The truth is most repair shops are not qualified to be called a repair shop. Dealers will replace crankshaft seals in engines and tear down engines to replace camshafts, governor gears, and leaking sumps on engines, but won't even replace the input shaft seal on a hydro. To them if it is leaking then , it has to be replaced.
And most of the time a hydro rebuild isn't more labor intensive then replacing the drive belt on some riders. I have done 3 charge pump replacements due to the leaking/warping aluminum charge pump covers on hydro-gear, and did a replacement input shaft and seal on a hydro-gear pump due to a failing bearing just this year.
I have rebuilt several z turn and rider style hydros in both hydro-gear and the k46 through k71 tuff-torq. Including rebuilding hydro-gear units under warranty. I'm sorry but if a shop isn't willing or able to do a hydrostat repair then they need to close their doors, because they are not qualified to call themselves a repair shop. I bet those same shops wouldn't be able to spend 5 hours removing and replacing an engine due to a faulty ignition module, or 4 hours to remove and replace an engine for a simple carb rebuild.
