Re: MTD Yardman Transaxle Rebuild
If it's under warranty I'd have the dealer do it. My dealer charged just under $200 parts and labor to service the 3400 in my Bob-Cat. Having the dealer do it extends the warranty from 2 to 3 years on mine. Don't know if that's a Bob-Cat thing or HydroGear.
Get the parts break down before you start.
Nothing complicated inside them but clean is an understatement.
I degrease, pressure wash, degrease again then soda blast and wash again so the outside is nice & shinny.
This is because I got stung for a replacement tranny under warranty and that cost a full months profits.
So now they get a shiny clean thus the owners can not claim I introduced dirt into the box.
They get pulled down inside the bathroom after I have rinsed down the walls roof & floor.
A bit extreme but once bitten.
Inside they are simplicity itself so I do the required work, button them back up purge the air with an air wrench on the pulley bolt, replace the oil a second time, purge the oil a second time then refit the unit to the tractor.
Only done 6 to date this way but have had a 100% success rate.
Customer pays for the "flushing oil" and 5 hours labour + parts.
Very important is to put a DAMP cloth over the entire bundle if you have to leave it.
FWIW, now I have set up to do the cleaning, manual boxes get the same pre-clean.
The soda blaster is simply a pop bottle mounted on an air duster and I use feed grade soda not blasting grade $ 19 for a 25 kg sack.
Because soda is a Ph 7 buffering agent & water soluable , you can do it in the yard then water it away.
I use the same soda blaster now to clean up hand held engines, does not hurt the plastic and makes them nice & clean to work with.
THe business owner used to clean all this stuff with carb cleaner or degrease but both attack different materials so can make things worse and of course the cans cost a lot more than the soda and are toxic.
