how much oil fill gear box transmission?

triktor4411

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Hi,

I have this worldlawn 28" belt drive 3-speed walk behind mower. 2006/2007 model. Only a homeowner used it on his lawn, then he bought a bigger house needing lawn service and I bought this from him a couple years ago.
I don't think he ever changed the transmission break-in oil (after first 80 hours, then every 300 hours). It might not even have had 80 hours on it.

The transmission works perfectly but I want to change the lube, especially if it's never been changed after broken in.

Manual has conflicting info.
First says 'drain and refill the transmission yearly, use one pint SAE30'


Later in the same manual it says
TRANSMISSION
Service Interval
The first service time: 80 hours
The next service time: every 300 hours
"Put 0.25L #18 hyperbolic gear oil into the transmission"


After some investigating and contacting worldlawn, #18 hyperbolic gear oil is just regular gear oil like 75w90 or 80w90. If you google #18 hyperbolic, there's no info on it, but WL contacted their factory and confirmed it's just chinese wording for 75w90 or 80w90.
I also put a dipstick in the fill port and it seems to be oil (not grease or thick bentonite) although there's a little bit (very little bit) of thicker globs mixed in almost like grease but I'm guessing the thicker globs are still just oil which has thickened from use (it's mostly oil though with very minimal 'globs').

Anyway, just wanted to note that it more than likely is gear oil used and not thicker grease or bentonite. Another clue is that this trans has black plastic/rubbery seals where the axles exit, and gearboxes which use thicker grease/bentonite usually just have press fitted metal seals because that lube is thicker and won't leak as easily hence they use cheaper seals.

Anyway before I go way off topic, just wanted to note that it more than likely IS gear oil and not something else (confusion stemming from #18 hyperbolic gear oil originally).

So anyway, as mentioned, the manual says use 16oz/pint SAE30 but then it says use 8oz 75w90. That's half the amount but 75w90 is probably thicker than SAE30 but still..
This info is from an older manual I saved from worldlawn's site a year ago and it has since been deleted and they now just have one manual which covers all the older models from around 2006-2011.

The newer models from around 2011-present use grease in the transmissions. But the new manuals still say to use 80w90. The parts diagram sketch looks like a similar transmission as mine but the WL rep told me it's supposed to use grease and that the manual needs to be corrected (still hasn't been updated for a few weeks BTW, still says use 80w90 in the newer models).


So, that 5 mins of reading above aside now, World lawn told me to put 8oz of 75w90 or 80w90 in the gear box but I think it might be a typo from the past being passed on. It seems to me that it should need more than 8oz. And as mentioned, the older manual also said use 16oz SAE30.

For scale, the size of this gear box is about the size of two 12oz soda cans laid side by side. The fill cap is about the diameter of a US nickle. Doesn't it seem like I should add more than just 8oz? I bought full synthetic 75w-90 BTW but not sure how much to change it with.
There's no leaks and it works perfect, and if I put a dipstick in, it has to go down about one third of the way down the fill port (or about 2 inches) before the dipstick touches oil. So it isn't filled to the max (would limit expansion and I don't think max fill would be correct) but it definitely seems like more than 8oz. I can also just see how much drains out and use that measurement and add about .5oz to account for any oil still left in the gearbox after draining.


So in simple, in general, for a gearbox like this how high up should I fill the oil? Keep it the same level it is (about two thirds filled up)? Fill it almost to the top and leave about 3/4" of air for expansion? There's no vent port/cap BTW.
I tried finding videos etc but most gear boxes use bentonite thick grease or searches just show car transmissions or hydrostatic mower fills.

Much thanks in advance.

p.s should I also add an oil additive to make it even better, if so what?
 

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bertsmobile1

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In general most boxes get filled between 1/2 to 3/4 if using oil as the oil will fling around and get everywhere.
Grease on the other hand does not flow as well and bentonite grease in particular is very thick.
So grease filled boxes are usually that, filled with only a very small air gap.

World Lawn were not a particularly good product.
Everything I have seen here would be considered a throw away item.
Most look like a top shelf product at a glance, the 22" SP is identical in appearence to the Hondas until you get close enough to see the engine has a very small B & S logo on it.

Being a cheap knock off brand, manuals & even parts lists are not high on the priority list .
I have never been able to buy parts using the part numbers & have always had to bring the broken one in for matching against what they have & on a few occasion the dealer had to send the original down to the warehouse to get the correct replacement.
A World Lawn person even told me the bearings they supply are bad & I should remove the rubber seals & put some more grease in there or fit a better quality brand name bearing.
That was enough for me so I no longer service any World Lawn product.
 

triktor4411

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hmm so it's that simple I guess, if using oil like this trans does, just fill it one half to three quarters of the way up and leave a couple inches of air, that's how it is now, and I doubt when I measure what comes out it will be just 8oz, I think it'll be more and that the manual might have been incorrect but I could be wrong maybe only 8oz is in there. I don't think previous owner changed gear oil and the level it's at is what he made it (it's quite a PITA to take the battery platform off to get to gearbox and I don't think he even put 80 hours on it for break-in.
THANKS!


As for WL being a shjt company I have to disagree. They used to be a somewhat well-known brand before WL BTW, I forget the name, not toro or exmark or anything but somewhat well-known in the mower world.

Besides this stupid typo from whoever made the manual (8oz or 16oz and 'hyperbolic oil'), (other than this, the manuals are fine), I had zero problems with this mower and have put it through the ringer. I did have to wait like 6 weeks for a backorder part (something I broke from being a noob with commercial mowers) but this was an 11 year old model at the time so I had to wait for the part from china (a lot of mowers are made in china BTW, nothing wrong with made in china per say). And I have googled and confirmed it's not totally uncommon to wait 6 weeks backorder for some parts from major brands like toro/emark/scag.


It's the strongest mower 30" or under. 344cc and zero turn pistol grip. I had a 30" toro timemaster and it is THE WORST mower deck I've used it cakes up very easily. I haven't much experience with other mowers except a 1986 36" bobcat which is all good, plus basically every 21-22" 190cc and the 30" toro deck cakes up horribly. Really shallow bad design.

28" means it'll fit most small gates. 32" fits small gates and there's plenty of 32" commercial walk behinds and standers etc but they'll only save a stripe or two vs a 28", and the 28" is lighter to wheelie over roots and stuff, and these sell new for really cheap (but are made very well TBH) for only $1500 delivered, and I happen to really like briggs on the cheaper versions than the Honda worldlawns.

I made a thread on another lawn forum where I have a couple hundred posts. I made a thread just showing how the WL28" is a better choice than the 30" toro everyone talks about (I'd say about %60 of reviewers despise the toro/exmark 30") and I think others would agree the WL28 is better I just wanted to help people out because it's a sort of hidden gem of a mower that's all.

Anyway, that thread turned into a pissing competition basically, and so now whenever I bring up the WL28 on there, there's some anti- worldlawn guys who always pop in and derail my question into a drama thread and then the thread gets locked. That's what happened with this question there I tried asking but no one would answer the simple question of 'in general how high do you fill an oil gear box?".


so I joined here and thank you for the input.

I can link the thread(s) where I compare the WL28" to toro 30s and others if it's allowed but you can google it if actually even interested. And some youtuber got sent a free 32" Honda WL for review and talked bad about it but I dissected his review and proved him very wrong on basically every single point he tried to make (stupid stuff like 'there's no picture on how to put this together' but it says right there Figure.4 means the picture called Figure.4 on the same page lol)
Not only is the toro a really cloggy deck, it's only 190cc or 223 cc for newer version, for 30" and some of that power is lost via the belts and pulleys. It's just not a very powerful mower for thick wet grass or leaf mulching. I prefer a 22" 190cc to the 30" TBH.

I don't wanna go on and on about comparing the WL28 though but I already started typing I guess.
Overall though, yea 28" is not much more than a 21" in width. If the lawn is cut often enough and not wet or fertilized heavily especially with fast-acting synthetic, then the 190cc will do fine , even the toro 30" will do fine if it's on side discharge which I usually use now anyway but if grass is wet and need to mulch leaves or something, then it's cake city with the 30" toro.

But I do prefer the zero turn WL which the 21" or 30" toro doesn't have and I think others prefer the zero turn also, but a 21" burns less fuel, has less parts to maintain or adjust and is light enough to just toss in a truck or bring up steps etc.

BTW on the topic of transmissions, the consumer grade 21-22" plastic gear transmissions are a sin, I had to go through so many of them. the snapper though is bullet proof and a good price at around $650 for the commercial I bought the hi vac and the ninja mulcher great mowers. Other than the snappers there's metal gear box commercial 21" toros and Hondas etc but almost none of them offer side discharge which is strange because I think %80 of commercial mowers are using discharge from what I see if not bagging.

brings me to my last point, you say a grease trans would need to be filled to the top almost, and that's how the snapper 21" differentials are designed (filled almost all the way with grease) but confuses me because thick grease should stick better to gears and thus need less fl oz in there is the opposite of how things are actually done. And yes bentonite is pretty bad - over time it hardens and cakes up on the gearcase wall and fails to actually lube the gears and it can't just be drained, gotta take the whole thing apart and refurbish it clean and re-pack with new bentonite.

But it's true that the SAE30 or 10w30 oil in the actual engine is yes oil slinged around to lube everything and not filled all the way up.

If still reading this, should I use an oil additive to the full synthetic 75w-90 gear oil I'm putting in this trans or don't even bother with that?

thanks again.

ps, the 21" worldlawn they haven't made in a while and yea probably not much to offer there. The bearings I had to replace two on one axle but they are universal size I got a bunch for $2 ea shipped eBay and holding up good since then.

WL makes hydro mowers too, got good commercial reviews on their 36" hydro standers on youtube. the belt drive 28" is basically identical to a 32" shrunken down toro/exmark etc but half the price. They get a bad rep for being cheap but they're good. But there aren't many parts dealers so finding some older parts can be sort of a riddle as you've experienced - it's not like toro you can plug the part number in eBay and find competitive pricing and aftermarket parts for easier but I don't think I'll have to replace anything except spindles until the deck finally rusts out on this 28" which will take many years so I'm happy with it.
 

EngineMan

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Any oil is better then no oil, so just fill it up and leave a gap.
 

bertsmobile1

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Firstly I do not have any affiliations or bias as I am an independent mower workshop

Shanghai YingXin World Machinery Co Ltd. has been around for about 20 years.
They have been making good mowers under contract for various brand names for a long while.
They have also been making cheap nasty knocks offs under contract for about the same time.
The company is very similar to JD range wise making stuff from 200HP broadacre farm machinery to hand held weed wackers, mining equipment and loads of other stuff.

Down here we have been getting mowers made by them for a long time, all sold under local brand names.
Some are good but most were the cheapest in their class in more ways than price .
The World Lawn branded range we see here are mostly the same products.

World lawn use the same logo as Shanghai YingXin World Machinery Co Ltd and it is in fact the old logo of YingXin Manufacturing who I think used to make some Ryobi branded products.
Now the origins of the World Lawn brand name seems to change every week but as far as I can work out it goes something like this.

Encore went belly up and some of the senior management got mowers made in China that were copies of or slightly modified copies of the then current Encore range or the future range.
A tad latter, when the liquidators had finished, they moved into the old Encore factory in Beatrice which was first used as a warehouse then as an assembly plant and apparently now as a manufacturing plant.
When they kicked off there was a lot of Hoo Har put up particularly on Face book & U tube ( cause it is cheap ) about World Lawn being a 100% USA owned company getting 100% USA designed mowers made in China, thus keeping all of the profits in the USA. And how they were going to turn the mower industry on it head with their revolutionary new products.

Now the story has changed to Shanghai YingXin World Machinery Co Ltd buying out the defunct Encore company for the purpose of getting into the USA mower market . They are apparently planning to move the entire mower manufacturing to Beatrice, no mention of the 100% USA design team or USA ownership.

Down here World Lawn branded products were originally brought in by Stihl Australia to pad out the range sold in Stihl shops.
Eventually Honda capitulated and allowed Still Australia to become Honda Power Products distributors so they dropped World Lawn like a hot potato.
A couple of the Stihl shop owners saw a market for low end low price mowers and became World Lawn Australia.

If you got a good one & you believe it to be a superiour product and are happy with then I am genuinely happy for you and which you nothing but many years of happy mowing.
I had no intention of turning your request into a World Lawn bashing exercise.
In fact I want nothing to do with World Lawn mowers ever again.
 

triktor4411

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(copy pasted from other forum)


THANK YOU!, you helped solve the riddle of what is '#18 hyperbolic gear oil' the manual specifies. Which, when googled doesn't find anything really except a few Chinese sites. But you mentioned hypoid gear oil so I looked into that since it sounds like hyperbolic.

wiki:
The shape of a hypoid gear is a revolved hyperboloid (that is, the pitch surface of the hypoid gear is a hyperbolic surface) whereas the shape of a spiral bevel gear is normally conical.



They do make specifically 'hypoid gear oil' but it's mostly not a US product, more common in Europe etc, and can find stuff like Genuine Mercedes hypoid transmission oil but it's pricey and I'd rather just use regular gear oil which also will usually say on the bottle suitable for hypoid gears. 75W-90 gear oil Supertech from Walmart :

Super Tech Full Synthetic 75w90 Gear Oil Quart Super Tech 75W-90 Full Synthetic Gear Oil is formulated with synthetic base oils to provide superior gear protection over a wide range of operating and ambient temperatures. Made with premium extreme pressure additives, rust preventatives, and antifoam additives, this oil protects hypoid gears, manual transmissions, gearboxes, passenger car and light truck conventional differentials, transmission and steering gears.

As for a 'gear oil additive' (not engine 'oil additive'), it probably won't hurt to use something like Liqui Moly, but probably not totally needed.



I'm just gonna measure how much drains from the perfectly-working trans and put in the same amount plus about .5oz to account for anything that might not drain.
A couple people said oil-filled (not grease or bentonite) are usually only filled up to about where the axles exit the gear box. So maybe it really is only about 8.25oz belongs in there like the manual says (but also says 16oz SAE30 which confused me).

I'd like to flush it with kerosene or something but I'm afraid it won't all evaporate and I don't want to thin the gear oil. I will run machine to warm oil and tilt it back a bit and use the aluminum foil bib so all the oil drains to my measuring cup.



I hope this helps anyone who has one of these older WL28" mowers. (remember the newer mowers use grease instead of gear oil but the new manuals still currently say to use gear oil, so shoot WL an email to make sure if your model uses oil/grease and ask which type of grease to use (might have to take the whole box apart to clean stock break-in grease but the initial break-in change is the most important (new gears break in and leave specs of metal you want to clear out so they don't cause premature wear on the gears similar to the quick engine oil change you need on a new engine).

Take Care.




ps, in case anyone finds this thread because I titled pictures linked as 'peerless transmission oil change' thinking it could help others searching for that info before learning all this - peerless might be a brand and most likely peerless always uses bentonite thick grease stuff and not oil/grease so don't put oil in there although I've heard of in house big brand mechanics (scag/toro/exmark) have added some oil to bentonite transmissions to help it lubricate instead of taking the whole gear box apart and scraping out all the old bentonite which eventually cakes up and hardens on the gear box walls and doesn't protect the gears at that point).
 
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