Frame cracks on Hustler 20/52 Fastrak

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DJH

Forum Newbie
Have anyone experienced frame cracks/breaks on a Fastrak 20/52? I mow approximately 1+ acre or rolling sloping lawn. My mower has the rear two bag grass collector with the side mount blower. The unit was purchased on 11/11/05 and other than having to rebuild a Hydro Motor right after the warranty expired it has been an excellent mower. While reversing the tires (original) due to wear I noticed the frame broken in several areas around the Hydro Motor drive mounting area. Apparently Excel knows about this and has made reinforcing gusset(s) that must be welded into place. I'm not at all thrilled at having to remove the drive systems, both gas tanks and a bunch of other stuff then buffing the area down to bare metal, repaint, reinstall etc etc. My dealer is a good group of guys but their 50 miles from me and while this is an Excel failing they have contacted Excel/Hustler on my behalf. The frame has a LIFETIME warranty from Hustler so what can I realistically expect from Excel. I have a quality welder but I don't consider myself a quality welder and I want the repairs to be of superior quality so does Excel pay for a certified mobile welder to come out and do the job? Personally, looking at the huge access cutouts the "engineers" designed into this area, I think the drive motor mounting area was seriously compromised in its design. In the best of all worlds, Excel would pony up to their warranty clause and instead of making a weld on bandaid fix, send me out a new frame...even if I have to spend a couple of days/weeks swapping all the components. Give me your thoughts please.


View attachment Aligned for welding.jpg.zip
View attachment Broken Frame.jpg.zip
 
Any dealer I have ever worked for, any warranty work has to be done in their shop by their employees. Just never seen a dealer just give you the parts and say here go fix your own equipment unless maybe you are a qualified factory authorized repair shop. But who knows things change since I worked for a dealer.
 
Last edited:
DJH said:
Have anyone experienced frame cracks/breaks on a Fastrak 20/52? I mow approximately 1+ acre or rolling sloping lawn. My mower has the rear two bag grass collector with the side mount blower. The unit was purchased on 11/11/05 and other than having to rebuild a Hydro Motor right after the warranty expired it has been an excellent mower. While reversing the tires (original) due to wear I noticed the frame broken in several areas around the Hydro Motor drive mounting area. Apparently Excel knows about this and has made reinforcing gusset(s) that must be welded into place. I'm not at all thrilled at having to remove the drive systems, both gas tanks and a bunch of other stuff then buffing the area down to bare metal, repaint, reinstall etc etc. My dealer is a good group of guys but their 50 miles from me and while this is an Excel failing they have contacted Excel/Hustler on my behalf. The frame has a LIFETIME warranty from Hustler so what can I realistically expect from Excel. I have a quality welder but I don't consider myself a quality welder and I want the repairs to be of superior quality so does Excel pay for a certified mobile welder to come out and do the job? Personally, looking at the huge access cutouts the "engineers" designed into this area, I think the drive motor mounting area was seriously compromised in its design. In the best of all worlds, Excel would pony up to their warranty clause and instead of making a weld on bandaid fix, send me out a new frame...even if I have to spend a couple of days/weeks swapping all the components. Give me your thoughts please.


View attachment 28652
View attachment 28653
Click to expand...

Viruses in the pictures he sent.
 
DJH said:
Have anyone experienced frame cracks/breaks on a Fastrak 20/52? I mow approximately 1+ acre or rolling sloping lawn. My mower has the rear two bag grass collector with the side mount blower. The unit was purchased on 11/11/05 and other than having to rebuild a Hydro Motor right after the warranty expired it has been an excellent mower. While reversing the tires (original) due to wear I noticed the frame broken in several areas around the Hydro Motor drive mounting area. Apparently Excel knows about this and has made reinforcing gusset(s) that must be welded into place. I'm not at all thrilled at having to remove the drive systems, both gas tanks and a bunch of other stuff then buffing the area down to bare metal, repaint, reinstall etc etc. My dealer is a good group of guys but their 50 miles from me and while this is an Excel failing they have contacted Excel/Hustler on my behalf. The frame has a LIFETIME warranty from Hustler so what can I realistically expect from Excel. I have a quality welder but I don't consider myself a quality welder and I want the repairs to be of superior quality so does Excel pay for a certified mobile welder to come out and do the job? Personally, looking at the huge access cutouts the "engineers" designed into this area, I think the drive motor mounting area was seriously compromised in its design. In the best of all worlds, Excel would pony up to their warranty clause and instead of making a weld on bandaid fix, send me out a new frame...even if I have to spend a couple of days/weeks swapping all the components. Give me your thoughts please.


View attachment 28652
View attachment 28653
Click to expand...

I'm trying to figure out how to upload two pictures. First is how I found it and the 2nd is aligned ready for welding. My very distant dealer is arranging for two of the gussets to be send to me and I will arrange a certified welder to weld in place. The dealer agreed to submit a warranty claim to Excel/Hustler on my behalf. Sounds like a plan but I wish the fix was a little more robust.

Broken Frame.jpgAligned for welding.jpg
Broken Frame.jpgAligned for welding.jpg

Clearly I have not figured this out. (Sorry, I just migrated from a PC to a MacBookPro)
 
On this server you have to upload them to a web site like photobucket then use the url to post the pictures.
 
BlazNT said:
Viruses in the pictures he sent.
Click to expand...

No that is the EVIL EMPIRE ( micro sloth ) deliberately making life difficult for Mac users.
Happen all the time.
Some one in Gates family tree obviously used to burn witches so it has become a family tradition.
 
Yes they do not look good.
It will require welding the cracks, then grinding the weld flush then welding some heavy angle iron across the weld line.
part was cut out of the sheet in the wrong orientation to the grain direction.
easy mistake to make really hard for QC to pick up.
Please ask for written instructions for your welder ( email will be fine ) and keep it to show it was done with the Hustlers OK ( through the dealer ) just in case you need further work because if one side was cut wrong, the other might be wrong as well.
 
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