Wanted to update on this mower project. This is about a riding mower I bought recently as a project. (Original post on another thread about poor B&S design) It's not a 3 year old model but rather a 2015 YTH22v46 twin cylinder 22hp B&S Husqvarna with 328 hours on it. Got it from a guy for $25. The engine runs great but the trans gave up, the reason I got it so cheap.
I spent a couple hours trying to get the rear tires off. Stored outside with no cover for a year or so made the wheels/axles rust together tight. Ended up using a puller and an air hammer to finally get them to budge but they fought every inch of the way.
After getting the hydro out I spent some time cleaning the outside case, which was caked with grass, debris mixed with some oil. Found the top of the breather cap was broken off and replaced with a screw in an attempt to reseal. Caused an oil leak. Most of the cleaning needed was around the top of the case and the fins on all sides. Fan was intact, no broken fins. So I power washed the whole unit and spent a couple hours removing the rust from the axles, using a 3/4" shaft collar for testing. Once I got the shaft collar to slide easily on and off, I tried the wheels and found the inside of them needed to be cleaned of rust also. After much searching I found a wire brush for my drill that would fit inside the hubs (Porter Cable part #PC49724 Tractor Supply) and be long enough to reach to the middle of the hub. Also found a round file attachment for the drill and it helped a great deal. After cleaning the rust, I applied anti-seize to axles and the hubs slid on and off just fine.
Next I drained the oil from the trans. Oil looked dark. Magnet had just fine particles, no big chunks of debris. I removed the cover of the trans and found what looked like maybe water had gotten in. Most of the water seemed to be in the deep well of the cover where the filter would sit. Not sure if that was from sitting outside with a dodgy breather cap or from power washing (covered it and tried to avoid spraying the breather cap).
So I looked at all three magnets inside and they also had fine particles, again, no chunks like from the gears or something. It appears this unit may have been rebuilt in the past because it had the updated two-magnet feature fitted to the top of the center pump block. Not sure when that became added to new units so this is just speculation on my part.
I removed the motor drive cylinder and found three of the springs broken. Then removed the center pump block and found another two springs were broken. The result of the broken springs riding around completely destroyed the surfaces of the center block, pump and motor cylinders and some pieces were imbedded inside the surface openings. The gears looked fine, no chipped teeth, no binding and no other pieces found in the bottom of the case.
After disassembling whole inside of the case (except the center shaft and the forward/reverse hardware) I sent them off to a company in Wisconsin who offers a service to rebuild the parts. (https://www.ebay.com/itm/394654079329) I pretty much figured all the parts were destroyed to the point of having to be replace, which he confirmed after looking at them. So I purchased a rebuild kit and am waiting for it to arrive next week. Will include both motor/pump cylinders and springs, center block and everything that I need to fix it.
I have new axle seals but found no evidence of leaking so might not replace these since the new ones don't look like they have a spring inside. I can see metal inside but it looks like just a strip of steel rather than the spring usually seen. I couldn't see any other evidence of oil seeping out anywhere on the case. I'm kind of taking a if-it-ain't-broke-don't-fix-it approach to this whole project, as you can tell. I'll probably replace or fix most of the item I'm listing over time but just not right now.
I asked the guy what fluid to use, since there seems to be quite a few differing opinions out there. He said they only use Amsoil 15w50 fully synthetic in all their hydro equipment. It's a bit pricey, more than the Mobil 1 synthetic, almost double. So I'm looking for opinions from others as to what you use in your equipment. Don't want to use regular motor oil, as I've heard others doing but don't want to spend big $ on the Tuff Torq branded oil either. He says the Amsoil has a higher zinc content so can expect more longevity from it. Keep in mind this is either a backup mower I'll keep or will sell so trying to keep the cost down to what I can charge, just enough to get my money back out of it.
So while I'm waiting for parts, I started doing maintenance on the rest of the mower. Had the mower deck removed, power washed and inspected the spindles. They look original so I might put on some new ones with grease zerks, since these have none. They both feel tight and turn easily with no noise. Power washed the whole thing, took a wire wheel to the underside, blew it off and applied a coat of Rustoleum Rusty Metal primer. Top is in good condition, no rust, but might hit it with some new paint as it's pretty faded. Will also replace both mower and drive belts when I reassemble everything. Pulled the air filter and will replace. Added a new fuel filter and a fuel shutoff valve. Drained the fuel tank (fuel looked old-ish but no debris). Pulled off the top cowling and everthing was free of debris. So I power washed the whole tractor and found no rust anywhere. But the plastic dash is cracked in several places and was zip-tied back together. It's like something very heavy fell on the machine, breaking the dash and I'm pretty sure the steering wheel has been replaced. Next is to change plugs and adjust valves and grease all the lube points. It starts just fine, sometimes don't even need the choke and runs very smooth. One of the rear tires has a superficial slice in it but all four hold air, though when I loaded it on the trailer after buying it, I had to air up all four after it sat for sometime. Might buy two new rear tires ($25 each from Grainger.com [https://www.grainger.com/product/CARLISLE-Turf-Saver-Tire-Turf-Saver-43MJ76?opr=ILOF]
(I'll post up some pics once I figure out how to shrink them since I get an error message saying they're too large.)
I spent a couple hours trying to get the rear tires off. Stored outside with no cover for a year or so made the wheels/axles rust together tight. Ended up using a puller and an air hammer to finally get them to budge but they fought every inch of the way.
After getting the hydro out I spent some time cleaning the outside case, which was caked with grass, debris mixed with some oil. Found the top of the breather cap was broken off and replaced with a screw in an attempt to reseal. Caused an oil leak. Most of the cleaning needed was around the top of the case and the fins on all sides. Fan was intact, no broken fins. So I power washed the whole unit and spent a couple hours removing the rust from the axles, using a 3/4" shaft collar for testing. Once I got the shaft collar to slide easily on and off, I tried the wheels and found the inside of them needed to be cleaned of rust also. After much searching I found a wire brush for my drill that would fit inside the hubs (Porter Cable part #PC49724 Tractor Supply) and be long enough to reach to the middle of the hub. Also found a round file attachment for the drill and it helped a great deal. After cleaning the rust, I applied anti-seize to axles and the hubs slid on and off just fine.
Next I drained the oil from the trans. Oil looked dark. Magnet had just fine particles, no big chunks of debris. I removed the cover of the trans and found what looked like maybe water had gotten in. Most of the water seemed to be in the deep well of the cover where the filter would sit. Not sure if that was from sitting outside with a dodgy breather cap or from power washing (covered it and tried to avoid spraying the breather cap).
So I looked at all three magnets inside and they also had fine particles, again, no chunks like from the gears or something. It appears this unit may have been rebuilt in the past because it had the updated two-magnet feature fitted to the top of the center pump block. Not sure when that became added to new units so this is just speculation on my part.
I removed the motor drive cylinder and found three of the springs broken. Then removed the center pump block and found another two springs were broken. The result of the broken springs riding around completely destroyed the surfaces of the center block, pump and motor cylinders and some pieces were imbedded inside the surface openings. The gears looked fine, no chipped teeth, no binding and no other pieces found in the bottom of the case.
After disassembling whole inside of the case (except the center shaft and the forward/reverse hardware) I sent them off to a company in Wisconsin who offers a service to rebuild the parts. (https://www.ebay.com/itm/394654079329) I pretty much figured all the parts were destroyed to the point of having to be replace, which he confirmed after looking at them. So I purchased a rebuild kit and am waiting for it to arrive next week. Will include both motor/pump cylinders and springs, center block and everything that I need to fix it.
I have new axle seals but found no evidence of leaking so might not replace these since the new ones don't look like they have a spring inside. I can see metal inside but it looks like just a strip of steel rather than the spring usually seen. I couldn't see any other evidence of oil seeping out anywhere on the case. I'm kind of taking a if-it-ain't-broke-don't-fix-it approach to this whole project, as you can tell. I'll probably replace or fix most of the item I'm listing over time but just not right now.
I asked the guy what fluid to use, since there seems to be quite a few differing opinions out there. He said they only use Amsoil 15w50 fully synthetic in all their hydro equipment. It's a bit pricey, more than the Mobil 1 synthetic, almost double. So I'm looking for opinions from others as to what you use in your equipment. Don't want to use regular motor oil, as I've heard others doing but don't want to spend big $ on the Tuff Torq branded oil either. He says the Amsoil has a higher zinc content so can expect more longevity from it. Keep in mind this is either a backup mower I'll keep or will sell so trying to keep the cost down to what I can charge, just enough to get my money back out of it.
So while I'm waiting for parts, I started doing maintenance on the rest of the mower. Had the mower deck removed, power washed and inspected the spindles. They look original so I might put on some new ones with grease zerks, since these have none. They both feel tight and turn easily with no noise. Power washed the whole thing, took a wire wheel to the underside, blew it off and applied a coat of Rustoleum Rusty Metal primer. Top is in good condition, no rust, but might hit it with some new paint as it's pretty faded. Will also replace both mower and drive belts when I reassemble everything. Pulled the air filter and will replace. Added a new fuel filter and a fuel shutoff valve. Drained the fuel tank (fuel looked old-ish but no debris). Pulled off the top cowling and everthing was free of debris. So I power washed the whole tractor and found no rust anywhere. But the plastic dash is cracked in several places and was zip-tied back together. It's like something very heavy fell on the machine, breaking the dash and I'm pretty sure the steering wheel has been replaced. Next is to change plugs and adjust valves and grease all the lube points. It starts just fine, sometimes don't even need the choke and runs very smooth. One of the rear tires has a superficial slice in it but all four hold air, though when I loaded it on the trailer after buying it, I had to air up all four after it sat for sometime. Might buy two new rear tires ($25 each from Grainger.com [https://www.grainger.com/product/CARLISLE-Turf-Saver-Tire-Turf-Saver-43MJ76?opr=ILOF]
(I'll post up some pics once I figure out how to shrink them since I get an error message saying they're too large.)