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My mower whines when moving and when sitting still. When it's parked it doesn't creep and when it's moving it doesn't chatter. Everything seems to me working fine, I'm just wondering if the whine is hurting anything. Please help. thanks

Some whine is normal for a hydro transmission. Not much you can do about it other than check your hydraulic oil reservoir.

My 60" CC Tank has whined since new, I ignore it.

ok thanks. the hydrofluid level is good. i wasn't sure if i should replace the hydro oil filters on each side if that would help. I try to take care of repairs myself so i'm learning as i go. my local CC dealer is through the roof on their labor rates.

dirtfan1 said:

ok thanks. the hydrofluid level is good. i wasn't sure if i should replace the hydro oil filters on each side if that would help. I try to take care of repairs myself so i'm learning as i go. my local CC dealer is through the roof on their labor rates.

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How many hours on the machine? I think the recommended first hydro oil and filter change is at 100 hours. It's not whining to the point you would describe it as a howl, right? That's an indication of worn/damaged components. It's something you could do yourself, with care. You need to be ultra careful not to introduce any dust or dirt into the system.

Hydro Gear's take regular motor oil (I use 15-40 Rotella in mine and I change it every year plus both filters). Hydro Gear makes a nifty change kit with filters that you can buy on Amazon or from your local CC dealer and the parts are reuseable again and again.

No it’s not a howl just a constant whine. The mower has 250 hours on it but my local cc dealer made mention one time to change the hydro oil filters at 500 hours because mine was a sealed system? I will have to check my manual

I thought that machine has the ZT-2800 hydros. If it has a reservoir it's not a sealed unit.

It's sealed in the sense that it's a closed system but really not 'sealed' in the sense that you cannot access it for fluid / filter changes. Any drive unit that has a spin on filter will also have an access port on top of the case to refill the unit. Like I said before, Hydro-Gear markets a nice do it yourself change kit with filters, oil and necessary fittings to change the oil and filters. It ain't cheap but the 'parts' in the kit are reuseable over and over. and make changing the oil an easy job.

Ok thanks I will order the kit

It will come with replacement filters, replacement oil and a hose and fitting to go in thr top of the transmission case to fill it with oil. You fill it, remove the fitting and then replace the p[lug you removed. Save the hose and fitting and the quart bottles of oil for next time. It's a nice kit.

Ok thanks I ordered it...just waiting on it to come in. I really appreciate all your help

Sidecar I meant to ask is this a difficult task to do? This is my first time changing the hydro oil on my mower. The dealer told me it didn’t need changed until 500 hrs

It's not difficult but you will need to jack up the back of the mower and put it on axle stands for the air purging procedure. The main thing is that you have to be extremely careful not to introduce any dust, dirt or other contaminants into the system. HydroGear lists the oil and filter change interval for the ZT 2800, 3100 and 3400 as an initial one at 75 to 100 hours then every 400 hours thereafter. I believe you have the ZT 2800 on your machine.

Here. Fluid change procedure on page 11 and purging on page 12. https://www.manualslib.com/manual/1334571/Hydro-Gear-Zt-2800.html

hydros are made in a dust free sterile factory .
So it is blow out all of the clippings & dust, wash, degrease wash again before you put a wrench on anything.

No, it's easy to change the oil but follow Darryl's advice and set the rear up off the ground and cycle the levers to get the air out., Changing the oil is easy. HG dhips their kit with a fitting that goes in the top of the pump (instructions tell you where it goes) and you fit on a hose that connects to the oil bottles and you just squeeze it in. I think your pumps take 2 quarts each with the new filters installed. When done you remove the fitting, replace the plug and you are good to go. Just keep the fitting, hose and empty bottles (to fill back up with oil) for the next time. Filters without the complete kit are available on Amazon or at your lawnmower shop.

Awesome....great info....thanks again for all the help

My kit is being delivered today

Sidecar the oil change was a success. i followed all the steps you sent but now when i go out to get on the mower the reservoir is empty. They sent a 5th quart of hydro oil with the kit and i'm sure it's to add oil after the change, but today will be the 4th time i've been on it since the change and have had to add oil to the reservoir. the mower stays on my trailer so there is no oil on the deck of my trailer and i can't find a leak on the mower anywhere. Is this normal?

dirtfan1 said:

Sidecar the oil change was a success. i followed all the steps you sent but now when i go out to get on the mower the reservoir is empty. They sent a 5th quart of hydro oil with the kit and i'm sure it's to add oil after the change, but today will be the 4th time i've been on it since the change and have had to add oil to the reservoir. the mower stays on my trailer so there is no oil on the deck of my trailer and i can't find a leak on the mower anywhere. Is this normal?

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I have tht issue with mine as well. You have some trapped air in the top of the transmissions and between the warm and cool cycles, the oil seeks it's own level and pushes the air out, causing the fluid level to drop in the holding bottle.

What I did with mine was I filled the holding bottle 3/4 full of oil, ran it (cycled it through some mowing cycles until the oil in the bottle stabilized and then I took a syringe and sucked the oil down to the fill line. When it cold out (like in the winter) my level drops completely out of the bottle but when it warms up again, the level comes back up, just like a thermometer.

Hope that explains it. you can top off with any motor oil so long as the oil weight is correct.

ok great....i was just making sure this was normal. thanks again for all your help sidecar

Basically impossible to overfill them. The 'catch' bottle merely provides a place for the oil to expand as it gets hot and contract when ot cools. if you filled the catch bottle to the top. it would just overflow as the transmissions heated up.

So long as there is enough oil in the catch bottle to cover the bottom when the transmissions are cold, you are good to go.