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I have an old 616 I've been working on and the hydros seemed weak when I got it (both the same speed tho ). I replaced the belt and it made it seem good as new but the fluid was really dirty and needed changed so I bought new fluid and filters for like $200!!! and emailed grasshopper themselves for the correct fluid change procedure and followed direction s to the "T" and now the hydros are slow till they warm up then they preform well (climbing hills,spinning tires , exct.) WTF?? I've also tightened the tensioner spring more but still the same.

Ok see if I can spell it. Wrong viscosity oil. I spelled it right the first time. Higher the first number the thicker it is cold. 5w30 thinner than 10w30. What did you put in? You may or had a single weight oil before change or put in a single weight oil for change.

BlazNT said:

Ok see if I can spell it. Wrong viscosity oil. I spelled it right the first time. Higher the first number the thicker it is cold. 5w30 thinner than 10w30. What did you put in? You may or had a single weight oil before change or put in a single weight oil for change.

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That is what I was thinking, but instead of oil I was thinking maybe it is low or high viscosity hydraulic fluid.

Could be because I can not find who makes the hydros for grasshopper.

I put in grasshopper hydro maxx fluid per grasshopper coustomer service

Forgot to ask if you bleed the air out? Raise drive tires and run for 5 min to bleed.

I did a purge procedure recommend by them where you open the dump valves and slowly rotate the wheel forward/backward.... I also openend dump valves and operated the leavers forward/backward for 5sec several Times after I discovered this problem

Have you rechecked the oil level?

Yes, bottom line cold, middle of the lines hot as suggested by the sticker under the seat

I now know you have hydro-gear hydros. Wow grasshopper charges a lot for 20w50 motor oil. I too had this problem for a couple of week and the spring of this year. It went away. Hopefully it will go away for you too.

Just an update to my old post, I finally got around to working on the old grasshopper and changed all three pullyes on the hydros for about $30 each and what do ya know its all better. I also installed a new briggs and stratton short block ($629) due to oil consumption and lack of power becoming an issue and she's cutting and driving pretty good.

1dmbhonkey said:

Just an update to my old post, I finally got around to working on the old grasshopper and changed all three pullyes on the hydros for about $30 each and what do ya know its all better. I also installed a new briggs and stratton short block ($629) due to oil consumption and lack of power becoming an issue and she's cutting and driving pretty good.

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The good news is your hydro's must be strong to slip the drive belt, I had run into a similar situation where under steep inclines I could slip the belt and even the new belt. My dealer suggested changing the pulleys and sure enough ran like a new one. (2,500 hrs. on the pulleys at that point) The interesting thing was how much higher in the pulley the belt rode Day/Night difference.

Good Luck