Ariens 42” Hydrostatic Tractor

[freebo86]

Got myself a 2010 Ariens, 42” lawn tractor however the issue with is that when the rear leveller is pulled to make it free roll the machine is quite hard to push/move.
Transmission is in neutral, and the free wheel leveler operates freely however the machine is very hard to push.

The machine operates perfectly fine while running in forward and reverse it’s just the free wheel/roll that’s the issue.

Is there an adjustments that can be made or loosesened? I’ve seen o line that typically the brakes can stick however this unit appears to have that within the transmission itself.

 

[StarTech]

model number pretty please.

 

[freebo86]

My bad.. 936048

 

[bertsmobile1]

get under and have a look at the bypass lever at the transmission
They are an on-off type valve
If they can not move all the way they will not open
Lots of debris gets stuck around them preventing the full movement of the lever .

 

[freebo86]

Got it sorted. Turns out there is an adjustment down below that if in Neutral it may not be fully in neutral and that was may case. Slightly moving he lever forward it unlocked and allowed the machine to move freely so the neutral just required a bolt to be undo to reset the bracket. Machine moves freely now.

Next issue I got, when the machine is in the forward position, it drives no issues. However when I apply the brake it stops. But once I release the brakes the thing almost throws me off the machine, the front tires almost come off the ground lol.. It was doing this before the Neutral adjustment I did, so I'm wondering is there additional adjustments that need to be done on the transmission for the forward/reverse or is this a Throttle issue.

 

[bertsmobile1]

The parking brake is a sudden death on or off mechanism
You are supposed to stop the machine using the transmission control then hit the brake
And when you go you release the brake then move the motion control lever
If it leaps forward when you let the brake off then the motion control lever is not in the neutral position so needs more adjustment
The general rule is to adjust it till you just barely move backwards with the lever in the neutral position then adjust slightly forward till the mower just stops

Check all of your linkages in the motion control system
good chance you will find some with badly flogged oval holes thus introducing a lot of slop into the controls .
Other problem is a badly adjusted brake balance
The rod that connects the clutch & brake together has an adjustment on it
What is supposed to happen is just as the belt gets tight enough to make the belt spin the brake should fully release
If the brake releases too late then you have a one foot on the brake & the other on the accelerator situation

 

[StarTech]

Also these plastic transaxles do wear the plastic control parts which causes a lot of problems along debris jamming them.

In my opinion they are worst design out there in the USA and they are a real pain to get right. No wonder Husqvarna and John Deere gave up on using them.

 

[freebo86]

The parking brake is a sudden death on or off mechanism
You are supposed to stop the machine using the transmission control then hit the brake
And when you go you release the brake then move the motion control lever
If it leaps forward when you let the brake off then the motion control lever is not in the neutral position so needs more adjustment
The general rule is to adjust it till you just barely move backwards with the lever in the neutral position then adjust slightly forward till the mower just stops

Check all of your linkages in the motion control system
good chance you will find some with badly flogged oval holes thus introducing a lot of slop into the controls .
Other problem is a badly adjusted brake balance
The rod that connects the clutch & brake together has an adjustment on it
What is supposed to happen is just as the belt gets tight enough to make the belt spin the brake should fully release
If the brake releases too late then you have a one foot on the brake & the other on the accelerator situation

Okay, so perhaps I've been operating this thing the wrong way. I am supposed to start in Neutral, release brake and then move slider into position. I've been doing it the opposite way, Press Brake, put in Forward, then release brake.. I'll have to try it the other way and see.

Also these plastic transaxles do wear the plastic control parts which causes a lot of problems along debris jamming them.

In my opinion they are worst design out there in the USA and they are a real pain to get right. No wonder Husqvarna and John Deere gave up on using them.

These trannys are junk. I've fixed 2 snow blowers with the plastic transmissions that needed bearings which apparently are not serviceable..

 

[freebo86]

Checked it the other way by releasing brake, and sliding into position. Seems a bit better.

Is there a way to adjust this transmission for speed? Seems like I can go from neutral to about half forward speed (crawl) then full speed forward. It doesn’t even like to stay in half speed mode..

Does the speed matter depending on where my choke (throttle position) is?

Brake is super sensitive too, hitting it makes a instant stop.

Also, noticed headlights aren’t working. Seems there is no 12v at the lead near the front. Gonna have to trace this back