Return to the Tractors Forum
| Post a Follow-Up
Craftsman hydrastatic transmission
| | |
Posted by webe2152 Md (My Page) on Sat, Oct 31, 09 at 18:36
I recently was given a Craftsman model 917252610 lawn tractor. I have been reading many posts here about the same problems I am experiencing. It starts out moving for a short distance and then slows to a crawl until it will not even pull it's own weight. I am going to try changing the oil and hope that will take care of the problem.
Is this same tranny used in all or most of the Craftsman tractors? |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Craftsman hydrastatic transmission
| | |
| They used enough of them but all are not the same. Have you verified external possibilities such as damaged drive pulley, worn belt, dragging brake etc.? |
RE: Craftsman hydrastatic transmission
| | |
A lot of those well-used Hydros sooner or later must get the feeling of being tired of work, because they seem to "groan" every time ya put them in gear, and then they finally say:"Go get a better or newer machine, and let me rest in retirement"!
I have one here that says the same thing when i start to drive it around the yard, and it won't go up any slope with any speed, and finally stops altogether! LOVE THOSE STANDARD TRANNYS!! |
RE: Craftsman hydrastatic transmission
| | |
I just pulled it out this evening and I have not found any external problems yet. Although the belt is shot and I will install a new one when I put it back in. It was very caked up with dirt and debri so I have cleaned that off too.
The tag on it says to see the owners manual for purging proceedure, I don't have one, can anyone help me with this info? |
RE: Craftsman hydrastatic transmission
| | |
This should cover it. This is for a fender mounted trans control lever. Your tractor might be foot pedal control. Doesn't matter, purge is the same. Follow carefully and in every detail. The image is a jpg file, print it off and carry it to the tractor with you.
 |
RE: Craftsman hydrastatic transmission
| | |
| Hey thanks for the purge information mownie. Is this in the manual they sell on SearsParts web page? I didn't see any place on there to down load one, they only offer one for $11.49 and I want to be sure it has all this info in it. |
RE: Craftsman hydrastatic transmission
| | |
| It IS NOT from the Owner's Manual for your specific model number of Craftsman tractor, but it is from the Owner's Manual of a similar Craftsman tractor. I don't know the answer to your question about this info being in the manual you are considering for purchase. If they are selling you "The Owner's Manual" for your specific model number tractor, this information "should" be included. I hate to think that Sears would resort to "selling" an Owner's Manual. In the "interest of consumer safety" (are they "interested" ?) they should furnish copies of the Owner's Manual free of charge in some form or the other. Instead of cheerfully forking over the $$ for a "hard copy" manual, maybe you could take this concern up with Sears Customer Service dept to see if they could send you a PDF of the manual as an e-mail attachment free of charge. I don't know if it's worth the hassle to you but it would be to me, based on the priciple anyhow. Owner's Manuals are not just "part of the packing material" to be discarded with the carton, they are an official document that must meet certain federal requirements (at least here in the U.S.) in that specific instructions and information regarding safe and healthful operation of the machine be included in the manual. The OEM is required to be able to furnish the purchaser, or any sucessive owners/operators with an exact copy of the original owners manual. Most OEMs will provide a replacement Owner's Manual free of charge (though they might want postage paid) if hard copy, or free if electronic mail attachment. If Sears refuses to give you a freebie, at least try to find out if the manual has the purging procedure outlined (along with other stuff like belts etc. and that it contains the replacement parts sections for the various systems of the tractor. As I said in another rant in a different thread, Sears has traded the manual space that could have been used for parts and wiring diagrams in some of the Owner's Manuals and instead used those pages for a Spanish language version of the manual (trying to be oh so Politically Correct) :^) |
RE: Craftsman hydrastatic transmission
| | |
Once again mownie thanks. I do agree with you on the idea that Sears should provide one free of charge and I will pursue that idea.
You are pretty sharp from what I've seen on other threads you have responded to. Are you a professional service tech on tractors or just very knowledgable from expierence?
I have developed a respect for your knowledge on the various problems that you have helped others out with and hope I can continue to rely on you for any future issues I may run up on.
By the way you told one guy that the units in these tractors are made by Hydragear, do you know if they would have anything available in print or on line as to overhauling one of these units? I can't imagine they would be too difficult to rebuild. But then, I rebuilt my TurboHydramatic tranny in my streetrod and had only a Chilton repair manual to go by and it works great, so maybe I can dive into this thing blind too.
Thanks again,
Bill |
RE: Craftsman hydrastatic transmission
| | |
I am a professional mechanic, forklifts & Class 8 trucks. Have some varying degree of experience in a several fields. Though I might have made a statement to the effect that "the units in these tractors are made by Hydro-gear", I was surely referring to a specific make and model of tractor with a statement like that. I would not make a "scatter gun" comment to that effect because there have been quite a few different vendors invloved in supplying small transmissions for the L & G market through the years. But I have been known to make a few "scatter brained" comments during my wanderings.
Trying to help folks on a forum can be a challenging experience sometimes (but also rewarding) in that I have no idea of the skill level, experience, tool box, or determination of the person requesting help. I'm sure some of the other folks who are here to help concur with that. Mostly, the person posting the problem must decide if they are capable of a DIY repair for their particular problem. Obviously, "mechanicing" ain't for everybody or all the other professions would be hard up for staffing and everybody else would be carrying tool boxes instead of briefcases and laptops.
I can't say with certainty, but if you exploded an old Turbo-hydramatic tranny, put it back together and it worked, you can probably handle a hydrostat too. I still want to issue my standard advice: Take about 1,000 pictures with a digital camera of every step of the teardown, write notes, attach tags, mark parts with a sharpie, "bag and tag" parts that make up sub-units, lay out parts in order of disassembly (first off=furthest away from ground zero, which is the machine), and anything else you can think of to map your trail. Do this and you can breeze through the reassembly with a lot better chance of success. Fail to mark your trail...........well, you can always search ebay for a hydro assembly.
I will also caution you about taking things apart in that some internal parts must be returned to the exact same place they were found in. Some parts and pieces are "fitted" to a specific location and if exchanged to a different slot or hole, will not perform the same even though the parts look the same at a casual glance. This makes identifying and marking even more crucial. |
RE: Craftsman hydrastatic transmission
| | |
How freely should the input shaft turn on this unit? This one is snug and does not spin easily. I assume it is similar to a power steering pump on a car and you should be able to give it a spin and let it go and it would rotate a couple of times and then stop. But this unit doesn't spin free at all. It almost feels like a gummy bearing, it's smooth but will not spin freely.It is hard to explain.
I found a pdf file on the Hyro Gear website that was very helpful in showing the guts of this thing and I saw the brake assembly looks like a clutch pack in an automatic transmission. Any idea how much movement it takes to lock them up? I tried moving the lever on the side of the case but couldn't seem to push the two pins in at all. The two pins appear to slide in against that cluth pack to give a braking action. I was thinking maybe the brake is partially frozen on. Any ideas? |
RE: Craftsman hydrastatic transmission
| | |
WEBE--give that "brake" assembly a good bath of PB Blaster, and let it soak overnight. It'll probably free up the works. Might help your other problems, too.
I have been informed that part is only a parking brake.
Well, every time i freed up one of those assemblies on a tractor that wouldn't stop, going down hill, it made it stop afterwards. |
RE: Craftsman hydrastatic transmission
| | |
Ok thanks rustyj I will look into that this weekend. Do you know how much movement those pins on that brake should have? Right now mine don't even percievably move in at all. The pins are free because when I removed the lever, I was able to slide both pins out and they are not rusted. That is why I suspect the brake pack may be locked on. I wanted to peek inside that unit this weekend since I now have a schematic of it's guts. I just am not too sure which half I should try lifting off. I can't tell if anything is bolted to the top half or bottom half, guess I will just have to be brave and gentle with it and hope nothing hangs up and falls out.
Thanks,
Bill |
RE: Craftsman hydrastatic transmission
| | |
| Mine was running real sluggish as well. It would hardly go up hills. I replaced the motion belt and all is well for now. Knock on wood. |
RE: Craftsman hydrastatic transmission
| | |
OK guys, I was able to open it up this weekend,and here is all I found. First as everybody has been saying the oil was pretty bad. Black and smelled burned. The filter was pretty dirty too, so I removed and cleaned that until I could see light through it, now it looks almost new. All bearings and seals are good, axles have plenty of grease and housing inside is now clean and shiney. The brake was not locked up and the splines on the pulley are perfect. So I resealed the case and bolted it back together. I am going to refill it with the 20-50 oil and set it aside to reinstall later on as I started cleaning, painting and generally restoring the frame and other components that have been let go over the years. So as soon as funds allow I will purchase belts and anything else necessary to bring this old girl back to near as new condition as possible. I will let you all know how she comes out. Thanks guys for all the info and help. Stay tuned.
Bill |
|
|
|
|
