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.

On Sat, 15 May 2021 11:01:05 -0400, Ralph Mowery
wrote:


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.


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.

In article ,
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.

On Sat, 15 May 2021 12:59:11 -0400, Ralph Mowery
wrote:

In article ,
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.


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

eg :
http://www.tractordata.com/lawn-trac...eere-e100.html

This article describes the different transmissions :

https://www.powerequipmentdirect.com...-Traction.html

John T.

In article ,
says...


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

eg :
http://www.tractordata.com/lawn-trac...eere-e100.html




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

https://www.tractordata.com/lawn-tra...hn-deere-l120-
transmission.html

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

On Sat, 15 May 2021 14:58:31 -0400, Ralph Mowery
wrote:

In article ,
says...


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

eg :
http://www.tractordata.com/lawn-trac...eere-e100.html




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

https://www.tractordata.com/lawn-tra...hn-deere-l120-
transmission.html

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




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.

On Sat, 15 May 2021 11:01:05 -0400, Ralph Mowery
wrote:


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.


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.

In article ,
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.