I meant Dad said against upfitting another mower with other than transmission supplied with that said mower and that's just bunk
Can I swap a Hydro Gear ZT2200 for a ZT3100 on a Cub Cadet RZT 50
- Thread starter Gary Ijngram
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3100 is the low end of Hydrogear's Commercial grade. Numbers lower than that and they are residential grade.
My Snapper Pro has 5400's, which I think are their top end. It is a beast but pretty much overbuilt.
To me it looks like the two and three series 2200 $2,800 which was a little more of a heavier duty throw away and then the 3000 which starts you into filters I don't know where you get into reservoirs and pumps external or otherwise I've seen an apex 60 Arians thingy over there at Lowe's It has reservoirs for the pumps how many of this fluid gets cooled off during use I have no idea The reservoir is not enough to really discuss about a cup of coffee size what I notice happening in my 2200 series is things get warm and then they don't turn and it's one side or the other usually and then you make us going in circles leave it off for an hour come back and you can load it on the trailer make a few more cuts before it gets too hot and leave with it but it is inconvenient I've played with different mixtures of 20w50 all kinds of nonsense blue hydraulic oil from driving etc none of it makes any difference none of it will keep the heat away on a 95° summer day and that's what seems to make the fastest of the slippage happening. Here in North Carolina there are ZT and XT or whatever 2200 series things broke down all over the place The whole mower works and runs perfectly It just goes in circles or goes nowhere $1,700 to straighten out You might as well spend that $1,700 on axles and transmissions that have a chance to be honest with you it looks like I could take 3400 systems and set them right under my Cub cadet RZTL and have a hell of a setup It looks like all of the connections to my controls are close enough to identical or the parts from my $2,200 will flop over to connect up to my helicopter handles or whatever you're calling these these days The funny thing on the flip side is is my Cub cadet LTX 1050 with a 54-in Fab deck You can't stop it It's a 2009 model and it looks brand new still today I use it year round to move carts of wood to my cabins from the wood pile so it's being used all winter and summer and never missed a beat but yet it's little cousin my 2011 RZT 54 6 months in and it was sitting in the carport forever It looks brand new with that mower I have an hour and a half to cut and then it sits an hour or so before I can load it on the trailer really sucks. Other than that I will cut with the skags and all of that seriously it's a good cutting mower and lightweight well you can pick up the front of this thing with one hand almost.
Hello, just saw this discussion and I'm wondering if anyone has had any success swapping the Hydro Gear ZT 2200 to something stronger or at least with a external filter that allows draining and changing fluid w/o removing transmission just to swap out some of the dirty oil? I like my Cub Cadet Z force S but this transmission service is crazy. Thanks, Mike
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Well you would definite go slower. really depends if you DD axles or not.
only the ZJ goes a little faster than the DD axle version of the ZT2200. Now larger diameter wheel can offset this.
only the ZJ goes a little faster than the DD axle version of the ZT2200. Now larger diameter wheel can offset this.
By sitting in the parking lot and measuring on the latest $7,000 Cub cadet I don't know what it's called It's a yellow thing with the rollover bar 24 and horsepower Kohler engine ZT3100s a 60-in deck etc by measuring It looks like if I got the whole rack out of the back with the rods that go between the transmissions all of it I could roll that out and roll it under my RZT54 and I believe the mounts and everything will line up I'm not sure about the connections to the handles and the brakes I don't know what DD axles are I know that on the mower I'm looking at at tractor supply it has five lug wheels and tires mine is four lug there are four lug axle slide over thingies or whatever you call them that have the four lug on them that you can get from hydro gear The ZT 22 00s are thicker side to side then the 31 34s or any of those so when you hang these from the top mounts looks like the fans and everything will line up but the bar is going across between the transmissions will be longer The one on mine between the 2200s I think is 14 in and you'll need 16 between the 3100s and probably the same for the 3400s other than that I don't know how the handles and the brakes will connect but it looks like they're very similar I don't know all the terminology but I have the pictures and it looks like if I could find a damaged in transit this model that I'm looking at at tractor supply ZT1 or something like that it's called looks like it could work I hate to go back to the 2200 it's impossible to change the fluid and do any work on the things it's just ridiculous like taking the engine out of the car to replace a spark plug
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Try having to remove an engine on a JD 652R just so you can adjust the valves. I got in the shop now you have to pull the engine so can the muffler off to get the rocker covers off. NO wonder they were never adjusted so one the push rods came off destroying the head.
bertsmobile1
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Your best bet is to talk to the experts, Mulligans .
I have found them to be very honest and very helpful
They will tell you what units are drop in replacements which they usually sell at the best prices I have seen on the web
They will also sell you rebuild kits
and on a good day they will tell you how to modify or repair your transmission .
Most transmissions have common mounting holes according to their category
Low end ones have the bolts on a smaller base circle and high end ones have them on a larger base circle
You can fit any transmission into any mower it just depends how much fitting you are capable of doing .
The other thing to be weary of is the power drain , hydros gobble up power so you can end up in the situation where the hydro is fine but the engine can not produce enough power to run both the drives and the blades
I have found them to be very honest and very helpful
They will tell you what units are drop in replacements which they usually sell at the best prices I have seen on the web
They will also sell you rebuild kits
and on a good day they will tell you how to modify or repair your transmission .
Most transmissions have common mounting holes according to their category
Low end ones have the bolts on a smaller base circle and high end ones have them on a larger base circle
You can fit any transmission into any mower it just depends how much fitting you are capable of doing .
The other thing to be weary of is the power drain , hydros gobble up power so you can end up in the situation where the hydro is fine but the engine can not produce enough power to run both the drives and the blades
By sitting in the parking lot and measuring on the latest $7,000 Cub cadet I don't know what it's called It's a yellow thing with the rollover bar 24 and horsepower Kohler engine ZT3100s a 60-in deck etc by measuring It looks like if I got the whole rack out of the back with the rods that go between the transmissions all of it I could roll that out and roll it under my RZT54 and I believe the mounts and everything will line up I'm not sure about the connections to the handles and the brakes I don't know what DD axles are I know that on the mower I'm looking at at tractor supply it has five lug wheels and tires mine is four lug there are four lug axle slide over thingies or whatever you call them that have the four lug on them that you can get from hydro gear The ZT 22 00s are thicker side to side then the 31 34s or any of those so when you hang these from the top mounts looks like the fans and everything will line up but the bar is going across between the transmissions will be longer The one on mine between the 2200s I think is 14 in and you'll need 16 between the 3100s and probably the same for the 3400s other than that I don't know how the handles and the brakes will connect but it looks like they're very similar I don't know all the terminology but I have the pictures and it looks like if I could find a damaged in transit
The Cub cadets I am working on also came in versions called a tank which is essentially my short wheelbase frame with 24-in tires up to 27 horsepower engines and either the BDP type transmission or I think these were in the ZT 2800 range at the time so all the mount points and whatnot are pretty much there It seems like by my pictures of units that I've photographed and it's all MTD stuff so should be pretty easily doable without too much hoo-ha
Well lots of good info. I have emails Hydro Gear and Mulligans, hoping for a simple solution. I like my current Cub Cadet but its sounding like I really need to start looking for a decent used heavier duty newer model. I really like the steering wheel as it works great on our long swale, and the fabricated deck has held up under my abuse and the frame and from caster set up seems very sturdy. It sounds like heavier grade transmissions will draw more power and potentially run slower. I planned to upgrade motor a few HP when a repower is eventually needed but that's way off. Really sounding like a bit heavier duty machine with a steering wheel, 23 -27 HP motor, 50" - 60' fabricated deck and serviceable transmissions might be cheaper and easier. I like my current machine but the idea of being any slower or not having enough power at the PTO is concerning. Thanks for the input. I will keep looking for a trans upgrade but keep my out on facebook for options.