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So, I was mowing tonight, I go to make a turn and my mower just quits moving. Won't go forward or backward. The left hand lever won't go all the way out to the engage the parking brake either.

I get off and start looking under the mower to see if I can find the problem and I find it. The transmission cross arm brace is broke, both mounting nuts seem to be missing and my back drive wheels are angled out like the front end of a car that needs the toe-in adjusted.

Has anyone heard of the cross arm breaking, it does seem to be made of plastic. I know what you are thinking, that I hit something or abused the mower in someway. But, I haven't hit anything and mowed the same lawn with a used Toro timecutter for four years, with no trouble, before buy the Raptor last spring.

Any advice?

Tim

tlg588 said:

So, I was mowing tonight, I go to make a turn and my mower just quits moving. Won't go forward or backward. The left hand lever won't go all the way out to the engage the parking brake either. I get off and start looking under the mower to see if I can find the problem and I find it. The transmission cross arm brace is broke, both mounting nuts seem to be missing and my back drive wheels are angled out like the front end of a car that needs the toe-in adjusted. Has anyone heard of the cross arm breaking, it does seem to be made of plastic. I know what you are thinking, that I hit something or abused the mower in someway. But, I haven't hit anything and mowed the same lawn with a used Toro timecutter for four years, with no trouble, before buy the Raptor last spring. Any advice? Tim

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Go back to a timecutter.
I know people that have had the same thing happen. The raptor is one of the last mowers I would buy. They have had nothing but problems with them.

i've had a bolt break off one end on that cross brace. i do cut a lot of rough lots though.

sounds like you may have broken the bolts a while ago, and the trans pitched up at an angle. and the belt probably came off. thats why it wont move.

if you get the transmissions lined up and bolt the brace back on, install the bolts from the bottom, not the top like done from factory. because when the bolts are inserted from the top, the threaded part of the bolt goes through the cross brace, and the bolts snap off at the threads. by reversing the bolt, you'll have the solid part of the bolt(no threads) at the cross brace, so that its less likely to shear off. and use grade 8 bolts.

I called the local dealer, where I bought the mower, and described the problem. They know exactly what I was talking about. They told me this is a common issue with the mower, there is an upgrade available and it would be repaired under warranty. This was Thursday morning. They picked it up that morning (pickup and delivery NOT covered under warranty). They called me Friday morning to say it was done and to setup a delivery, but I missed the call. So, I should be getting my mower back Monday morning. I will let you all know how the repair worked out.

tlg588 said:

I called the local dealer, where I bought the mower, and described the problem. They know exactly what I was talking about. They told me this is a common issue with the mower, there is an upgrade available and it would be repaired under warranty. This was Thursday morning. They picked it up that morning (pickup and delivery NOT covered under warranty). They called me Friday morning to say it was done and to setup a delivery, but I missed the call. So, I should be getting my mower back Monday morning. I will let you all know how the repair worked out.

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can you find out exactly what they did? new bracket by chance?

I changed my hydro oil over the weekend and found both vertical bolts at the front of the brace loose. like a quarter inch of exposed threads loose. This explains the negative camber I thought I was seeing on the rear wheels. I removed both bolts, cleaned the gunk off of them and put back together with some blue locktite.

Now I'm considering calling the dealer about this "warranty upgrade"....

My neighbor had a Raptor SD.
Did the same thing.
That and he bent the deck mount brackets a coupe times.

tlg588 said:

I called the local dealer, where I bought the mower, and described the problem. They know exactly what I was talking about. They told me this is a common issue with the mower, there is an upgrade available and it would be repaired under warranty. This was Thursday morning. They picked it up that morning (pickup and delivery NOT covered under warranty). They called me Friday morning to say it was done and to setup a delivery, but I missed the call. So, I should be getting my mower back Monday morning. I will let you all know how the repair worked out.

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got any update?
i asked my dealer and they were not aware of any upgrade for the brace.

turboawd said:

got any update?
i asked my dealer and they were not aware of any upgrade for the brace.

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same here.

Hi all,

My Raptor SD slipped a belt at 5 hours (dealer came out and corrected). I assume this was an assembly issue. At 55 hours the back axle broke. He fixed it, too, but charged me for pickup/delivery. I'll check on whether that was an upgrade. Same thing happened to my neighbor who also has a Raptor SD (with about 50 hours on it). These were both purchased in spring 2015. The back tire was visibly slanting after the break and the mower wouldn't move. Sunds like Hustler got cheap on a part.

My brace is made of pretty heavy steel and uses good size bolts with stop nuts...i checked them after 25 hours and they where still tight,I cut a ton of hilly lawns with big 30-45 degree slopes..maybe mine was already upgraded,if not Im sure I would have twisted them off by now,,i had this mower going almost straight up and down a slope many times??

so i decided to take another look underneath, and noticed another bolt being real loose and worn. this is what eventually breaks or comes apart completely, resulting in the trans angling out and belt falling off.
i'm going to have to remove and replace all the trans bolts. these are grade 5, i'm going with grade 8 and loctite. it kinda sucks that i have to do this.

When you replace the bolt, put it in the other way around so the nut is on the other end thus the bit that goes through the hole will be thicker and less liable to wear thin.
Get a bolt 1/2 longer than the one you have and put a locknut on the end of it.
lock nits are 100 time better than loctite and cheaper to boot

I agree with Bert,,if you flip the bolt around the shank will be up against the connections spot that goes through the frame not the threads.
I may just get some grade 8 bolts with lock nuts and do this before its too late.Until then I will just snug them up every week if they feel loose.

Thanks for the pics and post!!

Tom

I bought a new Raptor SD 54" in June and have put 65 hours on this summer. End of September the stamped plate brace that goes between the hydros broke where it bolts on to the right hydro.
On the dealer lot I noticed that the one he has remaining has a round rod as a brace instead of the stamped brace. Thought to myself, Good upgrade in design.
Expecting to see the round rod brace when I got the mower back, I found they put in another stamped brace. Why didn't they use the rod brace? Did they change the hydros mid year?

Also, while it was being repaired, I had the salesman figure up what it would cost me to trade up to a FastTrack. He offered me $900 less for my Raptor than I paid for it. Isn't that a little harsh?

Pretty sure mine has the stamped brace,you have to tighten up those bolts frequently or you will break or twist something,,especially if you do alot of steep slopes like me,i double lock nutted the smaller bolts in the back and added lock washers too the brace bolts,,so far so good @125 hours.
i do have a small leak from my left hydro,its the break shaft o-ring,dealer said they are going to put a whole new hydro on that side when i bring it in..lol

I believe they all have 2800 hydros so no that round bar brace should work with all the machines.

Yeah,well as soon as that mower left the floor it lost 5 to 600 dollars off the price you paid,,plus 65 hours,Id say the mower is worth about 3 grand give or take.

anyone have a picture of this round brace?

Re values.... in Spring of 2015 I bought a raptor SD 54 with a set of uninstalled flexforks for $3250 off of Craigslist. It had 75 hours are on it and I saved sales tax.
Thought I made a great deal but after mowing a couple times I realized it had a vibration that shouldn't be there. It was actually a 2014 model and some of these had trouble with the drive system for the hydro as far as alignments go. My very good dealer got things aligned perfectly and replaced a slightly out of round pulley and it was a new machine... he also changed out the hydro oils n looked everything over. I traded the flex forks and a little cash on that bill.
This spring I sold it with 105 hours on it to my next door neighbor for $2850 and bought a new Fast Track 54. He's very happy and I'm thrilled with the upgrade!

Yeah,Id love to see a pic of the round bar upgrade.

I’m hoping to keep my RSD for at least 300 hours maybe 3 seasons,,possibly get 2 grand for it and put that down on a Bobcat CRZ..i keep my machines really clean so i hope it sells for a decent price...cant believe the spindles are still rock solid after 100 hours,usually by now they have a little slop,,I bet these spindles are good for 1500 hours easy.

Hey jersey ..... how do they brace up your bobcat? I still can't believe I live in Wisconsin and the Bobcats are made in Wisconsin and there isn't a dealer anywhere around....geez!

I dont own a bobcat CRZ yet thats supreme from youtube who has one,,i bet they are pretty tough,its a big mower.
I do have a bobcat 48 classic walk behind.

Oops.... somehow I thought you were running a bobcat and the SD and liked the Bobcat better and were going to replace the SD when the time came. My A.D.D. won again!

well, even the grade 8 bolts are breaking. this is getting aggravating. i think the cause is the weak frame and mounting points. there is too much flex going on. i need to get this resolved before the trans casting breaks, because then i'll be really f*cked.

i see that the cross brace has been upgraded on hustelr's site.
part# 118942 to 123292

but the bracket doesnt look too different. there needs to be a support going across to the outer mounting points of the trans.

Lol

Sent from my iPhone using LMF

Does this brace fail due to bolt loosening or bolt failure?
Would replacing with grade 8 bolts installed properly reduce or eliminate this failure scenario? \
Does the likelihood this failure to occur vary depending on terrain?

Ronno6 said:

Does this brace fail due to bolt loosening or bolt failure?
Would replacing with grade 8 bolts installed properly reduce or eliminate this failure scenario? \
Does the likelihood this failure to occur vary depending on terrain?

Click to expand...

Answer 1 Both, Bolt loosens and the shearing force snaps the bolt.
Answer 2 Yes if you check the bolt tightness ever once in a while.
Answer 3 Not real sure on this as most of the problems posted here do not explain their terrain.

I wonder if a piece of 1" diameter cold rolled steel spanning the hydros inside the ears of that bracket,
drilled and tapped 3/8-16 and bolted into place would eliminate the problem, or would it need to be welded to the cross brace itself?

Just tossing around the idea....

I will get a picture of how my Husqvarna is set up so you can see how easy it is to fix.

There is another thread where I posted pics of the updated bracket which you can get for free from your dealer.

turboawd said:

There is another thread where I posted pics of the updated bracket which you can get for free from your dealer.

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Just for the asking?

Respectfully, dealers are not authorized to give you the Upgrade cross brace if the mower was shipped with the original brace. If the brace cracked and the mower is under warranty, the dealership can file a request to the manufacturer and once permission is given, the manufacturer will replace the original brace with the upgrade because the manufacturer is no longer making the original.

Spoke to the manufacturer yesterday and again today. Just for the asking ain't gonna work unless your dealer can work that out.

Good luck to all of you that attempt it.

Sub'd

Check your plastic fenders for cracking around the bolt mounting holes. One of my fenders cracked and when I brought it back to the dealer they also replaced the cross brace with the new upgraded one.
Cracked plastic fender mounting holes is another symptom of the light duty brace flexing.
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Both of my saddles are cracked, actually they are broke, where they bolt to the frame. I didn’t realize this was related to the hydro bracket. Thought the dealer had handled it rough during one of the repairs.

Hi All,

Came across this old thread while cleaning out my email.
The dealer replaced the broken cross brace bracket with the same brace, no upgrade. I know this because it broke again since then. Dealer then replaced the bracket with what looks like an upgraded one. So far so good. Getting the mower ready for this years season and will give the bracket a closer look to see how it is doing. If it brakes again I am going to make my own bracket. I complained to Hustler about the bracket after the second one broke, received no response.

tlg588,

Although I'm a Hustler Enthusiast, I will have to admit that Hustler executives and their support team are not even decent at responding to their most important asset, the end users.

Hustler's Media Marketing Direct approached me to collaborate with them as I have a couple of Hustler Facebook Groups and a Facebook Page. I also do Modification and Upgrade videos with their Hustler Raptor SD as the star. One thing I can attest to, they do not follow thru on their word. Terrible company as far as that part causing themselves some terrible and deserved press.

Their machines are more than adequate across all their models. The Raptor has had a considerably terrible wheel motor cross brace. The upgrade cross brace does solve the breaking problem with this help: Replace all the mounting bolts with grade 8 with longer shanks and use grade 8 flat washers as well as grade 8 nuts to tighten the brace to the frame rails. Go over every bolt and nut before the season, quarter way thru and every quarter of the season and you'll do well with your Raptor. Port your belt pully covers with 8 1" holes to save your belt and deck.

Have a great mowing season and don't forget: "Run it like you stole it." "Fix it if you break it."

Max

I tighten up all brace bolts monthly and never had a problem I am a small guy so maybe that helps.

Tom,

You've always been the exception to the Hustler Raptor SD rule my friend. Great job!

Max

Hey I'm just telling it like it is Max ?

Yes Sir. If you said it, I'm listening for sure. Still thank you for the inspiration to research the belt covers to make them more efficient in cleaning the deck around and under the pulleys.

Thank you again,

Max

No problem Max glad I could be of help.That means alot coming from the guy with the hottest SD around?

Tom,

Wait until you see the new addition. Video will show how easy it is to back that rascal up these days. I will also be making a video on the laser guide on the first mow. lol

Oh, shoot me an email. I've got something coming up you're going to want on your RSD since you do commercial. maxsgarajmahal@gmail.com

Max

Kremeneon said:

same here.

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Just happen to me yesterday, mowing rear yard machine stopped looking at it the right rear wheel is. Leaning in. Took to dealer today said never heard of it no warranty. I use this machine only 1-1.5 hrs a week, be interesting how much this will cost

cdy9v said:

Just happen to me yesterday, mowing rear yard machine stopped looking at it the right rear wheel is. Leaning in. Took to dealer today said never heard of it no warranty. I use this machine only 1-1.5 hrs a week, be interesting how much this will cost

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they're great mower I got 500 hours on mine and use it everyday you just have to make sure that those bolts are tightened I would definitely get the upgraded cross member brace think I paid 50 bucks for mine definitely not a warranty part at my dealer

Also the dealer should be fully responsible for that if they let it go with all those bolts loose it's their job to make sure that thing is all ready to go and tightened after it comes off the crate

Do you know about the 2nd brace?
I upgraded the lower brace after mine broke and cracked my plastic fender.

The 2nd one mounts up higher and provides additional bracing



165 hours so far.
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clubairth said:

Do you know about the 2nd brace?
I upgraded the lower brace after mine broke and cracked my plastic fender.

The 2nd one mounts up higher and provides additional bracing

View attachment 43921

165 hours so far.
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interesting. is hustler providing these free?

I don't know but probably no.

My local dealer is a mess and I refuse to deal with him anymore. The first go around was with the cracked fender and he did not tell me there was an additional problem with the brace and that's why the fender cracked. I found that out here on the forum. So my mower sat 3+ weeks waiting on parts during the mowing season. The fender and bottom brace were covered under warranty.

For the cost of these braces and the hassle in getting a 600LB machine back to the dealer I just buy them and install myself.
The part number is listed up thread. When I saw the second brace I got the part number and ordered it.
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turboawd said:

interesting. is hustler providing these free?

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Part number on the extra brace? How much?

Clutch Cover #120838.
Only about $12. The name threw me off but that's the right part number.

Don't know if your looking to do anymore mods but I added a suspension to the stock seat and am very happy with it.
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