to check the fluid level other than to put it on a lift and open the plug.
And even that, for BMW, there is some complex procedure, it has to be at a
certain temperature, etc. How much that matters versus just taking the plug
out and filling it full, IDK.

[Clare Snyder]

Many of the cheap ones are just packed with grease. The ones with a
plastic tank are generally hydrostatic - and flushing/changing fluid
is recommended on some, not recommened on others and severely
discouraged on others. Some of the cheapnydros are VERY HARD on fluid
because they have inadequate cooling capacity.

[Clare Snyder]

Yes, No cites but - No dipstick on 2010 and up Toyota 6 speed
transmissions - using "lifetime" WS fluid.
New GMs have no dipstick either. Most new BMWs don't either but
dealers are now recommending the "lifetime" fluid be changed at 30000
miles or 50000Km to prolong the life of the rather fragile
transmissions (including mini-cooper)

[hub...@ccanoemail.ca]

On Sun, 16 May 2021 14:16:53 -0400, Clare Snyder <cl...@snyder.on.ca>
wrote:

Thanks - Trader & Clare - I learned something today ! :-)

ps : my first real job - 1974 - snot-nosed and freshly-flunked
out of high school - was in the quality control / R&D testing
dept. of a transmission cooler manufacturer -
QC testing the little < bread & butter > tube coolers that reside
in the lower basin of the cars' radiator. <in the 60's - 80's ish >
Also testing the experimental plate coolers - not sure how they
turned out ? < that was the engineers domain .. >
and ta-da testing the big tube-bundle coolers for the
transport trucks - they were always A-OK.
< over engineered ? >
It was a pretty good job - for a high school drop-out -
until the usual auto-manufacturing downturn -
I was laid-off at 5 months <no problem there> but ..
the guy who hired me - Asst. Plant Mgr. - a suit -
- an engineer - a real nice guy - I met later in the
pool hall .. also laid-off .. that sucks.
... hope he and famly are OK .
John T.

[Tekkie©]

On Sun, 16 May 2021 05:02:46 -0700 (PDT), trader_4 posted for all of us to
digest...

Yup, doesn't your BMW have one?

--
Tekkie