Hydrostatic speed adjust?

deckeda

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I have two HR215HXA Masters mowers.

#1: HR 215 K1 HXA, ser# MZAM -- 6265725 KL
Bought 2001, new. One day, the only drive speed available became the fastest one. The speed lever does nothing. Cable looks OK? I was able to adjust the cable so that the mower creeps forward at idle ... lever not engaged, so of course I had to back that off ... but (so far?) otherwise, the mower's trans only seems to run top speed. Running behind it ain't my thing.

#2 HR 215 ...
Model and serial are scratched out of the sticker completely, which is an Alpharetta (GA) sticker, not Swepson (NC). Replacement deck? Stolen mower? Beats me; I bought it the other day here in TN. I did notice this one lacks holes in the top of the deck that my original has.

Anyway, the slowest speeds aren't available on this one, either. I'd say fastest through middle speeds work.

I will look again about adjustment. The marks on the cable lever/trans don't line up on either mower no matter where their levers are. And if I move the lever (with screwdriver) to match the marks, each will begin to move.

So do I need to keep fiddling with cable adjustment or is something worn inside the trans of both mowers? Each has fluid but it's basically impossible for me to tell how much on a black dipstick.
 

deckeda

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Yeah I use YouTube also, but I'm still looking. Both of mine run like scared rabbits, so I think my CV joints are fine.
 

deckeda

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The trans cable seems to be fine. Hard to tell exactly on these; the design is such that the handle lever moves "a lot" (with your hand) and the cable moves within the sleeve barely at all, so that the transmission's lever (the one actually on the transmission, not the push handle) moves very little between the forward ratios.
 

deckeda

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Mea Culpa.

After some time, I took another look at the issue for (both) HR215HXAs I own.

Long story short, it WAS the cable that needed adjustment ... and I'd been doing it wrong, or not enough, or something.

*********************

Short story long ...

For whatever reason, the official instructions (in my owners manual, no less) didn't work for me. Either that or I misunderstood them. Probably the latter. See? I can't even be bothered to re-read them again before posting a followup here.

*********************

My notes, observations, and "what worked" for me (and, you?)


When the blade and transmission engagement levers are both at rest, moving the orange trans speed lever really does nothing to the cable. Engaging both blade and transmission levers, and THEN the orange trans speed lever, moves the cable.

The entire range of creeping through sprinting is done by moving the trans arm (the one down on the trans itself) no more than about 1/2" (and probably less!) of travel.

So that was learning. Applying meant loosening the cable to open up more of the low speed range. I was able to do that for each mower, but only after making the adjustment, starting the engine to test the speed, turning it off and re-adjusting.

What happens is that each time you do that, the cable tightens up. I suppose you could loosen it a whole bunch the first time, but all of this is trial-and-error anyway, because ...

... You're supposed to align the marks at the trans arm and the trans housing. But this is actually a fine adjustment, so "marks aligned," but the lines are a good 1/8" thick, may or may not actually result in enough slowness on the slow end of the scale for you.

I like mine adjusted so that the slowest speed is barely a creep! That way, when you're angling around a bush or tree, or burrowing through some tough stuff, you can just crawl around it if you need to. I still have plenty of speed on the top end.
 
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