Best Hydrostatic Transmission???

[Jimmy the Lock]

Hi guys,

I'm in the market to get a nice zero turn radius mower for a property I'll be at where I'll have to mow about an acre. I'd like to get a good high quality mower and wanted to get some input as I heard some folks here use these things to make a living and probabl;y have used different brands and models.

I've heard of people having problems with the Hydrostatic Transmissions. I hear there are only 2 companies that make these transmissions so hopefully one is the best.

I would definitely be interested in getting a mower that has external transmission oil filters that can be changed as well as a drain plug to be able to drain the transmission oil as I hear this is critical for getting long life out of these transmissions

So please let me know what brands I should be looking at for getting long service life. I have a gate to go thru, so I'll need the box to be no more than 54 inches wide.

 

[Jimmy the Lock]

I heard of Eaton Hydrostatic Transmissions

Aren't there two other brands?

 

[7394]

1: Hydro-Gear
2: Tuff-Torq

May be more, IDK ?

 

[Jimmy the Lock]

I saw a thread earlier and a guy was saying his mower had an Eaton Hydrostatic Transmissions

I've heard some have had problem with Hydro-Gear not lasting very long.

Is Tuff-Torq considered to be better?

 

[ILENGINE]

Hydrogear, tuff-torq, Eaton all make different levels of units. the consumer level stuff will not be readily serviceable. With the hydrogear units the ZT-2800 and larger will have external screw on oil filters which also act as the system drain when removed. I don't see much of the tuff-torq units so can't give much feedback on those. and my only experience with Eaton was not good on a Z turn. the best units will have a separate pump and wheel motors. Like hydrogear pumps with parker or hydrogear wheel motors.

 

[ILENGINE]

Hydrogear, tuff-torq, Eaton all make different levels of units. the consumer level stuff will not be readily serviceable. With the hydrogear units the ZT-2800 and larger will have external screw on oil filters which also act as the system drain when removed. I don't see much of the tuff-torq units so can't give much feedback on those. and my only experience with Eaton was not good on a Z turn. the best units will have a separate pump and wheel motors. Like hydrogear pumps with parker or hydrogear wheel motors.

 

[Jimmy the Lock]

Great, thanks for the info.

I know somebody that had a mower with bad hydrogear units and he's looking for a company that rebuilds these.
Is there a place that does that?

I'm hoping to not have to go thru all that which is why I'd like to buy a mower with better quality transmissions.

 

[Jimmy the Lock]

What about Spartan Mowers? Is this a good brand?

They use Tuff Torq 450 transmission with steel gears according to their website

They say their mowers come with charge pumps which should help transmissions last longer and perform better

RZ-Pro | Spartan Mowers | Zero Turn Mowers

Spartan Mowers, made in Batesville, AR offer an affordable top of the line mower with simplistic design & functionality, leading the zero-turn mower industry.

spartanmowers.com

 

[Jimmy the Lock]

The HD mower uses "Parker Hydraulic drives"

What's the difference between a hydraulic drive transmission and a hydrostatic transmissions?

The hydraulic drive transmission must be better sing it's only offered on their more expensive mowers that label as being heavy duty

 

[ILENGINE]

Great, thanks for the info.

I know somebody that had a mower with bad hydrogear units and he's looking for a company that rebuilds these.
Is there a place that does that?

I'm hoping to not have to go thru all that which is why I'd like to buy a mower with better quality transmissions.

Company that rebuilds, NO. just not cost effective. May find individual dealers that may do internal repairs/rebuilds.

What about Spartan Mowers? Is this a good brand?

They use Tuff Torq 450 transmission with steel gears according to their website

They say their mowers come with charge pumps which should help transmissions last longer and perform better

RZ-Pro | Spartan Mowers | Zero Turn Mowers

Spartan Mowers, made in Batesville, AR offer an affordable top of the line mower with simplistic design & functionality, leading the zero-turn mower industry.

spartanmowers.com

The Tuff-torq uses internal filters under a cap that has to be removed and internal charge pumps. The hydrogear ZT-2800 and above have external screw on automotive style filters and external charge pumps. Both use steel gears. It looks like the Tuff-torq uses plastic as part of the transmission housing to act as a oil tank. were the hydrogear will be a aluminum housing without the top of the transmission being partly bolted on plastic like the tuff-torq 450

The HD mower uses "Parker Hydraulic drives"

What's the difference between a hydraulic drive transmission and a hydrostatic transmissions?

The hydraulic drive transmission must be better sing it's only offered on their more expensive mowers that label as being heavy duty

Hydrostatic drive is the pump and drive motor in one housing whereas the hydraulic drive is a separate pump connected to hydraulic wheel motors via hoses. True commercial mowers use the separate pump and motor system.

So I would go with either a hydraulic drive type system. or Something with a ZT-2800 or ZT-3100 which have screw on filters and fairly easy to service. The typically are used on higher end consumer mowers to pro-sumer style mowers.